Profile – Karma

Chanel-Backed Sulapac Rolls Out Mojito-Proof Straws as Eco-Conscious Brands Ditch Plastic

Anastasia Ustinova — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 23:04:24 +0000

Karma Takeaway: As awareness about plastic pollution rises, more big brands and investors are relying on startups like Sulapac to drive packaging and biomaterials innovation Edible cutlery, melting paper tubes, mushroom-based packaging, straws made of pasta. These are some of the biodegradable products being developed to satisfy the needs of environmentally conscious consumers, who want […]

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Farm Fare Reimagines Food Supply Chain to Help Small Farmers Compete with Big Ag

Anastasia Ustinova — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 19:40:51 +0000

Karma Takeaway: Farm Fare reimagines the local food supply chain by fostering collaboration among farmers to compete with the economies of scale. It’s the economy of scale, stupid. Racing to deliver cheap food at all costs, farmers around the world are consolidating amid rising production expenses and declining income. More acres are held in fewer […]

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TransferWise Bucks the Trend by Not Going Public as Its Cash Transfer Service Grows Globally

Mark Shenk — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 22:25:25 +0000

Just over a decade ago, Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus were looking to cut the costs of converting cash from pounds into euros. It was an idea that lead to the birth of TransferWise. Käärmann earned a Christmas bonus in 2008 in London and decided to transfer it to his savings account in his homeland […]

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With Austin Expansion, E-Scooter Startup Revel Gears Up for Long Haul on Short City Trips

Zoë Beery — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 22:33:25 +0000

Key Takeaway: Revel’s stability-first business model may interest investors looking for moderate gains in the growing micro-mobility sector. Electric scooter sharing startup Revel is revving up. They’ve got a thousand scooters on the streets of New York and, as of this summer, 400 in Washington, D.C. Last week, just under two years since their founding, […]

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Can This Digital Payment Card Win Over Gen Z Clients? Not So Fast.

Kenneth Arthur — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 17:00:28 +0000

Key Takeaway: Mitto hopes that its digital payment card wins over Generation Z clients in Spain, Latin America, and the E.U., but heavy competition and an underwhelming history with prepaid debit cards might put the breaks on its global expansion. Mitto, a Spain-based company tailoring its digital payment cards exclusively to Generation Z, wanted to […]

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Nebula Genomics Puts DNA on Blockchain to Buoy Privacy-Concerned Consumers

Anastasia Ustinova — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 19:25:03 +0000

Key Takeaway: With concerns about the privacy of genetic data rising, Nebula Genomics has developed a Blockchain-based genomic marketplace, where users decide who gets access to their data and potentially receive compensation for sharing it. Founded by genomics pioneer and Harvard professor George Church, Nebula hopes to help accelerate genomic research and precision medicine discoveries. […]

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Tech Titans Bet $120 Million on Israel’s First Digital Bank

Matthew Kalman — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 12:30:56 +0000

Key Takeaway: Israel’s traditional banks are lagging behind fintech startups. Can two tech billionaires turn things around with a new bank? Israel brims with fintech startups that have produced key financial technologies like the RSA code used to encrypt most bank transfers. Strangely, its own banks remain shackled by physical paperwork and still favor faxes […]

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Hewlett Packard Enterprise Embraces Sustainability as a “Fresh Start” and Profit Generator

Mark Shenk — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 18:39:54 +0000

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has found that sustainability isn’t just good for public relations. Along with a growing number of leading companies, the IT giant is discovering it’s also a profit generator. “We must rethink our traditional linear economy and transition to what is known as the circular economy, a model in which the value of […]

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Die Laughing: U.K. Life Insurer DeadHappy’s Gallows Humor Helping it Sell Policies

Kenneth Arthur — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 16:39:42 +0000

Key Takeaway: DeadHappy’s wisecracks, animations and black humor on social media seek to get younger people talking about death and buying life insurance. Venture funds are smiling. For a company that deals in death, U.K. insurer DeadHappy seems to be having an awfully good time. From the laughing skull logo, to blog posts about “Putting […]

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Shape Security: How This Unicorn Is Leveraging AI to Tackle Cybersecurity Crimes

Anastasia Ustinova — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 12:53:47 +0000

Key Takeaway: Shape Security, which became a unicorn last month after raising $183 million to date, has developed an AI-powered engine that helps distinguish humans from bots and protects businesses from an increasing threat of cyberattacks. It is now one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S. When Chipotle customers across the country complained this […]

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