Court hears arguments on net neutrality
Executive coaching should be accessible to anyone who is interested, but oftentimes scaling the education is not practical. With her company Zella Life, co-founder Remy Meraz is democratizing professional development using AI. We sat down with her to discuss AI, independent contractors, and more.
After working in the financial sector for over 20 years, Mical Jeanlys-White founded her own company, WealthMore, a wealth tech with a focus on tackling a key financial barrier—wealth building and management. Her company leverages technology to connect everyday Americans with accessible wealth management services, aiming to provide wealth creation for all. We sat down with her to discuss her journey in raising capital, navigating tax policy, the evolving role of AI, and more.
Vance Reavie is no stranger to entrepreneurship. Using his knowledge from previous ventures, he created an AI platform that intelligently automates manual marketing and merchandising workflows and content generation processes for brands and retailers. We sat down with Vance to discuss the startup ecosystem in Arkansas, AI policy and regulation, grant opportunities, and more.
Founded in 2017, 60Hertz set out to tackle critical challenges in maintaining microgrids and renewable energy systems, particularly in remote regions like Alaska. Now active in eight countries, the company provides advanced maintenance technology through its SaaS platform. In this blog post, we dive into 60Hertz’s journey, from early capital-raising hurdles to success with government grants, and explore the future goals of this innovative company.
The Big Story: UK to start charging digital services tax. The United Kingdom is moving forward with a two percent digital services tax on Internet companies that have a global revenue of more than $648 million, at least $32.4 million of which comes from UK users. The new levy—which is set to go into effect in three weeks—comes after other countries proposed similar taxes, but delayed implementation of their measures in order to allow the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) time to reach an agreement on a global tech tax.
Based in Connecticut, AnytownUSA is the country’s first online market devoted exclusively to the sale of American-made goods. We recently spoke with Geralyn Breig, the founder and CEO of AnytownUSA.com, to learn a little more about the online marketplace, digital tax concerns, and the future of the platform.
TLDR: A Senate panel this week is planning to discuss new legislation that calls for Internet companies to agree to yet-to-be-determined best practices around detecting and removing child sexual abuse materials or risk losing their critical intermediary liability protections. While startups and other online platforms share lawmakers’ desire to remove problematic and illegal user-generated content from their sites, the legislation—as currently drafted—threatens to disrupt the protections that have allowed the Internet ecosystem as we know it to thrive for more than two decades.
The Big Story: Proposed SEC plan raises crowdfunding cap to $5 million. The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to propose a set of amendments to “promote capital formation and expand investment opportunities” for small businesses, including a rule change that would allow startups and other small firms to raise as much as $5 million from crowdfunding.
Located in the greater Chicago area, MoreWithUs – Everyday Jobs is an online platform working to empower job seekers to market themselves to employers. The startup’s goal is to create a wide-reaching social media job candidates’ platform that includes profiles from millions of active and engaged job seekers.
The Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies (or EARN IT) Act from Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) addresses a critical issue—stopping online child exploitation, which is a goal that startups share. But, as currently drafted, the bill threatens to unnecessarily disrupt the regulatory framework that has helped the Internet flourish and potentially ban the use of strong encryption technologies that protect user safety.
TLDR: Senate legislation introduced late last week would tax certain employee stock options upon vesting, rather than upon exercise. Although the bill is ostensibly designed to curtail the tax benefits that CEOs and other high-level executives receive, the legislation would harm the startup community by targeting the stock-based incentives that new companies use to attract top-tier talent.
The Big Story: Concerns mount over digital tax negotiations. World economic leaders at the G20 summit in Saudi Arabia over the weekend warned that a dispute between the U.S. and European countries over the implementation of digital service taxes could pose a threat to the global economy if an agreement is not reached. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has set an end-of-year deadline to negotiate a global tax overhaul that would allow countries to tax large digital service providers who do not necessarily have a physical presence within their borders.
Charlotte-based startup Vishion is a new mobile tool that lets users search for products from a variety of popular brands by color and hue. The app went live earlier this week, and is already positioning itself as a critical tool for interior designers and homeowners alike. We recently spoke with Samantha Smith, Vishion’s Founder and CEO, to learn more about the mobile tool, Charlotte’s startup ecosystem, and local diversity and inclusion initiatives to increase the voices of overlooked entrepreneurs.
The Big Story: EU releases blueprint for "tech sovereignty." The European Commission outlined a digital policy proposal this week to restore “technological sovereignty” to the bloc by imposing stricter regulations on large tech platforms and creating new rules for artificial intelligence and data use.
Blerp, a Salt Lake City-based search platform, was started by three college friends as a side project while attending the University of Utah. Today, the audio sharing service is integrated with a number of large-scale social media and streaming platforms—including iOS, Android, Twitch, and Discord—and provides users with the opportunity to create and share audio clips with their friends and other online users. We recently had the chance to speak with Derek Omori, Blerp’s co-founder and Director of Operations, to learn more about the app, the Salt Lake City startup ecosystem, and how the company is working to moderate and share audio content in a fun and family-friendly manner.
The Big Story: UK moves forward with plan to regulate online harms. The United Kingdom announced this week that it plans to give British regulators the authority to fine social media companies and online platforms for any harmful content that might be found on their sites—the next step in the country’s plan to combat harmful Internet speech. The regulations would apply to any Internet platform that allows for the sharing of user-generated content in the country.
Located in the rapidly growing Charlotte region, BAM Concepts is working to evaluate consumer products, such as razors, and then use technology to improve their benefits for consumers. We recently spoke with Attila Madarasz—one of BAM Concept’s three founders and the firm’s managing director—to learn more about the startup’s mission, the Charlotte ecosystem, and the company’s goals moving forward.
TLDR: The Senate is convening a hearing later today to discuss the law surrounding accusations of online copyright infringement. As it stands, online platforms (including startups) are not automatically liable for infringement based on content created or posted by their users. As the Senate reviews the law this year, it’s important to consider the interests of startups since changes in the law could create unreasonable burdens on fledgling companies.
Located in the Sacramento region, OpenGrants is a new startup that’s working to provide equitable access to public funding through the use of software and data products. We recently spoke with Sedale Turbovsky—OpenGrants’ Founder and CEO—to learn more about his startup’s work, his concerns about public funding transparency, and what federal agencies can do to further promote entrepreneurial engagement.
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