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Our ultra-fast Daily: Three takes on new products. Yesterday’s top ten launches. That’s it.
20 🔥 startups out of Y Combinator’s latest batch
Y Combinator is the most competitive startup accelerator. Thousands of teams apply every batch. Less than 1% get in.
YC's two-part Demo Day wrapped up yesterday. Over 100 founders took to the stage, pitching a room packed with investors and journalists at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.
We’ve put together a collection of some of the most compelling startups in Y Combinator’s Summer 2018 batch, from wild AR apps to genetically-engineered hangover cures:
💅 INKHUNTER lets you test tattoos in Augmented Reality, then book an appointment directly in the app.
👙 EVA is a bra that detects breast cancer indicators.
🙏 Goodly, MentalHappy, and Kinside let companies offer non-traditional benefits like student loan repayment, custom care packages for tough times, and child care benefits to their employees.
😋 The Buttermilk Company lets you make fresh Indian food in under 5 minutes, delivered to your front door.
🤳 #ME is a new virtual world. It's like a new version of Second Life or a real version of The Oasis from Ready Player One.
🚗 Grabb-It puts ads directly in your Uber's windows. We just did a deep-dive into the wave of startups built to help Uber drivers earn more.
🛴 Grin is a new decentralized scooter company out of Latin America.
🍺 ZBiotics is genetically engineered to prevent hangovers. Similar to Morning Recovery, which was founded by an ex-Tesla engineer last year.
Check out the full collection of YC's Summer '18 launches. 🚀
YC's two-part Demo Day wrapped up yesterday. Over 100 founders took to the stage, pitching a room packed with investors and journalists at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.
We’ve put together a collection of some of the most compelling startups in Y Combinator’s Summer 2018 batch, from wild AR apps to genetically-engineered hangover cures:
💅 INKHUNTER lets you test tattoos in Augmented Reality, then book an appointment directly in the app.
👙 EVA is a bra that detects breast cancer indicators.
🙏 Goodly, MentalHappy, and Kinside let companies offer non-traditional benefits like student loan repayment, custom care packages for tough times, and child care benefits to their employees.
😋 The Buttermilk Company lets you make fresh Indian food in under 5 minutes, delivered to your front door.
🤳 #ME is a new virtual world. It's like a new version of Second Life or a real version of The Oasis from Ready Player One.
🚗 Grabb-It puts ads directly in your Uber's windows. We just did a deep-dive into the wave of startups built to help Uber drivers earn more.
🛴 Grin is a new decentralized scooter company out of Latin America.
🍺 ZBiotics is genetically engineered to prevent hangovers. Similar to Morning Recovery, which was founded by an ex-Tesla engineer last year.
Check out the full collection of YC's Summer '18 launches. 🚀
Your next Uber is free 🚗
Your next Uber could be covered in ads... and free. 🚗
Grabb-It just launched out of Y Combinator's summer batch to turn ride-sharing cars into digital billboards, with outward-facing screens that install over the backseat window. Advertisers will target ads based on the car's location, which means your ride home on Friday night could soon be pushing hangover cures (like this one).
In exchange, drivers get paid to rent their windows to advertisers. Riders won't notice much of a difference, except for the glaring LED screens before and after their ride.
But give it enough time, and soon your Uber rides might start getting cheaper as drivers subsidize driving costs with advertising revenue. If ads become profitable enough, your next ride could even be free.
If you think we're crazy, WaiveCar already rents electric cars with the first two hours free, subsidized by the large ads around the entire car.
This isn't the only company building services to support ride-sharing drivers:
🛍️ Cargo lets drivers sell snacks, gum, chargers, and headphones directly in their car from a display case that sits on the center armrest. Most drivers make an extra $100/mo. Cargo even partners with up-and-coming CPG brands to get you free samples. Hiring for 6+ positions in NY.
📺 Vugo places small televisions on the back of headrests. Riders watch ads, and drivers get paid. Hiring for 2+ positions in NY.
🚗 Wrapify pays drivers to wrap their cars with advertisements. For every mile driven, drivers get paid a flat fee. Hiring for sales.
Grabb-It just launched out of Y Combinator's summer batch to turn ride-sharing cars into digital billboards, with outward-facing screens that install over the backseat window. Advertisers will target ads based on the car's location, which means your ride home on Friday night could soon be pushing hangover cures (like this one).
In exchange, drivers get paid to rent their windows to advertisers. Riders won't notice much of a difference, except for the glaring LED screens before and after their ride.
But give it enough time, and soon your Uber rides might start getting cheaper as drivers subsidize driving costs with advertising revenue. If ads become profitable enough, your next ride could even be free.
If you think we're crazy, WaiveCar already rents electric cars with the first two hours free, subsidized by the large ads around the entire car.
This isn't the only company building services to support ride-sharing drivers:
🛍️ Cargo lets drivers sell snacks, gum, chargers, and headphones directly in their car from a display case that sits on the center armrest. Most drivers make an extra $100/mo. Cargo even partners with up-and-coming CPG brands to get you free samples. Hiring for 6+ positions in NY.
📺 Vugo places small televisions on the back of headrests. Riders watch ads, and drivers get paid. Hiring for 2+ positions in NY.
🚗 Wrapify pays drivers to wrap their cars with advertisements. For every mile driven, drivers get paid a flat fee. Hiring for sales.
RIP McDonalds. Robot hamburgers are here 🍔
Robot hamburgers have arrived, and they're delicious. 🤖😋
We stopped by the brand-new Creator restaurant in San Francisco, home of the (almost!) completely automated hamburger-making robot.
Tomatoes, pickles, onions, cheese, and sauces are all stacked above a conveyor built. Toppings are sliced and immediately dropped onto brioche buns. Ketchup, mustard, mayo – drizzled down to the millileter. Shredded cheese is shared and heated in a rotating drum as the patties are cooked at the end of the conveyor belt. The patties are grilled to optimal medium-rare perfection tracked by 11 different sensors.
Needless to say, it was delicious and only $5.50.
The best part: you can watch your burger travel down the conveyor belt. It's like a massive Rube Goldberg machine.
Of course companies like Creator make people nervous. Will robots take our jobs (this site will let you know if your job is safe)? Some think so. Others see companies like Creator in service of human labor, empowering people rather than replacing them. Creator has 20+ employees for the 40-seat restaurant, helping feed the burger-making machine and interact with customers.
Creator isn't the only robot-powered culinary establishment. Cafe X just raised a $9.4M Series A led by Jason Calacanis and Craft Ventures to build and operates robot baristas all around San Francisco.
Our vision of a full robot kitchen is far, farrrr away. In the meantime, here's your glimpse into the future of food. 🍔
We stopped by the brand-new Creator restaurant in San Francisco, home of the (almost!) completely automated hamburger-making robot.
Tomatoes, pickles, onions, cheese, and sauces are all stacked above a conveyor built. Toppings are sliced and immediately dropped onto brioche buns. Ketchup, mustard, mayo – drizzled down to the millileter. Shredded cheese is shared and heated in a rotating drum as the patties are cooked at the end of the conveyor belt. The patties are grilled to optimal medium-rare perfection tracked by 11 different sensors.
Needless to say, it was delicious and only $5.50.
The best part: you can watch your burger travel down the conveyor belt. It's like a massive Rube Goldberg machine.
Of course companies like Creator make people nervous. Will robots take our jobs (this site will let you know if your job is safe)? Some think so. Others see companies like Creator in service of human labor, empowering people rather than replacing them. Creator has 20+ employees for the 40-seat restaurant, helping feed the burger-making machine and interact with customers.
Creator isn't the only robot-powered culinary establishment. Cafe X just raised a $9.4M Series A led by Jason Calacanis and Craft Ventures to build and operates robot baristas all around San Francisco.
Our vision of a full robot kitchen is far, farrrr away. In the meantime, here's your glimpse into the future of food. 🍔
Everyone’s copying HQ Trivia
"The next big thing will start out looking like a toy." – Chris Dixon, a16z
We have our new toy: mobile-first game shows, led by summer blockbuster HQ Trivia which let millions compete in real-time trivia contests for actual cash. They've since raised $15M and partnered with Nike and Warner Brothers for sponsored games.
10+ competitors have already popped up to compete with sports trivia, online charades, and payouts in crypto. Facebook even spun up a competitor: fb.gg.
But... cash is boring. Burritos are more fun.
Just launched Wednesday, Burrito Time gives away 10 burritos to the first 10 people that open a push notification sent randomly every day. Simple, fun, filling, and guac is included at no extra charge. 🥑
If you don't win, you can still grab a digital burrito pouch for all of your belongings. Don't let your friends take a bite. 😂
We have our new toy: mobile-first game shows, led by summer blockbuster HQ Trivia which let millions compete in real-time trivia contests for actual cash. They've since raised $15M and partnered with Nike and Warner Brothers for sponsored games.
10+ competitors have already popped up to compete with sports trivia, online charades, and payouts in crypto. Facebook even spun up a competitor: fb.gg.
But... cash is boring. Burritos are more fun.
Just launched Wednesday, Burrito Time gives away 10 burritos to the first 10 people that open a push notification sent randomly every day. Simple, fun, filling, and guac is included at no extra charge. 🥑
If you don't win, you can still grab a digital burrito pouch for all of your belongings. Don't let your friends take a bite. 😂
Coinbase is taking on... Facebook?
Big launch from Coinbase yesterday: Coinbase Wallet, your portal into the world of decentralized applications (dapps).
Dapps are typically hard to set up: you first need to download a browser extension like MetaMask, then create a wallet, then buy Ethereum or Bitcoin somewhere, and thennnn transfer it into your MetaMask wallet.
Coinbase's new wallet makes this entire process easier, with a built-in browser for dapps like Peepeth and 0x Protocol. There's even a built-in messenger for chatting with your friends.
Coinbase also just acquired Distributed Systems, a small startup focused on building a worldwide identity standard for dapps called the Clear Protocol. Their goal: to let you log into dapps with one click, just like logging into a site with Google or Facebook's authorization keys. Coinbase President Asiff Hirji called it “a step towards reclaiming personal privacy.”
This further explains why David Marcus, an exec at Facebook, announced his departure from Coinbase’s board. Coinbase could become Facebook’s biggest competitor.
The truth is, barely anyone uses dapps. Tools like DappRadar report the number of active users on the most popular decentralized apps that run on the blockchain. Some of the most popular dapps have dozens (yes, dozens) of users. Of course, it’s early days and Coinbase Wallet is an attempt to make dapps more accessible. That said, there’s certainly interest in the space.
Open-sourced Twitter-alternative Mastodon claims 170,000+ users, who join community-owned and operated servers that run the same open-sourced software (no blockchain required). With no ads (or algorithmic feed!), the site promises to allow users to "put social media back in your hands."
Ready to decentralize? Here's are 10+ dapps to test. ⛓️🚀
Dapps are typically hard to set up: you first need to download a browser extension like MetaMask, then create a wallet, then buy Ethereum or Bitcoin somewhere, and thennnn transfer it into your MetaMask wallet.
Coinbase's new wallet makes this entire process easier, with a built-in browser for dapps like Peepeth and 0x Protocol. There's even a built-in messenger for chatting with your friends.
Coinbase also just acquired Distributed Systems, a small startup focused on building a worldwide identity standard for dapps called the Clear Protocol. Their goal: to let you log into dapps with one click, just like logging into a site with Google or Facebook's authorization keys. Coinbase President Asiff Hirji called it “a step towards reclaiming personal privacy.”
This further explains why David Marcus, an exec at Facebook, announced his departure from Coinbase’s board. Coinbase could become Facebook’s biggest competitor.
The truth is, barely anyone uses dapps. Tools like DappRadar report the number of active users on the most popular decentralized apps that run on the blockchain. Some of the most popular dapps have dozens (yes, dozens) of users. Of course, it’s early days and Coinbase Wallet is an attempt to make dapps more accessible. That said, there’s certainly interest in the space.
Open-sourced Twitter-alternative Mastodon claims 170,000+ users, who join community-owned and operated servers that run the same open-sourced software (no blockchain required). With no ads (or algorithmic feed!), the site promises to allow users to "put social media back in your hands."
Ready to decentralize? Here's are 10+ dapps to test. ⛓️🚀
"Pecking customers to death like ducks." 🦆😬
Apple is now a dongle company.
The startup that used to tease Microsoft for "pecking customers to death like ducks" with extra fees now sells 23 different dongles. 23! 😮
Worst part: they keep breaking. Frayed iPhone and MacBook charging cables litter drawers around the world.
An experimental, unbreakable iPhone charger has arrived, and it actually pivots when you want to lay your phone vertically. See above GIF.
We’re still waiting for Apple’s all-in-one, wireless charging pad. A little startup based in St. Louis is selling one now, but it only works with your phone.
Don't worry Android lovers: there's a magic magnetic charger that plugs into literally any device. It pulls away in a moment, just like the old Apple MagSafe chargers that Tim Cook killed off earlier this year.
Apple accessories are a massive business – the trillion dollar company's revenue from audio equipment, Apple TVs, and dongles doubled in the past three years to ~$10B. We're rooting for the little guys. 💪
The startup that used to tease Microsoft for "pecking customers to death like ducks" with extra fees now sells 23 different dongles. 23! 😮
Worst part: they keep breaking. Frayed iPhone and MacBook charging cables litter drawers around the world.
An experimental, unbreakable iPhone charger has arrived, and it actually pivots when you want to lay your phone vertically. See above GIF.
We’re still waiting for Apple’s all-in-one, wireless charging pad. A little startup based in St. Louis is selling one now, but it only works with your phone.
Don't worry Android lovers: there's a magic magnetic charger that plugs into literally any device. It pulls away in a moment, just like the old Apple MagSafe chargers that Tim Cook killed off earlier this year.
Apple accessories are a massive business – the trillion dollar company's revenue from audio equipment, Apple TVs, and dongles doubled in the past three years to ~$10B. We're rooting for the little guys. 💪
Want to meetup?
Meetups have been an important part of the Product Hunt community since the beginning. To date, community members around the world have hosted more than 500 meetups (!!!) in Ghana, New York, Austin, Tel Aviv, Dubai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Toronto, Amsterdam, and beyoooonnnd.
As much as we love online communities, our strongest friendships (and sometimes future business partnerships) form in person.
So... we're introducing Product Hunt Events to help people connect IRL and meet other Product Hunt community members in your city.
Browse and filter events based on your location (e.g. Paris) and soon interest (e.g. blockchain). You’ll find a mixture of awesome conferences, evening talks, workshops, and community-led meetups.
You can also promote your own event to the community. Click here. 🤗
If you're less of a planner, explore a few of the events coming up and special shout out to a few launch sponsors: RepubliCoin, Slush 2018, Web Summit, and Synapse 2018.
See you offline. 😊
As much as we love online communities, our strongest friendships (and sometimes future business partnerships) form in person.
So... we're introducing Product Hunt Events to help people connect IRL and meet other Product Hunt community members in your city.
Browse and filter events based on your location (e.g. Paris) and soon interest (e.g. blockchain). You’ll find a mixture of awesome conferences, evening talks, workshops, and community-led meetups.
You can also promote your own event to the community. Click here. 🤗
If you're less of a planner, explore a few of the events coming up and special shout out to a few launch sponsors: RepubliCoin, Slush 2018, Web Summit, and Synapse 2018.
See you offline. 😊
Airbnb’s newest competition is… unique
Houses might not look like houses for long.
While the world focuses on IoT home devices like Amazon Echos, an entire new generation of microapartments, container homes, and capusle hotels is here for city-dwellers and wanderlust-filled tourists.
🔮 Conker Living Pods look like massive soccer balls. Each contains an entire studio apartment, customizable to your needs. Their exteriors are stunning… but you’ll have to find a bathroom elsewhere. 💩
🌲 Tired of the city? Hate your phone? Slow Cabins are off-the-grid eco lodges for couples, families, or solo adventurers looking to focus hidden around Belgium. The company is slowly expanding internationally.
🤗 Sonder is like if Airbnb and a Four Seasons had a baby, offering handpicked homes in cities around the world. Better than risking your trip on an Airbnb. 🤭
🏕️ Ditch walls altogether and explore unique campsites around the world in this "Airbnb for camping" with over 300,000 campsites available.
🚌 Avoid hotels entirely. For your next weekend vacation, try a Cabin and their luxury overnight sleeper buses. Fall asleep in your city, and wake up in a magical destination for a weekend adventure. Currently travelling between LA and SF, but we're hoping they expand soon.
While the world focuses on IoT home devices like Amazon Echos, an entire new generation of microapartments, container homes, and capusle hotels is here for city-dwellers and wanderlust-filled tourists.
🔮 Conker Living Pods look like massive soccer balls. Each contains an entire studio apartment, customizable to your needs. Their exteriors are stunning… but you’ll have to find a bathroom elsewhere. 💩
🌲 Tired of the city? Hate your phone? Slow Cabins are off-the-grid eco lodges for couples, families, or solo adventurers looking to focus hidden around Belgium. The company is slowly expanding internationally.
🤗 Sonder is like if Airbnb and a Four Seasons had a baby, offering handpicked homes in cities around the world. Better than risking your trip on an Airbnb. 🤭
🏕️ Ditch walls altogether and explore unique campsites around the world in this "Airbnb for camping" with over 300,000 campsites available.
🚌 Avoid hotels entirely. For your next weekend vacation, try a Cabin and their luxury overnight sleeper buses. Fall asleep in your city, and wake up in a magical destination for a weekend adventure. Currently travelling between LA and SF, but we're hoping they expand soon.
Talk to celebs with Google’s new app 🤳
Google is taking on... Oprah? And Reddit, and Twitter? 🤔
Their new experimental app – Cameos – lets you ask celebrities questions and watch their video responses. It only launched on iOS... despite the fact that Google built the entire Android ecosystem.
Celebrity answers will be included in Google search results so you can see and hear the results of your query from your favorite Kardashian.
It seems like everybody is jumping into Q&A features. Instagram just launched a Questions widget embeddable directly into Stories. Twitch co-founder Justin Kan launched Whale two years ago, which let anybody ask tech influencers for advice over video. TBH, the popular app among Gen Z, was acquired by Facebook just nine months after it launched. And rapper/entrepreneur Chamillionaire even launched an app for video Q&A.
Of course Q&A on the internet isn’t new. You might remember exchanging responses anonymously on Formspring. Some questions were harmless. Others were toxic. Q&A platforms can go viral and fall as quickly as they came.
We'll have to see if Cameos sticks around. Do you have questions for any specific celebs? Share your thoughts in the discussion. 🤗
Their new experimental app – Cameos – lets you ask celebrities questions and watch their video responses. It only launched on iOS... despite the fact that Google built the entire Android ecosystem.
Celebrity answers will be included in Google search results so you can see and hear the results of your query from your favorite Kardashian.
It seems like everybody is jumping into Q&A features. Instagram just launched a Questions widget embeddable directly into Stories. Twitch co-founder Justin Kan launched Whale two years ago, which let anybody ask tech influencers for advice over video. TBH, the popular app among Gen Z, was acquired by Facebook just nine months after it launched. And rapper/entrepreneur Chamillionaire even launched an app for video Q&A.
Of course Q&A on the internet isn’t new. You might remember exchanging responses anonymously on Formspring. Some questions were harmless. Others were toxic. Q&A platforms can go viral and fall as quickly as they came.
We'll have to see if Cameos sticks around. Do you have questions for any specific celebs? Share your thoughts in the discussion. 🤗
Can't think of a good subject line
Writer's block sucks.
I mean, hmm... nah. Maybe we'll start it out with...
It's impossible to get started writing anything. That irritating, blinking cursor never ceasesd mocking me.
No, mocking isn't the right word... hmm... let's just start over. Rrrrg. 😠
Writer's block really does suck, but Boston University senior Jules Schenkel is here to help with Typeboost, a writing app that automatically pauses your favorite music if you stop writing.
"In high school, I struggled with essay writing. I built Typeboost to help me overcome my writing anxiety and type up a quick first draft."
Instead of stressing over the perfect sentence, Typeboost lets anyone force their way through a first draft of a blog post, essay, or newsletter. 😅
Jules isn't the only maker to tackle writing anxiety. The Most Dangerous Writing App and Flowstate actually delete your words when you pause. Keep writing, or the text fades away and disappears forever.
And then there are apps to help avoid awkwerd grammer typos and silly messtakes. Grammarly, a powerful typo-finder backed with $110M in funding, proofreads all of your writing in your browser. The Hemingway Editor automatically makes your words bold and clear.
Check out the full collection of Dangerous Writing Apps or forward to a friend without judgment. 😉
I mean, hmm... nah. Maybe we'll start it out with...
It's impossible to get started writing anything. That irritating, blinking cursor never ceasesd mocking me.
No, mocking isn't the right word... hmm... let's just start over. Rrrrg. 😠
Writer's block really does suck, but Boston University senior Jules Schenkel is here to help with Typeboost, a writing app that automatically pauses your favorite music if you stop writing.
"In high school, I struggled with essay writing. I built Typeboost to help me overcome my writing anxiety and type up a quick first draft."
Instead of stressing over the perfect sentence, Typeboost lets anyone force their way through a first draft of a blog post, essay, or newsletter. 😅
Jules isn't the only maker to tackle writing anxiety. The Most Dangerous Writing App and Flowstate actually delete your words when you pause. Keep writing, or the text fades away and disappears forever.
And then there are apps to help avoid awkwerd grammer typos and silly messtakes. Grammarly, a powerful typo-finder backed with $110M in funding, proofreads all of your writing in your browser. The Hemingway Editor automatically makes your words bold and clear.
Check out the full collection of Dangerous Writing Apps or forward to a friend without judgment. 😉
