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Keyo modernizes housing with rent auto-pay that boosts your credit

Today in dense urban areas, tenants frequently change apartments as their income grows and they tire of different neighborhoods...
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here’s nothing we spend more money on for a worse experience than housing. Keyo wants to fix all of it. The audacious startup envisions a world where a building’s other tenants get $20 to show you an available apartment on your schedule. Where you auto-pay your rent online and it improves your credit score. Where you get local business perks and can communicate maintenance requests through an app by renting in a Keyo location. And where it’s all free because landlords pay Keyo to fill their units faster.

It’d seem like a crazily ambitious startup idea if it wasn’t already working. Keyo has 4,300 units under management in Brooklyn. And now it’s ready to come out of stealth with a $2.5 million seed fundraise led by a Silicon Valley fixture it won’t disclose that follows Keyo’s $1 million friends-and-family round.

“Renting hasn’t changed much. It needs to,” declares founder Kiran Bellubbi. “You pay rent on time and get nothing in return.”

Bellubbi might have come from the music world, not real estate, but he’s studied in the art of redefining a behavior pattern. His app Band of the Day usurped the traditional music blog, running for five years and winning runner-up to Instagram for Apple’s App of the Year in 2011. Bringing his total fundraise to $10 million, Bellubbi pivoted Band of the Day into Applauze, a concert ticket app that combined official and secondary sales so you could always see the show. Applauze was secretly acquired in 2016 by a joint venture between Azoff MSGE & Live Nation.

Keyo modernizes housing with rent auto-pay that boosts your credit
Keyo faces the daunting challenge of changing the behavior of landlords who either have been collecting checks the same way for decades, or use property management software designed for them but not necessarily the tenant. But similar to how Uber recruited BLACK-car drivers by enticing them with mobile customer demand, Keyo could incentivize landlords by getting prospective residents to demand its perks.

How Keyo works

Today in dense urban areas, tenants frequently change apartments as their income grows and they tire of different neighborhoods. High prices to buy a home and the desire to delay having kids are leading people to rent for longer. “Twelve to 20 percent of inventory churns every year,” says Bellubbi. “I have no allegiance to a building. I just leave.” Keyo gives them a reason to stay.

Keyo modernizes housing with rent auto-pay that boosts your credit
Bellubbi brought the idea for Keyo to me six months ago when it was just a crowdsourced door-opening service that paid locals to show you an available apartment whenever you wanted. Rather than hassle with coordinating a time with a real estate broker, you could preview apartments in the app and go see them immediately. But Keyo needed a better way to get control of properties.

Now Keyo has blossomed into a full-scale software-as-a-service for landlords, targeting small-to-medium-sized renters with 20 to 5,000 units. It’s either full-featured or trying to do too much, depending on your perspective.

Keyo modernizes housing with rent auto-pay that boosts your credit
The iOS and Android apps are free for tenants, and the pitch to them has five key(o) parts:
  • On-Demand Apartment Viewings – Keyo pays the building’s super, another resident or even the current tenant $20 to act as “scouts” to show you available apartments so you don’t have to wait for a specific real estate broker to be able to meet you
  • Online Rent Auto-Pay – Tenants don’t have to deal with remembering to send checks because Keyo connects with their bank for ACH payments
  • Credit Score Improvement – Paying rent on time qualifies as a way to boost your credit score, but most landlords don’t go through the trouble of integrating with the credit agencies the way Keyo does
  • Local Perks – Being a Keyo tenant is like joining a club that gets you discounts at nearby gyms, dry cleaners and coffee shops looking to attract long-term business from nearby residents
  • In-App Maintenance Requests – Instead of nagging your landlord or super to fix something via annoying phone calls and emails, you can easily file requests through the Keyo app, and they can send back building announcements
The idea is that these benefits will generate demand for Keyo apartments, more quickly filling those already available. “Last month you paid 2,500 and got nothing back,” says Bellubbi. Keyo hopes the benefits spur tenants to ask their landlords to sign up and pay $5 per month per unit. They also pay Keyo one month’s rent per rentee it delivers. That might sound like a lot, but that fee plus paying the scout can be up to 40 percent lower than paying a real estate broker the standard 1.5 months rent.

Keyo modernizes housing with rent auto-pay that boosts your credit In return, Keyo’s software gives landlords:
  • A Faster Way to Fill Units – Keyo lists a building’s available units on top sites for no cost while tracking and optimizing the landlord’s ads
  • Tenant Marketing Analytics – Landlords can see exactly which units they have available when, which sites are driving leads and how often people are visiting them
  • Simplified Paperwork – Tenant applications, credit checks, background checks, digital contract signing and lease management all happen for free instead of being passed on as fees to the tenant, which can suppress demand
This offering has led Keyo to sign up 4,300 units in 60 buildings in Brooklyn. Next year it’s looking to expand into more markets.

But first it will have to convince more landlords to modernize or replace their whole software stack. That could be scary with so much money at stake, and some might just want a piece of the suite like the credit-building rent auto-pay. They also might not want any Keyo branding on their building. Expansion beyond the densest cities will be a slog.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of landlord software options. Yardi, appFolio, RealPage and MDSGo are all focused on property management. They have big budgets, brands and track records. But many cater toward larger enterprise real estate titans, and don’t focus on the customer experience with bonus perks.

The millennial generation and beyond want everything to be mobile. In an era when all your subscriptions pay themselves, having to stamp and mail a physical check on time is a pain. And because people are renting for longer instead of buying housing, they don’t have the same opportunities to build up solid credit. By using rent auto-pay and credit as a wedge, Keyo could pry open a lucrative market that hasn’t kept up with the times.

source:TechCrunch

Microsoft Pix can scan business cards to your contacts, find people on LinkedIn
LinkedIn used to have its own business card scanning app, CardMunch, which served a useful purpose in a world where paper cards simply refuse to die. But that app was shut down back in 2014, with LinkedIn suggesting users move to Evernote instead. Today, Microsoft is bringing back business card scanning – but this time, not with a dedicated card scanner app, but with its multipurpose, A.I.-powered camera app, Microsoft Pix.

Since its launch in 2016 as an iOS app that helps you take better pictures, Microsoft has increasingly found more productivity-related uses for Pix. In September, for example, the app was updated to include a way to snap better photos of documents, post-its, whiteboards, and yes, business cards.

But with today’s update, Pix’s business cards smarts are being upgraded – this time with a LinkedIn integration. In the latest version of the iOS app, Pix includes a new business card feature that will add new contacts both to your iPhone’s address book, as well as to your LinkedIn account.

Microsoft Pix can scan business cards to your contacts, find people on LinkedIn
To take advantage of this option, you just launch the app and point it at the business card. Pix then automatically detects what it’s seeing, and asks you if you want to “Add Contact” or “Find on LinkedIn.”

When you tap to add the contact, Pix captures and organizes the contact information – like name, phone, address, and URL – into the correct fields, and adds the newly created contact to your iPhone’s Contacts app. If you opt for LinkedIn, you’re able to view the person’s profile in the LinkedIn app on your iPhone, and optionally add them to your list of connections.

The business card scanning feature, like others in Pix, leverages A.I. technology under the hood to enhance and improve the image. In the case of business cards, Pix is able to detect the edges of the cards, sharpen focus, and tweak the angle of the photo to render the image in a straight-on perspective so it can extract the information from the card.

Microsoft Pix can scan business cards to your contacts, find people on LinkedIn
The Pix update is just one of several ways Microsoft has integrated with LinkedIn since acquiring the company for $26.2 billion in 2016. It has also tied LinkedIn into its other products, including Office 365, Outlook.com, Dynamics 365, Word, and Windows 10.

The updated version of Microsoft Pix is rolling out today. You may not have it yet, as it has to propagate across the App Store, so keep your eyes peeled.

source:TechCrunch

This eQuoo app games you to into learning useful psychological skills
Mental health is one of the biggest issues of recent times, with Kendall Jenner, Emma Stone, Lady Gaga and even The Rock opening up about their mental health issues. Even the royal family has got in on the act, setting up the Heads Together charity. And it’s not just a fleeting issue. The World Health Organisation says depression will overtake cancer as the world’s main ‘global disease burden’ by 2030.

So it’s not surprising that meditation apps like Calm are going gangbusters amongst consumers. However, meditation and brain training apps are targeted towards cognitive skills. These skills can help with concentration and dementia, for example, but won’t allow you to have better and deeper relationships.

So it’s interesting that a new app has launched to tackle the thornier problem of how to improve your emotional intelligence. That’s the hope of new app startup eQuoo now launched on the Apple App store and Google Play.

eQuoo is an emotional fitness game that aims to teach you psychological skills in a fun and engaging way. You get to use those skills in a choose your own adventure game, but they are for real-life situations as well.

Founder Silja Litvin (a psychologist) says she was inspired to create the game because “emotional intelligence is more important than IQ when it comes to success in the workplace. If you know how and why you react and feel the way you do, you can navigate through stressful situations and relationships much better.”

Equoo has raised an Angel round, and the investors include Julian Pittam (Investor to Disciple Media, which just raised $4 million), Pierre Andurand and other angels.

As a child, Litvin moved from sunny Southern California to the less-than-sunny Luxembourg and was bullied at school. But things changed when her older sister got a body-language book for her birthday. “The idea that there was a science – a manual, so to speak – about why people did what completely blew my 12-year- old mind. That’s when I decided to become a psychologist: I wanted to spread the good news. eQuoo essentially helps you build up people skills.” Her team also includes, Med Buckey (CTO), Professor Markus Maier (Head of research) and James O’Brien (Lead developer).

In the game, a character, Dr Joy (named after Sigmund Freud – Freud is joy in German) walks you through the learning session. eQuoo allows you to practice the skills in the learning part of the game; unlock a level in the game which leads you to a choose your own adventure story where you need to use the skills to win; gives you feedback on your personality through the Big Five personality test’ let’s you share your personality feedback on social media; learn more about the skills you possess on a deeper level; and anything you learn becomes part of your psychological ‘tool-box’.

The startup opened the Beta on in Australia and New Zealand and has a weekly growth rate of 19% and a 4.8 rating in the app store. Phase one will be building advertisement and subscription, but after that, it plans to work with insurance companies as a mental health game that prevents anxiety and depression.

source:TechCrunch

Facebook-owned Onavo quietly launches Bolt App Lock, a data-tracking app that locks other apps
Onavo, the data-security app maker Facebook acquired in 2013 in order gain insights into mobile user activity across apps, has quietly launched a new app aimed at Android users called Bolt App Lock. Instead of offering a VPN, Bolt App Lock is a tool that lets you lock down any app you don’t want others to be able to open, using a PIN code, pattern, or your fingerprint.

Apps that help users lock other apps is a popular category on Android, where you can today find dozens of similar solutions – though largely from unknown companies save for a few, like Keepsafe or Norton, for example. Like the others in this space, the Bolt app lets you lock down other apps that contain personal information, such as private photos or payment details.

Facebook-owned Onavo quietly launches Bolt App Lock, a data-tracking app that locks other apps
With the resources of Facebook behind it, Onavo appears to have built a more polished, modern alternative to the existing apps.

But Onavo – and Facebook’s – primary interest isn’t on personal security. It’s about finding a way on users’ phones in order to monitor mobile activity and learn what new apps could be taking attention away from Facebook’s social network.

This is disclosed at the bottom of the app’s listing on Google Play, which explains that, as a Facebook company, Onavo will “collect info about your mobile device and the apps installed on it” and share that with Facebook.

Bolt App Lock’s disclosure regarding data collection
Above: Bolt App Lock’s disclosure regarding data collection
Data on mobile app usage has helped Facebook better compete with rivals like Snapchat – like when it saw how Instagram’s launch of a Stories-like feature was working to slow down Snapchat’s user growth, for instance. It also likely helped to inform Facebook’s newer acquisition of the buzzy teen compliment app tbh, which soon led to a new Facebook Q&A feature, inspired by tbh.

To attract users to its Onavo VPN, Facebook recently began advertising the app directly within Facebook’s main navigation on iOS, under the menu item “Protect.” When clicked, the link would take you to the download page for Onavo Protect on the App Store. The company has also featured a similar “Protect” link in its Facebook app for Android in the past. (We’re not currently seeing the option on Android, but your mileage may vary as Facebook’s apps are continually being tweaked and updated.)

But in order to gain these sorts of insights, Facebook needs a user base willing to install Onavo’s app. That may be more difficult to achieve these days, though.

After TechCrunch broke the news of Onavo’s appearance on iOS, a number of outlets directly warned users not to install the app. (See, for example: Gizmodo’s “Do Not, I Repeat, Do Not Download Onavo, Facebook’s Vampiric VPN Service” or Wired’s “Don’t trust the VPN Facebook wants you to use.”)

Until the backlash over Onavo Protect dies down, a new app like Bolt App Lock could give Facebook a different means of expanding Onavo’s user base, and therefore, Facebook’s access to mobile user data.

The app also hasn’t made an appearance in Facebook’s app, the way Onavo Protect did – at least not as of yet. We asked Facebook if that’s the eventual plan, but haven’t heard back.

Bolt App Lock launched on March 5, 2018, according to data from Sensor Tower. It’s not yet showing on the Onavo homepage as one of the company’s products. The app is a free download on Google Play.

source:TechCrunch

Facebook has signed a deal to stream 25 afternoon MLB games
Filed under moves that are potentially groundbreaking with big implications but with quite small numbers, Facebook has signed an exclusive deal with the MLB to stream 25 afternoon games, according to Bloomberg.

The deal is a bit reminiscent of the one Twitter signed for Thursday Night Football back in 2016 to stream games that are outside of the range of primetime football (usually reserved for Sundays and Monday Night Football). There have been some gripes about how fewer people are watching Thursday Night Football, so it also seems somewhat reminiscent in that respect that Facebook was able to sign a deal for games that are not so critically important outside of the normal primetime games.

That being said, blackouts for MLB games are a big of a nightmare (there’s a long thread by my colleagues complaining about this internally), and getting a deal like this on Facebook could potentially get people to pop in during the afternoon to watch the games. It could also help Facebook users get accustomed to the notion that Facebook is a spot to watch your afternoon baseball games, helping the company build that cachet that would help it negotiate further deals down the line. That the games are exclusive is another potentially big deal with big implications down the line for platforms like Facebook or Twitter, despite there being thousands of MLB games a year.

Regardless of the success of platforms like Twitter and Facebook (and Amazon in snatching the Thursday Night Football deal away from Twitter last year) getting these games on their platforms, the big primetime moments still elude those platforms and are all but locked up by incumbents. These deals are expensive — in 2016, the NCAA extended its agreement with Turner and CBS to air the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball tournament, which had a price tag of $8.8 billion — and it’s hard to know whether Facebook or Amazon would be able to secure good deals for these kinds of games. There has been some activity at the startup level to disrupt networks like ESPN, which have traditionally been the host of many games in leagues like the NBA and NCAA college basketball games, such as Overtime raising $9.5 million.

Facebook’s first game will be on April 4 between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets, if you’re into either of them for whatever reason. MLB.com projects the Houston Astros will win 98 games next season, while the Los Angeles Dodgers will win 94. Houston won the World Series in 2017 in seven games over Los Angeles.

source:TechCrunch

Mario can now guide your route in Google Maps
It’s Mario Time! Beloved gaming character Mario is coming to Google Maps, thanks to a partnership between Google and Nintendo ahead of Mario Day, March 10. (MAR10…get it, Mario?) In addition to the various deals and sales on Nintendo games, the mustachioed plumber will also make an appearance in Google Maps’ navigation, if you opt in to have Mario accompany you on your journey.

The feature, which Google announced this morning, is available in the latest update in the Google Maps app on both iOS and Android.

After entering in your destination, you’ll notice a yellow question mark “?” icon at the bottom right of the app’s screen. Tap this, and you’ll get a prompt to enable “Mario Time.”

Mario can now guide your route in Google Maps
From then on, the navigation arrow in Google Maps will instead be Mario – who, in his little red go-kart, will then be your companion for your entire trip. The integration will be available for a full week, says Google, so you can enjoy using Mario for longer than just on Mario Day alone.

You can also choose to screenshot your route and share it to @GoogleMaps on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #MarioMaps, Google suggests. But of course, don’t share personal details like your work or home address, if you do so.

Mario can now guide your route in Google Maps
This isn’t the first time Google has had a little fun with Google Maps, as you may recall.

The company has in the past unleashed Pac-Man on city streets in Maps, let Google Maps streetview users go inside Doctor Who’s TARDIS, and has let you travel by Loch Ness Monster, among other things. Plus, Google and Nintendo have worked together before on silly stuff like this, as with the April Fool’s day prank involving the “launch” of Google Maps 8-bit for NES.

But in this case, adding Mario to Maps feels more like a brand advertisement, rather than just a fun trick. We asked Google if that was the case. However, a company spokesperson confirmed that no money exchanged hands in its business deal with Nintendo.

The Mario feature will begin rolling out today – so make sure you’ve got you’ve got the latest version of Google Maps installed if you want to try it out.

source:TechCrunch

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