It's been an exciting summer in New York tech. Daily fantasy sports were once again legalized in the state, Jet sold to Walmart for over $3 billion, Gawker saw its last days and a real estate startup became a unicorn. Here's all the news you may have missed in between:
June
x.ai expands to Microsoft Outlook
The Story
X.ai is finally coming to Microsoft calendars, with support for Office 365 and Outlook.com, as the company moves closer to the release of its paid business edition later this year.
Some background
For the past two years, the company’s AI-powered virtual personal assistant has been helping Google Calendar users manage their meetings. The company waited to launch the technology beyond Google Calendar, as it takes a lot of time and effort to train the technology to automatically make meetings. [Business Insider]
FullStack launches first investment fund
The Story
Fullstack Academy announced the launch of Fullstack Fund, an investment fund for startups created by the program’s graduates.
Changing up the coding bootcamp model
Fullstack Academy wants to become an all-encompassing resource for non-technical founders to learn how to write code, build their product while in school and get seed funding upon graduation. The program will include $20,000 in seed money, a co-working space in its New York City campus and mentorship for Fullstack Academy alumni. [Built In NYC]
New York tops Silicon Valley in fintech venture financing for the first time
The Story
New York received more fintech venture financing than Silicon Valley for the first time during the first three months of this year, according to a new report by Accenture and the Partnership Fund for New York City.
Details
The report showed that $690 million flowed to New York and $511 million flowed to Silicon Valley, highlighting the city’s rapid rise as a fintech hub. Last year, fintech investment in New York tripled to $2.3 billion, accounting for nearly 10 percent of all fintech investment globally. BFD. [Business Wire]
Tumblr launches live video
The Story
Tumblr announced that the company will adopt video capabilities into its blogging platform, allowing users to broadcast directly to their follower’s dashboards.
There’s a twist
Tumblr is partnering with YouNow, Kanvas, Upclose and YouTube to help users upload or reblog videos as they would with any other post. Instead of building its own video apps, the company is tapping external partners for video creation, meaning users won’t be able to natively make videos within Tumblr’s apps. The aim is for Tumblr to become a home for live video, versus just another live-streaming platform. [Built In NYC]
WeWork arrives in China
The Story
WeWork opened its first hub in Shanghai in the beginning of July.
A little background
This was the first outpost of the New York-based coworking company in China – and marks the beginning of its expansion plans into Asia. The company is planning on opening two more Shanghai spaces and a Hong Kong branch in the second half of the year, followed by Seoul and Sidney. [Forbes]
New York legalizes daily fantasy sports
The Story
The New York Assembly passed legislation that legalizes daily fantasy sports throughout the state of New York.
Why this is important
The bill does not guarantee, but makes it very likely, that FanDuel and DraftKings, the market leaders in daily fantasy sports, will be able to resume operations in New York in time for the new NFL season, the most crucial time of year for new signups and big revenue from entry fees. [Yahoo Tech]
JPMorgan welcomes fintech startups
The Story
The massive New York-based investment bank is accepting applications for an “in-residence” program for startups working in the financial industry.
Why this matters
JPMorgan is one of a number of traditional financial institutions seeking to learn from newer, smaller fintech companies, signaling the rapidly growing importance of technology in the financial sector. [Fortune]
July
Kushner fund welcomes whopping $700 million
The story
Venture fund Thrive Capital closed its fifth fund with $700 million
Where it's going
The fund’s investment team reps say the new capital will go towards funding early stage companies, with bets here and there on later-stage growth investments. [Forbes]
SB Nation heads to radio
The story
Vox Media Inc. announced a partnership with Gow Media LLC to put SB Nation on the radio.
Why it matters
This is the first Vox brand to enter into radio. Vox is one of the bigger names in online-native news, suggesting radio and other audio content might be a medium on the rise in the transforming media landscape. [NiemanLab]
Verge founder outlines next project
The Story
Joshua Topolsky announced his latest project, a digital media startup called The Outline.
A little background
The Verge founder and former Bloomberg digital editor is billing the site as a technology startup more than a content platform and plans to forgo social-driven traffic. He has raised $5 million for his new project. [Built In NYC]
Taboola boosts video streaming capabilities with its latest acquisition
The story
Content creator Taboola bought the video advertising company ConvertMedia.
What it means
Taboola, a platform that helps publishers promote branded content via its data and personalization engine, will now be able to feature native videos in its articles, creating a more seamless viewing experience. [Crain's]
August
New York governor makes FanDuel, DraftKings legal again
The story
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill legalizing fantasy sports, allowing sites like DraftKings and FanDuel to operate in the state again after the sites were outlawed late last year.
Why this matters
The law, which was passed by the state congress back in June, regulates the industry and adds a tax to such platforms to help fund education in the state. [TechCrunch]
Walmart buys Jet for $3.3B
The story
E-commerce upstart Jet, which launched just over a year ago, was acquired by retail giant Walmart for $3.3 billion in cash and stock.
Details
The brands will remain separate, but Jet’s e-commerce tech will likely help boost Walmart’s online strength as Amazon continues to grow. Founder Mike Lore is no stranger to acquisitions, previously selling a portfolio of sites like Diapers.com and Soap to Amazon. [Press release]
General Assembly doubles in size
The Story
Education-to-employment startup General Assembly is adding new locations around the continent, in part thanks to the acquisition of Toronto-based Bitmaker, a tech and design career accelerator.
More details?
The company also plans to open between 15 and 25 new campuses by the end of the year. [Built In NYC]
Univision buys Gawker
The story
Univision placed the highest bid for Gawker Media at $135 million.
Why Univision
The Spanish-language television network is continuing its aggressive push to expand its digital reach to millennials, adding Gawker to a growing list of acquisitions it has made this year, including The Onion, The Root and Fusion. [Built In NYC]
BuzzFeed reorganizes into two new businesses
The Story
BuzzFeed announced it will be splitting into two new overarching departments: BuzzFeed News and BuzzFeed Entertainment Group.
What does this mean?
BuzzFeed Entertainment Group will encompass all entertainment content and will be led by the president of BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, Ze Frank. BuzzFeed News will serve as the company’s journalistic arm and will be led by editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed, Ben Smith. Ultimately, the restructuring aims to bring video content to the core of the company. [Built In NYC]
Brooklyn Bridge Ventures secures more than $15 million
The Story
Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, led by sole partner and founder Charlie O’Donnell, announced it closed a $15.1 million seed fund.
Details
Now, the firm anticipates checks of $350,000 when it leads deals, compared with the roughly $200,000 its first fund could support. Looking ahead, the fund will continue to focus on New York companies that have yet to raise $750,000 in previous rounds. [Forbes]
Compass becomes NYC’s newest unicorn
The Story
Compass, a technology-driven real estate platform that’s made major waves over the past year, announced it closed a $75 million Series D round, along with a valuation over $1 billion.
Details
The round was led by Wellington Management Company LLP, with participating investments from IVP, Thrive Capital, Founders Fund and 406 Ventures. The new financing is the company’s largest funding to date. [Built In NYC]
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