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Melio raises $110M on a $1.3B valuation to bring B2B payments for SMBs into the 21st century
Payments for consumers have made a huge shift to the online world in the last year, a time when they have moved more of their purchasing to the internet to minimize in-person transactions in the midst
Equity Monday: Clubhouse, Taboola, and why the SPAC wave will get worse
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This is Equity Monday, our weekly kickoff that tracks the latest p
Early-stage African VC firm, Microtraction reports portfolio boom despite the weight of COVID-19
In a year marred by the coronavirus pandemic, it seems that early-stage startups on the African continent are continuing to see some notable growth, both in terms of their business and from investors
Apple’s new Fitness+ feature brings celebrity-guided walks to your wrist
Here’s a bit of a curve ball from Apple. A month-and-a-half or so after launching the Fitness+ app premium workout service, the company’s offering up an add-on intended to offer an exercise dimens
Moderna says it’s making variant-specific COVID-19 vaccines, but its existing vaccine should still work
Moderna has detailed some of the steps it’s taking to ensure that its vaccine remains effective in the face of emerging strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that leads to COVID-19. These include test
Apple hit with another European class action over throttled iPhones
A third class action lawsuit has been filed in Europe against Apple seeking compensation — for what Italy’s Altroconsumo consumer protection agency dubs “planned obsolescence”
Proving voicemail doesn’t have to be wack, the Slack-backed startup Yac raises $7.5 million
Yac, the Orlando, Fla.-based startup that’s digitizing voice messages for remote offices, has raised $7.5 million in a new round of funding. The company’s service has garnered enough atten
TikTok has until Friday to respond to Italy’s order to block users it can’t age-verify after girl’s death
TikTok has until Friday to respond to an order by Italy’s data protection agency to block users whose age it cannot verify, TechCrunch has learned. The GPDP made an ‘immediate’ order
Wolt closes $530M round to continue expanding beyond restaurant delivery
Wolt, the Helsinki-based online ordering and delivery company that initially focused on restaurants but has since expanded to other verticals, has raised $530 million in new funding. The round was led
Taboola is going public via SPAC
Taboola is the latest company seeking to go public via special purpose acquisition corporation — more commonly known as a SPAC. To achieve this, it will merge with ION Acquisition Corp, which went p
Google pledges grants and facilities for COVID-19 vaccine programs
Google said today it is taking several steps to help with COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the United States, including grants and opening its facilities to vaccination programs. The tech giant is amo
Virtual social network IMVU raises $35M from China’s NetEase and others
The line between social networking and gaming is increasingly blurring, and internet incumbents are taking notice. NetEase, the second-largest gaming company in China behind Tencent, is among a group
Sano Genetics, a startup helping with Long Covid research, raises £2.5M in seed funding
Sano Genetics, a startup with a broad mission to support personalised medicine research by increasing participation in clinical trials, has raised £2.5 million in seed funding. The round is led by Ep
Kenyan insurtech startup Pula raises $6M Series A to derisk smallholder farmers across Africa
Pula, a Kenyan insurtech startup that specialises in digital and agricultural insurance to derisk millions of smallholder farmers across Africa, has closed a Series A investment of $6 million. The rou
Alma raises $59.4 million for its Klarna-like payment option
French startup Alma is raising a $59.4 million Series B funding round (€49 million). The company has been building a new payment option for expensive good. You can choose to pay over three or four i
Cybersecurity startup SpiderSilk raises $2.25M to help prevent data breaches
Dubai-based cybersecurity startup SpiderSilk has raised $2.25 million in a pre-Series A round, led by venture firms Global Ventures and STV. In the past two years, SpiderSilk has discovered some of th
Autonomous driving startup Uisee attracts Chinese state investor in $150M round
There is no lack of state funding for China’s smart driving startups nowadays as the country advances its goal to become a global leader in artificial intelligence in a decade’s time. The
Wingcopter raises $22 million to expand to the U.S. and launch a next-generation drone
German drone technology startup Wingcopter has raised a $22 million Series A – its first significant venture capital raise after mostly bootstrapping. The company, which focuses on drone delivery, h
Clubhouse announces plans for creator payments and raises new funding led by Andreessen Horowitz
Buzzy live voice chat app Clubhouse has confirmed that it has raised new funding – without revealing how much – in a Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz through the firm’s partner Andr
SpaceX sets new record for most satellites on a single launch with latest Falcon 9 mission
SpaceX has set a new all-time record for the most satellites launched and deployed on a single mission, with its Transporter-1 flight on Sunday. The launch was the first of SpaceX’s dedicated ri