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The Engine Team
Startup News Digest 04/25/25

Broadband program hits new roadblocks

Startup News Digest 04/25/25
#StartupsEverywhere
Mitchell Winter
#StartupsEverywhere: Lincoln, Neb.

Timing the sowing and watering of crops is as important as ever in agriculture. Jessi Korinek and her co-founders at Nave Analytics are developing a software that uses satellite data to help farmers cut down on water costs for irrigation. We sat down with Jessi to discuss her product, the impact of tariffs on the agricultural industry, and the challenges she faced in receiving federal research and development (R&D) grants.

#StartupsEverywhere: Lincoln, Neb.
Blog, IP
Jill Crosby
Sacrificing Patent Quality for the Sake of ...

The Trump administration’s push for “efficiency” is undercutting key programs and tools that maintain balanced intellectual property frameworks that protect startups against low-quality patents and meritless, but expensive and time consuming, litigation.

Sacrificing Patent Quality for the Sake of “Efficiency”
Blog, Issues, Access to Capital
Jennifer Weinhart
The SBIR program is up for reauthorization ...

With a looming reauthorization deadline later this year, Congress has a chance to renew and improve a government funding program that can be critical to startups engaging in costly R&D.

The SBIR program is up for reauthorization again. It’s time for Congress to implement meaningful reform.
Blog, Privacy & Data Security, Issues
Kate Tummarello
Lawmakers are feeling the heat on kids’ safety, ...

Lawmakers in Congress and in state legislatures are under pressure from parents and advocacy groups to change Internet law to “keep kids safe online”.

Lawmakers are feeling the heat on kids’ safety, but are they willing to grapple with the tradeoffs?

#StartupsEverywhere: San Francisco, Calif.

#StartupsEverywhere: San Francisco, Calif.

Throughout his time working with environmental, social, and governance data in the finance industry, George Lee knew there had to be a better way to manage and analyze the data than manual entry spreadsheets. Now he’s the Founder & CEO of Hydrus.ai—a startup working to tackle that challenge. We spoke with George to learn more about the Hydrus platform, his experience working with internationally-based employees and clients, and what policymakers should keep front of mind while thinking about developing technologies.

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Startup News Digest 01/06/23

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Startup News Digest 01/06/23

The Big Story: Congress off to rocky start while 2023 startup policy to-do list grows. The 118th Congress is off to a rough start this week as the House remains unable to move forward until they elect a Speaker, which doesn’t bode well for the long and growing list of startup priorities that Congress should act on this year. Those priorities, including key startup issues, like access to talent, broadband availability, and data privacy, must move through a Congress that appears as fraught as ever. 

#StartupsEverywhere: San Francisco, Calif.

#StartupsEverywhere: San Francisco, Calif.

Premier pet tech industry leader Petcube keeps owners connected to their pets by providing  cameras that offer real-time video monitoring and other interactive features. We spoke to Co-Founder Andrey Klen on the impact of being a Ukrainian-founded company, their experience fighting abusive patent assertions, and how they’ve navigated various privacy rules, both in the U.S. and abroad.

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Startup News Digest 12/16/22

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Startup News Digest 12/16/22

The Big Story: Independent contractor proposed rule risks startup growth. More than two dozen startups and ecosystem support organizations are warning policymakers about a proposed change that would impact access to flexible talent. In comments this week to the Department of Labor (DOL), Engine and 28 members of the startup ecosystem spotlighted the important role independent contractors play in the startup ecosystem and the likely negative impact on innovation if startups’ ability to hire contract labor is restricted. 

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Startup News Digest 12/09/22

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Startup News Digest 12/09/22

The Big Story: Digital Services Taxes passed on to end users, including startups. Efforts to implement a global tax deal that would help avoid sector-specific taxes on digital services ran into additional roadblocks this week. The development follows new government reports confirming that the digital services taxes (DSTs)—which are often imposed upon large technology companies—are actually paid by their end users. As a result, startups, who often build their companies with services from other large tech firms, can face increased costs to building and growing their businesses.

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Startup News Digest 12/02/22

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Startup News Digest 12/02/22

The Big Story: Time is running out for Congress to save imperiled immigration program. As the end of the year quickly approaches—and with it, the end of this session of Congress—the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA) remains uncertain. DACA recipients play a key role in the startup ecosystem as entrepreneurs and STEM talent. Without Congressional action, the future of the program will likely end up in the hands of the Supreme Court, which could invalidate the program. Senate Democrats are pushing to provide permanent status for Dreamers before that happens.

#StartupsEverywhere: Los Angeles, Calif.

#StartupsEverywhere: Los Angeles, Calif.

After building her own medical practice, Dr. Renee Dua has relied on that experience to found and grow two innovative tech startups in the healthcare space. The company she currently leads, Renee, as Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, provides members with a generic medication subscription service as well as an automated health assistant to support the care of elderly or sick individuals. We spoke with Renee about the important healthcare access benefits of her caregiving platform, the lessons she has learned about navigating the fundraising ecosystem as a two-time company founder, and why companies, as well as policymakers, need to be thoughtful in how they approach automated systems.

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Startup News Digest 11/18/22

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Startup News Digest 11/18/22

The Big Story: Online sales tax back in the spotlight with watchdog report. A government agency is recommending that Congress address the patchwork of state laws that govern online sales taxes, an issue that has burdened e-commerce businesses, including many startups. In a new report this week, the Government Accountability Office examined the “substantial uncertainty” and complexity of the current remote sales tax landscape and recommended that Congress work with states to streamline requirements and minimize the burdens currently imposed on businesses across the country.

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Startup News Digest 11/04/22

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Startup News Digest 11/04/22

The Big Story: Affirmative Action cases will impact innovation ecosystem. This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard two cases that could upend race-conscious admissions policies used by many universities and alter the pipeline for STEM talent in the innovation ecosystem. Eliminating the ability to consider race in college admissions would have an outsized impact on on-campus diversity, the racial and ethnic diversity of many employers hiring college-educated talent throughout the country, and the makeup of the startup ecosystem and the breadth of innovation it produces.

#StartupsEverywhere: Miami, Fla.

#StartupsEverywhere: Miami, Fla.

People Clerk’s innovative legal technology platform works to create a more accessible legal system and helps users of different social, economic, and cultural backgrounds navigate the bureaucracy of small claims courts. Co-Founder Camila Lopez spoke with us about why she decided to start People Clerk, the challenges that arise when complying with state patchwork privacy laws, and the unique challenges founders face when building a legal tech company.

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Startup News Digest 10/28/22

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Startup News Digest 10/28/22

The Big Story: Engine releases report on the role of acquisitions in the startup ecosystem. Engine, in partnership with Startup Genome, released a new report this week examining the role exits play in the startup ecosystem, highlighting the importance of exits via acquisition, and emphasizing the experience of founders that have had their companies acquired. The report—“Exits, Investment, and the Startup Experience: the role of acquisitions in the startup ecosystem”—should equip policymakers with a solid foundation from which they can advance pro-innovative policies that startups need to thrive.

#StartupsEverywhere: New York, N.Y.

#StartupsEverywhere: New York, N.Y.

Noula Health is a data-driven virtual care platform offering personalized, accessible health care through at-home hormone testing and 1-on-1 coaching from experts. Noula helps its customers craft reproductive health care plans tailored to their individual needs with science-backed recommendations determined from a quick finger prick test and ongoing assessments. Founder & CEO Noelle Acosta, motivated by her own health care journey, shared with us her story, her unique experiences raising capital, and the future outlook of her company.

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Engine Releases Report on the Role of Acquisitions in the Startup Ecosystem

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Engine Releases Report on the Role of Acquisitions in the Startup Ecosystem

The U.S. startup ecosystem is defined by dynamism. Startups are constantly being founded, earning investment, growing, exiting, and—yes—failing in cities and towns all across the country. Startup exits and investment are two intimately related and important drivers of this dynamism critical to economic growth and innovation in the startup ecosystem. Startup exits—both those that are profitable and those that are not—promote the building of knowledge, recycling of talent, and flow of capital through the ecosystem. Each of those components are key to building new startups and stimulating the investment needed to grow them to scale.

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Startup News Digest 10/21/22

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Startup News Digest 10/21/22

The Big Story: Judge strikes down Maryland tax on digital advertising. A Maryland judge struck down the U.S.’ first tax on digital advertising, which faced vocal challenges including from technology companies and would have resulted in taxed companies passing down its cost to customers, including startups. In a ruling on Monday, the court found the tax, implemented by Maryland lawmakers to raise revenue, unconstitutional and a violation of the Internet Tax Freedom Act.

#StartupsEverywhere: Brooklyn, N.Y.

#StartupsEverywhere: Brooklyn, N.Y.

Carefully is a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based platform enabling parents to collectively share the responsibilities of childcare. We spoke to the Founder & CEO Leslie Borrell about how working as a single-mom inspired the creation of Carefully, why policymakers should prioritize solving the childcare crisis, and how founder support programs were critical to helping her build a startup.

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Startup News Digest 10/14/22

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Startup News Digest 10/14/22

The Big Story: Proposed independent contractor rule could make hiring harder for startups. This week the Department of Labor (DoL) issued a proposed rule that is likely to impact how early-stage startups build their teams. The DoL’s proposed rule on worker classification would limit who can be considered an independent contractor and comes shortly after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced similar enforcement priorities for the gig economy. As we shared in a recent blog post, the rule could limit startup flexibility in their hiring decisions, which could particularly impact growing companies with lean budgets.

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Statement on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals DACA Ruling

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Statement on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals DACA Ruling

The following statement is attributed to Kate Tummarello, Executive Director of Engine, on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruling in State of Texas v. United States of America.

Statement

“Yesterday’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruling DACA illegal is a crushing disappointment for the thousands of DACA recipients living and working in the U.S., who provide meaningful contributions to our country, including our startup ecosystem. While existing DACA recipients currently retain their protections, it is clear Congress must act urgently to secure and extend protections for all Dreamers and send the message that they are valued, eliminating the constant threat of deportation.”

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Startup News Digest 09/30/22

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Startup News Digest 09/30/22

The Big Story: Network access fee debates heat up worldwide. This week, European telecom companies redoubled their push to make large Internet companies pay based on the traffic they generate, a policy that would undermine net neutrality principles and negatively impact the broader Internet ecosystem. The push comes after months of agitating by Internet service providers (ISPs) for the payments, called network access fees, and amid a growing number of jurisdictions that have taken steps toward such policies, including South Korea.

 

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