Gloat boosts enterprise business growth by empowering employees to achieve their career potential.

Our AI-powered internal talent marketplace provides full visibility on an individual’s unique career path, by analyzing different possible career options and following the achievements and aspirations of an employee from their first day at the company.

Previously, career progress was limited to the well-networked and privileged, now career growth is being democratized as a user-friendly platform and mobile application.

Our artificial intelligence-based internal talent marketplace sparked a new category in the HR space.

Gloat is a SaaS company with a yearly subscription model based on the number of employees. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577737819.6703696/Gloat-Raises-Another-$25M-for-its-Talent-Marketplace-to-Optimize-Career-Paths-for-Employees?ref=audio_experience

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories.

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VMware completes $2.7 billion Pivotal acquisitionVMware is closing the year with a significant new weapon in its arsenal.

Maxar is selling space robotics company MDA for around $765 millionMaxar’s goal in selling the business is to help alleviate some of its considerable debt.

This week’s TechCrunch podcastsEquity took the week off, but we kept Original Content going with a review of Netflix’s new fantasy show “The Witcher.” | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577736013.5522625/Daily-Crunch:-VMware-completes-Pivotal-acquisition-–-TechCrunch?ref=audio_experience

Body language creates a more true measure of what the person is actually trying to communicate.

In your business, communication attracts or repels the customers that you want.

His new book is called “Get People to Do What You Want: How to Use Body Language and Words to Attract People You Like and Avoid the Ones You Don’t”.

Greg believes that “if a person is staring at you, they are probably lying.”Want to attract customers to your business?

Listen to the entire interview on the Small Business Radio Show. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577734212.978637/How-to-Use-Body-Language-to-Attract-the-People-You-Want?ref=audio_experience

A high-profile IPO, visits by both Jacks (Ma and Dorsey) and big Chinese startup investment energized that.

The Nigerian fintech firm confirmed to TechCrunch in November it had reached a billion-dollar unicorn valuation, after a (reported) $200 million investment by Visa.

In the new year, TechCrunch will continue to cover the business arc of this surge in Chinese tech investment in Africa.

2020 and beyondAs we look to what could come in the new year and decade for African tech, it’s telling to look back.

All those questionable events of the past have become reality in African tech, even if some of them are still in low abundance. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577732408.0489962/2019-Africa-Roundup:-Jumia-IPOs,-China-goes-digital,-Nigeria-becomes-fintech-capital-–-TechCrunch?ref=audio_experience

Business Insider spoke with five venture capitalists about the startups that had the biggest impact on the tech world throughout the 2010s.

But startups like Dollar Shave Club and Warby Parker stand out as companies that have successfully built direct relationships with consumers.

But the tides began to turn in the second half of the decade as a flood of scandals chipped away at the idea that tech companies - and tech founders - are inherently good.

Public investors became skeptical of the premium price attached to some tech companies, and the batch that went public in 2019 had a rough go of things.

After speaking with five venture capitalists about how things have evolved since 2010, some clear lessons emerged - as well as some clear examples of those lessons. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577730744.2426443/Venture-capitalists-reveal-the-startups-that-changed-everything-in-the-last-decade?ref=audio_experience

Volta Ventures has today announced starting its second fund, ‘Volta Ventures II’, with an initial closing of €35 million to continue investing in early stage, fast-growing companies in the Benelux region.

Volta Ventures invests in young and ambitious Internet and SaaS companies in the Benelux.

The fund is run by partners with more than thirty years venture capital experience between them: Frank Maene (ex Hummingbird and Big Bang Ventures) in Belgium, and Sander Vonk (ex Liberty Global Venture Capital) in Amsterdam.

These are just a few of the startups that make up Volta’s portfolio, which boasts a host of Benelux stars.

Volta Ventures makes a substantial contribution to their portfolio companies by working with the founders and management to identify new markets and clients, attract talent, provide advice and support, and help raise follow-up finance. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577703964.836838/Volta-Ventures-launches-second-€35-million-fund-to-invest-in-Benelux-startups?ref=audio_experience

India is one of the few countries to have put in place detailed regulations for drone operations.

And they are not allowed to be used for item delivery, the holy grail for companies such as Amazon and UPS.

GoI/regulators are loath to permit such last-mile delivery solutions, even as some countries have given the go-ahead to deliver commercial items in rural areas.For large-scale, urban drone delivery to take off, companies are looking for BVLOS — beyond visual line of sight — permission, which is hard to come by.

But India is looking ahead.

So, while the much awaited smartphone delivery via a drone may not happen in 2020, expect the enabling ecosystem to get a GoI leg-up. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577680409.8256924/20-Questions-for-2020:-Drone-delivery-gets-Government-nod??ref=audio_experience

The funding round also saw participation from existing investor Orios Venture Partners.

The company will be utilising the funds to scale up its operations and expand its presence across other geographies pan-India.

GoMechanic is backed by Sequoia Capital, Orios Ventures Partners, Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, and angel investor Dhianu Das.

Previously, the company had raised $4.9 Mn (INR 35 Cr) in a Series A round led by Sequoia Capital and Orios Venture Partners in January.

Last year, Gurugram-based Droom had raised $30 Mn in a Series E funding round led by the family of Joe Hirao, founder of ZIGExN and others. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577678409.034453/GoMechanic-In-Expansion-Mode-With-Funding-From-Chiratae,-Sequoia?ref=audio_experience

With this funding, FarmERP plans to build artificial intelligence (AI)-based climate resilience intelligence to help customers to mitigate climate risks in agriculture and achieve sustainability.

Moreover, FarmERP also plans to help refine farming and agricultural operations through its expertise in AI, machine learning, computer vision, and blockchain technologies.

As per a report by DataLabs by Inc42, Indian agritech startups raised $66.6 Mn (INR 463 Cr) in 2018, compared to $46.1 Mn (INR 320 Cr) raised in 2017.

New Delhi-based Kamatan Farm Tech raised $4 Mn (INR 30 Cr) from Chennai-based Samunnati Agro Solutions to improve its logistics and supply chain.

In November, Netherland development finance company, FMO Entrepreneurial Development Bank, also announced its plans to invest $5.2 Mn (INR 37.31 Cr) in Chennai-based WayCool Foods And Products for Infrastructure development. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577676605.7317958/FarmERP-Bags-Series-A-Funding-To-Build-On-Climate-Risk-Tech?ref=audio_experience

Here are four critical questions to ask both yourself and an app developer before making the decision to engage them to design and deliver your app.

One of the most significant factors for choosing an app development company is their experience.

Ideally, a reputable app developer will clearly identify the company’s history such as when it was founded, its strategic direction and who is leading it.

If an app developer doesn’t push back, you may find yourself signed up to a project that surprisingly (or not!)

Guy Cooper is Managing Director of Wave Digital, an Australian app development company founded in 2000. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577674812.5965447/4-Questions-To-Ask-Before-You-Hire-An-App-Developer---Young-Upstarts?ref=audio_experience