THE NEWS WRAP: US on-demand storage startup raises $US2 million

Los Angeles on-demand storage startup Clutter has raised $US2 million to fund its rapid expansion in the coming months, according to TechCrunch.

 

The round was led by Resolute Ventures, with participation from other investors such as Amplify, Joanne Wilson and Matt Coffin.

 

Founder and chief executive of Sydney accelerator Blue Chilli, Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin, previously told StartupSmart the self-storage industry in Australia is “ripe” for disruption.

 

“There are two thematics for disruption,” he says.

 

“Anywhere where the middle man is required to facilitate a transaction or where there exists a centralised commodity which could be distributed by the use of technology. Storage sits in the middle of these two so is ripe for disruption.”

Spotify lands partnership with coffee chain Starbucks

Spotify has struck a deal with Starbucks in a bid to ramp up its user base and expose millions of Starbucks customers to the platform.

 

Spotify’s chief executive Daniel Ek said in a statement the streaming service was proud to have Starbucks as a music partner.

 

“Spotify has powered more than 25 billion hours of listening around the world so far, and we’re looking forward to creating unique in-store music experiences while also making more than 20 years of popular Starbucks music available to both Starbucks customers and Spotify’s 60 million global music fans,” he said.

 

The move is the latest in a string of partnership, including a deal with Uber which was made in November last year.

Lyft is experimenting with a passenger rating system

Ridesharing service Lyft is testing new features where customers can rate each other and connect outside of the platform.

 

The experiment is currently being rolled out in San Francisco, according to TechCrunch.

 

The new features, while only being tested at this stage, are the latest in the ridesharing service’s bid to make the platform more user friendly and break down some of the hesitations associated with getting into a stranger’s car.

 

The tests follow Lyft’s announcement that it had raised an additional $US150 million in funding from serial investor Carl Icahn.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 26.32 points, rising 0.14% to 18,298.88. The Aussie dollar is currently trading at around 79.9 US cents.

 

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