David Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal founded Warby Parker last year in an attempt to breathe new life into the eyewear industry. The New York City-based startup has since rocketed to popularity by selling designer and prescription glasses online, for $95 — a price that now includes free shipping and returns. Warby raised $13.5 million in a couple of rounds beginning last year, with a bunch of notable investors signing on to back the young company.

According to a Form D filing released by the SEC on Friday, as first reported by Fortune, the startup is adding a whole bunch of new coin to its coffers — $36.8 million to be precise. As the filing shows, the startup has sold $36.8 million of a potential $40 million round, with $3.19 million remaining. → Read More

Back in June, Silicon Valley’s health-focused startup accelerator, Rock Health, kicked off its third program. What was notable about this third batch — other than the encouraging fact that a health-only accelerator has made it to its third batch (props also to Blueprint Health in NYC, now on its second) — was the promise of its future academic pedigree. That is to say, Rock Health co-founder Halle Tecco told us that it was the first time a health incubator had sent its startups into a hospital to learn about the industry first-hand.

The third batch spent the summer building their businesses in Boston and gaining experience at the Harvard Medical School — in what I’m calling the “Rock Health Residency.” Yesterday, back from the east coast, the startups participated in Rock Health’s third “Demo Day” in Mountain View, showcasing their businesses to a house full of investors and entrepreneurs. → Read More

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On the web, we have a host of user names and passwords we have to remember, whether for news sites or apps or Netflix. So Michael Thomas and Vahur Roosimaa of Los Angeles-based startup Scopely have hacked together PhoneID, which lets you login to websites without a username and password. → Read More

This team at the TechCrunch Disrupt SF Hackathon found a great idea to keep them motivated through the development. When you are visiting a city, Local Drunk connects you to a local who knows a good place to get your drink on.

It was not their first idea, they originally planned a last-minute vacation service, but eventually settled with an idea revolving around alcohol. We can’t blame them for that. → Read More

At the TechCrunch Disrupt SF Hackathon, a presentation on stage was very polished and caught our attention. Advise.ly provides peer-to-peer career advice on demand. It uses both the LinkedIn API the Twilio API to first find people with the same career background and then initiate a phone call. The site is already live and working, which is impressive for a 24-hour hack.

First, you authenticate with your LinkedIn account and enter your phone number. It then uses your LinkedIn information to find close matches on the service of people who help you when you are at a turning point in your career. Then Twilio initiates a call. It’s as simple as that. → Read More

The Hackathon never sleeps, and neither do the hackers. Just like the Disrupt NY 2012 Hackathon, and the San Francisco Hackathon before it, this year’s bunch of coders are up and at ‘em, ready to disrupt… well, anything.

Surveying the San Francisco Design Center, you’ll find a lot of empty red bull cans, beer bottles, and bags of chips. It’s not necessarily the most nutritional sustenance, but tonight, it’s the lifeblood of our beloved hackers. → Read More

It’s that time of year again. Pencils are being sharpened, school buses are making their rounds, and hackers are coding to their little hearts’ desire. The Disrupt SF Hackathon has officially commenced, with over 400 hackers in attendance and over 35 different API sponsors, including AT&T, Nokia, Loku and Ford.

Each hacker and/or team gets 24 hours to develop and product, hacking through the night until noon tomorrow. You can be assured that Red Bull and beer will be a sizable part of these coders’ nutritional equation. → Read More

I hope PrePay users read their email closely. Otherwise they may have missed the alert that the I/O Ventures-backed merchant loyalty and payment app is closing down and any prepaid credit will evaporate at the end of the year. PrePay got you discounts at local businesses by paying up front. You could get $100 of credit for $75 at your laundromat. But no more. You can’t buy credit or add recommendations anymore, and the whole service will go dark on New Year’s Eve.
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