Mike Butcher
Editor At Large
The Latest from Mike Butcher
COVID was the best thing for Kitty, as insurance apps for pets boom
Technology turned out to be a boon for pets during the pandemic. Without ready access to vets, pet owners turned to mobile apps to keep track of their pet’s health, often via educational content
Leanplum acquired by CleverTap as retention marketing platforms consolidate
CleverTap, a retention marketing platform which has raised $76.6 million to date, is to fully acquire Bulgarian-originated but San Francisco-based Leanplum, a customer engagement platform which has ra
How Untapped Global plans to bring the revenue financing model to African startups
In the developed world, almost anyone can get financing for, say, a car lease. But in an emerging economy like South Africa, the only people who own cars or can even get a car lease are the people who
Earlybird VC closes new €350M fund for Western European startups, with a deep-tech angle
Earlybird VC was one of the “OG” of the emergence of Berlin as a key global tech startup ecosystem 15 years ago. Founded in 1997, it’s gone on to back N26 and UiPath, among many others. And in t
WeAre8 launches crowdfunder for its social media app, where users are paid to watch ads
With Elon Musk’s recent interest in Twitter, Facebook’s growth flattening and TikTok’s meteoric rise, it feels like the world of social media is back into some kind of inflection point period. C
This startup hopes photonics will get us to AI systems faster
The problem with waiting for quantum computing to bring in the next wave of AI is that it’s likely to arrive a lot slower than people would like. The next best options include increasing the speed o
Faye hopes to do for travel insurance what Lemonade did for general insurance
While (former) startups like Lemonade came along to attack the tired world of insurance, the travel insurance market is now coming in for the same treatment from the likes of Safetywing (covered by TC
European micromobility startup Reby acquired by PE player House of Lithium for $100M
Founded in 2018, European micromobility startup Reby took an interesting path. It deployed e-scooters in the city of Zaragoza (Spain), during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also created a SaaS-oriented &#
Hetz Ventures closes third fund of $123M to focus on DevOps tools, open source, fintech and cyber
Hetz Ventures, a seed-stage VC out of Israel launched in 2018, has closed its third fund at $123 million. The new (described as “over-subscribed”) fund, Hetz III, brings the firm’s total
Cheq hopes an easy-to-use app for stablecoins will appeal to inflation-wracked countries
People in the Global South are often subject to terrible fluctuations in their currencies, as well as hyperinflation. At the same time, many are unbanked, but still able to access a crypto wallet. A w
More TradFi in DeFi as Sienna Network launches SiennaLend, a private crypto lending platform
It was last year that we covered the $11.2 million fundraise for Sienna Network, the “privacy decentralized startup”. The network is built on the Secret Network, which allows asset holders
Vercom acquires marketing automation startup MailerLite for $90M
Vercom, a cloud communication platform (CPaaS – “communications platform as a service”) has acquired marketing automation startup MailerLite — based out of Lithuania — for $90 mi
Mass transit group Swvl confirms estimated $100M acquisition of UK startup Zeelo
Mass transit group Swvl has confirmed to TechCrunch its deal to buy U.K. startup Zeelo, estimated to be a $100 million acquisition, according to sources. The Egyptian-born startup that provides shared
Post-pandemic, used car platforms are booming — the latest is Spotawheel with €100M
Used-car digital platforms have been proliferating across the world for a handful of significant reasons, but most of those are related to our recent pandemic (still ongoing, of course). Among those r
How PillSorted plans to use personalisation to compete with main-street pharmacies
Since the (relatively speaking) easing of the pandemic, pharmacies have come under increasing strain as people clamor for their drugs. This is particularly an issue in the U.K. where traditional mom-a
In the wake of Fast’s collapse, Volume thinks it can crack the payment checkout conundrum
Online payment methods can be expensive for merchants, who have to pay between 2% and 8% of every sale to debit and credit card, e-wallet and BNPL facilitators. Much of this is often passed to consume
Can Mirai Flights make it easier to book a private jet? Its new investors think so
If there’s one thing we found out during the pandemic, it is that private jets were one way for the rich and famous to avoid traveling with the potentially infectious plebeian classes. This is perha
Here’s why we’re about to see an explosion of hyperreal artificial humans online
Synthetically generated versions of real people that can be can be programmed to say anything sounds like a scenario from the latest episode of “Black Mirror.” But in fact, production-grad
Immigrant credit fintech Pillar raises $16.9M pre-seed led by Global Founders Capital and Backed VC
Immigrants to a new country can often be cash rich. The problem is that they have no credit history in their new country. Plus, a consumer cannot take their credit file from one country to another. Fu
Vaayu, a carbon tracking platform for retailers, pulls in $11.5M seed round led by Atomico
The last couple of years have seen a boom in carbon calculation startups, and long may it reign. (We need all the help we can get to avoid the disaster of global warming and climate change.) Included