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Chapter, a Medicare advisory startup cofounded by Vivek Ramaswamy, announced on Wednesday it has closed on $75 million in Series D funding, at a valuation of $1.5 billion, backed by venture firm Stripes, and a number of private equity investors. Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, was an early adviser to President Donald Trump’s second term and is a former Republican presidential candidate. Chapter told Fast Company that while Ramaswamy helped found the company in 2020, “he stepped down from the board when he ran for office and is no longer involved in the company.” What does Chapter do? The platform helps the nation’s seniors navigate the Medicare system and choose a health plan, prescription drug coverage, find doctors and hospitalsall of which can be challenging for elderly Americans. Navigating Medicare is needlessly complex. Too many people end up with plans that cost more and cover less than they should, Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz, Chapter’s cofounder and CEO, said in statement. At a time when the regulatory environment and Medicare ecosystem is rapidly changing, we remain committed to bringing transparency and trust to a system that desperately needs it. Blumenfeld-Gantz told Fast Company that its “mission is to provide unbiased, consumer-first Medicare guidance to all Americans” as Medicare insurance carriers continue to change their benefits structure, and as regulations have continued to be updated over the past five years. The startup has at least historical links to the Trump administration, including to current Vice President JD Vance and tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who helped fuel Vance’s rise in politics. Narya Capital, which Vance founded before leaving to run for office, led Chapter’s Series A funding; Thiel has invested in the company, and at one time, held a seat on the board, according to TechCrunch. Blumenfeld-Gantz said Vance has no involvement in Chapter. It’s worth noting Ramaswamy was previously involved with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), along with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, which critics say could affect Medicare’s ability to perform business as usual. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which houses Medicare, is facing a massive overhaul, including staff layoffs, as DOGE slashes budgets and staff across federal agencies. At HHS alone, some 10,000 employees have been laid off, and combined with early retirements, the administration has slashed some 20,000 jobs, per CNN. Meanwhile, HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will reportedly cut at least 300 jobs from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which, among other programs, oversees Medicare and Medicaid for some 160 million Americans, as the administration tries to downplay the reduction and its effect on the Medicare, according to CNBC.
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E-Commerce
New Jersey filed a lawsuit against Discord on Thursday, alleging that the social platform recklessly exposed children to “harassment, abuse, and sexual exploitation by predators who lurk on the platform.” The move makes it the first state to sue Discord. Founded in 2015, Discord is a platform where its millions of users can communicate in chatrooms and direct messages. It shot up in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many users were stuck at home and wanted to connect. Children, in particular, make up a “significant portion” of its 200 million global monthly active user base, per the suit. The New Jersey complaint alleges that Discord knew its safety features and policies wouldn’t actually protect its young user base and didn’t make changes. Discord markets itself as a safe space for children, despite being fully aware that the applications misleading safety settings and lax oversight has made it a prime hunting ground for online predators seeking easy access to children, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a release announcing the lawsuit. These deceptive claims regarding its safety settings have allowed Discord to attract a growing number of children to use its application, where they are at risk. We intend to put a stop to this unlawful conduct and hold Discord accountable for the harm it has caused our children. Discord, for example, doesn’t allow users under the age of 13. However, the platform only requires users to enter their date of birth when creating an account and uses no other systems to verify age. The suit also alleged the platform made it simple for malicious actors to send children explicit content due to its default safety settings. “As a result of Discords decisions, thousands of users were misled into signing up, believing they or their children would be safe, when they were really anything but,” Platkin said in the statement. The complaint cited a number of instances where adults in New Jersey were accused of using the platform to contact children and attempted to engage in conversation, solicit nude pictures and videos, and engage in sexual performance while video chatting. Discord, for its part, is reportedly denying the attorney general’s claims. In a statement shared with Fast Company, it said: “Discord is proud of our continuous efforts and investments in features and tools that help make Discord safer. Given our engagement with the Attorney Generals office, we are surprised by the announcement that New Jersey has filed an action against Discord today. We dispute the claims in the lawsuit and look forward to defending the action in court. New Jersey has taken part in past lawsuits targeting social media platforms for alleged unlawful contact relating to children. It sued TikTok based on “features that keep children and teens online for ever-increasing amounts of time despite the harms that result” and Meta for similar alleged conduct.
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E-Commerce
In the three months since Target overhauled its policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion, the retailer has faced an onslaught of public criticism and a boycott that has carried on for weeks. There has been a clear impact on its business: Foot traffic has reportedly dropped for the last 10 weeks, and Target disclosed that sales had dipped in February. The company’s stock price is the lowest it has been in four years. Now CEO Brian Cornell is meeting with Al Sharpton (at Target’s request) to discuss the company’s DEI stance and commitment to the Black community, according to a CNBC report. As the head of civil rights organization National Action Network, Sharpton has started taking companies to task for pulling back on DEI efforts: Just this week, he met with PepsiCo after threatening to mount a boycott against the company. Sharpton has said he would consider pushing for a boycott of Target as well, depending on the outcome of his discussion with Cornell. You cant have an election come and all of a sudden, change your old positions, Sharpton said in an interview with CNBC. If an election determines your commitment to fairness then fine, you have a right to withdraw from us, but then we have a right to withdraw from you. Target was not immediately available for comment. Sharpton’s attempts to hold companies like Target accountable for their change of heart on DEI is also a counterweight to the social media campaign waged by conservative activist Robby Starbuck, who has pressured a number of companies to drop DEI policies over the last year. The changes to Target’s DEI policieswhich the company announced in late Januarywound down its diversity goals and also ended its participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, a popular benchmarking survey that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees. Plenty of other companies have taken a similar position in recent months, especially as the Trump administration has ramped up its attack on corporate diversity programs, increasing the risk of litigation for major employers. But the vocal response to Target’s reversal on DEI is not exactly unexpected, given the company had made a concerted effort to engage Black entrepreneurs and consumers, particularly in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. Target also took aim at programs that helped attract more Black and minority suppliers, which had benefited many underrepresented business owners over the years. It’s not clear whether Sharpton will proceed to call for a boycott after speaking with Cornell. (Some Black entrepreneurs have also been split on the issue, arguing it could hurt their business.) But Sharpton has claimed he is looking for some kind of pledge that indicates Target will continue supporting the Black community. You made commitments based on the George Floyd movement what changed? Sharpton told CNBC. Are you trying to say everythings fine now, because the election changed? Thats insulting to us.
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E-Commerce
When it comes to sharing Instagram Reels with friends, the process of three taps to get a Reel from A to B can feel surprisingly tedious. Now, Instagram has addressed that issue with its latest feature: Instagram Blend. Announced on Thursday, Blend lets users create invite-only, personalized Reels feeds with friends. By tapping a new two-emoji-hugging icon (the Blend icon) within a chat, you can start or accept a Blend. Once active, Instagram will begin recommending Reels for both users in a shared feed, powered by an algorithm. The feature works in one-on-one DMs as well as group chats. These recommendations, refreshed daily, are said to be unique to each Blend and based on prior activity on the platform. “We want Instagram to be a place where people connect over creativity, and this is one more way to do that. Its a really fun way to not only share your interests, but to learn a little bit about your friends interests and then you can actually start conversations about that content that you discover,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a Reel. View this post on Instagram A postshared by Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) Instagrams newest feature offers something social media users currently cant find elsewhere (Im looking at you, TikTok). It arrives at a time when several platforms are positioning themselves to capitalize on TikToks uncertain future. Blend is most comparable to Spotifys Blend playlistsshared playlists that merge the music tastes of two or more users. But instead of listening to music while hanging out, youre scrolling Reels together. For Instagram, Blend could boost watch time by encouraging shared short-form content consumption and allowing users to get to know each others algorithmic preferences. It might also increase Reel discovery, as the feed surfaces a mix of yours and your friendsor, if youre feeling bold, your loversrecommendations. You just have to hope they havent recently fallen into any particularly weird corners of the internet.
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E-Commerce
Shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) plunged by more than 22% Thursday morning after the company reported underwhelming first-quarter earnings and revised its full-year outlook. The health insurance giant lowered its 2025 earnings forecast, now projecting net earnings of $24.65 to $25.15 per share and adjusted earnings of $26.00 to $26.50 per share. This marks a downgrade from its January guidance, which anticipated net earnings between $28.15 and $28.65 per share and adjusted earnings in the range of $29.50 to $30.00 per share. UnitedHealth Group grew to serve more people more comprehensively but did not perform up to our expectations, and we are aggressively addressing those challenges to position us well for the years ahead, and return to our long-term earnings growth rate target of 13 to 16%, CEO Andrew Witty said in a statement. The outlook was a result of two factors, the company revealed. First, UnitedHealthcares Medicare Advantage plans saw more people using medical services than expectedespecially visits to doctors and outpatient care. This increase was clear at the end of the quarter and was much higher than the company planned for 2025, although it was similar to high usage levels it saw in 2024. On top of that, Optum Health, a division of UnitedHealth Group, had some unexpected changes in its patients. Some health plans left certain areas, and the people covered by those plans didnt use services much in 2024, which affected the planning for how much money would come in for 2025. Also, more patients than expected were “complex” cases, people with serious or multiple health issues, and were heavily affected by past cuts to Medicare funding. The number of people served by the companys offerings for seniors and people with complex needs grew by 545,000 in the first quarter and remains expected to grow up to 800,000 in 2025, according to the report. The company said these factors are highly addressable over the course of 2025 and it looks ahead to 2026. Other insurance stocks are tumbling, too The health insurance sector saw significant stock sell-offs following what appeared to be surprising financial troubles at industry leader UnitedHealth, according to the Wall Street Journal. Humana, for instance, saw an 8% decline. Elevance Health and CVS Health saw their stock prices fall about 6% each early Thursday morning. UnitedHealth Group reported revenues of $109.6 billion, marking a $9.8 billion increase year-over-year, with first-quarter earnings from operations totaling $9.1 billion.
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E-Commerce
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