January 2019
Announcing TC Sessions: Mobility, a one-day event on the future of mobility and transportation
Mobility is changing and the world is changing with it. Technology is upending century-old establishments, creating new lifestyles and routines. Regions across the globe are trying to replicate Silicon Valley,…
Slack now has more than 10 million daily active users
As Slack reportedly readies itself for an entry to the public markets, the high-flying startup is ready to brag a little bit about what it has accomplished in the past…
State Farm sponsors popular Fortnite streamer DrLupo
DrLupo, one of the biggest names and most recognizable voices in Fortnite streaming, has closed a sponsorship deal with State Farm. Bejanmin “DrLupo” Lupo has nearly 3 million Twitch followers…
Apple partners with Aetna to launch health app leveraging Apple Watch data
In its clearest move yet to woo the healthcare industry, Apple has collaborated with the health insurance provider Aetna to launch a new app, called Attain, that uses Apple Watch data…
Mozilla streamlines Firefox tracker blocking controls
Mozilla has rolled out what it bills as enhanced and simplified controls for Firefox users to manage how they block trackers. An update to its browser software, released today, offers…
Gmail on mobile gets a fresh coat of Material Design paint
Gmail on mobile will soon get a new look. Google today announced that its mobile email apps for iOS and Android are getting a redesign that is in line with…
Figma’s design and prototyping tool gets new enterprise collaboration features
Figma, the design and prototyping tool that aims to offer a web-based alternative to similar tools from the likes of Adobe, is launching a few new features today that will…
Apple unveils new in-store sessions covering photography, Garage Band, health and more
Apple is launching 58 new Today at Apple sessions to beef up its in-store education offerings for people who want to explore Apple’s products. The sessions, which cover video, photography,…
IBM builds a more diverse million-face data set to help reduce bias in AI
Encoding biases into machine learning models, and in general into the constructs we refer to as AI, is nearly inescapable — but we can sure do better than we have…
Report: Apple’s video streaming service to launch this spring
Apple’s new streaming service is poised to launch this spring, according to The Information, citing three unnamed sources. Tucked away in a report about Amazon’s plans to dial down its efforts…
Daily Crunch: FaceTime bug allows eavesdropping
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you…
Darkstore raises $7.5 million Series A round for its same-day fulfillment center
Darkstore, a technology-driven fulfillment solution for companies like Nike and others, has raised a $7.5 million Series A round. With the additional funding in hand, Darkstore plans to expand its…
Nvidia’s Quadro Virtual Workstations are now available on Azure
Nvidia today announced that its Quadro Virtual Machine Workstation (vWS) is now available in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace. The promise of the Quadro vWS is to allow businesses to run high-end…
You’d think that through Y Combinator‘s many initiatives — in person and online — the popular accelerator program would have its bases covered when it comes to creating and growing…
Rules to rein in ride-hailing apps coming to Barcelona
Catalonia’s regional government in Spain has agreed new rules to regulate the vehicle for hire (VTCs) sector that will require ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Cabify to substantially change…
Waze expands its Bluetooth beacons to New York City to end GPS signal blackouts
Drivers in New York City will soon be able to use Waze — and other navigation apps — in places like tunnels or bridges where it’s common to lose a…
Alphabet-backed Medicare Advantage startup Clover Health raises $500M
Despite a number of well-publicized hiccups, venture capitalists are betting another $500 million on health insurance provider Clover Health, TechCrunch has learned.
The key number to look out for when Apple drops its Q1 earnings report later today
Apple, the company formerly known by its trillion-dollar market cap, will be reporting its holiday quarter Q1 2019 earnings today, and it may just have the health of the global…
FanAI buys Waypoint Media to better track fan engagement for streaming monetization
FanAI, an audience analysis platform for esports and streaming, is buying New York-based Waypoint Media to improve its analytics tools for esports players and streamers. The deal means that Waypoint’s…
Apple makes its first Sundance buy with coming-of-age film ‘Hala’ from Jada Pinkett Smith
Apple made its first deal at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival on Monday, with its acquisition of the global rights to a coming-of-age drama, “Hala.” The film, written and directed by Minhal…
The long-simmering battle between the U.S. government and Huawei heated up last night when the U.S. DOJ announced that it is pursuing criminal charges against the Chinese hardware maker. Huawei…
Regulatory demands for better data governance push Collibra’s valuation above $1 billion
What could Google’s parent company Alphabet, and the wealth management office of the likes of Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, understand better than the need for a service…
Home improvement platform Houzz lays off 180, reportedly gears up for public listing
Houzz has built a $4 billion business on the back of a platform and marketplace that lets you plan and execute home improvement projects. But as the startup gears up…
SAP job cuts prove harsh realities of enterprise transformation
As traditional enterprise companies like IBM, Oracle and SAP try to transform into more modern cloud companies, they are finding that making that transition, while absolutely necessary, could require difficult…
Amazon to fund computer science classes in over 130 NYC high schools
Following Amazon’s decision to set up one of its new headquarters in Long Island City, Queens, the company announced this morning a plan to fund computer science classes in more…
Starting with data centers, Carbon Relay is slashing energy costs and emissions using AI
Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn International is backing Carbon Relay, a Boston-based startup emerging from stealth today that’s harnessing the algorithms used by companies like Facebook and Google for artificial intelligence…
Unity acquires Vivox, which powers voice chat in Fortnite and League of Legends
Game engine maker Unity believes voice communications are going to grow to become a critical part of gaming across platforms, and it’s buying one of the top companies in the…
Casper announces the Glow — a portable, sleep-friendly light
Over the past few years, mattress company Casper has expanded its product lineup to include everything from dog beds to nap pillows. (It’s also opened its own nap store.) The…
YC-backed Oxygen raises seed to bring digital banking to freelancers
Few things are easy in our financial system if you don’t have regular employment. It’s hard to prove (regular) income, which makes applying for a credit card or personal loan…
Petal raises $30M from Valar to bank the unbanked with credit cards
Credit cards are a relatively new invention that have entered into something of an innovation rut. Reward programs seem stale, mobile apps remain mired in early-2000s UX paradigms and, all…
