10 things in tech startups you need to know today Tuesday, November 28

Good morning! Here’s what you need to know this Tuesday in tech startup news.

GOtivation, a fitness startup, is using chatbot technology to help trainers with backend logistics.  GOtivation, is a Naperville-based fitness startup. The company is using chatbot technology to help trainers with backend logistics. The goal is to give them more time to build relationships with clients.

Facebook teams up with Ryerson to take its battle against ‘fake news’ to the startup world.  The Facebook Journalism Project is collaborating with the Ryerson School of Journalism and the DMZ (Ryerson’s business incubator) to create the “digital news innovation challenge.” As part of the plan, Facebook will fund five startups from around Canada that ‘drive innovation for journalism’ to combat fake news.

UnitedHealth’s Optum launches $250M fund to invest in startups.  Optum Ventures, a unit of the country’s largest health insurance company is doubling down in its investment in startup and innovative ventures. The company is launching a $250 million fund to develop early-stage healthcare startup companies.

Israeli startup aims to stop aborted online shopping. The Jerusalem-based startup, Datacrushers, is using artificial intelligence, algorithms to collect data that helps prevent shopping cart abandonment. The company plans to reduce the average shopping cart abandonment rate, which is currently around 68 percent for online acquisitions.

Dive Networks, a Toronto startup is helping Twitter Canada broadcast live tweets on digital billboards. A Toronto-based startup is helping Twitter Canada and its partners bring their messages to greater heights – literally. Dive Networks is Twitter Canada and its partners broadcast user-generated messages over a digital billboards.

Autism startup, Brain Power, raises 500 percent of its goal in a crowdfunding campaign on its first day. A Cambridge, Massachusetts neurotechnology company  achieved 500 percent of their crowdfunding goal in the first 24 hours. Earlier this month, Brain Power announced the release of its first augmented reality (AR) smart glasses to help people with autism increase social, school, and job success.

NFX accelerator launches first institutional fund of $150 million to disrupt the VC model. NFX, a San Francisco-based accelerator program, announced today that it is launching its first institutional seed fund. NFX was founded in June 2015. The company was initially launched as an invite-only accelerator program, which provides startups with what it calls “network effects.” NFX is founded by the former Trulia CEO and other tech veterans.

Esprezzo announces launch of programmable middleware for blockchain.  The San Francisco-based startup is democratizing access to blockchain development, announced today the launch of its programmable middleware enabling front-end and back-end engineers to build data-rich applications interoperable with blockchain.

Event tech startup Hubb wins best event technology at the 2017 Event Awards.  International Event Technology community recognizes Hubb’s innovative approach to event content management. Hubb is a cloud-based software platform that simplifies the process for collecting, managing, and marketing event content.

MobieFit raises $1.35 million from NB Ventures and MediAssist. An India-based health and fitness startup Mobiefit, has raised $1.35 million in a Pre-series A funding round led by NB Ventures and existing investor MediAssist India. The startup was established in 2015 by Gourav Jaswal, Shantanu Raghav, Pravar Peri and actress Gul Panag.