Top tech startup news for today, Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Good morning! Below are some of the top tech startup news for the last day of July 2019.

Apple is working on phone cameras that use lasers to sense how far away objects are, report says. According to a top analyst, The new iPhones that Apple is expected to launch in 2020 will include rear cameras that will be able to sense how far away things are for better pictures. The two iPhone models will include the ToF sensor feature, according to a report citing top analyst Kuo, suggesting that the lower-cost iPhone option launching in 2020 won’t have it. His research suggests that Apple’s 2020 lineup will have more significant changes than the ones expected for this year.

Altitude Networks secures $9M in Series A funding to accelerate growth. Altitude Networks, a San Francisco, CA-based cloud collaboration security platform, closed a $9m Series A funding to accelerate the company’s growth and customer acquisition strategies. The round was led by Felicis Ventures with participation from Slack Fund, previous investor Accomplice, and a personal investment from Alex Stamos. Co-founded by Michael Coates and Amir Kavousian, Altitude Networks has developed and launched a cloud collaboration security platform to provide improved security, governance and compliance for G Suite, Box, Office 365, Slack and others. For organizations of all sizes who use SaaS or cloud applications, the solution protects companies against unauthorized data access, accidental or malicious sharing to unintended individuals, and data theft.

Facebook is getting closer to making its brain-reading computer a reality. Not sure if anyone is ready for a brain-reading computer. Nonetheless that does not stop Facebook from experimenting with the idea. In early tests, Facebook said it was able to use a brain-computer interface to decode speech directly from the human brain onto a screen. Facebook first announced the idea at its 2017 developer conference. Yes, the social giant provided more details and insights.  The company said it has made progress  in developing a noninvasive wearable device that allows people to type using their thoughts.

Singapore tech startup Bambu raises $10 million in Series B funding to accelerate geographical expansion and scale its technology. Bambu, a Singapore-based global provider of digital wealth technology, has raised $10 million in a Series B funding round to accelerate the company’s geographical expansion and scalability of technology. The round was co-lded by third-time investor Franklin Templeton along with new investor PEAK6 Strategic Capital LLC. Founded in 2016 by Ned Phillips, Luke Janssen, and Aki Ranin, Bambu is a robo-advisor solution provider offering financial and consumer brands. The startup provides robo-advisory technology, proprietary algorithms and machine learning tools,  for businesses of every size and industry, from finance to commercial or new disruptors.

Atlanta concierge storage service startup MyPorter bags $2.2 million in funding to disrupt the antiquated $38 billion self-storage industry. MyPorter, an Atlanta-based startup reinventing the way consumers and businesses move and store their items, today announced it has raised $2.2 million to drive accelerated market share gains in the Atlanta market and prepare for expansion into new markets in first quarter of next year. The investment round was led by a series of angels and CEOs with expertise in essential services, finance, real estate and technology, and others. Founded in 2015 to disrupt the antiquated $38 billion self-storage industry, MyPorter is evolving the storage game, with door-to-door pickup and killer customer service, all in an easy to use online platform.

ServiceTitan acquires CUC Software. ServiceTitan, an all-in-one software for residential HVAC, plumbing, electrical and other home service professionals and commercial contractor businesses, has CUC Software, an all-in-one service business software system headquartered in Billings, Montana, whose customers are based largely in Canada. Developed by Jack Vannoy and Carolyn Slayden in 1981, CUC Software will continue to offer customers support through April 1, 2020. As part of the acquisition agreement, CUC Software’s clientele, 30 percent of which are commercial-customer focused businesses, will turn over to ServiceTitan.