Misterb&b raises $8.5 million to build the Airbnb for the LGBTQ community
Is there room for smaller, more focused Airbnb competitors? French startup Misterb&b thinks so as the startup just raised $ 8.5 million from Project A and Ventech to build an apartment renting platform focused on the LGBTQ community. As the name suggests, Misterb&b started with a focus on gay people, but the company says that it wants to become the inclusive platform for the LGBTQ… Read More
via Romain Dillet
Romain Dillet – TechCrunch
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Reedsy provides everything you need to turn your first draft into a book. And it turns out that ebooks aren’t overtaking good old paper books just yet. Reedsy partnered with Blurb so that you can send your finished book to Blurb, get it printed and sell it online. At heart, Reedsy remains a marketplace of professionals in the publishing industries. If you’re a writer, you can… 
French startup Algolia just raised a $ 53 million Series B round led by Accel, a couple of years after raising $ 18.3 million with… Accel also leading the round. So it looks like it’s a love story between the VC firm and the software-as-a-service startup. 
When an app developer releases a new update in the App Store, all their beautiful reviews disappear in the ether. This is about to change as developers will soon have the option to keep app reviews and the rating for the current version when they release an update. 
French startup Clustree just raised a $ 7.9 million Series A round (€7 million) from Creandum with Idinvest Partners and Alven Capital also participating. Clustree leverages machine learning to help both good employees who feel stuck in their jobs and HR departments who might not think to check their own companies for the perfect candidate. In order to do this, Clustree has structured more… 
Who’s going to be the next Mobileye? Computer vision is a hot topic for the tech industry, and especially in Israel. It seems like Israeli entrepreneurs are one step ahead when it comes to developing computer vision technology. That’s why we’re excited to announce that three computer vision experts are going to join us on stage to share their knowledge about this space. First… 
Are you ready for some major news on all things Google? Google is kicking off its annual I/O developer conference today. The conference starts at 10 AM Pacific Time (1 PM on the East Cost, 6 PM in London, 7 PM Central European Time) and you can watch the live stream right here on this page. We have a team on the ground ready to cover the event, so don’t forget to read our live blog to… 
Snap’s Spectacles are going on a summer tour across Europe. Starting today, anyone in Europe can buy a pair of sunglasses on Snap’s website or in a vending machine. With this launch, Spectacles are available outside of the U.S. for the first time. European Spectacles are exactly the same as the ones that launched in September 2016 in the U.S. While the excitement around Spectacles… 
TechCrunch is coming back to Israel with a Meetup + Pitch-off in Tel Aviv because everybody had a great time last year. The event will be on June 28 at Trask, between 6-10 p.m. If you want to introduce your startup to the world, compete in the Pitch-Off. It’s a great challenge and applications are open now! All applications must be in by June 6. That’s in five days, so hurry… 
The Pokémon Company just launched a new website introducing a brand new Pokémon game for your iPhone and Android phone, as Kotaku spotted. The game is called Pokéland and is currently only available as a limited beta in Japan. If you think this is a sequel to Pokémon Go, you’ll be disappointed as it looks like a brand new game. According to the website, Pokéland is all about… 
Concord wants to be your all-in-one solution for everything related to contracts. The startup just raised a $ 3.7 million Series A round from Alven Capital, with existing investors Streamlined Ventures, Bruno Deschamps and Thibault Poutrel also participating. Many departments rely on contracts to work with clients, suppliers, legal partners and more. But it’s still a tedious process as… 
Watch out Siri, there’s a new kid in town. Google just announced at its I/O developer conference that its personal assistant is coming to iOS. You won’t be able to replace Siri with Google Assistant, but you’ll be able to use the feature in Google’s dedicated app. 
There are 2 billion Android devices currently in use around the world. Google is now thinking about the next 2 billion devices. In order to do this, Google has a new project called Android Go. It’s a lightweight version of the upcoming version of Android (Android O) with optimized apps and Play Store. Google focused on devices with very low specs, users with limited connectivity and… 
Google just kicked off its annual Google I/O developer conference. It’s a great opportunity to get a sneak peek at what’s next for Android and other platforms. This year was no different as the company announced a ton of stuff. In case you missed it, here’s everything Google announced today. 
Food startups are apparently still steaming hot as French startup Frichti just raised a whopping $ 33.7 million (€30 million). Frichti is currently available in Paris and nearby cities. It handles everything in-house — from cooking to orders and deliveries. Verlinvest and Felix Capital invested in today’s funding round, with existing investors Alven Capital and Idinvest Partners… 
As you may have noticed TechCrunch is coming back to Israel with a Meetup + Pitch-off in Tel Aviv because we had a great time last year. The event will be on June 28, at Trask, between 6-10 p.m. Israel is one of the world’s fastest-growing and most impressive startup ecosystems, and we simply can’t resist coming back. If you feel you have the chops to compete in the Pitch-off… 
Stae wants to help local governments collect, manage and process data about their infrastructure. The company just raised $ 1.5 million from Story Ventures, Fontinalis Partners and Samsung Next. I first covered Stae back in April 2016. The vision hasn’t changed much, it’s all about preparing cities for the future and upgrading infrastructure by making it more efficient through… 
French startup Stanley Robotics just raised $ 4 million (€3.6 million) from Elaia Partners, Bpifrance and Idinvest Partners. The company is building giant robots that pick up your car at the entrance of a parking lot and park it for you. If you drive your car to the airport, you know how expensive it can be to leave your car at the airport for a week. Airport parking lots have turned into one… 
2017 is no different — I still hate concept videos. But Federico Viticci and Sam Beckett teamed up once again to design some of the changes they’d like to see with iOS 11. It’s more convincing than your average concept video. In particular, this video focuses on iOS for the iPad. The Shelf is an interesting new feature. You can pull it down from the top of the screen and… 
Startups participating in the Startup Battlefield have all been hand-picked to participate in our highly competitive startup competition. They all presented in front of multiple groups of VCs and tech leaders serving as judges for a chance to win $ 50,000 and the coveted Disrupt Cup. After hours of deliberations, TechCrunch editors pored over the judges’ notes and narrowed the list down… 
It’s been a long night at Pier 36, the site of the Disrupt NY Hackathon. Around 750 engineers and designers got together to come up with something cool, something neat, something awesome. The only condition was that they only had 24 hours to work on their projects. Some of them were participating in our event for the first time, while others were regulars. Here are the top hacks … 
Apple just released a dozen of videos on its website (and some of them on YouTube) about the camera on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. At first I thought it would be a step-by-step three-minute tutorial explaining all the buttons in the Camera app. But it focuses more on hidden features and how to get the most out of your phone’s camera. Named ‘How to shoot on iPhone 7’,… 
If your company works with big clients, you might want to be able to predict what’s going to happen with your company’s bank account. YayPay is introducing weather forecasts, but for your unpaid invoices. This way, you know if it’s safe to commit to big projects. YayPay first launched on stage at Disrupt London. The company wants to help accounts receivable teams when it comes… 
Microsoft is holding its annual Build developer conference this week and the company is kicking off the event with its inaugural keynote this morning. You can watch the live stream right here. The keynote is scheduled to start at 8 am on the West Coast, 11 am on the East Coast, 4 pm in London and 5 pm in Paris. This is a developer conference, so you shouldn’t expect new hardware devices.… 
Every major campaign brings its set of changes. Barack Obama used big data and micro-targeting in his 2008 campaign. Then social networks became a great way to address messages to voters directly. But the political campaigns of 2016 and 2017 have been something different altogether. The internet has become so big that trolls started to have a significant influence on the results of the elections. 
If the Surface Laptop wasn’t enough, Microsoft is going to announce new devices once again at an event later this month. The company’s vice president of devices Panos Panay teased the event in a tweet and Instagram photo. Besides the city and date, the only hint we have is the use of the hashtag “#Surface.” Given that the Surface Laptop is brand new, the Surface Studio… 
Rumor has it that Amazon has been working on an Echo device with a touchscreen for a while. AFTVnews spotted an image on Amazon’s own servers. And it looks like a device we’ve never seen before. As you can see, this isn’t exactly the best image of the device. It’s extremely pixelated because it’s a tiny thumbnail. I believe it’s going to appear at the top of… 
Amazon has accepted new contract terms with book publishers in the European Union after Commissioner Margrethe Vestager led an investigation into Amazon’s practices. After today’s decision, Amazon will no longer force publishers to provide the best price on the company’s Kindle store. The investigation started a couple of years ago as publishers started to worry that… 
I don’t think anyone was expecting this punch. According to a new report from Bloomberg, Qualcomm is thinking about asking the International Trade Commission (a U.S. trade agency despite the misleading name) to ban imports of iPhones into the U.S. This is the latest twist in the ongoing conflict between Apple and Qualcomm. Qualcomm hopes that the ITC could rule on the issue sooner than… 
British chipset firm Imagination Technologies is having a tough quarter. After announcing that the company had laid off hundreds of employees as Apple is about to end its relationship with its supplier, the company is now starting the dispute process according to a statement sent to Reuters. Imagination Technologies has worked for many years with Apple on graphics chipsets. Its designs have… 
Microsoft just unveiled a new operating system — Windows 10 S. This secured and streamlined operating system is perfect for the education market. But Microsoft is also going to ship Windows 10 S on its perfectly capable Surface Laptop. During the press conference, the company has compared the new $ 999 laptop with various MacBooks, making it even more puzzling that it opted for a… 
Apple has released a new ad showcasing the Portrait mode feature for the iPhone 7 Plus. This one is interesting because it was entirely shot in China, one of Apple’s key markets along with the U.S. and Europe. In particular, you can see a young couple in the streets of Shanghai. It looks like they’re here to explore the city. The streets are busy and noisy. But once the man turns… 
Meet Tempow, a French startup that can make your Bluetooth speakers more versatile. The company has been working on a new implementation of the Bluetooth protocol in order to let you play music from your phone on multiple speakers and headphones at once. Bluetooth speakers have become a common gift and a hit item in consumer electronics stores. Most people now have multiple Bluetooth speakers… 
Most of the apps on your phone already rely on a server component to store and process your data. When you post a video on Facebook, it gets re-encoded into multiple formats on the server so that other users can stream your video in SD, HD, etc. But I think this trend is going to become even more important in the coming years, with all your devices acting as a simple screen into your stuff… 
The end of April (and also my birthday in case you care) is coming really soon, which means that Apple only has a few more days to release its first original video series for Apple Music. In a statement sent to TechCrunch, Apple said that Carpool Karaoke has been delayed until later this year. “Carpool Karaoke for Apple Music will premiere later this year,” an Apple spokesperson… 
Preteen unicorn Dropbox needs some cash real quick, so the company just secured a $ 600 million credit line according to a new Bloomberg report. This could be the company’s last “funding” round before its initial public offering. According to Bloomberg, Dropbox is thinking about going public before the end of the year. According to what we’ve heard, the timeline… 
If you’re a freelancer or self-employed person, you can now open a dedicated business account with N26 in just a few minutes. These business accounts are pretty similar to the consumer accounts with one additional feature — you get 0.1 percent cashback on all your card purchases. Business accounts are available in all European countries where N26 already operates. You can’t… 
French telecom company Orange is launching a bank this Summer in France. Orange CEO Stéphane Richard listed some of the features behind Orange Bank this morning at a press conference. And let’s just say that it doesn’t sound as groundbreaking as the company thinks. Just like N26, Revolut and others, you’ll be able to control your payment card directly from your phone. 
Reliable iPhone leaker Sonny Dickson just shared new design schematics for the upcoming iPhone. The most interesting thing is that the leak clearly shows a spot on the rear of the device for the Touch ID sensor. Rumor has it that Apple is going to release three new devices in September — upgraded versions of the iPhone 7 with better specs, and a brand new phone with a new form factor.… 
French startup Travauxlib matches you with construction companies so that they can fix up your home. The company raised $ 1.9 million (€1.8 million) from Xavier Niel, Breega Capital and Bpifrance. Travauxlib usually works on complete home renovation, kitchen remodeling, bathroom work and home extensions. In other words, if you want to change something about your home and it costs anything… 
French fintech startup Compte Nickel was acquired by French bank BNP Paribas yesterday. I couldn’t nail down the price but I’ve heard that it was quite significant. Compte Nickel was one of the leading fintech startups in France. You can open the equivalent of a current bank account in thousands of tobacco shops in just a few minutes. Compte Nickel gives you an IBAN and a… 
Microsoft couldn’t wait until E3 in June to unveil the Scorpio, so the company shared some details with Digital Foundry and we now know all of Project Scorpio’s tech specs. As expected, it’s going to be by far the most powerful gaming console out there. The console GPU will be able to process six trillion floating point operations per second, or six teraflops for short.