Grab, Uber’s main rival in Southeast Asia, is continuing to develop its mobile payment strategy after it announced the acquisition of India-based startup iKaaz. The deal — which is undisclosed — will see iKaaz’s engineering team join the Bangalore-based engineering office which Grab opened last year. The firm declined to say how many new recruits are moving over… Read More Uber rival Grab acquires Indian startup to bulk up its mobile payment platform
Grab, Uber’s main rival in Southeast Asia, is continuing to develop its mobile payment strategy after it announced the acquisition of India-based startup iKaaz. The deal — which is undisclosed — will see iKaaz’s engineering team join the Bangalore-based engineering office which Grab opened last year. The firm declined to say how many new recruits are moving over… Read More 
Instacart has today announced the acquisition of Unata, a Toronto-based company that offers a platform for both grocers and consumers to interact digitally. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Unata’s product, unlike Instacart’s, is a white-label grocery platform, letting grocers anywhere create apps and websites for consumers to order products, complete with coupons,… 
Grab, Uber’s closest rival in Southeast Asia, continues to slowly release information about its newest funding round after it revealed it has netted a strategic investment from Hyundai. To recap, the Singapore-based firm raised a massive $2 billion led by SoftBank and China’s Didi Chuxing last July with plans to extend the round by a further $500 million. Back in August, it… 
City councillors in Amsterdam have decided to reduce by half the number of nights Airbnb hosts can rent out their apartments in the city — imposing a cap of 30 nights per year, down from the current 60 nights per years. The new limit will go into force in 2019. 
August Home, the smart lock startup that was acquired by lock giant Assa Abloy in October last year, is stepping up its delivery game. At CES today, the company announced a service it’s calling August Access, where retailers can work with August and its partner Deliv to open your front door and bring packages directly into your home when you are not there, if you use a smart lock from… 
On the heels of Motivate’s announcement that it’s launching an e-bike pilot program in San Francisco, startup LimeBike is essentially doing the same, but sooner. At CES, LimeBike unveiled its new electric pedal assist bikes, which use electric power to give your pedaling a boost and make riding up hills a breeze. While Motivate is rolling out its e-bikes for the Ford GoBikes system… 
Motivate, the company behind the San Francisco area’s bike-share system, is adding pedal-assist e-bikes to its fleets this April. The one-year pilot will launch with 250 e-bikes in SF, the company announced today. The bikes, created by startup GenZe, are designed to assist riders as they’re pedaling, therefore reducing the need for much energy while biking — especially uphill. 
BloomThat, an on-demand flower startup, has sold itself to flower giant FTD, Axios reports. FTD, which offers same-day delivery flowers for a variety of occasions, reportedly paid a small amount of money for the startup. Prior to this reported acquisition, BloomThat had raised $7.5 million from investors like Rothenberg Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Sherpa Capital and others, with the most…