Pinscreen sued; new Thiel fellow named; Snapchat shares ad revenue
Angeleno Gemma Busoni, co-founder of Discovr Labs, is the Thiel Foundation’s latest fellow, SoCal Tech reports. Discovr Labs is a virtual and augmented reality startup based in Toronto, and develops its VR technology primarily for educational and medical uses. Busoni is one of a class of 20 new Thiel fellows, each of whom will be awarded $100,000 and connections to possible investors.
Former Pinscreen Engineer Sues Company
Los Angeles-based 3D avatar company Pinscreen Inc. is at the center of a lawsuit brought by a former employee, the LA Times reports. Iman Sadeghi, a former engineering executive, filed a suit June 11 alleging that he was assaulted and then fired after disclosing the company did not automate as much of its manufacturing as was widely reported. Sadeghi also claims he was not properly paid overtime, a claim which was denied alongside the others by Pinscreen CEO, Hao Li.
Snapchat Shares Profits With Influencers
In an unprecedented move for Snap Inc., the company announced at a June 21 VidCon event that Snapchat would begin sharing ad revenues with content creators. Digiday reports the change is part of Snap Inc.’s overall drive to avoid the expensive publisher and licensing fee method of advertising, and engage directly with its users. Snapchat is late to the party, though: Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram already employ this model of ad revenue sharing, and YouTube offered it shortly after the video streaming site launched in 2005.
Tech reporter Samson Amore can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 556-8335. Follow him on Twitter @samsonamore.
