Sarah Perez
Sarah currently works as a writer for TechCrunch, after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to becoming a professional blogger, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.
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Latest from Sarah Perez
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Etsy Acquires Gadget Marketplace Grand St.
Grand St., a service once described as an Etsy for electronics, is now actually a part of Etsy, the companies confirm. The deal was announced today on Grand St.'s official blog and on Etsy's site (via Fortune) where Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson explained the two companies' overlapping vision. He says both were focused on the way "making was changing," in a time when shoppers are more interested in… Read More
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Facebook Receives U.S. Antitrust Approval For Oculus Deal
The U.S. government has approved Facebook's $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR, following the Federal Trade Commission's examination of the deal. The FTC has determined -- not all that surprisingly -- that the deal would not violate U.S. antitrust laws. This will allow the two companies to move forward in combining forces, though Facebook previously promised that Oculus would "continue to operate… Read More
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Duet Takes On Tile With A Small, Square Lost Item Finder That Also Lets You Replace The Battery
Early backers of the Bluetooth-powered lost item finder called Tile, backed by $2.7 million in crowdfunding, have been patiently waiting for the device to begin shipping (which it finally is, they say). But in the meantime, a number of similar tags have stepped in to fill the void, including TrackR, StickNFind, Lapa, and others. And now here comes one more: the Duet, a small, colorful and… Read More
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Meat Marketplace AgLocal Becomes A Consumer-Facing Subscription Service, Raises Another $1.3 Million
Andreessen Horowitz-backed AgLocal, which began as a marketplace for meat, connecting animal farmers to buyers including top-rated chefs, has now pivoted to become a consumer-facing service. On the new e-commerce site, online shoppers can browse through the meat products offered by family-operated farms, which are paid for on a subscription basis. Read More
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Marketing Suite For Visual Web Piqora Raises $7.7 Million Series A
Piqora, a marketing platform and analytics provider for “visual” social networks like Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr, has raised $7.7 million in Series A funding, the company is announcing today. The round was led by DFJ, and saw participation from Freestyle Capital, Baseline Ventures, Lazerow Ventures, Firebolt Ventures and Altos Ventures. Founded in 2012, and originally called… Read More
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Google To Offer Targeted Mobile App Install Ads In Search And YouTube; Expands App Deep Linking To AdWords
Google is announcing today its plans to offer targeted app install ads on mobile search and YouTube, following moves made by other tech industry companies, including Facebook and more recently Yahoo and Twitter. Google says that businesses looking to promote these app installs across the AdMob network will be able to target consumers based on data Google already has on file, like what apps they… Read More
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Real Estate Marketing Platform Placester Scores $5.5M Series A, Plus A Deal With Hearst
Real estate marketing platform and Techstars Boston grad Placester has raised $5.5 million in Series A funding, the company is announcing today, after having grown its business to power over 70,000 real estate professionals’ websites, and reach a larger community of over 100,000. The company will be using the additional capital to grow its new platform for publishers, including Hearst… Read More
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After Cyberbullying Scandal, Anonymous Social App Yik Yak Raises $1.5 Million
Anonymous social networking apps are having a moment. Following the notable funding rounds for apps like Secret ($8.6 million) and Whisper ($21 million!), newcomer Yik Yak is today announcing a small amount of outside investment, too. In its case, the company has raised $1.5 million in seed funding for its “hyper-local” chatting app, which controversially grew popular with school… Read More
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Recyclebank Turns “Green” Actions Into Discounts At New Shop For Sustainable Goods, One Twine
Recyclebank, a company founded in 2004 which today works with partners to reward consumers for “green” actions like recycling, is now getting into e-commerce. With the launch of a new website called One Twine, Recyclebank is hoping to attract consumers looking to buy environmentally conscious goods and other sustainable items across a variety of categories, ranging from health and… Read More
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Loch Ness Monster Not Found In Apple Maps
Seriously, people. The Internet is officially freaking out about an odd image spotted on Apple Maps, which some are claiming is “proof” of the Loch Ness monster’s existence. By “some,” of course, I mean amateur Loch Ness Monster enthusiasts, whose Fan Club founder Gary Campbell has been talking to press about the now-viral image, which his organization has been… Read More
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Mailbird Brings Speed Reading Technology To Email
Mailbird, a PC email client bearing resemblance to popular Mac app (and Google acquisition) Sparrow, is introducing an interesting feature in the hopes of helping users save time when reading long emails. The company has now added a "speed reader" option, which, when clicked, lets you read emails in a similar way to reading other text in other speed reading apps, like those powered by… Read More
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Birchbox Raises $60 Million
The company that led to dozens of startups describing themselves as a “Birchbox for X,” beauty sample box provider Birchbox, has raised $60 million in Series B funding, valuing the company at $485 million. News of the deal was first reported by Fortune. The new funding was led by Viking Global Investors, and saw participation from First Round Capital, Accel Partners, Aspect… Read More
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SAY Media-Owned Blogging Platform Typepad Enters Day 5 Of On-And-Off DDoS Attacks
You can now add Typepad, the blogging service owned by SAY Media, to the growing list of technology companies that have undergone DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks, which crash websites and other online services for what are now days a time. In Typepad's case, the company is entering its fifth day under attack, after a series of on and off again hits began on Thursday night, just ahead… Read More
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Gusto Debuts A Smarter, More Powerful Email App For iPhone
There's no lack of startups trying to rethink the mobile email experience - for example, Mailbox, Boxer, CloudMagic, Triage, or Acompli, to name just a few. Now a new application called Gusto is throwing its hat into the ring, as well, with a smart email application that helps you more easily find files and photos within dedicated tabs, plus a powerful search feature that lets you refine keyword… Read More
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Taking On Amazon, Target Expands Online Subscriptions Program To More Categories, Lowers Prices
Target has significantly expanded its subscription-based e-commerce service, first launched last fall as a response to Amazon’s popular “Subscribe and Save” program, by increasing the number of online items available for subscription purchase from just 200 to now 1,500. While the company’s original focus was on baby-care items, the now revamped service offers similar… Read More
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Google Trends Debuts Email Notifications For Search Topics, Hot Searches And More
Google Trends, the informative resource that shows you what’s currently popular around the web right now in and in the recent past, now offers email subscriptions, Google announced this morning. The new feature will allow you to subscribe to any search topic, plus Hot Searches for any country, or any U.S. monthly Top Chart, says Google via a blog post detailing the feature. However, though… Read More
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App Search Engine Quixey Acquires Competing Service Kite.io
Mobile app search engine Quixey, backed by $75 million from Alibaba, Innovation Endeavors, Translink Capital and others, has put some of those dollars to use by acquiring a smaller, competing app search startup, San Francisco-based Kite.io. The deal was more of a talent grab, we hear, bringing Kite.io’s founders to Quixey where they’ll continue to help the company build out its… Read More
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LinkedIn Hits 300 Million Users
LinkedIn announced this morning that the company now has 300 million registered users worldwide, over half of which come from outside the U.S. Stateside, the site has 100 million members, its says. LinkedIn revealed these and other figures via a company blog post, in addition to laying out its vision for growing its presence through strategic initiatives on mobile, in Asia, and beyond. These… Read More
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Dropbox Acquires Cloud Photos Startup Loom And Document Collaboration Service Hackpad
Only days after revealing its first dedicated photo management and sharing application Carousel, Dropbox is announcing it has acquired cloud photo storage and sync service Loom, a favorite among iOS users. The company, which currently offers apps for iPhone, iPad and Mac, as well as an online experience, says it will no longer be enrolling new users and will work to transition existing customers… Read More
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A Million Little Facebook Pieces
Facebook, massive and successful as it is, is no longer a company that defines new social experiences. It either copies them outright or it just buys them. (See also: $19 billion for WhatsApp). Read More
