Index And Khosla Lead $11M Round In Kaggle, A Platform For Data Modeling Competitions

Kaggle, a platform for predictive data modeling competitions, has raised $11 million in Series A financing led by Index Ventures and Khosla Ventures. SV Angel, Yuri Milner’s Start Fund, Stanford Management Company, which invests and manages Stanford University’s endowment and other financial assets,

TBCP-II tank robot climbs walls with gecko-inspired feet (video)

Taking a cue from nature and perhaps Geico, researchers at Simon Fraser University Burnaby have created a gecko-inspired robot, the Timeless Belt Climbing Platform (TBCP-II), capable of climbing smooth walls or across ceilings with lizard-like foot pads. The feet, made out of fibrillar adhesive polydimethylsiloxane

Amazon Sets Up Lending Library for Amazon Prime Kindle Owners

Today the world’s biggest bookseller is opening up shop as a lending library. That’s right, Amazon is getting into the book lending business, albeit on a very small scale. This is good for Kindle owners, and a sign that Amazon is going to go to the mat to ensure that it puts a Kindle in as many hands

More Growth Equity, Please: Average Number Of Rounds Raised By Startups Up 27% Since 2008

In today’s VC market, it’s age before beauty. This is according to a new study released today by Shareholder Representative Services (SRS), the company that represents shareholder interests during the post-closing process in mergers and acquisitions deals. In other words, SRS is an independent advocate

How to Find Interesting People on Google+: Artists

Last week I questioned how many active, daily users Google+ really has. We know it has a huge user base – according to Google, it’s over 40 million users. But Google won’t talk about how many of those people are actually active on the service. All indications are that it’s a small percentage of the total

Energy Sistem’s new tablets promise a taste of Honeycomb on Android 2.3

A trio of new tablets from Energy Sistem (a company known for low-end PMPs and e-readers) may not ordinarily turn many heads, but if you look closely at these you’ll notice they don’t quite match your average budget-minded slate running Android 2.x. They’re not actually running Honeycomb, unfortunately,

Jawbone Launches the Up: Will This $99 Wristband Rule Your Life?

If Jawbone has its way, you’ll soon be wrapping this bendable, waterproof gadget around your wrist, tracking your health with it —…

Jawbone Up detailed: tracks activity, food intake and sleep cycles, available November 6 for $100 (video)

Back in July, Jawbone did something puzzling. The company, best known for its Bluetooth headsets, teased a photo of a colorful wristband called the Up — a deceptively simple thing that could purportedly track your eating, sleeping and exercise habits. The outfit left out a few teensy details: the price,

Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin Leads $7M Round In Scanning And Product Search App ShopSavvy

Barcode scanning and product search app ShopSavvy has raised $7 million in new funding led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin with Brad Martin (Former CEO of retailer Saks Fifth Avenue), James Bailey, and participating. This brings the company’s total funding to $9 million.

ShopSavvy is a mobile

YouTube’s 20 Most-Shared Ads in October [VIDEOS]

Years ago, people used to gather around the TV set to watch Candid Camera. Then, a couple of decades later, Punk’d.
Nowadays, as evinced…