App

Bending Spoons acquires Evernote, marking the end of an era • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 16, 2022Posted in acquisition, App, Apps, Enterprise, Evernote, note taking, StartupsNo Comments

Evernote, the note-taking and task management app founded over 20 years ago, has been acquired by Milan-based app developer Bending Spoons. In a post on Evernote’s newsroom, Evernote CEO Ian Small said that Bending Spoons will take ownership of Evernote in a transaction expected to close in early 2023. “For Evernote, this decision is the next strategic step forward on our journey to be an extension of your brain,” Small wrote. “Teaming up with Bending Spoons will [accelerate] the delivery of improvements across our teams, professional, personal and free offerings.” For Evernote, the acquisition — the terms of which weren’t made public — marks the end of a roller coaster of a journey. Founded in 2000 by Russian-American entrepreneur Stepan Pachikov, Redwood City-based Evernote made handwriting recognition software for Windows and the eponymous note-taking, web-clipping app Evernote, which stored notes on an “infinite roll of paper.” Under CEO Phil Libin, who joined the company in 2007, Evernote shifted its focus to the web, smartphones and Mac, starting with Evernote 3.0 in 2008. This proved to be a winning strategy — at least at first. Between 2010 and 2015, Evernote raised hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital from investors including Sequoia, Meritech Capital and Japanese media company Nikkei. Its web service reached 11 million users within the first three years and Evernote launched a business in China, Yinxiang Biji, as the startup sought to rapidly expand. In 2013, Evernote was reportedly valued at nearly a billion dollars. But then trouble set in. Evernote’s chief operating officer, appointed in June 2015, left after just a few months. Meanwhile, Libin pursued partnerships with physical goods brands like Moleskine and Pfeiffer, launching Evernote-branded desk accessory lines that failed to catch on in a major way. Former Google Glass executive Chris O’Neill replaced Libin in July 2015. And in October of that year, Evernote laid off 18% of its staff and closed three of its ten global offices. August 2018 saw an exodus of top execs, including Evernote’s chief technical officer, chief financial officer, chief product officer and head of HR. Fifteen percent of the company’s workforce was laid off in September 2018, a step O’Neill justified as necessary to correct for the company’s recent overexpansion and “inefficiency.” Small, the former CEO of platform-as-a-service company TokBox, came on in 2018. Under his leadership, Evernote hit $100 million in recurring revenue, millions of paying customers and over 250 million users. But it largely failed to keep pace with competitors like Notion, opting to rely heavily on a consumer-focused freemium model while eschewing the kinds of collaboration features embraced by its rivals. So what does Bending Spoons gain with the purchase? Another feather in its software cap, it’d seem. The European tech company makes apps like video editor Splice, 30 Day Fitness, Live Quiz and photo editor Remini, which combined have about 100 million users. Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari says that Bending Spoons — fresh off of a $340 million venture round — will apply its “proprietary technologies” to Evernote to “augment its usefulness” and “strengthen its reach.” “Our mission at Bending Spoons is to make an enduring positive impact on our customers, on our teammates, and on society at large. Every day, millions of people across the globe rely on Evernote to organize their lives,” Ferrari said in a statement. “As such, Evernote is a perfect fit for the Bending Spoons portfolio, and we’re delighted to be able to serve its large and loyal customer base.”

TheGist taps AI to summarize Slack channels and threads • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 15, 2022Posted in AI, aleph, App, Apps, Enterprise, Robotics & AI, slack, summarization, TheGistNo Comments

Itay Dressler and Itzik Ben Bassat, who’ve held various software engineering and executive roles at startups together over the years, are accustomed to exchanging brief messages. Ben Bassat has ADHD, and for that reason prefers to keep texts on the shorter side. But as he and Dressler were faced with wrangling an increasing number of tools at their employers, they came to realize they weren’t the only ones who could benefit from more succinct updates. So they founded TheGist with the grand mission of “simplifying information consumption in workplace communications and data” through instant highlights. The startup’s first product uses AI to scan Slack messages and provide a personalized summary, aiming to filter out noise. And in the enterprise, there’s plenty of noise to filter. According to a 2021 report in Tech Republic, a survey of remote workers showed that 18% suffered from “information overload” while 8% were overwhelmed by the amount of data and apps they were meant to check each day. “There’s an overload of software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications that aren’t deeply integrated. Different teams use different tools to create information silos,” Ben Bassat told ZebethMedia in an email interview. “The integration between those SaaS tools makes the information overload greater, not smaller. There is no reason that in 2022, using AI, employees can’t get the information they need to make better decisions in a short and personalized form.” Installing TheGist’s Slack app — which can summarize both channels and threads — is a straightforward-enough process. Once connected to a workspace, the app can be added or invited to channels that a user wishes to summarize. Typing the command “/gist” summons it, generating a fresh summary — generally a bullet point or two in length — of what happened in the channel, visible only to the person who requested it. Image Credits: TheGist TheGist Slack app can provide summaries covering time scales from one day to several weeks. Beyond this, it can summarize particularly long individual Slack messages. Service is free for up to five summaries but unlimited summaries requires a premium subscription, which starts at $10 per user per month. “We wanted to release a tool that highlights the need for shortening the information overload in companies,” Ben Bassat said. “TheGist is a game changer for decision makers as we enable managers to dramatically increase the amount of workplace information they can consume by digesting it and personalizing it … For employees, we serve them the information they need when they need it so they can be aligned with the organization and make better and more knowledgeable decisions.” That’s a lot to promise. AI, while improving by leaps and bounds, has its limitations; TheGist’s summaries are bound to contain mistakes from time to time. And from a security standpoint, companies might be loathe to let a third-party app process the internal messages — particularly companies in highly regulated industries. Ben Bassat didn’t provide much in the way of detail around TheGist’s AI systems and their development, save that it’s leveraging “multiple open source large languages models” with “specific in-house fine-tuning.” “We are using statistical models to evaluate our models’ output and assess correctness,” Ben Bassat said. “As in every product which is generated by AI, results can have summary errors, and our users are made aware of that.” On the compliance question, Ben Bassat claims that TheGist doesn’t store Slack data other than the specific messages users ask to summarize, which it deletes after the summaries are generated. “We only store analytical and usage data in order to improve our product and personalize the user experience. Users can ask to delete their data according to our privacy policy,” Ben Bassat added. There aren’t a lot of competitors in the Slack summarization space. But there are a few, it’s worth noting. Frame summarizes the previous day’s Slack activity, providing metrics including team responsiveness and auto-detected “high” and “low” moments. Grok, a Slack app, provides summaries of Slack conversations and threads generated by OpenAI’s GPT-3 API. There’s also TLDR, which uses algorithms to spit out Slack message summaries. Image Credits: TheGist But Ben Bassat and co don’t see TheGist’s first app as the endgame. In parallel to it, Ben Bassat says that the company’s on the cusp of releasing “proprietary generative AI solutions” for different platforms in the near future — although it’s not clear for which platforms and what types of generative AI. Ben Bassat didn’t have much to say on the subject, which suggests that the specifics are in flux. “The goal of our platform is to enable anyone to be informed with short updates from any app they use for communication or productivity: Email, texts, project managing tools, doc files and more. Solving this challenge requires a lot of technological focus with a high level of expertise,” Ben Bassat said. “Our vision is to provide accurate summaries and actionable insights across all information-producing apps.” The success of TheGist’s Slack app aside, generative AI is probably a wise path to take. It’s the hot new thing in tech, to be sure, with startups like Jasper, an AI copywriting app for marketers, recently raising $125 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. VCs are certainly excited by the prospect; Sequoia Capital said in a blog post from September that it thought generative AI could “create trillions of dollars of economic value.” For its part, TheGist has raised $7 million to date in pre-seed funding co-led by StageOne Ventures and Aleph. Eden Shochat, a partner at Aleph, said via email: “TheGist’s debut tool is only the starting point, and there is so much more to come. In a world where companies create excessive amounts of data, across multiple tools, employees only want to zero in on the insights that matter to them, at the point in time when they are relevant. TheGist is on a mission to create magical tools that work for the user, rather than the other way around.”

222 wants to match perfect strangers for bespoke, real-life experiences • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 14, 2022Posted in App, Apps, Social, startup, StartupsNo Comments

As anyone who’s moved to a city sight unseen can tell you — this reporter included — making platonic connections isn’t easy. Adult friendships are fickle beasts in metros of millions, where casual friends are cheap currency. Statistics back up my anecdotal evidence. According to a 2021 survey conducted by the Survey Center on American Life, an increasing number of people can’t identify a single person as a “close friend.” In 1990, only 3% of Americans said that they had no close friends, while in 2021, that percentage rose to 12%. Many a startup has attempted to “solve socializing” with apps, algorithms and social nudges, or a combination of those three things. Bumble, for instance, has experimented with a communities feature that lets users connect with one another based on topics and interests. Patook took a Tinder-like approach to matching potential friends, using AI both to connect users and block flirtatious messages. But not everyone’s found these experiences to be especially fulfilling. “[I’m alarmed] by the tech industry’s lack of focus on building social products that are truly social rather than purely built to capture attention and exploit our desire for external validation,” Keyan Kazemian told ZebethMedia in an interview. He’s one of the three co-founders of 222, a social events app that aims to — unlike many that’ve come before it — facilitate meaningful and authentic connections. “Our society’s brightest minds — our fellow scientists, engineers and product managers — are being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars not to solve the existential problems of loneliness, climate change, space travel, cancer and aging but to instead find new ways to keep an already mentally ill society consuming endless content, always fighting for more of their attention,” Kazemian continued. “We’re building a product to swing the pendulum in the other direction.” Kazemian co-launched 222 in late 2021 with Danial Hashemi and Arman Roshannai. They initially came together over a university-funded project around predicting social compatibility among a group of strangers. Toward the end of the pandemic, Kazemian, Hashemi and Roshannai — all Gen Zers (at 23, Kazemian is the oldest) — curated intimate dinners in Kazemian’s backyard over wine and pasta for friends of friends who’d never met each other, using machine learning and a psychological questionnaire to craft the guest lists. “Folks loved the backyard dinners so much they convinced us to try to replicate it with real venues,” Kazemian said. “In early 2022, we moved to Los Angeles and started partnering with brick and mortar locations, creating a marketplace between hyperlocal venues and members looking to discover their city and meet new people through unique social experiences.” That marketplace became 222. Today, anyone between the ages of 18 and 27 can sign up for an account — the founding team is focused on the Gen Z crowd presently. There’s no app — just a basic Typeform workflow — and the sign-up process is designed to be simple. Once you provide your name, email address and date of birth, 222 has you answer roughly 30 Myers-Briggs-type questions covering topics from movie, music and cereal preferences to political views and religious affiliation. 222’s onboarding survey. Some are uncomfortably personal — you’ll be asked about your income level, sexual orientation and college major — but Kazemian says it’s in the interest of narrowing down potential matches. “All of our data is encrypted and used only to better each 222 member’s social experience,” he added when asked about 222’s privacy practices. 222’s small print also indicates that data from the app is being analyzed as a part of a university social science project — a continuation of the one Kazemian, Hashemi and Roshannai led a year ago. Opting out requires contacting the company. Image Credits: 222 After answering additional questions about your personality (e.g. “Is social activism is incredibly important for you?”, “Are you willing to have uncomfortable and difficult conversations with your friends?”) and go-to social activities (e.g. drinking, watching sports, going out to nightclubs), 222 has you list dietary restrictions and your ZIP code. You’re then asked to choose which factors you find most important in meeting new people (e.g., social scene, political leanings), and it’s finally off to the races. Or it should be. When I tried to sign up, the website threw an internal server error. I eventually received a text confirming my enrollment, but it included a link to a webpage that endlessly loaded. Kazemian chalked it up to teething issues and promised a fix. When the Typeform is working properly, Kazemian says, an algorithm behind the scenes factors in the answers to those 30-some questions to determine which of 16 categories your personality falls into. Once that’s decided, you’ll be notified if you’re selected for a 222 event — for example, dinner at a local venue partner of 222’s — which are currently held weekly and cost $2.22 to attend. Those who aren’t recruited for the dinner can choose to join for post-event mingling. So is the algorithm any good? Kazemian asserts that it is, and that, furthermore, 222 is one of the few social apps directly training and matching based on real-life experiences. “Most dating apps don’t do any sort of matching at all and rather focus solely on an Elo-type score, like in chess. Users on those products are only exposed to those that have a similar ‘yes-swipe-to-no-swipe ratio to themselves,” Kazemian said. “[By contrast,] based on our member’s onboarding questionnaire, 222 develops a psychological profile for each new sign up … Our algorithm will then not only pair each member with the best possible group of strangers for a given experience, it will also curate an itinerary for the evening with the best possible consumer experience — which speakeasy, café, concert or restaurant will this group of individuals have the best time at.” That’s quite a claim to make considering Tinder and even Facebook has dabbled with helping strangers connect at events. But algorithmic robustness aside, users might be wary of attending events

Wing brings drone delivery options to DoorDash customers in Logan, Australia • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 8, 2022Posted in App, Apps, DoorDash, drone delivery, Robotics & AI, Transportation, wingNo Comments

DoorDash is teaming up with Alphabet’s Wing to offer customers an easier way to arrange for goods to be delivered via drone. Beginning this week, a small number of DoorDash users in Logan, Australia will be able to order certain convenience and grocery items through the DoorDash app and have them delivered by a Wing drone, typically in 15 minutes or less, Wing says. The experience looks much like it does with a typical DoorDash delivery. A dedicated “DoorDash Air” carousel in the app highlights items eligible for Wing drone delivery, and the GPS location of orders is tracked in real time. Perhaps the only major difference is, unlike a standard DoorDash delivery, users who order via drone will be asked to specify a delivery spot in the app where their package can be safely lowered from the drone once it arrives. As Wing notes on its corporate blog, the DoorDash partnership is a step toward opening Wing’s platform so that its delivery service can be accessed via third party apps. “We see this new functionality as a logical step on this journey to make drone delivery a plug-and-play option for more businesses and consumers — no matter what app they use,” the company writes. Image Credits: DoorDash For DoorDash, the collab signals the company’s ongoing commitment to autonomous delivery tech. Last year, DoorDash introduced DoorDash Labs , a division focused on building automation and robotics solutions for last-mile deliveries. Separately, DoorDash has piloted delivery robots from vendors including Starship Technologies. Wing’s tie-in with DoorDash comes at an especially precarious time for the drone delivery industry. Technical, logistical and financial hurdles have impeded major players’ progress toward ubiquitous drone delivery — assuming that’s even an achievable vision. A report from Bloomberg earlier this year revealed that Amazon, for example, which has been developing delivery drones for years, has yet to overcome key safety concerns and technological limitations. Wing has wisely kept its scope smaller, focusing on a select few markets including several cities across Australia, Finland and Virginia and Texas in the U.S. The company has had to contend with its own share of issues, including neighbors irked by the drones’ loud propellers and weather-related flight disruptions. But Wing has achieved some success to date, reaching 200,000 lifetime deliveries in March 2022 and inking partnerships with supermarket chains like Australia’s Coles and Walgreens. According to analyst firm Research and Markets, the global drone package delivery market could be worth $5.56 billion by 2030. Among others, carriers like FedEx and UPS and retailers such as Walmart are testing autonomous drone cargo flights for short-haul deliveries.

Travel app Hopper raises $96M from Capital One to double down on social commerce • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 7, 2022Posted in App, Apps, capital one, funding, startup, Startups, Transportation, travel, travel bookingNo Comments

Evidently, the downturn hasn’t soured investors on the travel industry. Travel booking startup Hopper today announced that it closed a $96 million follow-on investment from Capital One, bringing the company’s total raised to close to $730 million. The fresh cash will be put toward several efforts, CEO and co-founder Frederic Lalonde said in a press release, including supporting Hopper’s new social commerce initiatives. As a part of the funding, Hopper says it’s extending its partnership with Capital One to create new travel products aimed at Capital One customers. Hopper’s tech already powers Capital One Travel and Premier Collection, Capital One’s marketplace of hotels and resorts exclusive to Capital One Venture X cardholders. It’s a safe bet that similar experiences along that vein are forthcoming. “With Hopper, we have found a partner who can not only match that pace, but help us continue to challenge the status quo and take a differentiated approach to building a world-class travel brand,” Capital One managing VP Matt Knise said in statement. “Through this strategic partnership, we’re well-positioned to adapt to a rapidly changing travel environment and create industry-leading solutions for our customers along their travel journey.” Founded by Frederic Lalonde and Joost Ouwerkerk in 2007, Hopper spent six years in stealth building what it claimed at the time was the “world’s largest structured database of travel information.” The company’s web-crawling tech ingested blogs, photo-sharing sites and other sources of information about locales and tagged them to a geolocation in a massive place database. But after Hopper’s public debut in 2014, the company’s leadership decided to pivot to mobile and devote engineering resources to flight prediction, building a tool that continuously monitors airline prices and sends price change alerts via push notification. Since the, Hopper has evolved into one of the largest travel apps in North America, with over 80 million downloads and sales of flights, hotels, homes and rental cars on the platform set to exceed $4.5 billion this year. Hopper differentiates itself from rival travel services (e.g. Travelocity) with features such as airfare price freezes and flight disruption guarantees, the former of which the company says represents about 40% of its total app revenue. Last year, Hopper ventured into the business-to-business market with the launch of Hopper Cloud, a partnership program that allows travel providers including Kayak, Marriott and Trip.com to resell Hopper’s fintech and travel agency products through a white-label portal. Hopper claims that Cloud has seen a rapid uptake, now comprising more than 40% of Hopper’s business; Lalonde claims that Hopper Cloud is on track to make more in 2022 than all of Hopper did in last year. On the consumer side, this spring, Hopper shifted its focus to in-app promotions, discounts and sales events. Social commerce is the company’s next big push, anchored by features like referrals, share-to-earn, team buying and daily gift, which reward users for with discounts on travel purchases for launching the app and engaging in sharing with friends. Hopper was last valued at $5 billion, ZebethMedia reported in early February. The company — which has an estimated 11.2% of the third-party air travel market in the U.S. — plans to eventually go public.