of founders who participated in Startup School this past year made the grant selection process a tough one.

Congratulations to the following startups* for their impressive progress over the 10-weeks of Startup School!

oneprocdashSan Francisco, CAA SaaS tool enabling engineers to easily manage, monitor, and orchestrate jobs and services hosted in the cloud.

ScopeLondon, UKTools to help companies operating in the healthcare space to leverage AI technology.

TeamJoySan Francisco, CAA marketplace for managers and teams to organize team events, outings, and celebrate peoples life events such as work anniversaries and birthdays. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577469609.3419557/Announcing-the-Startup-School-2019-Grant-Recipients?ref=audio_experience

This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)Contxto – Brazilian developer ICX Labs has showcased how its interactive mirror can improve the customer experience in some São Paulo-based retailers.

Its CEO and co-founder, Fábio Avelar believes that as virtual reality grows in importance, so shall ICX Labs’ offerings.

With these shopping struggles in mind, Fabio Avelar and co-founder Renata Maximiano created ICX Labs to develop better purchasing experiences.

These same nifty features are also available in a store’s fitting room where the interactive mirror is equipped.

Mirror, mirror on the wall who’s the most innovative of them all? | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577467808.4103994/Brazilian-ICX-Labs-offers-interactive-mirror-for-better-shopping-experiences?ref=audio_experience

The nearly seven-year-old, New York-based fitness subscription app ClassPass is reportedly trying to raise $285 million in a new funding round that would push its valuation to more than $1 billion.

The company will issue 22.7 million Series E shares as part of the funding round, according to a securities filing obtained by Reuters from analytics firm Lagniappe Labs.

According to TC’s sources, ClassPass has been in fundraising mode since at least early fall.

Its backers include the Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek and Alphabet, along with General Catalyst, Thrive Capital and Acequia Capital.

The company closed its most recent round of funding, an $85 million Series D round, in July 2018. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577466015.2629602/Report:-ClassPass-is-hunting-for-unicorn-status-in-a-new-funding-round-–-TechCrunch?ref=audio_experience

With more and more customers searching for products and services online, it has never been more important to have a strong online presence.

Showing up on the first page of Google is now a basic requirement for any business looking to attract new customers and increase sales.

We’re giving away 3 top tips to be found on Google so you can attract more customers in 2020.

Fast-forward to 2020 and the Yellow Pages now only exists as an online directory and is no longer printed.

ConclusionSo, if you’re looking to kickstart your marketing campaign in 2020 with an effective strategy, make sure you apply these top tips so that you can generate relevant leads and increase sales. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577464208.2167299/3-Tips-To-Increase-Your-Online-Visibility-In-2020?ref=audio_experience

Today’s era is defined by highly targeted, personalized advertising based on characteristics that brands and businesses can identify about you, me or anyone else on the internet.

The initial delight around a curated advertising experience has been met with recent blowback around data privacy, with Facebook and Wells Fargo serving as two prominent examples.

If consumers are going to reject this brand of ‘personalization,’ companies need to now find less intrusive, more authentic ways to connect with customers.

Don’t get me wrong – both traditional media and digital advertising channels are still important tools in building brand awareness, but they no longer provide the validation of high quality or resonance with consumers.

We built Drum around the idea that the way consumers are now validating products and experiences is more reliant on human connection and social endorsement. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577462515.0997858/Curation-Through-Connection:-Why-Marketers-Should-Look-Beyond-Just-Data---Young-Upstarts?ref=audio_experience

In the modern world, where advanced technology is making significant changes in our daily life, education technology has become a billion-dollar industry.

However, launching your own EdTech startups is not as easy as you might think.

So, this article today can help you have a closer look at the opportunities and challenges in EdTech startups.

A fast-growing industryFrom website platforms to mobile apps and everything in between, edtech startups are popping up and achieving more and more success.

The blooming of EdTechThe fast growth of edtech comes with opportunities but challenges at the same time. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577460622.5057268/EdTech-Startup:-Opportunities-And-Challenges-You-Should-Know?ref=audio_experience

QSR employees tend to leave when they feel overwhelmed and undertrained on customer service and restaurant technology.

Your employees may not be tech-savvy, but you should not wait to introduce them to this technology.

Tips for Introducing New TechWhen you are introducing new technology to your staff, you should use a systematic approach.

Second, you need to make sure that your managers have been tested on the use of new restaurant technology.

When you make simple changes to your restaurant technology, you can become a much more efficient and profitable business. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577458815.58208/The-Startup-Magazine-How-to-Easily-Introduce-New-Technology-to-Your-Restaurant’s-Employees?ref=audio_experience

In this week’s poll, the question goes to the heart of what small business owners went through in 2019.

With that in mind, How Did Your Business Perform in 2019?

Take this week’s poll and let our readers know how the year has gone so far.

And if you want to let us know what you are expecting in 2020, let us know that too.

How Did Your Business Perform in 2019? | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577457007.6285844/POLL:-How-Did-Your-Business-Perform-in-2019??ref=audio_experience

Here are the reasons why you need to build a personal brand along with some of the ways you can effectively cultivate a positive personal brand online.

What is a personal brand?

If the answer is nothing, then you have not established a personal brand online.

The very best personal branding will showcase your skills and help you stand out to prospective employers and clients.

The first place to go when building a personal brand is your social media profile. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577455274.616982/Is-Personal-Branding-Really-Necessary??ref=audio_experience

Secondly, the bias of parents towards traditional means of education and adoption of big edtech brands have made life difficult for edtech startups.

At this point, it becomes crucial to understand what made VCs put their trust and money into edtech startups in India and what exactly they look for while investing in edtech ideas.

Particularly, we wanted to understand how investors examine the business model of edtech startups in India.

How VCs In India Are Investing In Edtech StartupsThe VCs Inc42 spoke to started investing in edtech startups from the early stage.

Most edtech startups in India have models that sell directly to educational institutions and then fail because of working capital issues. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1577453415.8906825/What-VCs-Look-For-In-Edtech-Startups-In-India??ref=audio_experience