HQ Trivia, Nextdoor, Cheddar, and Spotify are my top picks. What are yours? 1. HQ TRIVIA Everybody is talking about it. On New Year’s Eve alone, almost 1 million people tuned into HQ Trivia. HQ Trivia, launched three months ago by (RIP) co-founders and , is a trivia game app, not much different from television game shows like the 50+ year old . Except, it’s an iOS app — since December also available on Android. Vine Rus Yusupov colin kroll Jeopardy! “Since launching on iOS in October, HQ Trivia has rapidly taken off,” , tech reporter at . “It’s now the fourth-most popular game on iOS in the US, and the 13th most popular US iOS app overall as of Jan. 1, according to app metrics firm .” writes Mike Murphy Quartz App Annie 2. NEXTDOOR Neighborhood social networking platform was all over the news in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in the Houston area. Nextdoor “While Hurricane Harvey was one of the worst natural disasters that our country has ever experienced, it did shine a light on the profound value of a connected community,” , now with carpooling platform . “More than 120 Houston agencies — and over 3,000 Houston neighborhoods — utilized Nextdoor as a lifeline to share crucial updates and coordinate rescues. By working together, Houstonians brought light to the darkest of times.” writes Anne Dreshfield Scoop Even Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, , highlighted the role of the platform: “During Harvey, Nextdoor became a lifeline for many, and our agency departments relied on it to share critical information before, during, and after the storm.” announcing a new partnership with Nextdoor In December, Nextdoor raised about $75 million in a funding round, by of TechCrunch, to “likely help the business expand to more communities.” as reported Katie Roof In June, CEO that the Nextdoor platform was being used in 160,000 neighborhoods in the US, the UK, and the Netherlands — 145,000 of those in the US market — and was launching in Germany. In August, that he was aiming to reach 85% of US neighborhoods by the end of 2017 while eyeing international expansion in India, Japan, Brazil, and other key markets. Nirav Tolia told TechCrunch he told TechCrunch 3. CHEDDAR is a live focused on covering the most innovative products, technologies, and services transforming our lives. Cheddar post-cable network Founded in 2016 by , formerly with , Cheddar broadcasts from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and the Flatiron Building in New York. Jon Steinberg BuzzFeed In November, through a partnership with France-based OTT service . it launched in Europe Molotov A few weeks later, the company named its first editor-in-chief, , formerly with , and the platform’s lead reporter, , previously with Business Insider. Jim Roberts The New York Times Cheddar Scoops Alex Heath “You will soon see ‘first reported on Cheddar’ everywhere you look,” . “I know the value of a substantive editorial capability, and Jim is the person to bring this to Cheddar and . He brings the perfect mix of traditional journalism knowledge and enormous passion and energy. Alex is simply the best scoopster in tech.” explains Steinberg Cheddar Big News 4. SPOTIFY What’s the future of ? Spotify The day after the Sweden-based company, one of the most popular music streaming services, was , Dan Primack of reported that Spotify had “confidentially filed IPO documents with the SEC at the end of December.” hit with $1.6 billion copyright lawsuit Axios

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