Haus, a startup aiming to make home ownership more affordable and flexible, is announcing that it has raised $7.1 million in new funding.

This amount combines a $4.1 million seed equity investment led by Montage Ventures and $3 million in debt, which will help finance Haus’ new co-investment model.

Haus was created by Uber co-founder Garrett Camp as part of his startup studio Expa . When it launched in 2016, it was focused on digitizing and bringing more transparency to the home-buying process. Since then, former Trulia executive Jonathan McNulty joined as CEO, and he’s introduced that co-investment model, where Haus helps to finance a purchase by buying equity in the home.

The idea is that instead of taking on debt, the homeowner is sharing with Haus both the risks and the rewards of changing home values. And instead of paying off a mortgage, the homeowner makes monthly payments to Haus that both purchases more equity and pays the startup and its investors.

The company estimates that these payments are, on average, 30% lower than a traditional mortgage payment. In an email, McNulty said that Haus caps the “option” portion of the payment so that homeowners are always purchasing as much equity as they did with their first payment, even if the home’s value increases.

“From a consumer perspective, there have historically only been two ownership options, pay cash for your home, or borrow money from a bank or lender with a mortgage,” he said. “With Haus, we replace that mortgage relationship and create a direct partnership with the consumer to create an entirely new way of financing a home.”

Haus can also work with existing homeowners to replace part or all of their mortgage — McNulty noted that in some cases, it may make sense “to keep some mortgage debt active for tax purposes.”

When asked about how consumers have responded so far, McNulty declined to provide specific numbers, but he said the service is active in Washington, California and Oregon, and that “the early demand is significant, which makes sense given the affordability challenges we see in these western states.”

Other new investors include RIT Capital Partners and Tim Ferriss. McNulty said the funding will allow the company to expand its team, particularly to do more marketing and to enter new geographies.

“The current real estate model has been broken for a long time,” Montage Ventures partner Matt Murphy said in a statement. “Homeownership … for people ages 25 to 34 is much lower than it should be. We are excited to partner with Haus to bring much needed relief to current homeowners and prospective buyers alike.”

Early-stage startup founders, you have just 24 hours left to complete one small task — a task that holds the potential to shift your venture into hyperdrive. Apply to be a TC Top Pick and the chance to exhibit for free at Disrupt San Francisco 2019 in October. There’s no time left to drag your feet, because this opportunity expires on July 19 at 5 p.m. (PT).

Does your startup qualify? We’re looking specifically for pre-Series A startups that fall into one of these tech categories: AI/Machine Learning, Biotech/Healthtech, Blockchain, Fintech, Mobility, Privacy/Security, Retail/E-commerce, Robotics/IoT/Hardware, SaaS and Social Impact/Education.

Applying is easy; however, earning a Top Pick designation — not so much. Our highly discerning TechCrunch editors thoroughly vet qualified applicants and choose up to five outstanding startups in each category.

Our TC Top Picks get the VIP treatment at Disrupt, starting with a free Startup Alley Exhibition Package good for one full day of exhibiting in Startup Alley. You also receive three Founder passes, access to the complete Disrupt SF 2019 press list and invitations to special events — like the investor reception. Opportunity, I hear you knocking!

You’ll exhibit in a dedicated space within Startup Alley and, because we promote the heck out of TC Top Picks in our pre-conference marketing, you can expect intense interest from investors, media, other founders and potential customers. Top Picks stand in a very bright spotlight.

One of the best perks provides value that lasts long after Disrupt ends. A TechCrunch editor will interview each Top Pick — live on the Showcase Stage in Startup Alley. We’ll record the interviews and promote them across our social media platforms.

Here’s another reason to apply. Every early-stage startup exhibiting in Startup Alley has a shot at participating in Startup Battlefield, our epic pitch competition. TechCrunch editors will pick two startups as Wild Card teams — and they’ll compete for $100,000 equity-free cash, the Disrupt Cup and even more investor and media attention.

Disrupt San Francisco 2019 takes place October 2-4, and one simple task can shift your business in a whole new direction. You have just 24 hours. Apply to be a TC Top Pick now — before the clock runs out on July 19 at 5 p.m. (PT).

Is your company interested in sponsoring at Disrupt SF 2019? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

Today’s 450th FREE online 1Mby1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs is starting NOW, on Thursday, July 18 at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT/5 p.m. CEST/8:30 p.m. India IST. Click here to join. All are...

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Harley-Davidson will release its first production electric motorcycle, the LiveWire, in September.

Yes, the American symbol for internal combustion, chrome and steel is going all-in on two-wheeled EVs.

Founded in Milwaukee in 1903, Harley-Davidson opened a Silicon Valley office in 2018 with plans to add a future line-up of electric vehicles — from motorcycles to bicycles to scooters.

With these moves, HD joins a list of established transportation companies that are redefining themselves in the transformation of global mobility.

TechCrunch talked to the company’s senior management on the EV pivot and got a chance to test the  LiveWire on New York’s Formula E race track. 

The battery-powered Harley will do 0-60 mph in 3 seconds, go 110 mph and charge to 100% in 60 minutes. It goes for $29,799, MSRP.

The motorcycle’s 15.5 kWh battery and magnet motor produce 105 horsepower and 86 ft-lbs of torque for a city range of 146 miles (and 95 for combined city/highway riding).

In contrast to some of Harley’s minimalist gas motorcycles, the company teched out the LiveWire. The e-moto has five processors to manage performance and app-based connectivity, according to HD’s chief engineer for EV Technology, Sean Stanley.

The LiveWire’s tablet-type dash synchronizes with smartphones and allows for preset and customized digital riding modes. From the dash or a smartphone one can calibrate and monitor the LiveWire’s power output, charge status, traction-control settings and ABS braking characteristics. The EV has navigation capabilities and a Bluetooth system for music, helmet comms and to accept incoming phone calls.

Harley-Davidson is famous for its internal combustion rumble — which warranted a new signature electric sound generated from the LiveWire’s mechanical movements. “We spent a lot of time optimizing it…The sound comes from a combination of the electric motor, the transmission and the drive line,” explained Stanley.

You can power the LiveWire on a home outlet or get your electric motor running to head out on the highway with the same fast-charging networks that power Teslas — such as ChargePoint.

HD is also adding charging stations at its LiveWire dealers and announced a partnership last week with Electrify America to provide new owners 500 kW for free.

Harley-Davidson’s electric shift puts the iconic American company in a position to hedge competition from e-moto startups as it jumps out front as the EV leader among established motorcycle companies.

The major gas names have been slow to embrace production e-motos. None of the big motorcycle manufacturers — Honda, Kawasaki, BMW — offer a street-legal, electric motorcycle in the U.S. KTM introduced its Freeride E-XC off-road motorcycle in 2018 and will soon offer a junior version for the first all-electric Supercross racing class.

Harley’s electric moves come after a period of revenue decline for the company and stagnation in the powered two-wheeler market.

The U.S. motorcycle industry has been in pretty bad shape since the recession. New sales dropped by roughly 50% since 2008 — with sharp declines in ownership by everyone under 40 — and have never recovered.

Analysts, such as UBS’s Robin Farley, have suggested that appealing to the preferences of more tech-savvy millennials, over those of baby boomers, should be a priority for Harley-Davidson.

For the last several years, e-motorcycle startups have worked to produce models that rejuvenate interest from a younger generation, while creating gas-rider converts. In addition to offering more tech features to attract new riders, companies such as California-based Zero have worked to close gaps on price, range, charge times and performance compared to petrol-powered motorcycles. The startup began shipping its 2020 $18,995 SR/F model — a potential LiveWire competitor — with a 161-mile city range, one-hour charge capability and a top speed of 124 mph.

E-moto startup Fuell will debut its $10,995 Flow — with 2.7 second 0-60 speed, 150-mile range and 30-minute charge times — in Europe this year, then the U.S., according to founder Erik Buell.

So market competition aside, what’s it like to ride Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire? Nearly a dozen laps around NYC’s Formula E circuit offered a solid first impression. The LiveWire is everything that’s becoming the e-motorcycle experience: lightning-like acceleration with little noise beyond the wind cracking around you.

The biggest distinction between the LiveWire — versus gas motorcycles — is its monster torque and uninterrupted forward movement. The machine has one gear, so there’s no clutch or shifting. With only a battery, processor and drive-train there’s much less that needs to happen mechanically to deliver power from the throttle to the rear wheel. You simply twist and go.

As Harley-Davidson rolls out its adrenaline-inducing LiveWire, there are several things to watch. The first is how the $29,000 price point fares in the market vis-à-vis startup competitors, such as Zero — which are launching comparable, yet less expensive, e-motos. HD’s Paul James (see video) gives LiveWire an edge over Zero on performance attributes and Harley’s service and dealer networks. Sales figures will soon tell if buyers agree.

Harley-Davidson’s EV foray could also create the spark that pushes the gas motorcycle industry toward electric — which would make HD a case of the almost disrupted transportation company becoming the disruptor.

And even more significant than the LiveWire release is what Harley-Davidson offers next. The company has committed to produce a lighter, lower-priced e-motorcycle in the near future, as well as e-scooters and e-bicycles.

At an event this spring, Harley-Davidson’s VP for Product Marc McAllister stressed the need for HD to remain a premium motorcycle transportation company, while developing products for a more on-demand, urban mobility era.

Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire is a leap in that direction, but the company’s next round of two-wheeled EVs — and the market response — will tell us more about HD’s relevance in the transformation of how people choose to move from place to place.

Today’s 450th FREE online 1Mby1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs is starting in 30 minutes, on Thursday, July 18, at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT/5 p.m. CEST/8:30 p.m. India IST. Click here to join. All...

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Risk and compliance management platform VComply announced today that it has picked up a $2.5 million seed round led by Accel Partners for its international growth plan. The funding will be used to acquire more customers in the United States, open a new office in the United Kingdom to support customers in Europe and expand its presence in New Zealand and Australia.

The company was founded in 2016 by CEO Harshvardhan Kariwala and has customers in a wide range of industries, including Acreage Holdings, Ace Energy Solutions, CHD, the United Kingdom’s Department of International Trade and Burger King. It currently claims about 4,000 users in more than 100 countries. VComply is meant to be used by all departments in a company, with compliance information organized into a central dashboard.

While there are already a roster of governance, risk and compliance management solutions on the market (including ones from Oracle, HPE, Thomson Reuters, IBM and other established enterprise software companies), VComply’s competitive edge may be its flexibility, simple user interface and easy deployment (the company claims customers can on-board and start using the solution for compliance tasks in about 30 minutes). It also seeks out smaller companies whose needs have not been met by compliance solutions meant for large enterprises.

Kariwala told TechCrunch in an email that he began thinking of creating a new risk and compliance solution while working at his first startup, LIME Learning Systems, an education management platform, after being hit with a $4,000 penalty due to a non-compliance issue.

“Believe me, $4,000 really hurts when you’re bootstrapped and trying to save every single cent you can. In this case, I had asked our outsourced accounting partners to manage this compliance and they forgot!,” he said. After talking to other entrepreneurs, he realized compliance posed a challenge for most of them. LIME’s team built an internal compliance tracking tool for their own use, but also shared it with other people. After getting good feedback, Kariwala realized that despite the many governance, risk and compliance management solutions already on the market, there was still a gap in the market, especially for smaller businesses.

VComply is designed so organizations can customize it for their industry’s regulations and standards, as well as their own workflow and data needs, with competitive pricing for small to medium-sized organizations (a subscription starts at $3,999 a year).

“Most of the traditional GRC solutions that exist today are expensive, have a steep learning curve and entail a prolonged deployment. Not only are they expensive, they are also rigid, which means that organizations have little to no control or flexibility,” Kariwala said. “A GRC tool is often looked at as an expense, while it should really be treated as an investment. It is particularly the SMB sector that suffers the most. With the current solutions costing thousands of dollars (and sometimes millions), it becomes the least of their priorities to invest in a GRC platform, and as a result they fall prey to heightened risks and hefty penalties for non-compliance.”

In a press statement, Accel partner Dinesh Katiyar said, “The first generation of GRC solutions primarily allowed companies to comply with industry-mandated regulations. However, the modern enterprise needs to govern its operations to maintain integrity and trust, and monitor internal and external risks to stay successful. That is where VComply shines, and we’re delighted to be partnering with a company that can redefine the future of enterprise risk management.”

According to an IDC report published earlier this year, the global revenues for big data and business analytics (BDA) solutions are estimated to grow from $189.1 billion in 2019 to $274.3 billion by...

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Smartphones have become a creative playground thanks to cameras and innovative apps, such as PicsArt. With PicsArt, anybody can add filters and stickers and tweak photos and videos in many different ways. It has been a massive hit with 130 million monthly active users. And that’s why I’m excited to announce that PicsArt founder and CEO Hovhannes Avoyan is joining us at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin.

PicsArt started with a simple app that lets you edit photos before sharing them. There are many companies in this space, including VSCO, Snapseed and Prisma. But PicsArt has managed to become a cultural phenomenon in many countries, including China.

If you’re thinking about editing a photo or video in one way or another, chances are you can do it in PicsArt. In addition to traditional editing tools (cropping, rotating, curves, etc.), you can add filters, auto-beautify your face, change your hair color, add stickers and text, cut out your face and use masks just like in Photoshop… I’m not going to list everything you can do because it’s a long list.

The result is an app packed with features that lets you express yourself, create visual storytelling and improve your social media skills. If you’re an Instagram user, chances are you’ve seen more than one photo that has been edited using PicsArt.

While the app is free with ads, users can also subscribe to a premium subscription to unlock additional features. And PicsArt is not just about editing, as you can also use the app as its own social network.

PicsArt is based in the U.S. and has raised $45 million over the years. But the company is also betting big on Armenia, with a big engineering team over there.

And it’s a natural fit, as Hovhannes Avoyan is originally from Armenia. In addition to PicsArt, he has founded many successful startups in the past — he sold them to Lycos, Bertelsmann, GFI, TeamViewer and HelpSystems. Many entrepreneurs would have a hard time founding just one of these companies, so I can’t wait to hear how Avoyan manages to work on so many different products and turn those products into successes.

Buy your ticket to Disrupt Berlin to listen to this discussion and many others. The conference will take place on December 11-12.

In addition to panels and fireside chats, like this one, new startups will participate in the Startup Battlefield to compete for the highly coveted Battlefield Cup.

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Hovhannes Avoyan is a serial entrepreneur, investor and scholar. He is the founder and CEO of PicsArt, the No. 1 photo and video editing app and community with more than 130 million monthly active users. PicsArt is backed by Sequoia Capital, Insight Venture Partners, DCM and Siguler Guff. The company employs more than 350 people and is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices across the globe in Yerevan, Armenia; Los Angeles; Beijing; and an AI lab in Moscow.

Avoyan brings more than 25 years of experience in computer programming and global business management. Prior to PicsArt, Avoyan founded five other startups, all of which had successful acquisitions by global companies including Lycos, Bertelsmann, GFI, TeamViewer, and HelpSystems.

He is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Bertelsmann Senior Executive’s program. He received his B.S. and M.S. from the State Engineering University of Armenia and his M.A. in Political Science and International Affairs from the American University of Armenia. He’s also a frequent speaker at business conferences on topics ranging from business strategy to international team building and Al.

Sramana Mitra: Is FinTech a sector that you have invested more in? This is a global trend. Hernan Fernandez: Yes. We were lucky enough to be in the middle of the FinTech wave. When we started the...

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Fintech startup N26 is raising $170 million a few months after raising $300 million. While it’s technically structured as a new round, the company considers today’s new funding as an extension of the Series D round.

N26 has only reached out to existing investors. All the investors in the Series D round are investing again, as well as a few investors that have been around for a while. So that’s Insight Venture Partners, GIC (Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund), Tencent, Allianz X, Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, Earlybird Venture Capital and Greyhound Capital.

“It’s a raise in valuation of about 30%. It’s only existing investors that participated. We didn’t go external as it is also quite quickly after the round that we did earlier this year,” co-founder and CEO Valentin Stalf told me. “But I think it’s a good testament of the development of the company over the last couple of months.”

With this new influx of funding, N26 has now reached a post-money valuation of $3.5 billion. The company has raised $670 million in total. And N26 says that it is now the highest-valued German startup and one of the highest-valued fintech startups in the world.

N26 has been building a retail bank that works better. The company lets you sign up from your phone, get a card that you can control from your phone and make purchases all around the world without any foreign transaction fee. And the company has managed to attract 3.5 million customers all around Europe.

More recently, N26 launched its challenger bank in the U.S. The company plans to expand to Brazil in the coming months and launch more products to make it easier to manage your money. Many features will be based on Spaces, which are sub-accounts that let you separate your money in multiple pools and eventually share Spaces with other people.

I chatted with N26 co-founder and CEO Valentin Stalf about the future of N26. Here’s our interview, which was edited for clarity and brevity.

TechCrunch: You announced N26 You already. What’s the idea behind it?

Valentin Stalf: We launched it yesterday or the day before yesterday. There are different card colors and we’re differentiating our premium tier [N26 Metal] a little bit more from the mid tier [N26 You]. I think it was a little bit similar.

But now, N26 You is more individual. And then it’ll come together in a couple of weeks when we launch additional cards for one account. You can have different colors. And then, with Spaces, I think we’re trying to build the most flexible bank account to live and think your way.

And then, in the next quarter we’ll do an app update with a transaction-based timeline.

TC: Does it mean that because of the new colors, people will get multiple cards and attach one card to one Space for instance?

Stalf: In the end, you’ll be able to attach the cards freely to different Spaces. It’s not even that important that you attach one card to one Space. Sometimes, people want to have multiple cards. But if you only use one card, then you can swap a transaction to a different Space.

TC: Now that you’re bringing perks from N26 Metal to N26 You, what does it mean for Metal customers? Do you just get a different card?

Stalf: I think with Metal, we’ll go more and more in the premium direction.

We also mentioned that we’ll be relaunching our insurance packages. The new package will be based on traveling but also mobility. You’ll have a lot of things in the mobility space, including scooter riding.

TC: Let’s talk about product. You talked about Shared Spaces and multiple cards. There’s a redesign that is coming out in the next few months… what will it look like?

Stalf: With the app update that we’re doing, it’s not just a design update of the front end, it’s really an update of the way we talk to our customers and how we present transactions. We’ll be changing what you see in the app timeline.

We want to give you more context and we can to make it smarter. We’ll integrate customer support interactions, we’ll integrate transactions that didn’t work… These features will launch over time.

We’re launching the infrastructure and then we’re launching each of the features. For instance, you’ll have the opportunity to start a customer service interaction directly from a transaction, straight to live chat.

And it’s coming together with Shared Spaces. It’s also something that needs to be reflected in the timeline in a smart way. Some of the transactions that might show up in your timeline might not be done by yourself but maybe by someone else.

Depending on which transaction you do, we move more details into the timeline directly based on what we think is important. So let’s say it’s a transaction in a new country; you might want to see the exchange rate in the timeline directly. If it’s rent, sending the same amount every month, you don’t need to see more details. It just needs to say rent — okay fine.

TC: What did you promise when you raised some more money? New countries, user numbers, improved monthly transaction volume?

Stalf: We have an opportunity that we build a bank that has more than 50 million users around the globe. Today, we only have 3.5 million users but we’re accelerating.

From a country perspective, we have agreed already that we go to Brazil. There’s no plan after Brazil yet. Now let’s focus on the U.S., then on Brazil, then next year we’ll find out what’s the feedback from these two markets.

Wavecell, a cloud-communications platform for companies in Southeast Asia, announced today that it has been acquired by 8×8 in a deal worth about $125 million. The acquisition will help San Jose, Calif.-based 8×8 expand in Asia, where Wavecell already has offices in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Hong Kong.

Wavecell’s cloud API platform, which includes SMS, chat, video and voice messaging, is used by companies such as Paidy, Lalamove and Tokopedia. It has relationships with 192 network operators and partners like WhatsApp and claims its infrastructure is used to share more than two billion messages each year.

The terms of the deal includes $69 million in cash and about $56 million in 8×8 common shares. Founded in 2010, Wavecell’s investors included Qualgro VC, Wavemaker Partners and MDI Ventures.

In a prepared statement, 8×8 CEO Vik Verma said “8×8 is now the only cloud provider that owns the full, global-scale, cloud-native, technology stack offering voice, video, messaging, and contact center delivered both as pre-packaged applications and as enterprise-class APIs. We’re excited to welcome the Wavecell employees to the 8×8 family. We now have a significant market presence in Asia and expect to continue to expand in the region and globally in order to meet evolving customer requirements.”

Coinbase is taking advantage of its significant user base to give you more information about trading behavior and price correlation. Given that there are now 15 cryptocurrencies on Coinbase that you can trade, the new features should provide some signals.

In addition to price and variation information, you can see what Coinbase customers with large balances are currently doing. You get a buy/sell percentage for each asset.

Behind the scene, Coinbase looks at users with a Coinbase balance in the top 10% for that asset. The exchange then counts how many users in that pool have increased or decreased their positions over the last 24 hours. The signal is updated every two hours.

Coinbase is also calculating two other data points — the average hold time and the popularity of each asset. This time, the company relies on the entire Coinbase user base to tell you how long people keep a specific asset before selling it or sending it to another address.

Unfortunately, when you transfer your assets to a hardware wallet or a more secure wallet, Coinbase considers that you’re no longer “holding” that asset because it’s no longer on your Coinbase account.

Finally, Coinbase is looking at price data to find out if prices of multiple assets are correlated. For instance, if Crypto X and Crypto Y have a correlation of 0%, it means that they have no relationship. A negative correlation means that two assets move in opposite directions. This feature could help you build a more balanced portfolio of cryptocurrencies.