The first day was dominated by big names and announcements
Google announced Smart Reply and free Goople Apps access for startups. Facebook will offer virtual reality for everyone by the end of the year, as Oculus VR goggles (no pun intended) will be soldย in volumeย just in time for Christmas. Bill Ford presented his vision of converting the automobile giant into a transportation service provider using new business models of financial instruments. Yancey Strickler, founder of Kickstarter gave an insight into converting the investment platform into a public benefit organization.
The pre-show controversy about high fees for startups has settled, but many alphas are attending the show for only a single day. As for startups from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, BITY a cryptocurrency provider from Switzerland, Exporo a real estate brokerage service from Hamburg, DealMatrix a private equity investing platform from Austria left their mark.
