States gear up to work on AI
Startup policy outlook under second Trump term
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.
After first hand experience with California’s water crisis, Lumo CEO Devon Wright decided to create a solution to make farmers’ water use cost-efficient and remotely accessible. We sat down with him to hear about his experience as a serial entrepreneur, the importance of broadband access to rural communities, and the ways the U.S. can realize our sustainability goals.
For many startups, this year’s taxes will reflect a detrimental change to the research and development (R&D) tax credit thanks to a bill Congress passed in 2017. Without a Congressional fix, small businesses and startups without deep pockets will be less able to weather the cash flow burdens resulting from the change, and some companies may be facing hefty tax bills and will table plans for future R&D.
The Big Story: New research shows state privacy patchwork costs startups hundreds of thousands. Startups spend hundreds of thousands of their limited resources on privacy compliance, much of which goes to duplicative activities that don't further users' privacy, according to a report Engine is releasing today. The report, Privacy Patchwork Problem, chronicles the steps startups are taking to protect the data of their users and enumerates the costs, burdens, and barriers startups encounter—which reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It underscores the need to give for a federal privacy framework that creates uniformity, promotes clarity, and accounts for the resources of startups, while creating consistent rights for their users located in every state across the country.
The fall of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) dealt an immediate shock to the global startup ecosystem and will have lasting ramifications for banks and founders. Many startups lack access to large banks, and instead rely on community and regional banks to meet their needs. SVB in particular was uniquely situated to support the startup ecosystem, offering more favorable terms for loans and connections for founders. But the fall of SVB has led to concerns that other banks may suffer similar fates, and at the same time has brought to the forefront the risk inherent to the startup ecosystem.
Data privacy has been top of mind for consumers, policymakers, regulators, companies, and entrepreneurs for the past several years, in the wake of broad privacy rules in the EU, and action in several U.S. states. The U.S., which has long had a sectoral approach to privacy, remains without a comprehensive privacy framework, and many states have reacted by proposing, passing, and implementing their own varying—and potentially conflicting—comprehensive privacy laws.
The Big Story: SVB fallout puts startup banking needs in the spotlight. In the wake of last week’s collapse of a key startup-facing bank, many in the startup ecosystem are concerned about the banking options and funding landscape for startups across the country. Last week, California regulators and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shuttered and placed into receivership Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a mainstay bank for the global startup ecosystem. At the same time, startups scrambled to move funds and were unsure if they’d have the capital to pay their employees this week.
Vassil Mladjov is the chairman and investor at Tallio.io, a startup that delivers targeted Shoppable ads to TV viewers. Tallio aims to make the experience of watching TV more relevant to the viewers by personalizing the ad experience. We spoke with Vassil about the history of Tallio and how it pivoted from a live stream shopping platform to a personalized TV advertising system, as well as the current landscape of data privacy laws and the implications of allowing companies to copyright their application programming interfaces (APIs).
The Big Story: Broad, diverse coalition underscores importance of Section 230. This week, Engine joined more than three dozen public interest organizations, academics, free expression advocates, industry associations, and companies in a letter highlighting the value of Section 230 in enabling users, community building, and expression online. The letter was sent to members of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law ahead of a hearing Wednesday on Section 230, a foundational Internet law that enables platforms of all sizes to host and moderate user content without risking ruinous liability.
getWise is an online platform that offers affordable access to exclusive video tips and training from vetted and trusted experts. When major life events forced her to restart her career, founder Kathryn Rose used the power of her professional network and crafted a vision for getWise. We spoke with her about her arduous fundraising journey, navigating numerous privacy frameworks, and the need for resources for women entrepreneurs.
Washington – As the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law plans a hearing Wednesday on the law that enables online services to host user-generated content, diverse organizations from academics to industry to public interest groups sent a letter to Subcommittee leaders. The letter acknowledges that Section 230 is the legal framework that enables anyone to create spaces online where user communities can gather and share content, to the benefit of Internet users and online expression.
The Big Story: Congress looks to build momentum on privacy legislation. This week, a congressional subcommittee held a hearing exploring federal data privacy legislation, a top priority for startups. The hearing comes amid the emerging mosaic of state privacy laws that can create confusion and duplicative costs for startups. The hearing, held by the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce, focused on building upon legislation that passed through the committee last Congress and explored several issues important to startups in the privacy debate, including whether to preempt state laws, whether to allow private rights of action, and how to properly scope requirements for small businesses and startups.
Emily Brown, Co-Founder and CEO of Free From Market, is an ardent believer that food is medicine. She has firsthand experience with the impact that a lack of access to healthy foods can have on health outcomes, and created an e-commerce service to address this very issue. We spoke with her about her thoughts on barriers to accessing capital, compliance with data privacy rules, and current restrictions around SNAP and EBT eligibility.
The Big Story: Section 230, privacy, encryption in crosshairs at kids safety hearing. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Tuesday on protecting children’s safety online, where lawmakers suggested changes to several issues important to startups, like Section 230, data privacy, and encryption. The wide-ranging proposals appear conceived with the largest tech companies in mind, but they would affect all Internet companies, especially startups. The hearing comes amid efforts from policymakers at all levels of government aimed at safeguarding young Internet users that could carry unintended negative consequences for startups without necessarily protecting children.
Lightscline is building AI-based software that helps engineering teams achieve up to 90 percent cost reduction in sensor data pipeline management. The software collects 2-10x fewer data, reducing the power, compute, storage, transmission, and latency in digital transformation applications. Deep tech-focused founder Ankur Verma gave us insight into his background as a student entrepreneur operating with his University’s support, his experience navigating the U.S.’s immigration system, and his goals for Lightscline.
Bad actors are constantly looking to trick unsuspecting startups into unnecessarily giving up their already-limited resources. One scam gaining in popularity is to impersonate government officials and ask startups for payment to “renew” their existing trademarks, and it demonstrates how intellectual property systems can be weaponized against startups.
The Big Story: Hearings cast spotlight on capital access obstacles. Lawmakers heard from entrepreneurs and investors this week as they examined key issues impacting startups’ ability to access capital. The House Financial Services subcommittee held two hearings covering multiple legislative proposals, including efforts to expand the pool of accredited investors and changes to the structure of certain investment funds. Those changes, if enacted, would bring much needed diversity to the startup ecosystem’s investor pool and boost funding opportunities for underrepresented entrepreneurs.
You might not realize it, but whether you’re a startup founder, a digital entrepreneur, or a casual technology and Internet user—what the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) does impacts you and the agency needs to be listening to you. That’s why Engine filed comments this week on USPTO’s draft strategic plan, suggesting ways the agency could improve its plans to support all U.S. innovators, creators, and entrepreneurs.
As part of her work, Dr. Chelsea Monty-Bromer was working with a team of researchers to develop new technology to assist veterans with prosthetic limbs. The result of that work was new technology that became the basis of her company, SweatID where she is the Founder & Chief Technology Officer. We spoke with Chelsea to learn more about SweatID’s product, her experience raising capital from public and private sources, and her experience navigating intellectual property systems here and abroad.
The Big Story: Startup policy priorities for 2023, and how to get involved. This week, Engine released its first-ever Startup Policy Playbook, to help give members of the startup ecosystem—startup founders and employees, investors, and support organizations—an overview of the policy conversations happening this Congress and how they can get involved in amplifying the startup voice this year.
Inspirit VR is a Palo Alto-based virtual reality technology platform that is looking to revolutionize the way children learn and harness their imagination by providing new experiences right in the classroom. We spoke to Co-Founder & CEO Aditya Vishwanath about the work his company is doing, his experience navigating the U.S. immigration system as a founder, and what the day-to-day experience is like for a startup leader navigating a wide array of compliance frameworks in the U.S. and abroad.
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