Top tech startup news stories you need to know this Monday, February 5

Good morning! Here are some of the top tech startup news stories today Monday, February 5.

Grab is giving Uber a run for its money in Southern Asia. Grab is dominating the ridesharing market in Southeast Asia, boasting 2.3 million drivers in 168 cities across eight countries. In 2018, the company raised $2.5 billion from investors, including Softbank, the Chinese ridesharing company Didi Chuxing, and Hyundai.

Israeli startup MDClone raises $15 million in funding for a new healthcare data paradigm. Healthcare IT startup MDClone announced today it has raised $15 million from OrbiMed Israel Partners, who led the initial investment in 2016, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, who led the 2017 financing.

College Testing firm ACT invests in Edtech startup Smart Sparrow. ACT, the big college admissions testing organization whose CEO aims to make it an educational venture as well, is investing $7.5 million in interactive online learning startup Smart Sparrow.

Google Alphabet’s Coord Wants To Simplify Booking Smart City Rides. Google Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs recently spun off a new startup called Coord. Coord aims  to simplify the process of booking transportation services in smart cities of the future. The concept is based on the technology behind Flow, being delivered as a unified application programming interface (API) that Coord will be selling to third-party developers interested in accessing data on parking, tolls, and curb space in U.S. cities

Mark Cuban invests $250,000 for 25 percent of student’s app. Billionaire and Shark Tank investor, Mark Cuban, has invested $250K in the startup, ChangEd. ChangEd aims to help student tackle the seemingly-insurmountable student debt. The startup was founded by two brothers, Nick Skrzyniarzc and Dan Stelmach. The inspiration for the app came when Nick Skrzyniarzc was fresh out of college and found himself drowning in student debt.

Edtech startup CollegeDekho raises $2 million  Funding. India-based edtech startup CollegeDekho has raised $2 Mn in its third round of funding to  To strengthen its technology and increase its marketing activities. The latest funding came from GirnarSoft, London-based ManCapital, the investment arm of the Mansour Group, and others.

Chinese smart home startup Broadlink gets $54.4 million funding from Citic, Baidu. Chinese smart home devices start-up Broadlink announced Monday that it has raised $54.4mn in its latest funding round which was led by Citic Capital Partners. The series D funding round also included internet giant Baidu and detergent manufacturer Libai Group.

DataTribe launches cyber funding competition. DataTribe, a cybersecurity startup studio, announced today that it is launching the DataTribe Cyber Crucible, a competition to identify high-technology startups with a vision to disrupt cybersecurity and data science.