RALEIGH – Less than a year after graduating from Techstars Kansas City Accelerator, MuukLabs has landed $750,000 in convertible notes. The Raleigh-based startup, which offers a no-code test automation platform powered by artificial intelligence, is now getting ready to scale. NY-based Contour Venture Partners led the round. "As an immigrant from Mexico, I'm experiencing firsthand what makes the United States the land of opportunity," said its co-founder Ivan Barajas Vargas. He added that Techstars was "key" to securing this investment.

Last year, Ted Serbinski called his accelerator, Techstars Detroit, the "'comeback city's' startup ecosystem." Since 2015, the accelerator had supported and mentored 54 transportation-related companies, with funding from some big transportation names, like Ford, Honda, AAA, and Nationwide. Success stories included Cargo, a startup that helps ride-hail drivers make supplemental income by running rider-friendly "convenience stores" out of their cars; Splt, a ride-share company acquired by Bosch in 2018; and Acerta, which applies machine learning to automotive manufacturing. Instead, it's shutting down, as earlier reported by TechCrunch. "Right now, there is no funding," says Serbinski, the accelerator's managing director.

Techstars, one of the largest startup accelerator organizations on the planet, currently has 40 accelerators in 25 cities around the world. Some of its startup accelerators focus on helping early-stage companies grow, while others aim for specific sectors, like programs run with Amazon for Alexa startups and Target for retail companies. This fall, Techstars will open its very first AI startup accelerator in Montreal, a city that in the past year has welcomed Facebook AI Research, Microsoft Research, Google AI, and as of last month Samsung Research. The accelerator is being launched in tandem with Real Ventures, a prominent seed fund investor in Montreal, and includes advisors from Google, as well as Element AI and other companies that call Montreal home. In roughly the past year, Google AI, Microsoft Research, Samsung Research, and Facebook AI Research have all opened research labs in Montreal.

On Tuesday this week, the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittees on Research and Technology and Energy invited prominent academics, tech executives, and scientists to talk about the "game-changing" potential and implications of AI, as the hearing charter put it. It touched on a number of topics. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) sought suggestions from the panel on ways institutions and government might collaborate on AI systems development. And Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX) asked earnestly about the potential for "doomsday" scenarios. "To what extent do you think [is it] something we should be concerned about?" he said.

Welcome to the Techstars application! We are now accepting applications for 6 programs running 2018 Q4. Check out our Program Pages (www.techstars.com/programs/) and Apply Page (www.techstars.com/apply/) to learn more about each program and find the right one for you. SAP.iO Foundry, Powered by Techstars Accelerator SAP.iO Foundry, Powered by Techstars Accelerator is focused on B2B & enterprise SaaS companies, specifically on machine learning & artificial intelligence. Techstars Adelaide Accelerator Techstars Adelaide supports startups advancing innovative applications in IoT, big data, sensors and robotics, with potential to develop and commercialize technologies connected to the defense and security sectors.

Ha Duong is a former associate at Techstars, product marketing professional, blogger and an aspiring entrepreneur from Germany. One thing I noticed: MMC Ventures is listed twice in "investors_list" column, but I spotted five of their portfolio companies there. I hope my list of European AI startups can help you get an overview of the market and detect new exciting business models you have not heard about. If there is some data you can add or correct please do so and feel free to shoot me a message with thoughts or feedback. Ha Duong, a former associate at Techstars, has compiled a very exhaustive list of European artificial intelligence and machine learning startups.

From November 4th to 6th 2016, Paris hosted the 1st Startup Weekend dedicated to artificial intelligence. Now Paris organizers are back with a Global Startup Weekend on Artificial Intelligence! Come test your ideas and participate in creating the future of the French artificial intelligence at the Startup Weekend Artificial Intelligence - Paris Edition! Startup Weekends are 54-hour events* designed to provide superior experiential education for technical and non-technical entrepreneurs. Participants create working startups during the event and are able to collaborate with like-minded individuals outside of their daily networks.

We all know that the growth of music distribution is moving fast from transaction to streaming subscriptions. The music value chain is adapting. With millions of songs streamed trillions of times, advanced technologies are necessary for consumers to find and discover their favorite songs and for music artists to find their fans and interact with them. Will the music industry be able to leverage digital technologies to adapt and be profitable? We can get some serious tips from Techstars, an accelerator with a current portfolio of about 7.8 billion. On Thursday, its new program, Techstars Music, partnered with major players including labels Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, to demo its darling music startups at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles.

Lars Rasmussen, co-creator of Google Maps, presents his new venture Weav at Techstars Music on May 18, 2017 at El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. We all know that the growth of music distribution is moving fast from transaction to streaming subscriptions. The music value chain is adapting. With millions of songs streamed trillions of times, advanced technologies are necessary for consumers to find and discover their favorite songs and for music artists to find their fans and interact with them. Will the music industry be able to leverage digital technologies to adapt and be profitable?

This article is courtesy of Techstars, the best global ecosystem for entrepreneurs to bring new technologies to market. From inspiration to IPO, Techstars empowers the world's most promising entrepreneurs throughout their lifelong journey by providing a global ecosystem made up of tens of thousands of community leaders, founders, mentors, investors, and corporate partners. More consumers are getting used to purchasing their items online, through voice activation or on their smartphone. But there are more solutions that need to happen in retail and startups are starting to respond. After walking the floors of CES and other events, talking with our corporate partners, and meetings with hundreds of startups, here are some trends I'm seeing for 2017 for retail technology for startups.