Top tech startup news for today, Wednesday, September 4, 2019

YouTube agrees to pay $170 million to settle claims it violated child privacy laws. Back in April, we reported that Google’s YouTube was accused of illegally collecting children’s data by consumer advocacy groups. Now, the video platform giant has agreed to pay $170 million to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission (FCC) and the New York attorney general that it earned millions by illegally collecting personal information from children without their parents’ consent. As part of the settlement, YouTube is required to pay $136 million to the FTC and $34 million to New York for allegedly violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

Swiss IoT startup Astrocast secures $9.2M in Series A funding. Astrocast, a Switzerland-based IoT Nanosatellite Network, has secured $9.2 (€8.3M)  Series A round of funding to accelerate production of IoT modules, to begin commercial phase and deployment of the its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) IoT Network. To date, Astrocast has raised CHF 16.6M in total funding. Founded in 2014 by the developers of SwissCube, one of the longest lasting, operational nanosatellites in space and led by Fabien Jordan, CEO, and José Achache, to develop an advanced nanosatellite network for the Internet of things (IoT). Airbus and Astrocast have developed a low-cost ASIC and module that provides efficient satellite modem for IoT applications. The constellation will consist of 64 CubeSat satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and will provide low latency global coverage.

Fintech startup CrowdBureau closes $1.1 million Series A equity funding with $9.7M valuation. CrowdBureau Corporation, a fintech startup and index provider, has closed $1.1 million Series A equity funding to expand its series of benchmarks and launch a pilot program for its patent-pending regulatory technology product. The round, which values the company at $9.7 million, was led by Clydagh Limited, Estuary Holdings Ltd. and Alpama Limited along with existing investors. Founded by Kim Wales, a securities-based crowdfunding pioneer, the New York City-based CrowdBureau offers asset and risk management tools for market players seeking more transparency in marketplace peer-to-peer lending and securities crowdfunding.

Real estate startup Cazizo announces the beta launch of its listing platform. Cazizo,  a New York City-based real estate startup, aiming to give NYC residents a revamped and more thoughtful real estate searching experience, formally announced the beta launch of its real estate listing platform. Founded by a team of well-seasoned vets of the NYC real estate game, Cazizo aims to become a pillar of the city’s real estate community. Cazizo isn’t reinventing the wheel, it’s just giving it a much-needed overhaul.

Israeli biotech startup PolyPid raises $50M Series E-1 financing. PolyPid, an Israeli clinical-stage biopharmaceutical startup focused on developing and commercializing novel, locally administered therapies, closed a $50M Series E-1 financing round to advance the clinical development of its lead product D-PLEX100 into two phase 3 pivotal registration trials. The round was led by existing institutional shareholders and included US-based high-net worth investors. Founded in 2008 and located in Israel, PolyPid is a privately held, development stage company that has developed a platform technology for the healthcare industry that enables a controlled and prolonged release of any active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). (READ MORE)