Amazon has launched a new outlet called Haul which caps the price of products on sale at $20 (£15.79), in an effort to take on low-cost retailers Temu and Shein.

The online shopping giant unveiled Haul as a mobile-only experience available in its Shopping app for US customers on Wednesday.

It says shoppers can expect “crazy low prices” on Haul products that are “worth the wait” of up to two weeks for delivery.

It marks the platform’s long-awaited foray into the sale cheaper goods with lengthier shipping times – a business model which has spurred the rise of Chinese-owned e-commerce apps.

Bloomberg journalist Amanda Mull told the BBC in July that positioning itself as a competitor to the likes of Temu would be a near-term priority for Amazon.

She said Amazon has “created the spending habits” of western consumers by acting as a trustworthy middleman between them and manufacturers.

But shifting away from its speedy delivery and returns options to echo the practices of increasingly popular Temu and Shein apps would allow them to follow in their footsteps by cutting prices, she said.

Amazon has said most of the products on Haul will cost less than $10 (£7.90).

It cited examples such as a three-piece razor set and an “elegant necklace, bracelet, and earring set” available at just under three dollars each in a press release about the launch.

Free delivery will also be available for orders of $25 or over with one to two week delivery.

But the mass production of cheap products has come under criticism due to concerns about the impact of their shipping and disposal on the environment.

“Finding great products at very low prices is important to customers, and we continue to explore ways that we can work with our selling partners so they can offer products at ultra-low prices,” said Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s vice president of worldwide selling partner services.

The company says the “beta” Haul shopping experience will see all products sold backed by its product guarantees to provide confidence about their safety.

Mr Mehta said it was still “early days” for its new shopping vertical, and customer feedback would be listened to in order to “refine and expand it in the weeks and months to come”.

The BBC has asked Amazon if, and when, the service will be launched in the UK.

This year’s iPhone 16 models represent a whole new ballgame for Apple’s iPhone lineup, with the standard iPhone 16 drawing closer than ever to the flagship iPhone 16 Pro. For the first time in three years, Apple isn’t leaving any of its iPhones behind on an older A-series chip, and all the latest bells and whistles, like the new Camera Control, are available across the board.

However, getting the latest iPhone is just the start. You’ll also want to — and in some cases need to — accessorize it. For most folks, the first step is protecting it in a good case. The new Camera Control button makes that trickier than usual, but the good news is that some case makers are already on it.

You’ll find a vibrant ecosystem of iPhone accessories beyond cases, updated for the 2024 models to give you faster wireless charging, high-quality audio on the go, keep you fit and connected, or even just help you keep track of your stuff. Here are our top picks for accessories that will complement any of Apple’s iPhone 16 models, from the 6.1-inch iPhone 16 to the powerful 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Anker 523 Nano Charger

The best wall charger for iPhone 16

By now it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that you won’t get a wall charger in the box with your new iPhone 16. However, while you can keep on using nearly any USB-C charger you have available, you might want to consider upgrading this year if you’re going with an iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max. Apple has boosted the wired charging speeds of its Pro models, and while they didn’t get the rumored 45W speeds, independent tests have confirmed that they can hit around 31W. That works out to a 20% increase in charging speeds with a charger that can supply enough power.

Anker’s 47W Nano Charger will easily have you covered, thanks to its ability to deliver 45W of power to a single device. With a second USB-C port, you can also keep another device powered up along with your iPhone 16, although in that case the power is shared with 27W going to one port and 20W going to the other. That’s still enough to get your iPhone from dead to 50% in about 30 minutes while also juicing up an Apple Watch or a set of AirPods. As the name suggests, this little adapter is also surprisingly compact for the amount of power it puts out, thanks to Anker’s use of advanced gallium-nitride (GaN) technology.

Anker 523 Nano Charger

The best wall charger for iPhone 16

Apple MagSafe Charger

The best wireless charger for iPhone 16

Even though it didn’t say anything official about faster wired charging, Apple is giving the iPhone 16 a boost in wireless charging speeds this year, supporting up to 25W charging over MagSafe. That’s a healthy boost over the 15W of previous models, and will let you charge any iPhone 16 wirelessly to 50% in about 30 minutes — provided you’re using the right charger and power adapter.

Sadly, there aren’t too many options yet other than Apple’s official MagSafe Charger, which has been re-released by the company in a 25W version. The good news is that it’s the same size as the older one, so you’ll have no problem finding any number of affordable stands, mounts, and other accessories made to fit the charging puck.

Just keep in mind that it’s hard to tell the new 25W MagSafe Charger apart at from the older 15W at a glance. Unless a MagSafe charger is explicitly labelled as 25W, it’s best to assume it’s using the older 15W speeds. That’s not a big problem, as the iPhone 16 is still compatible with all older MagSafe accessories, but you won’t get the fastest possible charging unless you’re using the newest MagSafe standard. You’ll also need to make sure it’s plugged into a USB-C power adapter than can deliver at least 30W.

Apple MagSafe Charger

The best wireless charger for iPhone 16

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Apple AirTag

The best item tracker for iPhone 16

Apple’s robust Find My Network offers support for a variety of different item-tracking tags and other accessories, but it’s no surprise that the company’s own AirTag is among the best. If the iPhone 16 is your first foray into the Apple ecosystem, consider picking up some of these to keep tabs on your keys, laptop bag, luggage, and more. A lost AirTag can report its location through any nearby iPhone or iPad that happens across it, and with a billion such devices roaming the world, it’s the largest crowdsourced item tracking network on the planet, making it much more likely your lost items will turn up.

However, AirTags aren’t just for things you may have left behind. Thanks to Apple’s Precision Finding feature, you can get specific directions to where a lost item is hiding in your home or office, so you’ll never again need to worry about losing your keys in the cushions of your couch. AirTags are available in single units or four-packs at a discount, and are powered by a single coin battery that lasts about a year. Thanks to their popularity, there’s also no shortage of ways to accessorize this accessory.

Apple AirTag

The best item tracker for iPhone 16

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Apple Watch Series 10

The best smartwatch for iPhone 16

Whether you’re looking to keep track of your health and fitness or you just want an easier way to stay connected, the Apple Watch Series 10 is the perfect companion to your iPhone 16. While it wasn’t the 10th anniversary spectacular update that some predicted, Apple has still managed to give it a larger screen and make it significantly thinner and lighter than last year’s model.

This makes it more comfortable to wear and easier to read — especially from off-center, where it’s 40% brighter thanks to the new wide-angle OLED display — plus you’ll be able to see even more of your email and text message notifications and quickly respond with a few taps on the on-screen keyboard. The comprehensive array of health and fitness features are joined this year by a new sleep apnea detection algorithm that uses the accelerometer to monitor your sleep patterns and alerts you to this often-undiagnosed condition. Plus, while the Apple Watch is already great for a broad range of activities from running and hiking to swimming and skiing, this year’s model gets new Depth and Tides apps to make it even more useful for snorkeling, surfing, kayaking, and other shallow-water activities.

Apple Watch Series 10

The best smartwatch for iPhone 16

Apple Watch Ultra 2

The best extreme smartwatch for iPhone 16

Although the Apple Watch Ultra 2 didn’t get any meaningful hardware updates this year (unless you count its stunning new black titanium finish), that’s not a big problem as it’s still the best extreme sports smartwatch available. Plus, watchOS 11 brings some new goodies that put it almost on par with Apple’s new Series 10, while continuing to exceed it in ways that outdoor adventure enthusiasts will appreciate.

For example, you still get an incredibly bright display, with 3,000 nits that should make it easy to see even while hiking up a sunny mountainside, plus battery life that can run for up 72 hours between charges if you put it in low power mode. However, the best news is that it’s gaining Apple’s new sleep apnea detection, which won’t be exclusive to this year’s model — it’s coming to both of Apple’s 2023 wearables as part of watchOS 11. That means you don’t need to choose between this year’s elegant design or last year’s more rugged model to get the best sleep tracking available. The Apple Watch Ultra has also supported a Depth gauge since its inception, which makes sense as it’s one of the few dive-certified smartwatches on the market, so the addition of the Tides app in watchOS 11 just completes the set of water sports features.

Apple Watch Ultra 2

The best extreme smartwatch for iPhone 16

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AirPods Pro 2

The best earbuds for iPhone 16

Apple’s AirPods 2 may be two years old now, but they’re still going strong. They’re among the best wireless earbuds on the market, and their tight integration with iOS 18 make them the go-to choice for wireless earbuds for your new iPhone 16. You’ll not only get best-in-class active noise cancellation (ANC) and excellent transparency features but with recent updates you’ll be able to use adaptive noise cancellation that can automatically adjust to your surroundings, conversation awareness that will lower the volume of your music when you’re talking to someone, plus voice isolation to let you carry on a conversation in a noisy environment. There are even new gestures in iOS 18 that will let you answer or decline incoming phone calls simply by nodding or shaking your head.

Plus, Apple has another trick up its sleeve for its AirPods. Apple has embraced new regulations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that have opened up the field to over-the-counter hearing aids. As long as you’re running at least iOS 18.1 on your iPhone, you’ll be able to use them to take a hearing test and even have them double as hearing aids, in the U.S. at least. Like many health features, the situation is a bit murkier in other countries as Apple awaits approval by government regulators.

AirPods Pro 2

The best earbuds for iPhone 16

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Apple AirPods 4

The best budget earbuds for iPhone 16

This year Apple introduced two new sets of its fourth-generation AirPods, differentiated only by the presence of active noise cancellation (ANC) on the higher-end version. However, we think the $129 AirPods 4 are the real sweet spot here, as they effectively replace the five-year-old AirPods 2 that were previously in that slot with something that’s fully modern with support for all the latest iOS 18 features.

Both sets of AirPods 4 get Apple’s latest H2 chip — the same one used in the AirPods Pro — which means they can support features like Siri head gestures for answering and ending calls and personalized spatial audio with head tracking, and voice isolation on phone calls. Naturally, the sound quality has been significantly improved overall, with richer bass and clearer highs, and Apple also promises that these are the most comfortable AirPods it’s made, thanks to a new design refined through the use of 3D photogrammetry and laser topography that mapped and analyzed thousands of ear shapes to create the ideal fit for most people.

Apple AirPods 4

The best budget earbuds for iPhone 16

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iPhone 16 Silicone Case with MagSafe

The best case for iPhone 16

One of the biggest changes in this year’s iPhone 16 lineup is the new Camera Control, a capacitative touch-sensitive button on the right side of the iPhone that lets you quickly open the camera app to start snapping photos and videos and even adjust a whole range of settings by sliding your finger across it. It’s also a feature that’s required case makers to adapt to avoid blocking the new button.

While most cases simply leave a cutout for the Camera Control, Apple has taken a different approach by adding a sapphire crystal and a conductive layer that passes your finger movements through to the button on the iPhone. This not only offers more protection for that area of your iPhone 16 but it looks cooler too. Like Apple’s past MagSafe cases, it attaches magnetically with fun color-matched animations and supports full-speed MagSafe wireless charging. It’s also available in eight vibrant colors to complement the new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro finishes.

iPhone 16 Silicone Case with MagSafe

The best case for iPhone 16

Anker 633 Magnetic Battery

The best power bank for iPhone 16

This year’s iPhone 16 models have better battery life than ever, but it’s always a good idea to have a spare tank, especially if you’re someone who’s always on the go. Anker’s 633 Magnetic Battery is one of the most popular battery packs available for the iPhone, and for a good reason. With 10,000mAh of capacity, there’s enough to juice up even an iPhone 16 Pro Max with power to spare, and the strong magnetic connection and integrated kickstand let you prop your iPhone up for watching videos or joining FaceTime calls even while it’s still charging.

Since the Anker 633 isn’t MagSafe-certified, your charging speeds will be capped at the standard 7.5W of any Qi charger. However, that’s only a concern if you plan to use it in wireless mode. No magnetic battery pack offers fast wireless charging; even Apple’s own MagSafe Battery Pack only provides 5W of charging power when used as a standalone battery. However, Anker has another useful trick up its sleeve: if you’re in a hurry, you can use a standard USB-C cable to top up your iPhone at full 20W wired charging speeds, which should get you up to 50% in under 30 minutes in a pinch.

Anker 633 Magnetic Battery

The best power bank for iPhone 16

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Satechi Magnetic Wallet Stand

Satechi’s Magnetic Wallet Stand is the ideal solution for someone who still needs to carry a few cards while being able to prop their iPhone up on the go. Using MagSafe-compatible magnets, it can be attached directly to the back of your iPhone 16 or through a MagSafe case. It folds flat when not in use, adding minimal bulk to your iPhone, and since it attaches magnetically, you can easily pop it off if it gets in the way.

However, where it really comes in handy is letting you prop up your iPhone in nearly any position in either portrait or landscape mode. The wallet hinge will open up to a 160-degree angle, letting you participate in FaceTime or Zoom calls, browse the web, or just enjoy your favorite YouTube videos or Netflix shows.

Satechi Magnetic Wallet Stand

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The Vivo X200 Ultra is the company’s upcoming flagship smartphone, and based on a new rumor, it could ditch its predecessor’s 1-inch camera sensor. Its predecessor, the Vivo X100 Ultra used the Sony LYT-900 camera sensor.

The Vivo X200 Ultra could ditch its predecessor’s 1-inch main camera sensor

This information comes from Digital Chat Station, one of the best-known tipsters out there. He’s rarely wrong about such information, so we have no reason to doubt this info. It was published on Weibo, by the way.

The Vivo X200 Ultra will replace the 50-megapixel Sony LYT-900 1-inch main camera with a 50-megapixel 1/1.3-inch camera sensor. We’re not sure which one just yet, but it could be the same one the Vivo X200 Pro is using.

The Vivo X200 Pro is equipped with a 50-megapixel 1/1.28-inch Sony LYT-818 sensor. Now, that may seem like a downgrade, but that’s not necessarily the case. This is a newer sensor and it has its perks, it’s not all about the sensor size. Besides, the Vivo X200 Pro sits side by side with the Vivo X100 Ultra in terms of image quality, based on what we’ve seen.

We do expect Vivo to make a difference between the Vivo X200 Pro and Vivo X200 Ultra main cameras, however. So, this camera sensor could include variable aperture, or perhaps Vivo has some other sensor in mind completely. We’ll have to wait and see. Chances are we won’t get the same experience on the two phones, though.

The periscope camera will seemingly use the same camera sensor as the Vivo X100 Ultra

Digital Chat Station also mentioned the periscope telephoto camera that will be included on the phone. The Vivo X200 Ultra will include a 200-megapixel 1/1.4-inch camera sensor for its periscope telephoto camera.

That is the sensor size of both the Vivo X100 Ultra and Vivo X200 Pro periscope telephoto camera. So… that one could remain unchanged too, at least as far as the sensor itself is concerned.

The Vivo X100 Ultra is still lauded as one of the best, if not the best camera smartphone on the market, at least as far as photos are concerned. So we have high hopes for the Vivo X200 Ultra. The VIvo X200 Pro will arrive to global markets soon, at which point we’ll be able to test it ourselves and see what’s the deal. The Vivo X200 Ultra is not expected until Q2 2025, unless Vivo changes its release cycle.

After a lengthy consideration, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled that Amazon’s “captive-audience meetings” are a violation of the National Labor Relations Act. These are mandatory meetings where an employer shares its stance on unionization.

“Ensuring that workers can make a truly free choice about whether they want union representation is one of the fundamental goals of the National Labor Relations Act. Captive audience meetings—which give employers near-unfettered freedom to force their message about unionization on workers under threat of discipline or discharge—undermine this important goal,” Chairman Lauren McFerran said of the ruling. “Today’s decision better protects workers’ freedom to make their own choices in exercising their rights under the Act, while ensuring that employers can convey their views about unionization in a noncoercive manner.”

The decision noted that employers may hold meetings about unionization as long as workers receive advanced notice about the topic, are told that attendance is voluntary and without consequences for opting not to participate, and that attendance records are not kept.

Today’s ruling centers on Amazon, which has a rocky history with its employees’ efforts to organize and with the NLRB. However, the decision could impact other big tech firms that have followed similar practices around unionization.

Every year, more than 1,000 startups join Station F, the iconic startup campus in Paris. As it can be hard to sift through 1,000 startup descriptions, Station F selects the 40 most promising startups and shares a list of what it calls the “Future 40.” The campus also invests in 10 of these startups (but never discloses that list).

The 10 startups it invests in participate in a program run by Station F itself or by a partner, such as Binance, LVMH, Meta, and Microsoft.

Station F’s flagship program is the Founders Program. Companies apply to join this highly competitive accelerator program and be invited to workshops and classes to iterate rapidly on their projects and get to product-market fit as quickly as possible. Station F now takes a 1% equity stake in these startups.

But the startup campus also runs the Fighters Program, which is specifically designed for entrepreneurs with underprivileged backgrounds. It has also run vertical-specific programs in the past — such as the FemTech Program — when the Station F team believes startups in a specific vertical need additional support.

AI everywhere

Startups in this year’s batch have already raised €93 million to date (a hair less than $100 million). While entrepreneurs tackle a variety of sectors, 34 of the 40 startups are using artificial intelligence. It’s clear that every new startup going forward will incorporate AI in some way.

Looking at this year’s Future 40 startups, some names stand out of the selection — such as Arago, a startup working on new AI-focused chips that use optical technology at the chipset level to speed up operations. Or EXXA, a startup that’s optimizing AI inference to bring per-token rates down.

Expect to see more startups focused on optimizing AI workloads now that innovation in AI model development is drastically slowing down.

Elsewhere, Altrove (a startup we previously covered) and Entalpic are both working on materials research. These are just two startups in a new wave of materials companies that have turned to AI to accelerate development.

In this year’s Future 40, there are also quite a few startups working on energy optimization. For instance, Optimmo is a remote companion that can help home owners improve the energy performance of a house or apartment with the most efficient retrofitting works. Kelvin is another interesting home energy retrofitting startup that we’ve already covered.

Orus Energy is a software solution that shifts energy loads to off-peak hours. With these optimizations, companies can save on costs and reduce their carbon footprint.

Many other startups deserve mention, but we’ll keep this section brief so you can explore the Next 40 directly (full list below). We’ve also covered some of them already here on TechCrunch, such as Koyeb and Presti.

Here’s the full list of this year’s Next 40 startups at Station F:

.omics (Dotomics): .omics is crafting personalized plants that will meet the demands of a changing climate and an evolving world, addressing critical societal challenges such as enhancing food security for a growing population and advancing sustainable, plant-derived medicines.

.txt (dottxt): .txt is a tool which makes LLMs reliable enough for the world to build on. The team is creating an ecosystem where developers can design, execute, deploy, and evaluate LLM applications.

Altrove: Using the latest advances in AI models and lab automation, Altrove develops and manufactures alternatives to critical yet insecure materials needed to reach net zero, bridging the gap between prediction and industrial application. Their patent-pending technology enables them to develop new materials 100x faster than ever before.

Arago: Arago creates a unique component to overcome both computing and memory limitations, by using a totally different medium: light. Arago was founded by a trio of AI researchers and physicists from École Polytechnique and MIT, backed by executives from leading AI and semiconductor companies, including Arm’s GM, Intel’s CTO, Hugging Face’s CSO, Apple’s VP, and others.

Biolevate: By harnessing the power of AI, Biolevate turns mountains of data into actionable insights, accelerating the discovery of breakthrough treatments, and transforming the pace of innovation. They’re automating the tedious and complex, freeing up the brightest minds to focus on what truly matters: making revolutionary scientific discoveries.

Bluco: Bluco helps companies fill open positions within a week by bringing AI to messaging apps and integrating into current recruitment platforms.

CarbonFarm: CarbonFarm pioneers satellite-verified carbon credits in agriculture, starting with rice. They unlock additional revenues for farmers adopting sustainable practices, while helping corporations reach their net-zero goals. CarbonFarm has raised a €2.5 million seed round.

CleanMob: CleanMob is a B2B car green tech revolutionizing automotive telematics by enabling companies to boost their vehicle fleets’ performances and productivity using connected car data and cutting-edge virtual sensors technology.

COMIN: COMIN is the first ride-hailing platform to offer a fair, sustainable and participative model, built to redefine urban mobility by empowering drivers and delivering affordable, eco-friendly rides to passengers.

Corma: Corma has built an IT copilot that monitors, governs, and automates your software licenses and identities.

Drawbridge Labs: Drawbridge Labs is building the studio of the future based on a SaaS platform for computer-generated imagery (CGI) production to empower a new generation of content creators. The founders are entertainment industry veterans with senior leadership experience at Disney, Pixar, and Wētā Digital.

Entalpic: Entalpic is an AI company dedicated to accelerating materials research to drive a fair ecological transition. The team develops a machine learning platform to discover new catalysts that optimize chemical reactions, cutting CO₂ emissions in key industrial processes and making a substantial environmental impact.

EXXA: EXXA is building the most efficient batch inference infrastructure to process high-volume workloads and generate high-quality tokens at a fraction of typical costs.

Formality: Formality helps companies and their legal teams secure revenue and control spending thanks to its automatic contract monitoring platform.

ICONO: ICONO allows any media producer to create their own AI video search engine.

Jimini: Jimini’s mission is to automate most low-value tasks, allowing legal professionals to focus on higher-value work. Their AI-powered co-pilot assists professionals in law firms and in-house counsel with research, analysis, and drafting, delivering unmatched efficiency and accuracy.

Kelvin: Kelvin is a B2B SaaS that generates home energy retrofit plans. Earlier this year, the startup raised €5 million. The CEO, Clémentine Lalande, is a graduate of Centrale Paris and TU Berlin. She’s the former CEO and co-founder of Once, a dating app that grew to 12 million users across eight European countries.

Koyeb: Koyeb provides a serverless cloud for developers and teams to seamlessly deploy apps and databases on high-performance infrastructure around the world. The platform is the fastest way to run low-latency AI workloads, web applications, and APIs globally.

Kulipa: Kulipa created a debit card issuer for crypto wallets. They make crypto payment as smooth and fast wherever Mastercard and Visa are accepted. With their white-label platform, they provide a solution that covers both the technical and regulatory requirements of card payments.

Leadbay: Leadbay is a domain-specific AI model for B2B sales, trained on companies in their local market and its knowledge domain (CRM, ERP, CSV), that’s capable of predicting their next customers.

Leanear: Leanear empowers organizations to secure multimodal AI solutions by protecting their data in the cloud beyond traditional perimeter security.

Leasi: Leasi revolutionizes the way consumers access their technology products to make it more flexible, economical, and green.

Moneco: Moneco is the neobank of the French-speaking African diaspora based in Europe. They make it easy for their users to open a bank account (only a passport is needed) and give them access to a range of financial services (FR IBANs, international VISA card, P2P, wire transfers, instant remittances to Africa).

Neuralk-AI: Neuralk-AI develops their own AI embedding models specialized for structured data representation, allowing enterprises to build custom AI solutions that accurately interact with their own structured data.

Optimmo: Optimmo accelerates energy retrofitting with a state of the art tech enabling every real estate owner to have the best retrofit scenarios, 100% remote.

Orus Energy: Orus Energy is an energy flexibility software enabling consumers to automatically shift flexible loads off carbon peak times, thereby supporting the balance and resilience of the power grid.

Pollen Robotics: Pollen Robotics is revolutionizing the field of robotics by creating open source humanoid robots that address critical challenges in automation. Their mission is to empower the AI community with cutting-edge, human-like robots designed for complex physical tasks, improving efficiency and solving labor shortages across industries.

Presti: Presti helps furniture companies create product visuals with AI. Unlike other generative AI tools, their core model is optimized for furniture products and includes multiple features tailored to the unique needs of the furniture industry. Earlier this year, the team raised €3.5 million.

Qevlar AI: Qevlar AI revolutionizes security operations centers with its autonomous, explainable AI-powered alert investigations. Seamlessly integrating into any environment, it leverages existing resources to conduct comprehensive analyses, providing analysts with actionable insights.

Raidium: Raidium has pioneered the first-ever radiological foundation model, dubbed the “GPT” of radiology. This AI breakthrough aims to create an imaging biomarker factory for clinical and research purposes, embedded in an AI-native platform to address precision medicine’s complexities.

Rakoono: Rakoono is the first AI study companion in every student’s pocket. Powered by machine learning, LLMs, and VLMs, Rakoono breaks down problems step-by-step, generates quizzes aligned with upcoming deadlines, creates exercises based on students’ passions, and keeps parents in the loop with weekly progress reports.

Rounded: Rounded is a comprehensive platform that enables any company to easily assemble, deploy, and monitor AI voice agents at scale.

Steerlab: Steerlab is an AI-first solution that helps pre-sales teams automate over 80% of their responses to requests for proposals (RFPs), security questionnaires, and other vendor documents.

Syntetica: Syntetica uses green chemistry to close the loop on synthetic textiles, starting with nylon. Founded in 2023, the startup raised a €4.2 million seed round led by EQT Ventures. The team is working with Victoria’s Secret and ETAM as its first customers to deliver 100% recycled nylon materials.

Theremia: Theremia is an AI-powered platform that creates drug derivatives for specific population subgroups, particularly targeting neurological disorders. By utilizing multi-scale algorithms, along with advanced machine learning techniques, it optimizes drug properties — such as dosage, frequency, and formulation — to enhance efficacy and minimize side effects.

Twelve: Twelve is an AI practice management software for dental offices.

Twenty: Twenty is a modern, powerful, and affordable open source CRM platform for managing customer relationships. Built around customer data and adaptable to unique workflows, Twenty is designed to meet the evolving needs of fast-growing companies.

Upstream: Upstream is an email client designed for team collaboration. It adds features such as channels and task-tracking functionality on top of a typical email client, so that teams can have full context and transparency on all of their conversations, and make decisions more efficiently.

Vazy Data: Vazy Data is a simple and intuitive AI data analysis co-pilot that helps companies manage their decisions with ease and speed.

Veeton: Veeton is a cutting-edge AI platform that develops proprietary models to transform fashion imagery. It generates on-model photos from flat images, allowing brands to create high-quality visuals quickly and at scale.

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PayPal is introducing a new money-pooling feature that aims to make it easier to collect and pay for things as a group. The feature is free and allows PayPal users to create a pool online or via the platform’s app, invite friends and family to contribute, track contributed funds, and transfer that cash to their own PayPal balance.

Provided you trust the pool organizer who will hold the power to spend or withdraw those funds, the pooling feature should provide a simple way to gather cash for things like gifts and group traveling collectively. Pool organizers can share pool joining links via “text, email, WhatsApp, and more” to people regardless of whether they have a PayPal account or not. Contributions can be made using a PayPal balance or bank account, and organizers can also set a pool name, description, target date, and funding goal amount.

The money pooling feature is rolling out today across the US, UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Users in those regions can access it by selecting “Pool Money” from either the PayPal app menu, or in the “More Options” menu within the “Send/Request” tab. 

Other apps like Settle Up are already available that directly focus on tracking and pooling group expenses. Venmo also introduced a similar feature last year called “Groups” with a notable distinction — the responsibility is entirely shared, which may be a better solution if you don’t want a single individual in charge of the group.