Natasha Mascarenhas
The Latest from Natasha Mascarenhas
There’s no ‘hacker house’ geared toward undergraduate women, so they created one of their own
Hacker houses are making a comeback for entrepreneurs as remote work drags on. While founders are adapting to quarantine in style, a group of college women in their 20s aren’t waiting until they are
Equity Dive: Edtech’s 2020 wakeup call
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast (now on Twitter!), where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This week, we’re doing a first-ever for the
As edtech grows cash rich, some lessons for early stage
Last week, Udemy, an online learning marketplace, raised $50 million at a $3.32 billion valuation, up from a $2 billion valuation earlier this year. Language learning app Duolingo raised $35 million o
Former Sequoia partner Amy Sun has already raised millions for her stealthy startup
Former Sequoia partner Amy Sun, who left the famed venture capital firm just months ago, has already raised $3.8 million for her new startup, Daylight Labs, SEC filings show. Daylight Labs will be cre
Week in Review: Venture-backed loneliness
Hello everyone and welcome back to Week in Review! Natasha here, subbing in for Lucas while he’s out. This week, we’ll talk about loneliness raising money and how Zoom fatigue is fueling innovatio
A16z is now managing $16.5 billion, after announcing two new funds
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has closed a pair of funds totaling $4.5 billion, the firm confirmed in a blog post this morning. The firm has raised $1.3 billion for an early-stage fund focused on consume
Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures targets $150M for third fund
Sound Ventures, a fund co-founded by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary, has filed paperwork indicating plans to raise a third fund at $150 million. Notably, the firm filed paperwork for the same total in
Roblox files to go public
Roblox, the child-friendly gaming company, filed to go public today. Its listing comes one day after the lending company Affirm initiated its own public offering and a mere two days after Airbnb’s
Transfr raises $12M Series A to bring virtual reality to manufacturing-plant floors
The coronavirus has displaced millions of workers across the country. In order to recover, companies must focus on re-skilling their workforces in a measured and sustainable way. However, training and
Affirm files to go public
Affirm, a consumer finance business founded by PayPal mafia member Max Levchin, filed to go public this afternoon. The company’s financial results show that Affirm, which doles out personalized loan
Virtual HQs race to win over a remote-work-fatigued market
In retrospect, 2019 feels like the working world’s last dance with spontaneity. The pre-pandemic past is rife with conferences, running into co-workers and post-work happy hours. Now, as companies s
Nestlings wants to help international students navigate a messy higher-ed environment
The admissions process for international students applying to colleges is outdated. For starters, there is no Common App, the one-stop application that U.S. students are able to use to apply to a vari
Why some VCs prefer to work with first-time founders
Repeat founders who have a proven track record, good references, and in the best cases, an exit to point to will have an easy time making inroads with venture capitalists. Earlier this week, for examp
Equity Shot: Airbnb’s IPO is finally here
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. Today we have an Equity Shot for you about Airbnb’s S-1 filing
The DOJ has approved Mastercard’s acquisition of Finicity
Federal regulators have approved Mastercard’s acquisition of Salt Lake City-based startup Finicity, which provides open-banking APIs. The deal is expected to go for $825 million. “We were notified
Will edtech empower or erase the need for higher education?
The coronavirus has erased a large chunk of college’s value proposition: the on-campus experience. Campuses are closed, sports have been paused and, understandably, students don’t want to pay the
NextView Ventures closes its fourth fund with $89 million
NextView Ventures, a Boston-based venture capital fund, has raised an $89.6 million fund, according to SEC filings. The firm’s fourth fund, its largest to date, is oversubscribed, with early documen
Getaround tops up $25M debt financing to its $140M Series E
Silicon Valley peer-to-peer car rental startup Getaround has secured a $25 million loan from Horizon Technology Finance Corporation. The financing announcement comes one month after Getaround raised $
As public investors reprice edtech bets, what’s ahead for the hot startup sector?
Reports on November 9 that a COVID-19 vaccine looks incredibly effective moved the market. Software stocks sold off and long-suffering industries hammered by the pandemic saw their fortunes rise. It
Udemy and altMBA co-founders return to edtech with a new, stealthy business
In 2009, Udemy co-founder Gagan Biyani tried to convince people to learn online through live classes. But what he discovered instead was that everyone wanted an online repository of content that allow