Ingrid Lunden
Writer
The Latest from Ingrid Lunden
WhatsApp finally launches payments, starting in Brazil
After months of talks and trials, WhatsApp has finally pulled the trigger on payments in its app. Today the Facebook-owned messaging service announced that users in Brazil would be the first to be abl
UK competition watchdog launches investigation into Facebook’s $400M acquisition of Giphy
Facebook wants to be the go-to platform for all of your social needs, but a big move it made last month to take ownership in the world of GIFs — the short, looping videos that people use to conv
Kahoot raises $28M for its user-generated educational gaming platform, now valued at $1.4B
As schools stay closed and summer camp seems more like a germscape than an escape, students are staying at home for the foreseeable future and have shifted learning to their living rooms. Now, Norwegi
Is Twitter testing a range of reactions to Tweets? [Updated: It’s a test last year for quote tweets]
Update. Twitter says this is related to a test but for emoji reactions to quote Tweets, and it came from a test last year even. The test is a sign of one more step to adding more reactions for users
Sentropy emerges from stealth with an AI platform to tackle online abuse, backed by $13M from Initialized and more
Online abuse in its many forms on social media is in the spotlight these days as it has never been before: Not only can strong and hateful words be directly harmful to individuals, but their use fans
Ethyca raises $13.5M to help businesses automate data privacy and compliance
The upcoming CCPA regulations coming into effect in the U.S. have put a renewed focus on how companies online are handling the issues of data privacy and compliance. Today a startup that’s built
Just Eat Takeaway confirms it’s gobbling up Grubhub in a $7.3B deal
Consolidation in the world of on-demand food ordering and delivery continues apace. Today, Just Eat Takeaway — the European company that only just got its own $7.8 billion merger approved by reg
RapidSOS raises $21M to continue expanding its data platform for first responders
The global health pandemic has shed new light on how essential it is to have accurate data about an individual’s situation to assess the severity of his or her condition, and for those respondin
NS8 raises $123M led by Lightspeed for its suite of online fraud prevention tools
Online fraud costs people and organizations billions of dollars each year — with one aspect alone, identity fraud, a $16.9 billion problem in 2019, says Javelin Research, and each dollar of spe
BlackRock backs Trustly, bank transfer payments platform now valued at over $1B
Online payments are often synonymous with card payments, but today a startup that’s built a profitable alternative, based around making and taking payments by way of a bank transfer, is announci
DNAnexus raises $100M for a cloud-based analytics platform aimed at genomics and other clinical big data
DNAnexus, which provides a cloud platform for governments, universities, doctors and pharmaceutical companies to tap into DNA and other clinical data sets and collaborate on scientific research projec
Lilium adds $35M from Baillie Gifford at a $1B+ valuation for its electric aircraft taxi service
While most air travel continues to be ground to a halt, a German startup working on what it hopes will be a major breakthrough in flying has raised more funds to continue building its service. Lilium,
Alexis Ohanian steps down from Reddit board, asks for his seat to go to a black board member
Alexis Ohanian, the founder and former CEO of Reddit, stepped down from his position on the company’s board Friday as the U.S. roils with nationwide protests against police brutality after Minne
Nanox, maker of a low-cost scanning service to replace X-rays, expands Series B to $51M
A lot of the attention in medical technology today has been focused on tools and innovations that might help the world better fight the COVID-19 global health pandemic. Today comes news of another sta
Bryter raises $16M for a no-code platform for non-technical people to build enterprise automation apps
Automation is the name of the game in enterprise IT at the moment: We now have a plethora of solutions on the market to speed up your workflow, simplify a process and perform more repetitive tasks wit
SoftBank launches $100M+ Opportunity Growth Fund to invest in founders of color
As we continue to see protests across the U.S. (and elsewhere) sparked by the killing of George Floyd by police in Minnesota, SoftBank is announcing a new investment vehicle to back entrepreneurs of c
Israel’s Team8 raises $104M to make bigger cybersecurity and enterprise bets
Team8, the Israel-based firm founded by a team of intelligence vets and backed by the likes of Intel, Microsoft, Walmart and Cisco to develop and spin out cybersecurity startups, is announcing a step
BBC releases first beta of its Beeb voice assistant to UK Windows Insider members
Back in August 2019, the BBC made some waves with the news that it was developing a voice assistant called Beeb, an English language “Alexa” of its own that could interact with and control
Tovala gobbles up $20M for its smart oven+meal kit service
Meal kits have had a rush of interest in recent months, with people turning to them to vary the pace of (and in some cases, completely replace) making meals at home, or ordering take out, at a time wh
Appway raises $37M, its first-ever funding, for financial customer management tools
With the renewed push for more of the services we use everyday to be accessible online and in a non-physical way, a company out of Switzerland that builds tools for financial services companies to int