INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Hello and welcome back to Startups Weekly, a weekend newsletter that dives into the week’s noteworthy news pertaining to startups and
Before I jump into today’s topic, let’s catch up a bit
I’ve been on a bit of a startup profile kick as of late
Last week, I was tired from Disrupt
Before that, I wrote about up and coming telemedicine company Alpha Medical.Remember, you can send me tips, suggestions and feedback to
kate.clark@techcrunch.com or on Twitter @KateClarkTweets
If you don’t subscribe to Startups Weekly yet, you can do that here.Startup SpotlightY Combinator’s latest batch concluded two months
ago, which means my inbox is beginning to fill with pitches from companies ready to talk about the first rounds of fundraising
We’ve profiled many of the companies already, like Tandem, Narrator, SannTek Labs and more to come.This week, I have some notes on Revel,
a recent grad from the hot accelerator network that plans to create a nationwide subscription-based network tailored to women over the age
The startup’s founders, Harvard Business School graduates Lisa Marrone and Alexa Wahr, say there are no good existing options in the
market to help women in this demographic foster new relationships.“I think a lot of the things that exist are nonprofits that are a little
antiquated now,” Marrone tells TechCrunch
“I think we saw that those are really serving the need of our members’ parents’ generation, but they haven’t really adapted as much
to the modern age.”Women 50 years and older can become a member of Revel
For now, the service is free, though the company plans to charge a $100 annual fee in the coming months
Currently, Revel’s community includes 500 women
With a $2.5 million funding led by Forerunner Ventures’ Kirsten Green, the small team plans to expand within the Bay Area
They said they won’t begin establishing Revel outside the region until they raise a Series A.It’s hard to imagine women will stay
committed to paying an annual Revel membership, considering the real value comes from the company’s ability to facilitate introductions to
Once those introductions have been made, women can discontinue their membership and develop relationships outside the service
Forerunner Ventures, however, is known for backing successful and prominent brands, like Glossier, Warby Parker and Outdoor Voices
My guess is Revel has ambitions to become the brand representing women over 50 seeking meaningful connections.“We want to take this wide
in a short number of years because we feel there is a need and opportunity to build this strong community for women of this age; venture
capital in that sense was rocket fuel,” adds Marrone.Uber plans to buy a majority stake in a Latin American grocery delivery business
The Chilean startup was founded in 2015 by Oskar Hjertonsson, Daniel Undurraga and Juan Pablo Cuevas
It will continue to operate under that leadership in its current form for now, says Uber.To beat Amazon Go, Standard Cognition is buying
DeepMagic, a pioneer in autonomous retail kiosks
“The $86 million-funded Standard Cognition is racing to equip storefronts with an independent alternative using cameras to track what
customers grab and charge them
But Amazon’s early start in the space poses a risk that it could patent troll the startup,” writes TechCrunch’s Josh Constine.Extra
Crunch subscribers have a lot to chew on this week
Reminder, if you haven’t yet signed up for our premium content service, you still can here.This week, I wrote about the importance of
having a culture expert on staff at a venture capital firm
Increasingly, startups are being judged for their cultures, diversity of staff and more
VCs, for the most part, are unprepared to help their companies foster more inclusive environments, and that’s a problem
One firm, True Ventures, has taken a big step toward holding their companies accountable for culture and giving them real resources to help
them improve things early
I talked to True Ventures’ Madeline Kolbe Saltzman about her new title, VP of Culture.I took a break from Equity this week, but my co-host
Alex Wilhelm was in studio with IPO expert James Clark
Listen to the excellent conversation here.Equity drops every Friday at 6:00 am PT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast,
Spotify and all the casts.
