Tingle Tech

Parents of unvaccinated kids are within inches of a freedom they've longed for since the pandemic began in March 2020: household protection against COVID-19.

Many other childless vaccinated adults have returned to a semblance of their old lives. They've traveled on planes, eaten inside restaurants, and gone to parties, concerts, and movies. Some parents (vaccinated or unvaccinated) may have done the same, but plenty remain stuck in limbo, awaiting vaccination for roughly 28 million children 11 and younger.

They've taken only risks that seemed necessary or arguably safe, not wanting to become the vector of illness that put their kid's first-grade class in quarantine, the reason why a beloved grandparent or teacher experienced a devastating breakthrough case, or the caregiver whose insistence on a family trip led to severe COVID for their young child.

With the emergency use authorization of the vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds (presumably toddlers and infants will follow soon after), concerned parents can finally release the breath that's been clenched in their chest for nearly two years.

Surely they'll still want to let loose the occasional primal scream, in private or on the internet, because parenting is never easy. But if we're lucky, those future viral Tweets won't channel the despair and anger of trying to navigate the Delta variant as a partially vaccinated household with little to no guidance, or worrying that going back to a classroom might lead to tragedy while also panicking about not having school or childcare. One can even dream that parents will turn to social media with the various triumphs of being a fully vaccinated household — relatively carefree trips and hangouts, attending school (mostly) without a mask — and find a cheering audience.

However it plays out online, one thing is clear: Parents desperately need a pandemic life that looks nothing like the ever-present anxiety, uncertainty, and decision-making fatigue that has defined their experience so far.

Dr. Lucy McBride, a primary care doctor in Washington, D.C., who produces a newsletter on COVID-19 and general health topics, encourages parents who vaccinate their children to embrace the fact that they've taken a small risk and made it even smaller.

They need "to give themselves permission to relinquish fear of COVID-19," says McBride. That doesn't mean being blasé about sensible infection control precautions, like hand washing, staying home when sick, and getting a flu shot.

"[That] simply means opening your mind to contemplating other health risks and reincorporating joy, pleasure, levity and well-being into your everyday existence."

Indeed, the pandemic has created a strange, stressful existence for parents. Gone are work and social events that injected novelty into their routine-centric lives, yet there's a new problem to solve every day, including quarantines, shuttered daycares, hybrid learning, rapid test shortages, and missing school because of a runny nose. The toll it's taken is no exaggeration.

A survey conducted in August and published this week by the American Psychological Association found that nearly half of parents who participated were so stressed about the pandemic that they struggled to make basic decisions like what to wear or eat, compared to a quarter of non-parents. Parents were also less likely to describe their mental health as very good or excellent. Unsurprisingly, they were more likely to feel like they needed more emotional support throughout the past year.

They're not getting much help from society, either. Public health agencies and officials have given little indication of what people's lives should, or could, look like once COVID-19 becomes endemic and the infection rate is controlled and manageable. Such information is vital to parents, some of whom have taken to obsessing over what epidemiologists will or won't do with their own kids for scraps of trustworthy guidance. If parents find it difficult to look forward to or plan for the future, it's because they have no idea when after-school childcare will be consistently available, whether masks will become a mainstay at schools and other venues that mandate them, or whether they'll ever live spontaneously again.

Dr. Lynn Bufka, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and spokesperson for the APA, says many people have been depleted "day after day" during the pandemic, but parents carry the added burden of being responsible for their children's safety, education, and physical and mental health.

"Our mental resources are not infinite. There is a limit," she says. "The more you're being taxed, mentally [and] psychologically around challenging situations, the less energy...you have to put toward the things that can really help you in this situation."

Restorative activities like exercise, socializing, and hobbies that give people a much-needed boost are the proverbial "well" that parents, in particular, need to draw from but can't because they're so exhausted by the pandemic, says Bufka.

If pediatric vaccinations make life feel more manageable, and risk more acceptable, Bufka encourages parents to take reasonable steps toward venturing back into the world. That means identifying what's most important to you and your family, which could include a plane ride to see grandparents, playdates with children's friends, or hiring a trusted babysitter for a regular date night.

Bufka says it can be helpful to think about how such choices will improve an overall sense of well-being while enhancing social connections, both of which are critical to mental health. She adds that it's normal for parents to feel scared or anxious as they try to forge a new pandemic reality. This may be especially true for families with an immunocompromised parent or child, or for those who live in an area with a low vaccination rate. Not every family faces the same reality, but every parent should give themselves a little grace as they navigate releasing some of the fear that's defined their lives for so long.

"We can do absolutely everything that seems like the right thing to do and still things will happen," says Bufka, noting that we're vulnerable to much more than COVID-19, including other infectious diseases as well as poor mental health related to pandemic stress and anxiety. "It's important for us to not hold ourselves to an impossible standard."

That message is one that parents struggle to accept even without a pandemic. They want to believe they're superhuman because their children's lives depend on such foresight and fortitude. Parents might be tempted to keep up their heroics, even after protecting their children through vaccination, convinced that they can stop a breakthrough COVID-19 infection with never-ending vigilance. But unless trusted medical professionals recommend such an approach for their child, clinging to that idea will only make it harder for them and their kids to feel ease and happiness as they move forward.

Families with young children deserve normalcy back in their lives, the kind that many who've been vaccinated has enjoyed. Now's their chance to finally get some.

As of Nov. 1, the Ativafit Indoor Cycle is on sale for $160.61 with the code SALE15NOV — that's 37% off sticker price.

If you've been looking for a way to keep up with your workouts without having to leave your home, you don't have to break the bank on expensive equipment (i.e. a Peloton bike) in order to do so. You just have to find the deals — like this Ativafit Indoor Bike for example. For a limited time, ahead of Black Friday, you can save $138 on this Peloton alternative and start shredding miles from your living room.

The Activafit indoor bike mimics the feeling of riding your bike down a real road by providing a smooth and hassle-free workout at home. It even comes with a 35-pound flywheel that gives you an adjustable range of resistance to alter the intensity of the exercise every time you hop on. If you're unfamiliar, flywheel cardio training works to help you strengthen your leg muscles and build up cardio endurance over time.

To track your progress, this bike even calculates your time, speed, distance, calories, and more on the LCD monitor, so you can check-in and see how you're doing throughout the ride. The adjustable leather padded seat keeps you comfortable for the duration of the ride — whether you're doing a quick 10 miles or a metric century. Added accessories like the multi-grip handlebar, bottle holder, and flat bracket iPad holder add even more comfort to your ride, which will help you pedal longer and work out more often. Plus, you can use your iPad to follow along with Peloton-like cycling videos to stay motivated.

Normally, this indoor bike with a 35-pound flywheel retails for $299. But for a limited time, you can use the pre-Black Friday coupon code SALE15NOV at checkout and slash the price down to just $160.61. That's over 46% in savings.

Credit: Ativafit

Ativafit® Indoor Cycle with 35Lb Flywheel

$160.61 at the Mashable Shop with the code SALE15NOV

Get Deal

TL;DR: The GPS 4K Drone 106 Pro is only $63.71 as of Nov. 1 when you enter the code SAVE15NOV at checkout.

Drones certainly aren’t known for their affordability. With the ability to glide through the sky, snap photos from an angle you never could, and even show you real-time video footage, a couple hundred bucks seems like a fair price for one of these flying gizmos. But for a limited time, you can get one for just $63.71, making this a Black Friday-level deal weeks ahead of the rush.

With dual HD cameras and electronic image stabilization, the GPS 4K Drone 106 Pro is a force to be reckoned with. Not only can you snap high-quality 4K photos from a bird’s eye view, but you can also watch the world go by from a first-person perspective, as if you were actually gliding through the clouds. 

Whether you’re an experienced drone pilot or a complete newbie, this drone is user-friendly and easy to get off the ground. Just unfold its arms and use either the remote control or compatible app to take flight. Thanks to headless mode, you can lock the direction of the remote controller so the drone won’t have to distinguish direction. The altitude hold mode and three-axis mechanical gimbal ensure it stays steady in motion, so you won’t lose control in the air. The optical flow provides more accurate and stable hovering as well, so any footage you take from the sky will be steady.

Once you gain some confidence as a pilot, you can even control your drone with the point of a finger or the wave of your arm, thanks to gesture control. And when it’s time to fly back home, you can touch a single button and watch the drone head back to you in an instant. Then fold it back up and pack it to go; about the size of your palm, it'll easily fit in your backpack or purse.

Regularly $89, which is already a steal, you can score this 4K Dual Camera Drone on sale ahead of Black Friday for just $63.71 when you enter the code SAVE15NOV at checkout.

Credit: Genius Depot

GPS 4K Drone 106 Pro

$63.71 at the Mashable Shop with code SAVE15NOV 

Get Deal

TL;DR: The Orai Interactive AI Assisted Public Speaking Course is on sale as of Nov. 1. Use the code SALE15NOV at checkout and slash the price down to just $127.50. 

If there’s something most of us can agree on (which seems next to impossible these days), it’s that public speaking isn't easy. It sounds innocent enough, but as soon as you get in front of a group of people and open your mouth, all hell breaks loose. Your palms sweat, your face gets flushed, your mouth dries up, and your stomach turns. But at some point or another, we all have to do it. And this Orai Interactive AI Assisted Public Speaking Course can help.

Rated 4.6 out of 5 stars on the App Store, Orai is like having a personal speech coach in your pocket. It features four weeks of interactive modules that cover work presentations, confident communication, concise communication, and compelling communication in order to improve your presentation skills. At the end of four weeks, you’ll walk away sounding more confident, compelling, and concise when giving public speeches — which will also help you save time and leave a better impression.

Along with the course, you’ll also get one year of the Orai subscription part of the app, which offers AI-driven feedback on your communication skills. The feedback covers key metrics like pace, filler words, energy, facial expression, pausing, confidence, and more. And the more you use it, the better feedback you’ll get.

With progress tracking, unlimited recording time, and the ability to share your results, Orai is almost guaranteed to improve your speaking in some capacity — and maybe even help you get over your fear once and for all. Whether you regularly have to give presentations at work or you have to give a speech at an upcoming wedding, signing up for Orai is the best way to prepare. 

The Orai Public Speaking Course, along with the one-year app subscription, is regularly $200. But ahead of Black Friday, you can score a major deal. Use the code SALE15NOV at checkout and slash the price down to just $127.50. 

Credit: Orai

Orai Interactive AI Assisted Public Speaking Course

$127.50 at the Mashable Shop with code SALE15NOV

Get Deal

TL;DR: The Classic Wooden Apple Watch Band is only $98.59 as of Nov. 1 when you enter code SAVE15NOV at checkout.

An Apple Watch is extremely functional and helpful for anyone trying to balance work and personal life, but sometimes the bands just don't let you show off your personal style. Instead of looking like everyone else, upgrade your look with a watch strap that complements your aesthetic.

For a limited time, you can save over 20% on this Classic Wooden Apple Watch Band from TruWood ahead of Black Friday when you enter code SAVE15NOV at checkout.

This sleek and sophisticated band comes in different shades of wood and different sizes (42mm or 44mm), so you can get the combo that's perfect for you. Made from environmentally sustainable materials, like 100 percent natural sandalwood, these bands are the perfect mix of modern technology and natural textures for the nature lover who still wants to stay in the know.

Like an old-school watch band, you can easily remove links on this wooden band or add them back in, depending on your needs. So, it's completely adjustable to suit practically any size wrist.

This watch gives back to the planet as well. For every watch purchased, TruWood will plant 10 trees to honor the purchase and replenish the wood that was used in production. This watch strap makes the perfect gift for the environmentally conscious friend who also wants their gifts to pull double duty and give back to make the world a better place. No matter which Apple Watch model you have, there's a TruWood watch band that will accentuate it and gives it a personal touch.

Here's a deeper look at the TruWood brand story:

The TruWood Wooden Apple Watch Band (42mm or 44mm) regularly retails for $129. But for a limited time, you can save over 20% at checkout when you enter the code SAVE15NOV and knock the price down to just $98.59 ahead of Black Friday.

Credit: TruWood

Classic Wooden Apple Watch Band

$98.59 at the Mashable Shop with code SAVE15NOV

Get Deal

Hourly workers make up abut 55% of the working world, yet when it comes to tech built for the world of work, their so-called knowledge worker counterparts dominate the space. Today, an app built specifically to address the needs of the former is announcing a big round of funding — underscoring both the evolving landscape of business software, and how hourly and shift workers are increasingly coming into their own.

When I Work — a popular messaging platform that lets hourly workers employed by a business sign up for shifts, trade shifts with colleagues, and let management and others know when they cannot make it to a shift — has closed a growth round of $200 million, funding that the company will be using both for business development, and to expand its product.

The funding is coming from a single investor, Bain Capital (specifically its Tech Opportunities fund), and while the pair are not disclosing valuation, it’s being described as a “majority growth investment”, which implies something around $400 million. CEO Martin Hartshorn said in an interview that When I Work is profitable, and it has been since June of last year — notable considering we were in the depths of pandemic living and economic uncertainty — and its steady rise was the reason for raising now, after raising just $24 million in the 11 years prior.

“We have hit a new phase,” he said, with growth currently “north of 35%” and generating a profit. “The customers love the product and culture is really good. We’ve got something great and it’s time to go for it.”

Previous backers include Arthur Ventures, Drive Capital, Greycroft and High Alpha.

Founded in Minneapolis in 2010, When I Work says its app is already used by some some 10 million hourly workers in the U.S. across some 200,000 businesses, with a focus on smaller businesses and franchises of well-known names (the list includes Dunkin’, Ace Hardware, Ben & Jerry’s and Kenneth Cole). Some of that growth has specifically come from the changing needs of the market: while some retailers were forced to shutter operations, and some closed down altogether, other sectors like healthcare picked up steam.

Hartshorn noted that in Q2 of this year, the company picked up more than 50 customers “spinning up vaccination operations” — that is, building shift-based systems to handle that effort. The plan will be to continue doubling down on the opportunity in the U.S. as well as to start moving into other markets internationally.

As for the app itself, it has mainly made its name around providing tools to make it easier to communicate with shift-based and hourly staff, people whose hours mean that it’s unlikely that everyone would be at the business at the same time for meetings, and have potentially more variable schedules when they work, schedules that often need shifting depending on customer traffic and the circumstances of workers themselves.

As its name implies, When I Work’s most-used functions and managing shifts and communicating with the team, addressing what are the biggest and most general productivity challenges for that segment of workers. But over time it has capitalized on the audience and engagement to add in other services like payroll facilitation (interconnecting with more dedicated payroll software), labor reports, and analytics, and the idea is that this part will continue to grow, both organically and likely by way of acquisition.

Software catering to the world of work has largely been focused on so-called knowledge workers over the last decade or two: equipped with computers, smartphones and tied into work that relies on software and apps, that segment was a natural fit for more software tools, which have if anything only become more specialized over time, addressing specific verticals and use cases.

Yet digital transformation, and the rise of smartphone usage among the general population, have presented a host of new opportunities to expand the products and use cases for software in the workplace to touch a much wider swathe of workers. The population at large has shifted to using apps and other digital products in their daily non-work lives, and so they, too, want and are ready for those tools to help them do their work more easily, too.

In the case of When I Work, employees install it on their own smartphones, a signal of how bring-your-own-device has been an even stronger trend in this category of workers than it has been among knowledge workers. (They log in much as you might on any other work-based app, based on the company you work for and your mobile number or email.) Hartshorn said that a good part of its growth has been from word-of-mouth, with employees asking for it from new employers, having used it at a previous job.

But given that wider trend, it’s no surprise that company is not without competitors, as well as others addressing the same segment of workers that could potentially also become competitors, if not already. They include the likes of Homebase, which raised $71 million earlier this year; Workiz, which focuses on home services pro’s; Fountain and Wonolo (both currently aimed more at recruiting and signing less-than-full-time people up to shifts); WorkWhile; Yoobic (more of a productivity platform for frontline workers currently); Crew (which Square acquired earlier this year); Workplace (which now has 7 million paying users); and Justworks (which in September filed to go public). The fact that some of these are addressing the same segment of users, but with different features, also presents something of a roadmap for When I Work and how it might expand, too.

Phil Meicler, an MD at Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, said that the engagement on When I Work — 85% of its users log in an use it at least once a week — makes the app one of the more compelling in that bigger field.

“In today’s modern workforce, having a solution that yields such clear productivity gains and strong employee engagement are unique,” he said, noting that the labor shortage among the hourly working sector has become even more acute in recent times. “Doing what it does at scale and efficiently is difficult to execute. The combination of growth and profitability was a core part of why we were excited about When I Work.”

He added that Bain “shares Martin’s vision” to continue to expand the HR suite. “Building out the product through the eyes of the employees what else they use, how we could extend to make their lives easier, is the aim, and it has a terrific foundation in scheduling. It has a unique opportunity to grow organically and through M&A.”

Years ago, Americans spent most of their disposable income on food but consistent investment in retail infrastructure has changed that. Now, they only spend 6% of their household income on food and beverages.

Africa still battles with this and it is not hard to see why. The continent’s retail markets are highly fragmented and mostly made up of small and informal retailers and intermediaries, which is why a ton of tomatoes that costs around $100 in the U.S., for instance, costs about $400 in Kenya.

Since 2014, Twiga Foods has been using technology to build supply chains in food and retail distribution on the continent, starting with Kenya. Today, the seven-year-old company is announcing a $50 million Series C round to scale its efforts in the East African nation and other neighbouring countries.

This funding comes after the company’s $30 million Series B round — $23.75 million equity and $6.25 million debt — in 2019. Per Crunchbase, Twiga has raised over $100 million in both debt and equity financing rounds.

For most of Twiga’s operational history, it connected vendors and outlets with farmers via an app to access different agricultural produce. 

But in 2019, the company began to connect FMCGs and manufacturers with retailers in Kenya in a bid to increase revenue, thereby dipping its hands into a space with regional players such as Sokowatch and MarketForce. 

“We see ourselves as building a one-stop-shop for the informal retailer and all their needs. So that’s what we’re evolving into as a business,” CEO Peter Njonjo said to TechCrunch in an interview.

The B2B e-commerce food distribution platform claims that over 100,000 customers use its services across Kenya while delivering more than 600 metric tons of product to 10,000+ retailers daily.  

Njonjo affirms that smallholder farmers remain at the core of Twiga’s operations. But having worked with them at scale and distributing fresh produce over the years, the Kenyan company has identified some challenges, especially in the traceability of some produce like tomatoes.

Twiga can effectively track food and produce from processing to distribution. However, there’s bound to be some lapses in the production end of things where for instance, farmers can apply a lot of pesticides to crops without Twiga’s knowledge, thereby creating food safety problems for the end consumer.

To avoid situations like this in the future, Twiga plans to personally handle the value chains of some produce where traceability can be an issue.

“For us, it’s choosing value chains where you can manage the traceability issue while there are some value chains that will be harder to manage,” the CEO said, “The key thing is that we now have a more blended approach. It’s not just about working with small farmers; we still work with them but on some value chains. But we’re looking at having large commercial farms integrated into our supply chain.”

Njonjo says Twiga is investing in a proof of concept to develop an alternative way of producing food on the continent and cover both ends of traceability and mass scale. 

According to the company, the proof of concept aims to reduce the price consumers pay for popular domestic plant-based food products by over 30%. 

Once the company manages to set it up, Njonjo says the model might be spun off as a separate business to maintain a more asset-light approach to expansion.

The funding will be used to test the concept out. Twiga also plans to use part of the funding to roll out low-cost manufactured food and non-food products under its brand before the end of the year.

Most of the investors from Twiga’s Series B round in 2019 took part in this recent fundraise. This time, however, Paris- and Nairobi-based family office and private equity firm Creadev led the Series C round.

Africa-focused firms TLcom, IFC Ventures, DOB Equity, and Goldman Sachs’ spinoff Juven, wrote follow-on checks too. First-time investors OP Finnfund Global and Endeavor Catalyst Fund participated as well.

“We are deeply convinced in Twiga’s potential to revolutionize informal retail across  Sub-Saharan Africa,” said Pierre Fauvet, Africa director at Creadev, in a statement.

“Tapping into a $77 billion urban market on the continent, Twiga has gained significant traction since inception, leveraging on technology to optimize the food supply chain in African cities and constantly innovating to better tackle logistics,  commercial, social and environmental challenges.”

The round also presented a consolidation of Twiga’s cap table where earlier investors got some liquidity via a $30 million secondary sale.

When CEO Peter Njonjo spoke with TechCrunch in an interview in 2019, Twiga was targeting a pan-African expansion by Q3 2020. But the pandemic and resulting lockdowns stalled those plans, yet Twiga made good use of the situation and quadrupled its revenues within that time — from April last year to August 2021.

Two years on, the company, which now has more than 1,000 employees, is ready to make those moves and is expanding to other East African markets, Uganda and Tanzania, before the end of the year.

It is currently working with development finance partners to figure out how to scale its proof of concept where it will act as an off-taker to sell horticultural crops from February 2022 across East Africa.

“We’ve been fairly successful in Kenya. So, we want to consolidate our dominant position, clear out our proof of concept and expand to the neighbouring countries,” remarked Njonjo, who founded the company with ex-CEO Grante Brooke. 

Hitting these targets would set Twiga up for a bigger fundraise sometime next year, according to Njonjo. After that, Twiga will look at other markets — Cote d’Ivoire, DRC Congo, Ghana and Nigeria. Njonjo adds that Twiga’s expansion into Nigeria might involve some M&A action.