*By Britt Terrell*
The dreams of teenagers everywhere will come true this fall, when video gaming becomes an official high school sport, sponsored by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
The best high school gamers can earn scholarships to college and turn what used to be considered a distraction into a part of their extracurricular experience.
"There will be millions and millions of kids every year ー especially in the U.S. ー who participate in eSports in an organized way," said Delane Parnell, founder and CEO of Play VS, the startup that will bring an eSports league to nearly 20,000 high schools across the country.
There are already about 200 colleges in North America that offer eSports scholarships, according to Parnell. PlayVS will help these schools recruit in a more organized way, and raise the profile of the best high-school gamers.
"We're excited to be able to own that system as a company," Parnell said in an interview with Cheddar. "We're going to loop in some recruiting technology directly into the platform in which recruiters from colleges will be able to easily recruit players in terms of engaging with them but then also be able to see their performance data from an individual stand point and a team performance stand point validated."
PlayVS is working with game publishers to determine which games will be included in the inaugural high-school season.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/esports-is-coming-to-a-school-near-you).
Connected cars software development platform Smartcar announced this week it has raised $24 million in a Series B round led by Energize Ventures. Smartcar's software can be integrated into mobile and web apps from mobility businesses. It allows users to do things like locate and unlock a vehicle, as well as check its mileage, fuel level, and battery if the vehicle is electric. Smartcar's technology is compatible with 22 different vehicle brands in 31 different countries. Smartcar co-founder and CEO Sahas Katta joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
If some members of Congress have their way, there might finally be a 'TLDR' on sites' terms of service, introduced by the terms-of-service labeling, design, and readability act – or TLDR for short. With this act, users will actually understand what they're agreeing to or the many ways in which their data is being used before pressing 'accept.' J.D. sat down with co-sponsor of the bill and Senator Bill Cassidy, to discuss.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: Vrai CEO discusses the process of creating lab grown diamonds, Entrupy CEO breaks down how the app uses artificial intelligence to analyze authenticity for luxury goods and sneakers; A look at Curiosity Stream's 'Red Elvis.'
Vidyuth Srinivasan, CEO and Co-Founder of Entrupy, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how this app uses artificial intelligence to analyze authenticity for luxury goods and sneakers, and why this is so critical as the secondary and resale retail markets are on the rise.
Mona Akhavi, CEO of Vrai, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss the process of creating lab grown diamonds, why this industry is growing, and the latest trends in the jewelry and engagement ring space.
