Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Facebook CEO to testify before US house panel on Oct 23
EU warns of 5G cybersecurity risks, stops short of singling out China
Apple removes app from the App Store that tracked Hong Kong police and protests after pressure from China, says it "violates our guidelines and local laws" (Jack Nicas/New York Times)
Apple removes app from the App Store that tracked Hong Kong police and protests after pressure from China, says it “violates our guidelines and local laws” — SAN FRANCISCO — Apple removed an app on Wednesday that enabled protesters in Hong Kong to track police …
ETtech Top 5: Inventus Capital's new India fund, Ecomm cos & festive deep discounts & more
SmileDirectClub’s former CEO is back with a new dental startup called Tend
A growing number of newer dental brands has been attracting money from venture investors who are still kicking themselves for missing runaway hits. Most notable among these breakout companies is newly public SmileDirectClub, which sells teeth-straightening products directly to consumers and is beloved by analysts even though its shares have slipped since its September IPO.
Among the many teeth-related startups to more recently attract private funding is Swift Health Systems, a five-year-old company that makes invisible braces under the brand INBRACE and just raised $45 million from VCs; Henry the Dentist, a two-year-old, mobile dental clinic that raised $10 million earlier this year; and Quip, a five-year-old maker of electric toothbrushes and oral care products that has garnered roughly $62 million from investors.
Still, a new company called Tend is especially notable, and not because it just raised $36 million in seed and Series A funding — which it did, led by Redpoint Ventures.
First and foremost, Tend sees an opportunity to reinvent the dentist’s office. How? Through tech-heavy dental “studios” that “prioritize” your comfort by featuring sleek waiting areas that it promises you’ll almost never need to use and by offering “Netflix in your chair” that you will enjoy while wearing the latest and greatest Bose headphones. (Tend says it will get your favorite show queued up before you arrive for your appointment, which you will breezily book online, and whose prices you can learn in advance, so you don’t suffer sticker shock later. )
A Fast Company reporter who visited the startup’s newly opened flagship space in Manhattan’s Flatiron neighborhood was even offered a selection of only the finest toothpastes, including that of Marvis, an Italian brand that comes in such distinct flavors as Amarelli licorice, cinnamon, ginger and jasmine — not to mention “classic strong,” “whitening,” and “aquatic.”
It all sounds faintly ridiculous, but also fairly nice, especially contrasted with traditional dentist offices, which tend to be both highly antiseptic and astonishingly vague about pricing.
There’s also a kind of precedent for what it’s doing. Specifically, improving on the patient experience has worked out well for One Medical, a venture-backed, tech-driven chain of 70 clinics that has become one of the largest independent groups in the U.S. (It’s also reportedly prepping an IPO.) Little wonder that one individual participant in Tend’s new funding is Tom Lee, the physician who created One Medical in 2007 and led it as CEO until 2017.
Others individual investors include Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa of Warby Parker; Zach Weinberg of Flatiron Health; and Bradley Tusk of Tusk Ventures.
Tend’s cofounder and CEO is no slouch, either. seemingly. Doug Hudson was the CEO of SmileDirectClub for three-and-a-half years, beginning in 2013. Before that, he founded two medical care companies that were acquired: Hearing Planet and Simplex Healthcare.
Whether that pedigree is enough to get the company going will take some time to know but certainly, it’s chasing after a huge market that can very plainly be made better. In the U.S. alone, the dental market is now a $137 billion market, according to the research group IBIS World, and as Hudson notes in a new Medium post about his latest startup, dentistry has a Net Promoter Score of 1, which is just two points higher than dreaded cable companies.
Consumers “don’t accept this level of service in any other aspect of our lives. Not when shopping for glasses. Not when exercising at home with a stationary bike,” he writes, and it’s true. If Tend can improve the experience even a little bit and its prices are competitive, we’d guess it has a shot.
[Thread] Former World of Warcraft developer lead denounces Blizzard, says Chinese investment in game companies is silencing voices for freedom and democracy (Mark Kern/@grummz)
[Thread] Former World of Warcraft developer lead denounces Blizzard, says Chinese investment in game companies is silencing voices for freedom and democracy — This hurts. But until Blizzard reverses their decision on @blitzchungHS I am giving up playing Classic WoW, which I helped make and helped convince Blizzard to relaunch. There will be no Mark of Kern guild after all. Let me explain why I am #BoycottBlizzard
How to book LPG gas connection online
Intel says it is discontinuing its Kaby Lake-G processors that used AMD graphics (Paul Alcorn/Tom's Hardware)
Intel says it is discontinuing its Kaby Lake-G processors that used AMD graphics — Intel announced today that it had discontinued its Kaby Lake-G processors. The Kaby Lake-G processors arrived in 2017 with much fanfare and a bit of confusion, largely because the chips used …
Chinese phone companies to strengthen accessory business
DPIIT may meet Amazon, Flipkart on deep discount
This festive season, shopping offline to get as cheap as online
Waymo sends members of its early rider program an email saying they could be matched with a fully driverless car soon, and if so, the Waymo app will notify them (Kirsten Korosec/TechCrunch)
Waymo sends members of its early rider program an email saying they could be matched with a fully driverless car soon, and if so, the Waymo app will notify them — Waymo, the autonomous vehicle business under Alphabet, sent an email to customers of its ride-hailing app that their next trip might …
OnePlus 7T Pro Launch Expected Today: How to Watch London Event Live Stream
Govts may get more power to tax MNCs like Google, Facebook
Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry anti-US views are taking root worldwide (New York Times)
New York Times : Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry ...
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The first project we remember working on together was drawing scenes from the picture books that our mom brought with her when she immigrate...
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Sohee Kim / Bloomberg : South Korean authorities are investigating a data leak at e-commerce giant Coupang that exposed ~33.7M accounts; ...
