January 2023
Snapchat has more than 2 million paid subscribers on its Snapchat+ program, the company said during its latest earnings report. Snap noted that the paid plan, which costs $3.99 a…
Egyptian financial services provider MNT-Halan valued at $1B in $400M funding
Egyptian fintech and e-commerce ecosystem MNT-Halan has raised up to $400 million in equity and debt financing from local and global investors as it continues to serve underbanked and unbanked…
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Superstrata e-bike review: Rebel without a cause
Superstrata’s e-bike is a strange specimen — there’s no two ways about it. The bike’s concept, borne out in seamless 3D-printed carbon fiber, springs from an equally strange premise. We’ll get into that. Talking to Sonny Vu, CEO of Superstrata’s parent company Arevo, Superstrata’s bike was crafted not out of a love of cycling, the…
Tesla recorded a $204 million impairment loss in 2022 on its bitcoin holdings, according to regulatory filings. The loss was offset by $64 million in profits from bitcoin trading, leaving…
Energy X secures $20M at $120M valuation to slash building sector emissions
Countries worldwide have pledged to reduce their energy usage and reach net-zero energy targets by 2050. To get there, they will need to find clever ways to decarbonize especially dirty…
Daily Crunch: Cell network provider Google Fi confirms customer data breach
Hello, friends, and welcome to Daily Crunch, bringing you the most important startup, tech and venture capital news in a single package.
OpenAI releases tool to detect AI-generated text, including from ChatGPT
After telegraphing the move in media appearances, OpenAI has launched a tool that attempts to distinguish between human-written and AI-generated text — like the text produced by the company’s own…
The U.S. Department of Justice has asked Tesla for documents related to its branded Full Self-Driving and Autopilot advanced driver-assistance systems, the automaker disclosed in a securities filing. Tesla said in…
Peacock is no longer offering its free tier to new customers, a spokesperson for NBCUniversal confirmed to TechCrunch on Tuesday. The company says it’s shifting its focus to its Premium…
Spotify’s test of a Friends tab on mobile hints at expanded social ambitions
Spotify’s success with Wrapped, its year-end review, designed for social sharing, may be pushing the company toward building more social experiences directly into its mobile app. The company for many…
Meta is starting to test closed spaces called “members-only worlds” in Horizon Worlds, its social VR experience. The company has begun a limited alpha test to give creators the ability…
GM invests $650M in lithium mining to lock down EV raw materials
General Motors said Tuesday it will invest $650 million into Lithium Americas as part of an agreement to develop a mine in Nevada, the latest effort by the automaker to…
TechCrunch+ roundup: SaaS spending squeeze, tax time tips, freemium frameworks
Finding meaningful ways to slash spending can extend your runway and even stave off layoffs in the long run.
Precision Neuroscience is making brain implants safer, smarter and reversible
Brain researchers have relied on devices called microelectrode arrays for decades, but the technology behind these tools is increasingly outdated. Precision Neuroscience is building a modern alternative that’s not only…
Teal unwraps $8.8M to build out a telehealth platform for women — starting with cervical cancer screening
Female-focused telehealth startup, Teal Health, is popping up today to announce an $8.8 million seed round with a roster of heavy hitting investors on board — including (Serena Williams’) Serena…
Thrive Capital believed to be leading new multibillion-dollar investment in Stripe
Thrive Capital has reportedly committed $1 billion in fresh capital to payments giant Stripe as part of a new investment in the works that would value the fintech company at…
Practice your startup pitch on TechCrunch Live with Benchmark and Cambly
TechCrunch Live is back! The weekly show resumes this week, and we’re excited to bring back a popular segment. Called Pitch Practice, it should be self-explanatory. Participants have a chance…
Lost your crypto amid Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings? You’re probably not getting it back
Legal experts say unsecured creditors shouldn’t expect much following a number of Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in the crypto space.
Jumbo, an app that lets you control your privacy on the web, is hitting the reset button — sort of. While the company is still focused on privacy and security,…
Instagram’s co-founders introduce a new social app…for news reading
Can lightning strike twice? That’s apparently the question being raised today with the public introduction of the next social app built by Instagram’s co-founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. The…
Big changes coming for GDPR enforcement on Big Tech in Europe?
Big Tech take note: In what looks like a meaningful — and long overdue — reforming step, the European Commission has committed to dial up its monitoring of how data…
Spotify’s third-party billing option has now reached over 140 global markets
In its fourth-quarter earnings, Spotify announced today its User Choice Billing program has now expanded to more than 140 markets worldwide, allowing the streaming music service to reduce the commissions…
Check Twitter in paradise with Iridium’s new ‘executive’ satellite hotspot
Everyone’s talking about unplugging these days — climbing a mountain, trekking through the forest, finding your way to a truly secluded beach. Central to that concept is turning off notifications,…
Sentra raises $30M to provide a security layer for data in the cloud
The move to the cloud, accelerated by the pandemic, continues unabated. By 2025, Gartner estimates that more than 95% of new digital workloads will be deployed on cloud-native platforms, up…
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The Team Slide is the most important slide in a startup pitch deck
In the early stages of a company, a good story around a startup’s team is crucial. Here’s how to tell it.
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Stripper Web, a 20-year-old forum for sex workers, is shutting down. No one knows why.
There are some people on the internet who don’t want to be found. That seems to be the case for the elusive, mysterious owner of Stripperweb, a 20-year-old forum for exotic dancers and sex workers. With just one week of advance notice, the forum’s unknown owner announced that the website will shut down on February…
TrueBiz aims to help financial services providers onboard business customers faster, avoid fraud
Due diligence was a big topic in 2022 for a variety of reasons. But due diligence doesn’t just apply to investors pouring money into startups, or companies acquiring other companies.…
TBD Health is rolling out at-home sexual healthcare to all US states
Reproductive rights is a hot-button topic for much of the political spectrum in the U.S. Against that backdrop. TBD Health is not-so-quietly making patient-focused and inclusive sexual healthcare available and…
Brazilian online grocery deliverer Diferente secures $3M to increase customers’ access to healthier food
The company sources directly from organic farmers and is able to offer prices that are 40% lower than a grocery store.
Bitcoin-based app Strike expands in Philippines to grow cross-border payment solutions
Strike, a Bitcoin-based payment network and financial app, is expanding to the Philippines to grow cross-border payments and remittance markets. “The Philippines is one of the biggest remitting markets in…
