I guess YC Demo Day is happening again, the usual mix of boil-in-bag food startups plus George Orwell via the Sharper Image.https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/20/here-are-the-63-startups-that-launched-today-at-y-combinators-s18-demo-day-1/ …
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Higia appears to be another valiant charge by YC at the mysterious, inscrutable mystery called "woman"pic.twitter.com/8JswloF8ze
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Cambridge Glycoscience is a bold pivot by Cambridge Analytica! The company sounds like the villain in an episode of MacGyver, and they seem to have hired with that look in mind: https://www.camglyco.com/#people
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"Kobo360 is a Nigerian startup wants to be the Uber for logistics and trucking in Nigeria… with a twist... a crowdfunding platform called Kobo Wealth Investment Network, or KoboWIN to enable Kobo drivers to finance new trucks through citizen investors." I think I know the twist!
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AskMyClass is using Amazon Alexa and Google Home speakers as a teaching assistant in elementary schools. I am actually impressed at how many ways this one is horrible. Automating away teaching jobs with surveillance and AI for small children is
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"Qurasense doesn’t think your period blood should go to waste. The company has developed a “diagnostic menstrual pad” called the Q Pad that passively collects blood samples on a test strip that can be mailed for diagnostic testing which is then turned into data." Nice try, Thiel!pic.twitter.com/46RGazSW2P
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FREY is a detergent for men. This is way overdue and fits in well with YC's mission of gendering all anionic surfactants. Whatever you do, though, don't use it to wash that robot bra upthread!https://livefrey.com
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"Synvivia is developing what amount to the kill switch for synthetic biology outside of a lab... Synvivia’s genetically encoded bio-containment system engineers organisms to only live when they have access to specific, small molecules." Funding comes from DARPA. Sounds good!
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"Grabb-It turns a car’s side rear window into a full-color display, playing location-aware ads to anyone who might be standing curbside." Targeted at gig economy drivers because of course it is. https://grabb.io
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I have to pause here because I have a candidate meeting. But I want to make a plea—you know what kind of frippery money gets thrown at in our industry. Please take a moment to fund these progressive House candidates who will tax YC into a smoking crater:https://secure.actblue.com/donate/great_slate …
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Okay, let's look at the rest of these YCombinator chess moves "BuyCoins is the only exchange in Nigeria that allows Nigerians to buy and sell cryptocurrencies ranging from Bitcoin and Ethereum, to Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash, directly with their local bank account or debit card."
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So that's two Nigerian YC startups—one to encourage speculation in Uber-like services, and one to just allow flat-out speculation in what is going to be the most damaging bubble in a long time, ensuring it hits average people in a developing country, not just YC principals.
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Demonpore sounds like the second coming of Theranos. "Demonpore is developing a universal biomolecular sensor that can measure “virtually any type” of molecule with relevance to human health."
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RealtyBits is a scheme for turning commercial real estate investments into cryptocurrency tokens, for those who believe that the biggest problem with the 2008 crash was government regulation and lack of blockchain. https://realtybits.com
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BHRD is basically Salesforce for the "investor storytime" business model, where you need to keep track of just which ears to whisper your sweet business promises into. https://bhrdglobal.com
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"Four Growers predicts it can replace at least four human laborers [who in US agriculture are likely to be migrant workers living in appalling conditions, and now in real fear of their lives under Trump] with its robots, representing incredible economic efficiencies for growers."
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"Mac’d is a build-your-own mac and cheese restaurant...plans to expand through a low-cost “ghost kitchen” approach, where it rents out kitchen space and sells strictly through providers like UberEats, Caviar, DoorDash and Postmates." MaCaaS!
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Another debt collection startup! "Prodigal Technologies wants to make debt collection, if not kinder or gentler, then certainly more efficient. If a payor misses a payment, lenders can reach out on any messaging platform and find borrowers where they are."https://www.prodigaltech.com
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And YC is now also offering payday loans for freelance workers: http://www.getoxygen.com/freelancers-struggle-to-secure-credit-heres-a-solution-to-bank-on/ …
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Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion of "Black Mirror During A Writer's Strike", when 63 more of these man-child fever nuggets drop at YC Demo Day
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End of conversation
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