February 2017
Samsung is about to release a version of the S8 with an even bigger screen than the Note 7. According to this leaked spec page, the S8+ will have a…
Lyft said it was going to grow fast in 2017, and on Thursday it doubled down on that promise with a launch across 54 cities in the U.S. The launch…
SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft successfully attaches to the ISS
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which launched on Sunday and is filled with 5,500 pounds of supplies and experiment materials for the crew of the International Space Station has successfully docked. The…
Indoor farming startup Bowery raises $7.5 million from investors including ‘Top Chef’ Tom Colicchio
As pollution, extreme weather, and over-population threaten the viability of large, outdoor farms, a startup called Bowery Farming Inc. has raised $7.5 million in total venture funding to grow food…
Now part of Nielsen, Gracenote has unified its video, music and sports databases
Media metadata company Gracenote is looking to be the one-stop data provider for TV providers, device manufacturers and various media distribution services. To do so, the company has unified its…
White AirPods are fine. I guess. If you like boring. But for the rest of us, ColorWare is now offering its aftermarket painting service for Apple’s wireless earbuds and there’s…
Website builder Wix acquires art community DeviantArt for $36M
Wix.com has made another acquisition to build out the tools that it provides to users to build and administer websites: it has acquired DeviantArt, an online community for artists, designers…
AirMap raises $26 million to manage air traffic as drone use surges
Lower airspace isn’t crowded with drones quite yet. But as drones become more pervasive, a startup called AirMap is building software and systems to help drone operators fly only where…
Qualcomm announces new VR dev kit and headset accelerator program
The near-future of VR is definitely mobile, and for the time-being nobody has more control of the guts of mobile devices than Qualcomm does. It’s definitely in the company’s best interest then…
K2 Global’s $183 million VC fund aims to decentralize Sand Hill Road
K2 Global is announcing a $183 million venture capital fund targeted at early stage startups with global aspirations. The fund is closing significantly larger than the $58 million the firm…
Messaging app Viber adds e-commerce button to sell you items inspired by your chats
Messaging app Viber is today announcing a new feature that taps into the bigger trend of messaging apps becoming multi-functional platforms, and also its ownership by e-commerce company Rakuten. Viber will…
Indonesia’s Printerous raises $1.4M to digitize traditional printing
Printerous, an Indonesia startup that is bringing the country’s printing industry into the digital era, has raised $1.4 million. The round was led by Golden Gate Ventures with participation from U.S.…
Trump and the EU-US privacy shield laws
On January 25, the Trump administration injected a whole new level of uncertainty into the already-fragile EU-US data flow agreement, known as the Privacy Shield. With the stroke of a…
Confirmed: UK challenger bank Monzo raises £19.5M with another £2.5M in crowdfunding planned
Monzo, one of a number of so-called “challenger” banks in the U.K. aiming to re-invent the current account, has disclosed a new funding round — confirming our scoop from earlier…
Indonesia’s Kejora announces first close of $80M fund for Southeast Asia
Indonesia-based early-stage investment firm Kejora has announced the first close of a second fund which is targeted at $80 million for investments in Southeast Asia. Kejora, which is known for its Ideabox accelerator…
India’s top mobile operator Airtel is buying smaller rival Telenor India
Less than a month after Vodafone confirmed it is in talks to merge with Idea Cellular and create India’s largest mobile operator, one piece of M&A has been confirmed in that space.…
Crunch Report | Apple’s New Campus Will Open in April
Apple’s new campus will open in April, never-ending turnover at Twitter, Instagram adds a carousel feature and Snapdeal to lay off 500-600 people. All this on Crunch Report.
Airbnb finalizes deal to buy social payments startup Tilt
Airbnb has finalized its deal to buy social payments startup Tilt, TechCrunch has confirmed. We reported on the acquisition talks last month, but now everything has been made official. We are told…
Heal plans nationwide expansion for doctor house calls on demand
Already a hit in the limited California regions that it serves, doctor-on-demand startup Heal is planning to take its house call service to more cities across the country. Today, the company announced…
Research heralds better and bidirectional brain-computer interfaces
A pair of studies, one from Stanford and another from the University of Geneva, exemplify the speed with which brain-computer interfaces are advancing; and while you won’t be using one…
The great app roll-up is coming and Maple Media is leading the charge
For the better part of the last year, tech pundits have been writing about the demise of the app. Once thought to be the savior of consumer-facing software, apps are…
Singtel’s digital ad division Amobee acquires Turn for $310M
Amobee just announced that it has agreed to acquire adtech company Turn for $310 million. Amobee used to be a mobile ad startup itself, before a 2012 acquisition by Singtel, where it remains a subsidiary. Since…
Tech coalition slams Homeland Security proposal to collect social media passwords
With national immigration policies in flux, tech’s privacy advocates aren’t wasting any time rallying around common causes. This week, the Center for Democracy & Technology announced a coalition to oppose…
New details emerge about Palantir’s custom software for spy agencies
A new report by The Intercept provides some compelling specifics on collaboration between Palo Alto’s secretive big data shop Palantir and the intelligence agencies that it keeps on its client…
Elon Musk says he doesn’t think Tesla unionization is “likely to occur”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk addressed on the company’s earnings call on Wednesday alleged efforts on behalf of employees at its Fremont factory to unionize.
Wireless earbud startup Earin gets $3.5 million in funding as its readies new product
Headphone startup Earin announced today that it’s scored $3.5 million in funding, hot on the heels of announcing its second-generation wireless earbuds back at CES. The new round will go…
Tesla wants to offer vehicles with one price, including insurance and maintenance
Tesla has begun offering customers in Asia a package that includes in the purchase price the cost of insurance and maintenance, the company noted on its earnings call today. This…
SocialRank Realtime helps marketers get more proactive on social media
SocialRank co-founder Alex Taub classifies most brand interactions on social media into two broad categories. They’re either broadcasting to all of their followers or, if they’re communicating individually, it’s usually…
Tesla CFO Jason Wheeler is leaving, former CFO Deepak Ahuja returns
Tesla announced on its earnings call that CFO Jason Wheeler has decided to leave the company in April to pursue opportunities in public policy. He’ll be replaced by Deepak Ahuja,…
Fitbit reveals it paid $23 million to acquire Pebble’s assets
Among the tidbits found in Fitbit’s disappointing new financial filing is the fact that it apparently picked up Pebble’s assets for a relative song. Although the company didn’t reveal the…
