Pokemon Go dev Niantic acquires AR studio NZXR

Pokemon Go maker Niantic has acquired augmented reality studio NZXR for an undisclosed fee. 

Based in New Zealand, NZXR has worked on a number of "AR-first" experiences including interactive apps and prototypes for smartphones and headsets, providing engineering support on skateboarding title Skatrix and assisting with Unreal Engine-powered interactive theatre experience Destination Mars. 

The deal will see NZXR become an integral part of the Niantic design and development team working on multiplayer real-world AR experiences. 

"Our goal has always been to create augmented reality experiences that can be enjoyed by millions of people and to build the technology that powers them and third-party applications – Niantic Lightship," said the company.

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Ethereum Startup Partners With Visa To Spend Unused Phone Minutes On A Virtual Credit Card

Christian Duffus realized that the extra airtime on his Kenyan SIM card couldn't be used in the United States or redeemed online. So, in collaboration with Visa V +2% Inc., he devised a global solution for converting airtime to cryptocurrency and essentially turning the SIM card into a debit card.

He created an app called Fonbnk. The app allows its users to convert airtime to an ERC-20 (Fungible token run on Ethereum blockchain) stable coin called MIN. This token is pegged on the US dollar. 

This innovation was based on observation of existing infrastructure that could be integrated into a product. On one side, the founder of Fonbnk realized that most telecommunication companies that offer prepaid airtime have some form of functionality that allows users to send and receive airtime for free. As a result of this functionality, most of these markets have developed a floating market for reselling airtime.

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A Seattle Startup Helps Companies Measure Their Pay Gaps

WHEN MARIA COLACURCIO started as CEO at Syndio in 2018, class action suits spurred by the MeToo movement had highlighted a glaring need: a way to continuously measure gender pay gaps at large companies. Employers often hired pricey law firms to point out these chasms of inequity on a temporary basis. “You’re just playing Whack-a-Mole over and over again, and just crushing the same problems year after year,” says Colacurcio.

So as an alternative, many businesses embraced Syndio’s comparably cheap software. The Seattle startup’s products allowed them to quickly identify pay disparities, pinpoint policies or structural problems causing them, and project how salary remedies would affect their bottom lines.

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Project Canary Announces Acquisition of Aeris Technologies Expanding Services Beyond Oil and Gas

The strategic acquisition reflects growing, lasting market demand for enhanced measurement of ESG performance

DENVER and HAYWARD, Calif., March 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Project Canary, the Denver-based climate tech and environmental assessment company, announced its strategic acquisition of Aeris Technologies today. Based in California's Bay Area, Aeris – a leading provider of laser-based gas analyzers and leak detection systems – will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Project Canary. Aeris analyzers use cutting-edge laser-based technology that identifies a variety of dangerous GHGs such as ethane, nitrous oxide, formaldehyde, ethylene oxide, benzene, and more.

• Expands ability to support environmental data analytics and emission profiles beyond the oil and gas sector, ushering in the Measurement Economy.

• Addresses complex but differing facility-level operating and emissions profiles which require an array of technologies to accurately detect and monitor GHGs – including utilities, landfills, agriculture, industrial complexes, and more.

• Aeris Technologies becomes a subsidiary of Project Canary; retains all talent.

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Niantic’s ‘largest acquisition to date’ shows the company is still pushing on AR

Niantic is acquiring 8th Wall, a company that helps developers make web-based augmented reality apps, in what it says is its “largest acquisition to date.” The acquisition will help boost Niantic’s Lightship developer platform and to help developers “realize their visions for AR in the real-world metaverse,” Niantic’s Brian McClendon said in a blog post. (The company is a big fan of the term “real-world metaverse.”) Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, and when asked, Niantic spokesperson Jen Stratton said the details were confidential.

Niantic, the developer of the hugely popular Pokémon Go, has continued to push into AR, most recently with a Pikmin-themed app. But the company has had some misses, having shut down both Catan: Settlers and a Harry Potter-themed AR game. But given the acquisition announced Thursday, it seems that Niantic still believes in the potential for augmented reality apps and is aiming to make it easier for developers to make them.

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