Former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski among list of last-minute Trump pardons

Anthony Levandowski, the former Google engineer and serial entrepreneur who had been sentenced to 18 months in prison on one count of stealing trade secrets, has received a pardon from President Donal

Wattpad, the storytelling platform, is selling to South Korea’s Naver for $600 million

Wattpad, the 14-year-old, Toronto-based, venture-backed storytelling platform with reach into a number of verticals, is being acquired by Naver, the South Korean conglomerate, in a $600 million cash-a

Reflections on the first all-virtual CES

I’ve spent more time than I care to mention over the last several years wondering aloud about the value of in-person trade shows. There’s something seemingly antiquated in the idea of jamming a bu

Brave web browser adds native support for peer-to-peer IPFS protocol

The decentralized tech community is aiming to find support for technologies that go beyond cryptocurrency support. In a blog post today the team at Brave announced that they have worked with Protocol

Elon Musk said it was ‘Not a Flamethrower’

After two days locked up in an Italian prison, American Max Craddock was finally able to make his case to a judge. “It’s not a weapon of war,” his lawyer told the investigating magis

Daily Crunch: Microsoft backs Cruise

Autonomous vehicle company Cruise raises a $2 billion new round, Netflix keeps growing and WhatsApp faces more privacy concerns. This is your Daily Crunch for January 19, 2021. The big story: Microsof

Podchaser raises $4M to build a comprehensive podcast database

Podchaser, a startup building what it calls “IMDB for podcasts,” recently announced that it has raised $4 million in a funding round led by Greycroft. In other words, it’s a site whe

Adthena acquires Kantar’s paid search business

Adthena is expanding its partnership with market research company Kantar by acquiring Kantar’s paid search business. The two companies announced an agreement earlier this month, through which Ad

Drone-focused construction startup TraceAir raises $3.5M

Bay Area-based construction startup TraceAir today announced a $3.5 million Series A. Led by London-based XTX Ventures, this round brings the company’s total funding up to $7 million. The raise incl

Facebook and Instagram’s AI-generated image captions now offer far more details

Every picture posted to Facebook and Instagram gets evaluated by an image analysis AI in order to create a caption, and that AI just got a lot smarter. The improved system should be a treat for visual

Netflix’s ‘Shuffle Play’ feature will roll out to all users worldwide this year

Netflix is always in search of a better way to instantly connect users to something to watch, instead of having them waste time unsuccessfully scrolling through all the available programming options.

A first look at Qualtrics’ IPO pricing

The Qualtrics debut is going to be huge, and that matters. Can the bankers get its IPO price closer to what retail investors are willing to pay?

Netflix shares soar as it passes 200M paying subscribers

Netflix capped off a year of impressive streaming growth by adding 8.5 million net new paying subscribers during the fourth quarter. That means the streaming giant now has a total of 204 million payin

How and when to build marketing teams at deep tech companies

When should deep tech companies hire marketers, and do these hires need industry experience?

Bolt Mobility launching into 48 new markets after snapping up Last Mile’s assets

Bolt Mobility, the Miami-based micromobility startup co-founded by Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt, is expanding to 48 new markets after acquiring the assets of Last Mile Holdings. Bolt Mobility&#821

SpaceX bought two oil rigs to convert into offshore launch pads for Starship

SpaceX’s next spacecraft is in development in Texas, and CEO Elon Musk previously revealed that the company was planning to build floating spaceports for Starship operations, after a job ad was

Uppbeat launches a freemium music platform aimed at YouTubers

A new music platform, Uppbeat, aims to make it easier for YouTubers and other content creators to find quality free music to use in their videos. The system, which is designed to navigate the complexi

Ad-supported EV charging network developer Volta raises $125 million

Volta, the developer of a network of electric vehicle charging stations that monetize using advertising, has raised $125 million in new funding in a process managed by Goldman Sachs. Volta builds and

Europe is working on a common framework for ‘vaccine passports’

The European Union is preparing the ground for vaccine passports. A common approach for mutual recognition of vaccination documentation is of the “utmost importance,” the commission said t

6 investors on 2021’s mobile gaming trends and opportunities

I asked a group of VCs about their approach to mobile content investing and whether new platforms were changing perspectives about mobile-first and desktop-first experiences.
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