Congress advances sweeping tax bills touching on R&D, AI, and more
The market for carbon-free, reliable energy is growing along with a rising electricity demand. Josef Hjelmaker, through his company, Electric Outdoors, plans to save millions of dollars in electrification conversion costs and make long-term access to the outdoors safer and more sustainable for all. We sat down with Josef to discuss his company, his experience raising capital in Michigan, and the recent American trade policy shifts.
Artificial intelligence is a foundational technology driving innovation in every corner of the economy.
Lawmakers are advancing proposals that would require startups to disclose detailed information about their AI training data, specifically the sources and copyright status of the content used.
Charlotte Ketelaar is passionate about using her background in investment to help startups raise capital. While mentoring a variety of startups, she found a wide gap between the founders and investors, which led her to co-found Capwave AI. Recently, we had the opportunity to sit down and discuss her product, the role of open source, and more.
As Americans struggle to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of startups all across the country are leveraging their tools, resources, and services to aid medical researchers and businesses in need of immediate assistance. Engine spoke with four entrepreneurs who pivoted their business practices to better support those affected by the ongoing pandemic. This is the first post in a series on startups and entrepreneurs who are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During these unprecedented times, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is one of the many institutions taking steps to avoid the spread of COVID-19: shifting to telephonic proceedings, releasing live audio of oral arguments, restricting in-person access to court buildings, and modifying operations. But the court is continuing its work, issuing new opinions every day.
TLDR: The startup community is still waiting for clarity about whether venture capital-backed startups are eligible for small business loans included in the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, despite suggestions by federal officials that the issue would be addressed shortly. To better understand the relationship between economic relief efforts and startups, we are asking companies to fill out a brief survey here to help determine how the government can clarify existing rules—such as the SBA’s affiliation rules—to better protect the nation’s startup ecosystem.
The Big Story: Treasury Department reportedly clarifying rules for VC-backed startups. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Axios yesterday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is preparing to release guidance in the next few days, easing the rules around venture capital-backed startups and eligibility for small business loans included in the mammoth Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Applicants can start applying for those loans today, but there were concerns that existing Small Business Administration rules would have precluded many startups from applying.
Founded in San Francisco in 2015, mobility startup Scoop Technologies has grown into the nation’s largest carpooling provider in the United States. Scoop works with employers and commuters to find carpooling solutions that take the stress and pressure out of commuting to and from work. We recently spoke with Charles Knuth, Scoop’s head of strategic research initiatives, and Lizzie Ryan, Scoop’s communications manager, to learn more about the company’s carpooling efforts, the San Francisco startup ecosystem, and their mobility-related policy concerns.
TLDR: COVID-19 has put unprecedented stress on global health systems and the economy, but a variety of public and private institutions are offering resources and developing tools to try and help businesses. We have compiled a list of resources on our website to help startups navigate these uncertain times—from guidance on protecting the health and safety of teams, to information about accessing federal economic relief.
The Big Story: As startup funding declines, stimulus offers some relief. With seed-stage investments disappearing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the $2 trillion stimulus package approved by the U.S. Senate this week offers some short-term relief for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and gig workers who are struggling as a result of the global economic downturn.
Humanyze, a Boston-based analytics startup that developed out of the MIT Media Lab in 2011, is helping companies across the world gain a better understanding of their organizational health. With a privacy-first focus, the startup uses anonymized and aggregated enterprise data to help firms measure and comprehend how work gets done across their teams. We recently spoke with Ben Waber—Humanyze’s co-founder and president—to learn a little more about the startup’s work, goals, and policy concerns.
The Big Story: Websites working to combat COVID-19 misinformation. Large social media platforms warned this week that more user-generated content could be removed for policy violations as Internet companies increase their reliance on automated software to flag and remove harmful content in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. But despite the necessary move towards automated detection tools, online companies of all sizes are working to carefully balance concerns about their employees’ health with heightened efforts to combat the spread of false information, especially about the virus.
Wichita—the birthplace of Pizza Hut and White Castle—has long been a hub of entrepreneurial activity in central Kansas. One of the exciting tech startups that calls the Emerald City home is Quicc, a video transcription tool that lets video creators easily caption their content. We recently spoke with Jason Toevs—Quicc’s founder and CTO—to learn more about the platform’s video captioning tool, Wichita’s startup community, and how the company is working to protect user data across the world.
Engine, Unified Patents, CableLabs, The Niskanen Center, and The R Street Institute filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court this week in support of General Electric’s request that the Court consider whether competitors may bring patent validity disputes to the patent office and patent appeals court.
The Big Story: UK to start charging digital services tax. The United Kingdom is moving forward with a two percent digital services tax on Internet companies that have a global revenue of more than $648 million, at least $32.4 million of which comes from UK users. The new levy—which is set to go into effect in three weeks—comes after other countries proposed similar taxes, but delayed implementation of their measures in order to allow the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) time to reach an agreement on a global tech tax.
Based in Connecticut, AnytownUSA is the country’s first online market devoted exclusively to the sale of American-made goods. We recently spoke with Geralyn Breig, the founder and CEO of AnytownUSA.com, to learn a little more about the online marketplace, digital tax concerns, and the future of the platform.
TLDR: A Senate panel this week is planning to discuss new legislation that calls for Internet companies to agree to yet-to-be-determined best practices around detecting and removing child sexual abuse materials or risk losing their critical intermediary liability protections. While startups and other online platforms share lawmakers’ desire to remove problematic and illegal user-generated content from their sites, the legislation—as currently drafted—threatens to disrupt the protections that have allowed the Internet ecosystem as we know it to thrive for more than two decades.
The Big Story: Proposed SEC plan raises crowdfunding cap to $5 million. The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to propose a set of amendments to “promote capital formation and expand investment opportunities” for small businesses, including a rule change that would allow startups and other small firms to raise as much as $5 million from crowdfunding.
Located in the greater Chicago area, MoreWithUs – Everyday Jobs is an online platform working to empower job seekers to market themselves to employers. The startup’s goal is to create a wide-reaching social media job candidates’ platform that includes profiles from millions of active and engaged job seekers.
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