Ingrid Lunden
Writer
The Latest from Ingrid Lunden
Spatial raises $14M more for a holographic 3D workspace app, a VR/AR version of Zoom or Hangouts
The worlds of virtual and augmented reality have yet to land on the applications and hardware to truly spark mass-market, consumer interest in the space, but in the meantime, a startup building mixed
Avast shuts down marketing analytics subsidiary Jumpshot amid controversy over selling user data
Avast has made a huge business out of selling antivirus protection for computers and mobile devices, but more recently it was revealed that the Czech-based cybersecurity specialist was also cultivatin
GoFundMe CEO Rob Solomon is stepping down, will be replaced by Tim Cadogan, CEO of OpenX
A significant changing of the guard is underway at GoFundMe, the popular charitable and causes-based online giving platform that has generated $9 billion from 120 million donations globally to date. T
Directly nabs $20M led by Samsung to help make customer service chatbots more intelligent, adds new CEO
Chatbots have had a patchy track record in the world of tech, where early efforts not only failed to deliver on the magical idea of a computer producing the exact answers you were looking for in a cha
Frontify raises $22.3M to help businesses manage how their brands and logos get used
The rise of design tools like Canva and the vast expanse of digital spaces where a company’s name can appear these days have created a challenge for organisations: how best to make sure that wha
Chicago’s ActiveCampaign raises $100M for an all-in-one marketing and sales automation platform
Marketing and sales automation — tools that leverage the advances and data of our digital age to better identify and then interact with customers — is big business, with the whole market e
Persona raises $17.5M for an identify verification platform that goes beyond user IDs and passwords
The proliferation of data breaches based on leaked passwords, and the rising tide of regulation that puts a hard stop on just how much user information can be collected, stored and used by companies h
Currencycloud nabs $80M from Visa, World Bank Group and more for cross-border payment APIs
Sending money from one country to another — either because you are a business paying someone for a service, or a family member working abroad and sending money back home, or something in between
TikTok inks licensing deal with Merlin to use music from independent labels in videos and new Resso streaming service
TikTok, the fast-growing user-generated video app from China’s ByteDance, has been building a new music streaming service to compete against the likes of Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. A
Dfinity launches an open-source platform aimed at the social networking giants
When Dfinity raised $102 million in funding in 2018 at a $2 billion valuation in a round jointly led by Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain Capital, it was thought of as a step-change in the world of bl
Babylon Health is building an integrated, AI-based health app to serve a city of 300K in England
After announcing a $550 million fundraise last August, U.K. AI-based health services startup Babylon Health is putting some of that money to use with its widest-ranging project to date. The company h
Amazon Music passes 55M customers, still lags behind Spotify and Apple
Amazon Music, the streaming music service from the e-commerce and cloud giant that competes against the likes of Spotify and Apple Music, announced a milestone in its growth today: it has passed 55 mi
Tencent to grow gaming empire with $148M acquisition of Conan publisher Funcom in Norway
Tencent, one of the world’s biggest video and online gaming companies by revenue, today made another move to help cement that position. The Chinese firm has made an offer to fully acquire Funcom
Intezer raises $15M for its DNA-style ‘genetic’ approach to identifying and tracking malware code
As the total cost of cybercrime reaches into trillions of dollars and continues to rise, an Israeli firm called Intezer — which has built a way to analyse, identify and eradicate malware by wa
Gartner: 2020 device shipments to grow 0.9% to 2.16B thanks to 5G, before 2 further years of decline
The analysts at Gartner have published their annual global device forecast, and while 2020 looks like it may be partly sunny, get ready for more showers and poor weather ahead. The analysts predict t
DigitalOcean is laying off staff, sources say 30-50 affected
After appointing a new CEO and CFO last summer, cloud infrastructure provider DigitalOcean is embarking on a wider reorganisation: the startup has announced a round of layoffs, with potentially betwee
Marijuana delivery giant Eaze may go up in smoke
The first cannabis startup to raise big money in Silicon Valley is in danger of burning out. TechCrunch has learned that pot delivery middleman Eaze has seen unannounced layoffs, and its depleted cash
Bolt raises €50M in venture debt from the EU to expand its ride-hailing business
Bolt, the billion-dollar startup out of Estonia that’s building a ride-hailing, scooter and food delivery business across Europe and Africa, has picked up a tranche of funding in its bid to take
Felix Capital closes $300M fund to double down on DTC, break into fintech and make late-stage deals
To kick off 2020, one of Europe’s newer — and more successful — investment firms has closed a fresh, oversubscribed fund, one sign that VC in the region will continue to run strong i
Google acquires Pointy, a startup to help brick-and-mortar retailers list products online, for $163M
Google has been on a long-term mission to build inroads into the world of e-commerce by working more closely with brick-and-mortar retailers, and now it looks like it plans to extend that work a littl