Connie Loizos
The Latest from Connie Loizos
VCs from Accel and SoftBank talk Europe’s startup scene, what they expect in 2020, and the future of SoftBank
If you haven’t noticed, Europe’s startup scene is in full bloom, with more than $30 billion deployed in startups across the continent over the last 12 months and more than 20 countries now
Bill Gates played Secret Santa to a Michigander, sending 81 pounds of goodies tailored just for her
Since roughly 2012, billionaire Bill Gates has been participating in Reddit’s annual Secret Santa gift exchange, which matches Reddit users with internet strangers who give them presents. He seems t
Fyre Festival meets Mr. Bone Saw
Social media influencers have been known to promote events around the world for the right price — decisions that sometimes prove to be mistakes. Bella Hadid, who promoted the failed Fyre Festiva
A highly subjective list of some of this year’s notable young startups
I’m not a venture capitalist. I don’t play one on TV, either (though I might if anyone asked!). Still, after many years of covering startups, including as an editor with TechCrunch, in a d
Flickr owner SmugMug emails subscribers with an urgent request: help us find more paying users
When in April of last year, the photo-hosting service SmugMug acquired the photo-hosting service Flickr from Verizon’s digital media subsidiary, SmugMug CEO Don MacAskill said he was committed t
The SEC wants to expand on who is allowed to invest in private securities
As the number of privately held companies continues to grow — and privately held companies stay private longer than ever — public market shareholders who’d earlier benefited from the
Theresia Gouw’s ‘multigenerational’ new firm, Acrew, just closed a $250 million debut fund
Four months after the news broke that veteran VCs Theresia Gouw and Jennifer Fonstad were going separate ways after forming their own venture firm in 2014, Gouw says her new firm, Acrew Capital, has c
Pepper, founded by five Snap alums, has raised $5.6 million to help startups analyze their spend
For years, startups have been encouraged to grow at all costs. That hasn’t always turned out so well, and founders are feeling pressure for the first time in a long time to do a better job of ke
Klarna CEO says ‘maybe’ of taking public Europe’s most valuable fintech next year (but he’s not ruling out another round, either)
Yesterday at TechCrunch Berlin, we sat down with Sebastian Siemiatkowski, the co-founder and CEO of Klarna, a 15-year-old company that’s currently the most highly valued privately held fintech i
Atomico VCs say that ‘everybody cares’ in Europe about where the startup dollars are coming from
Today at TechCrunch Berlin, four of Atomico’s most senior partners took the stage together for the first time, flying into the city from London, Stockholm and Geneva to talk about a wide range o
Pear, whose seed-stage bets are followed closely, just raised $160 million for its third fund
Pear, a six-year-old, Palo Alto, Calif.-based seed-stage firm whose bets on nascent startups are closely watched by early-stage investors, has closed on $160 million in capital commitments from a wide
SignalFire, just six years old, has raised $500 million across two new funds
SignalFire, a six-year-old, San Francisco-based venture firm that prides itself on mining what it says is more actionable data about, well, the world, has just raised a pair of funds that total $500 m
See Atomico’s most senior VCs onstage at Disrupt Berlin
Atomico is among the most widely respected venture firms in Europe, ranking right up there with friendly rivals like Accel London and Index Ventures. It’s also just 13 years old at this point, c
Elon Musk found not liable in case brought against him by British diver
After a three-day trial, Elon Musk was found not liable for defamation in a federal court today in Los Angeles, where Musk reportedly owns a cluster of six homes as well as oversees the operations of
Alfred Lin, the Sequoia VC and former Zappos COO, thinks this retail startup could be a generation-defining brand
When the storied venture firm Sequoia likes a deal, it will sometimes not only lead one of its financing rounds but fund it exclusively — no matter how that impacts earlier investors. Given the
Omar Hamoui leaves Sequoia for LA-based Mucker Capital as it looks to lead more Series A deals
Mucker Capital, the now eight-year-old, Santa Monica, Calif.-based pre-seed startup accelerator and venture outfit, has brought aboard Omar Hamoui, a partner at Sequoia Capital for the last six-plus y
In ’60 Minutes’ appearance, YouTube’s CEO offers a master class in moral equivalency
Susan Wojcicki may be one of the most powerful women in Silicon Valley, but she also holds the unenviable role of being ultimately responsible for a lot of misinformation that we, along with our paren
SoFi founder Mike Cagney’s already well-funded new startup is raising another $100 million
Figure Technologies, a nearly two-year-old, San Francisco-based fintech cofounded by Mike Cagney, the founder of the more established fintech company SoFi, is raising a whole lot of money — agai
Ockam raises $4.9 million in seed funding to make it easier for developers to secure and scale their IoT apps
Ockam, a two-year-old, Bay Area-based company that’s selling tools to developers so they can establish an “architecture for trust” within their connected device applications, has rai
Storm Ventures just closed its sixth fund with $130 million
Storm Ventures, a now 19-year-old, Sand Hill Road venture firm in Menlo Park, Ca., has closed on $130.4 million, shows a new SEC filing. The outfit began its fundraising late last year, according to a