Betaworks Takes Part In $1.5 Million Seed Funding For Yo

Betaworks CEO John Borthwick announced that he is taking part in the $1.5 million seed round for Yo, the app that does nothing but send the message Yo to other people (h/t Paul Sawers at The Next Web). Venture capitalists investing money in long shot tech startups is nothing new, but what is surprising is that Borthwick’s explanation cuts past what just sounds like a ridiculous app.

Yo is a zero payload, notification layer communication app

“There is no payload in Yo — no pictures, no text, just a deceptively simple on/off state that over time has the potential to become a platform,” he writes. “As the notification layer becomes...