Ingrid Lunden
Managing Editor, Global
The Latest from Ingrid Lunden
Meta trials its AI chatbot across WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger in India and Africa
Meta has confirmed to TechCrunch that it is testing Meta AI, its large language model-powered chatbot, with WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger users in India and parts of Africa. The move signals how M
Amazon, eyeing up AI, adds Andrew Ng to its board — ex-MTV exec McGrath to step down
If the decisions made by corporate boards of directors can indicate where a company wants to be focusing, Amazon’s board just made an interesting move. The company announced on Thursday that And
Guesty snaps up $130M at $900M valuation to help property managers list on Airbnb and beyond
The company, based out of New York with roots in Israel, says its revenue has increased 5x in the last 3 years, and it expects to turn profitable this year.
Meta confirms that its Llama 3 open source LLM is coming in the next month
Meta's Llama families, built as open-source products, represent a different philosophical approach to how AI should develop as a wider technology.
AI data security startup Cyera confirms $300M raise at a $1.4B valuation
Artificial intelligence continues to be a big threat, but it’s also a huge promise in the world of cybersecurity. Today, one of the startups tackling both the opportunity and the challenge is an
Multiverse, the apprenticeship unicorn, acquires Searchlight to put a focus on AI
Multiverse, the U.K. unicorn that builds apprenticeship programs for people to learn technology skills while on the job, has made an acquisition as it aims to skill up itself. The company has bought S
Paddy Cosgrave returns as Web Summit CEO after resigning over Israel/Gaza controversy
Paddy Cosgrave, the co-founder of the Web Summit tech conference, is returning to his role as CEO after resigning in October over controversial statements he made about the Israel/Gaza war last year o
Coro, building cybersecurity for SMBs, locks down $100M at a $750M valuation
Enterprises and other large organizations have long been a lucrative and obvious target for cybercriminals, but in recent years — thanks to more sophisticated breach techniques and the rise of A
Observe, the data observability platform, raises $115M with Snowflake investing
Enterprises today store and use data across an ever-growing number of applications and locations, making it challenging — if not impossible — to manage and query that data in a holistic wa
AI is a data problem — Cyera is raising up to $300M on a $1.5B valuation to secure it
A cybersecurity startup called Cyera is betting that the next big challenge in enterprise data protection will be AI, and it’s raising a big round of funding as demand picks up for it. The compa
Spotify tests video courses to teach everything from music production to Excel
Spotify has carved out a business for itself in music streaming, podcast entertainment and audiobooks. Now, in its ongoing efforts to get its 600 million+ users to spend more time and money on its pla
DOJ says Apple’s ‘complete control’ over tap-to-pay transactions stops innovation, cements its monopoly
In its wide-ranging antitrust complaint against Apple and its iPhone business, the U.S. Justice Department takes specific aim against Apple’s massive financial business, specifically how it uses
Who needs free shipping? Delivery startup Ingrid banks $23M to provide a viable alternative
Ingrid, a startup out of Stockholm, Sweden, has raised €21 million (~$23 million) to improve the last, messy mile of online shopping — delivery.
LinkedIn plans to add gaming to its platform
LinkedIn, the Microsoft-owned social platform, has made a name for itself primarily as a platform for people looking to network and pick up knowledge for professional purposes, and for recruitment 
Lago, a Paris-based open source billing platform, banks $22M
A startup out of Paris that began life building marketing tools has raised $22 million after making a successful pivot into billing — a space it discovered was even more broken among potential c
UK chips in $44M for a piece of Europe’s $1.4B pot for semiconductors
The U.K. has exited the European Union, but semiconductor development is emerging as one of the areas where it hopes to partner for better economies of scale — and much-needed funding. Today, th
Empathy closes $47M for AI to help with the practical and emotional bereavement process
Death, as the famous saying goes, is one of the inevitable certainties of life. But that doesn’t make coping with it any easier — not least because while loved ones are grieving, they must
Alphabet spin-off SIP launches Verrus, a data center concept built around battery ‘microgrids’
Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP) — the Alphabet spinout that focuses on building and backing new approaches to complicated infrastructure problems in areas like power, broadband and waste
Zama’s homomorphic encryption tech lands it $73M on a valuation of nearly $400M
Homomorphic encryption, a complex technique that uses cryptographic algorithms to keep data secure as it travels around networks and to third parties, continues to elude mass-market scalability and th
Ema, a ‘Universal AI employee,’ emerges from stealth with $25M
Generative AI well and truly has a grip on public technology discourse these days. A new startup called Ema out of San Francisco thinks it’s a lot more than just a passing fancy. It’s emer