Update: Starbucks announced Friday that it’s discontinuing its NFT program, to “prepare for what comes next as we continue to evolve the program,” according to an FAQ page.
“I think this year we’re going to see a lot of community-based brand building,” he shared on TechCrunch’s Chain Reaction podcast.
Starbucks launched Starbucks Odyssey in 2022 as its initial foray into the web3 world.
The experience combined the company’s Starbucks Reward loyalty program with NFTs to enhance customer experiences, TechCrunch previously reported.
Subscribe to Chain Reaction on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite pod platform to hear more stories and tips from the entrepreneurs building today’s most innovative companies.
Leaked documents show Techstars lost $7 million in 2023 but still had plenty of cash Cuts to Techstars programs are not surprising given its 2023 financial performance.
Cuts to Techstars’ staff and its decision to shutter certain accelerators came after it missed its 2023 revenue goals, according to documents outlining its preliminary 2023 results viewed by TechCrunch.
Techstars 2023 budget targeted an average of 68 “active accelerator programs,” but was reduced to 61 in its mid-year forecast.
The good news was that TechStars had plenty of cash in 2023 to handle these troubles and its closing cash balance in 2023 was actually much better than originally anticipated.
But these documents reveal that the company closed last year with around $50 million in cash for its operational budget.
As Techstars retools, some former staffers say it lost focus on what made it successfulWell-known accelerator group Techstars announced a slew of changes to its operations this week, including the shuttering of some of its city-based programs.
And one former Techstars managing director (MD) told TechCrunch that the move away from local fundraising for city-based accelerator programs was an error.
One former managing director (MD) said that having local limited partner investors in Techstars meant that more people in those cities had a stake in its local programs.
The shift away from local capital and more focus on corporate dollars meant that city-based boosters and founders were less central to Techstars’ focus, the MD said.
Still, Techstars faces competition, not just from Y Combinator domestically, but from other accelerator programs in the US and elsewhere around the world.
“Brand anchors” to gated areas like reward programs are something that companies will expand upon in 2024, he said.
“I think this year we’re going to see a lot of community-based brand building,” he shared on TechCrunch’s Chain Reaction podcast.
Starbucks launched Starbucks Odyssey in 2022 as its initial foray into the web3 world.
The experience combined the company’s Starbucks Reward loyalty program with NFTs to enhance customer experiences, TechCrunch previously reported.
This never would have happened if not for web3.”The loyalty program has a five-tiered system with over 58,000 active participants at least on level one, Kaczynski said.
Amazon announced today that it’s launching Health Condition Programs, a new initiative that aims to make it easier for people to discover digital health benefits to help manage chronic conditions like prediabetes, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Digital health company Omada Health is Amazon’s launch partner for the new initiative.
Omada Health’s over 20 million eligible members can now discover and enroll in Omada’s programs for diabetes prevention, diabetes, and hypertension through Amazon.
Members can initiate a general coverage check via the Amazon Health webpage to see if they are eligible for a program.
“Many people aren’t aware of the health care benefits they’re eligible for, that are typically no cost or subsidized by their employer or insurance plan.
Vestwell, which provides the infrastructure for employers to power workplace savings programs, has raised $125 million in what the company describes as a “preempted” round of funding.
Vestwell CEO Aaron Schumm started the company in 2016 and launched the cloud-native platform in 2017.
Over 1 million people working across 300,000 businesses use the Vestwell platform, which the company said has helped power the savings of nearly $30 billion in assets over time.
As an extension of its partners, Vestwell says it enables a suite of programs, including retirement, health and education, such as 401(k), 403(b), IRA, 529 Education, ABLE disability and Emergency Savings programs.
“We’re now the leading partner in this field, and currently power 80% of the live state auto-IRA savings programs in this country,” he said.
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