Community-Based Car Rental Service Drivy Grabs Another $8.6 Million, Acquires Buzzcar

French startup Drivy raised $8.6 million (€8 million) from Bpifrance, Via-ID as well as existing investors Index Ventures and Alven Capital. The company is also acquiring its smaller competitor Buzzcar for an undisclosed amount.

As a reminder, Drivy lets you rent a car from anyone, usually for less than what it would cost you in a brick and mortar car rental agency. In addition to spending less money, you will receive the same insurance coverage that you would expect when you rent a car.

If you rarely use your car, you can also earn a bit of money by putting your car on the marketplace. Drivy is available in France and Germany for now, but the company plans to expand to more European countries. Spain and another country should come pretty soon.

After merging with Buzzcar, Drivy now has 500,000 registered users and 26,000 cars available on the platform. Over the past 12 months, Drivy managed 300,000 days of car rentals. Buzzcar had 100,000 users and 7,000 cars before the acquisition.

Today’s investment will be a great asset when it comes to opening new markets and recruiting car owners. Part of this funding round will also help improve the company’s apps and website.

“We don’t want to compete with traditional car rental services, we want to replace owning a car with a much more practical service,” co-founder and CEO Paulin Dementhon told me. “We think we can get 3 million members and 300,000 cars in three years’ time. This market represents €500 billion just for Europe. In order to become a leader on this consumer market, we undeniably need a high financial capacity.”

Last year, Drivy raised €6 million. At the time, the company was already talking about international expansion plans. In November 2014, it opened its first international market with Germany — 2015 should be a much more important year when it comes to international expansion.

Featured Image: suphakit73/Shutterstock



from jushiung1 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/qrLMvvk-Zyk/

via IFTTT

Microsoft updates Outlook for iOS and Android with a new address book and calendar improvements

Microsoft has updated its Outlook email apps for iOS and Android with a raft of new features, rounding out the address book, calendar and search functions.

The People section has evolved from displaying only your top contacts to a full-blown address book, offering a unified view of all your contacts from all your email accounts in the app, as well as those stored only on your device.

It now lets you search, start a new email or phone call, spot your contacts’ location on a map and even surfaces all the emails, appointments and files shared with each person.

If you use Office 365 or Exchange Server email for work, you can also look up contacts in your company’s full organizational directory, also known as the Global Address List. In addition to contacts, you can also search for conference rooms, distribution lists and Groups using the new Search Directory feature.

Outlook’s Calendar section now has a three-day view in landscape mode, as well as an improved day picker for creating events, support for zero-length meetings and the ability to remove cancelled appointments.

The update also adds an option to permanently delete messages and brings accessibility and localization improvements. In addition, the iOS app now lets you select all messages in f older for bulk operations, and highlights search terms in results. These features will arrive on Android in a future update.

Microsoft says it is also working to add mobile device management support for enterprise users and the ability to read Information Rights Management protected email, so expect those to show up soon too.

➤ Microsoft Outlook [Android | iOS via Outlook Blogs]

from jushiung1 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/Si2L2D6_MKg/

via IFTTT

Rounds Brings Its Group Chat Capabilities To Android

Have you ever wanted to have a live chat with 11 of your closest friends? Well, even before this week, you could’ve done it using video chat app Rounds — but only on iOS.

Now, however, the majority of Rounds users (namely, the ones on Android) will have access to the company’s group chat feature, too. CMO Natasha Shine gave me a quick demo of the Android app last week, bringing on five or six of her coworkers into a single chat without any noticeable lag. We had a brief, awkward conversation, and Shine customized it by dragging the different faces around to her liking. She also created crude drawings (no offense Natasha!) that were shared with the other people in the chat.

Shine said each group has a unique identifying code that can be shared on social media or email. There’s no limit on group size, but only 12 people can join a group at once. And now that Android is supported, the groups can be cross-platform.

I wrote about Rounds earlier this year after it raised a $12 million funding round led by Sequoia. At the time, CEO Dany Fishel said the company has grown quickly to 25 million registered users thanks to a “100 percent shift to mobile.” It’s not just about talking, but also doing other things with your friends as you chat, like watching videos or playing games.

While the company is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, there are plans to establish a US presence — starting with Shine herself, who will be moving to the San Francisco Bay Area later this year.

from jushiung1 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/yVOJsjGEnp0/

via IFTTT

Charlotte Russe - $5 flip flops

Posted 43 minutes ago

One of our favorite stores, NoMoreRack has an amazing deal going on with the Dyson CD34 Cordless Handheld Vacuum - Refurbished. While supplies last through 04/02/2015, bag this vacuum for the super low price of just $99. Carrying a regular retail price of $199.99, this vacuum is designed for spot-cleaning and quick pickups, has a lifetime washable HEPA filter, and a dual-power mode. Don't pass this deal up!

Stores: 20x200, 6pm, Amazon, Apple Store, American Eagle, Banana Republic, Best Buy

Sections: Automotive, Computers, Electronics

Suscribe to RSS

Tell your friends about The Bargainist!

Follow the Bargainist on Twitter!

Become a Fan of The Bargainist on Facebook!

Amazon items sorted by discount

from Bargainist http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bargainist/~3/grUQ4zbGK98/

via IFTTT

Watch the TNW team celebrate half a million Facebook Page Likes

We hit a milestone today at TNW; 500,000 Facebook Page Likes, and that’s no April Fools’ Day joke.

Thanks to everyone who got us there. And if you don’t already Like us on Facebook, well… you know what to do.

Here’s a video we put together to celebrate… and it shows us celebrating!

O.M.G! 500,000 Page Likes… DONEThanks for all your support on Facebook!With love, The Next Web team

Posted by The Next Web on Wednesday, April 1, 2015

from jushiung1 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/gdASnUyVXVo/

via IFTTT

President Obama’s new Executive Order authorizes targeted sanctions against foreign cybersecurity threats

Recent cyberattacks, the Sony Pictures one in particular, have catalyzed a renewed look at how governments and companies deal with hacking, especially from foreign countries.

In light of this, President Obama has today signed an Executive Order which authorizes targeted sanctions against individuals or entities who threaten “national security, foreign policy economic health or financial stability” of the US. The move follows the White House’s establishment of the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center in February to amass data from various government organizations.

In particular, the President says the sanctions are focused on oversea threats. Though diplomatic and law enforcement tools will still be used where possible, the President suggests the sanctions will help deal with the worst attacks.

The sanctions include freezing assets, cutting off their business with US companies and limiting “their ability to profit from their misdeeds.” And though the government is focusing primarily on those who engage in the cyberattacks, it will go after those who profit from them as well. The sanctions will serve as a deterrent to companies that use stolen trade secrets, for instance.

The President clarifies that the sanctions won’t affect the victims of cyber attacks (such as people who have their computers unwittingly used by botnets), nor the cybersecurity research community.

➤ A New Tool Against Cyber Threats

from jushiung1 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/4MPXFTnl1K8/

via IFTTT

Win a Canon Rebel T5 and accessory kit

Canon’s cutting-edge imaging technology has made it a favorite among photography enthusiasts around the globe.

The Rebel T5 offers high-quality photo processing for stunning 18-megapixel pictures, a range of useful shooting options, 1080p video recording, as well as an ergonomic body and simple interface for ease of use.

If you’re looking to get started with DSLR photography, the Rebel T5 is a great tool to begin your journey with. And we’re giving one away, along with a bundle of handy accessories, for free!

Simply enter our sweepstakes to win! Just visit our offer page and create an account and that’s it! You can also gain extra entries by following TNW Deals on Twitter and Google+, plus even more into the giveaway by sharing it with your social accounts.

➤ Win this now

from jushiung1 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/Fbv2PD_TLRI/

via IFTTT