Pre-VC rounds are shaking up early-stage funding

sensa

The Sense sleep tracking device has been backed by angel investors and crowdfunding campaigns.

Wall Street Journal’s Evelyn Rusli reports that startups are tapping new sources of early-stage funding, including ad hoc networks of wealthy tech executives doing some investing on the side, and that should give some big venture capital firms pause. Twenty-three year old entrepreneur James Proud is the latest example. He has raised $10.5 million from a circle of well-connected angel investors and an additional $2.4 million in a Kickstarter campaign for his sleep-tracker device Hello.

 

 

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Doctor-patient video consultations will triple from 5.7 million in 2014 to over 16 million in 2015

doctor video consultation

Doctor-patient video consultations will exceed 130M in 2018.

Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates said, “the number of doctor-patient video consultations will nearly triple from this year to the next, from 5.7 million in 2014 to over 16 million in 2015, and will exceed 130 million in 2018. The connected health markets are experiencing tremendous growth both in end-user connected devices and on the institutional side, and the early collaboration with our Charter Sponsors helped us focus our first-year event as a key industry forum to connect the technology industry with healthcare stakeholders.”

 

 

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Top 5 ways the workforce will change in the next 5 years

workforce

What will the workforce look like in 2019?

Human-resources experts predict significant changes within the workforce over the next five years. They predict a sizable shift as millennials take their seats at businesses large and small, and Baby Boomers simultaneously either retire or modify their work styles to reflect increasingly flexible and mobile opportunities.

 

 

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Jawbone data reveals how many Up users were woken up by the Napa earthquake

napa-earthquake

Last Sunday’s 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the Napa region of Northern California was the strongest the area has seen in 25 years. The quake was so strong, in fact, that it woke many in the region — as we learned from a sudden change in the sleeping patterns of people nearby, thanks to data collected by Jawbone UP fitness trackers.

 

 

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Are robots people, too?

Robots

“When we create our future, we recreate ourselves.”

“Humans Need Not Apply,” a new online video about automation says, “this is an economic revolution.” The premise of the video is that human work will soon be all but obsolete. “You may think we’ve been here before, but we haven’t,” says CGP Grey, the video’s creator. “This time is different.” The video has gone viral, with nearly two million YouTube views in one week. But is it true?

 

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The future of shopping may be no shopping at all

future of shopping

Harvard Law professor Cass Sustein found in his survey on “predictive shopping,” 41% of people would “enroll in a program in which the seller sent you books that it knew you would purchase, and billed your credit card.” That number went down to 29% if the company didn’t ask for your consent first.

 

 

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Take a look inside some of the most lavish college gyms in the U.S.

Auburn

Auburn University’s track weaves throughout the gym.

When Louisiana State University was designing its new $58 million recreation center, recently,  it was partly looking at besting its Southeastern Conference rival, Auburn University, whose new $52.5 million facility opened last August.

 

 

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Top 5 ways Watson will change the way we compute

Watson future

Watson will transform entire industries.

IBM’s artificial intelligence computing platform, Watson, is changing the way we compute. From its roots as a robotic contestant on Jeopardy, the machine-learning marvel is now being positioned as a tool for doctors, businesspeople, and scientists worldwide–one that can answer any question posed to it in natural English.

 

 

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What happens when an ordinary man 3D prints and assembles a gun, then takes it to the police department?

gun

Brett Kuxhausen

We have seen a lot of amazing applications for 3D printing, but there is one particular application that has overshadowed some of the more positive uses, and that is the 3D printing of firearms.  3D printed guns aren’t necessarily a bad thing, in the wrong hands they certainly can be. Unfortunately the media has picked up a couple rather innocent stories pertaining to such fabrication, and used them to portray the future of the technology as being part sinister.

 

 

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Top 26 robotic innovations in healthcare

brain operated bionic arm

Brain-operated bionic hand.

We are living in a time where the concept of robotic healthcare isn’t as foreign as it might seem.  In regard to healthcare, the surge of innovation is supported by a strong attention to the world of technology and robotics. The evolution of the healthcare market is astonishing. We are becoming more accustom to the idea of automation and exploring the possibilities with open minds rather than anxiety. (Photos and videos)

 

 

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