The startup helps companies train their workers with byte-sized learning available on their mobile.

However, traditional methods of periodic on-site training or even online courses are at best exercises at one-time learning.

Tailor made for blue-collar workersThe company offers the online and mobile learning platform as a SaaS solution on a subscription basis (per user per month) based on volume of users.

“Our focus is on a simple, engaging, and multilingual mobile solution that is personalised and makes learning fun for thousands of frontline employees.

The tech solution (enterprise learning app) along with support to quickly create business critical training content is helping our customers ramp up and up-skill their frontline employees quickly,’’ says Arun. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578875408.1069906/This-skilling-startup-gamifies-learning-in-byte-sized-nuggets-for-blue-collar-workers?ref=audio_experience

That however changed when he was at Delhi University (DU) pursuing an undergraduate degree in Computer Science.

During his final year at DU, Ashish approached overseas education consultants wanting to apply to Oxford University for a Master’s in Computer Science.

The Oxford graduate today runs a successful Noida-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup called CogniTensor.

CongniTensor Co-founder Ashish AironThe early daysAfter completing his master’s from Oxford, Ashish moved to Frankfurt as a research associate.

Ashish set up the startup with a Rs 50 lakh loan from his father and some savings from the Germany stint. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578873608.7933583/Meet-the-Delhi-boy-who-failed-at-DU,-made-it-to-Oxford,-and-then-set-up-a-profitable-AI-startup?ref=audio_experience

Outlier.org is tackling this problem head-on with its online learning platform that allows students to complete entry-level courses online for credit at a fraction of the cost of traditional courses.

Outlier.org offers engaging and beautifully-produced online courses with transferable credits granted by the University of Pittsburgh.

I was lucky enough to attend Boston University on a Pell grant, and took community college courses over the summers and transferred them in to save money.

Every year, around one million U.S. college students take Calculus I.

So Calculus I, alone, costs college students $2.5 billion each year. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578873212.0367594/Outlier.org-Raises-Another-$11.7M-to-Revamp-College-Level-Online-Education?ref=audio_experience

Second, a smart home is not defined by owning “smart speakers, interactive security systems, and smart thermostats.” Third, that begs the question: How should we define a smart home?

That doesn’t mean all home devices marketed as “smart” are inherently useful, however, let alone make our homes “smart.” Additionally, there are plenty of valid privacy and security concerns in a potential smart home.

IoT, AI, and smartFirst and foremost, an IoT device is not a smart device.

Now we’re starting to see smart IoT devices for the home.

One day we will get smart devices for the home with built-in offline machine learning models. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578871402.4399116/ProBeat:-A-smart-speaker-does-not-a-smart-home-make?ref=audio_experience

This week we’ve covered layoffs at unicorns both inside the Vision Fund and out.

This afternoon we add two more to our list: Oyo and Rappi.

They are surprising, as Oyo (India-based, low-cost hotels) and Rappi (Latin America-focused e-commerce) were bright lights in the Vision Fund’s crown.

And the layoffs are not surprising as other famous unicorns have recently cut staff in a bid to reduce costs, diminish losses and aim closer to profitability.

Our net lack of shock is underscored by the Vision Fund itself, which signaled late last year that it wants portfolio companies to get profitable and get public. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578869487.51839/Rappi-and-Oyo-pare-staff-as-Vision-Fund-companies-trim-costs,-target-profits-–-TechCrunch?ref=audio_experience

We also covered two robot startups that laid off some humans: Zume, a robot pizza maker, and Cafe X, a robotic coffee operation that shuttered its San Francisco stores.

It was a strong end to a good, but not fantastic year, our chief data reporter Jason D. Rowley says.

More to come, but to hold you over, listen to an old podcast on how Jason pulls the numbers for this quarterly series.

Turning to this week’s funding news, we covered two new unicorns: Houston’s High Radius and its $125 million Series B as well as ClassPass’ $285 million raise.

Here’s hoping you have a restful weekend and that your New Year’s resolutions haven’t completely fallen off your to do list just yet. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578866416.2500827/SoftBank’s-Layoff-Spree,-Our-Quarterly-Reports-Are-Back-and-Houston’s-New-Unicorn?ref=audio_experience

Tweet NEW YORK, NY, Covera Health today announced its Series B financing, led by Insight Partners.

To export Covera Health funding data to PDF and Excel, clickClick here for more funding data on Covera HealthTo export Covera Health funding data to PDF and Excel, click here As the country's leading provider of clinical analytics solutions to reduce medical misdiagnoses, Covera Health today announced its Series B financing, led by Insight Partners, with participation from existing investors, including New York-based Prism Ventures.

Covera Health is at the center of this dynamic, supportive ecosystem."

Covera Health is dedicated to developing the most rigorous, quantitatively-based solutions to improve healthcare quality, diagnostic accuracy, and patient outcomes.

Across its people and our portfolio, Insight Partners encourages a culture around a core belief: growth equals opportunity. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578865785.105679/Covera-Health-Closes-$23.5M-in-Series-B?ref=audio_experience

And according to a new survey and report from QuickBooks Payroll, owners are spending almost 5 hours (4 hours and 52 minutes) calculating, filing, and paying payroll taxes each pay period.

Unfortunately, business owners don’t realize just how much time they spend on payroll taxes.

This includes processing employee payroll and calculating payroll taxes.

And the amount of time they spend on it is as follows: calculating payroll taxes – 110.52 minutes and filing payroll taxes – 96.3 minutes.

Take your time, research, ask your fellow small business owners, and before you commit try it out. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578862812.3915455/Payroll-Taxes-Take-up-to-5-Hours-Per-Pay-Period-for-SMB-Owners?ref=audio_experience

Last week we took a look at what several business experts, entrepreneurs, and business thought leaders predicted was going to unfold for small business owners in 2020.

If you missed part 1, be sure to read The Year Ahead for Small Business: Experts Weigh In on What Small Biz Owners Should Expect.

Rhett Doolittle, CEO, BluumeThere will be a new company/platform evolving in the advertising space for small businesses.

The cost for Google, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn ads continues to increase and fails to show a return for small businesses.

Small businesses will increasingly turn to partners and managed service providers (MSPs) to handle these complex aspects of their business. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578861007.6061158/The-Year-Ahead-for-Small-Business,-Part-2:-More-Expert-Predictions-on-New-Trends-and-Opportunities-We’ll-See-This-Year?ref=audio_experience

We got a bit of a surprise at the end of CES: some hands-on time with Samsung’s latest rugged phone for the enterprise, the Galaxy XCover Pro.

The XCover Pro, which is officially launching today, is a mid-range $499 phone for first-line workers like flight attendants, construction workers or nurses.

Traditionally, rugged phones came with large rubber edges (or users decided to put even larger cases around them).

The XCover Pro, on the other hand, feels slimmer than most regular phones with a rugged case on them.

the XCover Pro isn’t officially a replacement of this program, but it may just find its fans among former Galaxy Active users. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1578859462.3986647/Samsung-launches-the-rugged,-enterprise-ready-Galaxy-XCover-Pro-–-TechCrunch?ref=audio_experience