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Avast CEO on why it’s just spent $1.4BN to absorb security rival AVG
Security firm Avast has today confirmed the completion of a $1.4 billion acquisition of fellow Czech-based antivirus company AVG. The deal will see Avast’s customer base nearly double — swelling from 230 million to more than 400 million in total, 160M of whom are mobile users. Read More
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WhatsApp’s privacy U-turn on sharing data with Facebook draws more heat in Europe
A dramatic privacy about-face by messaging app WhatsApp this summer, in which it revealed an update to its T&Cs would for the first time allow the sharing of its user data with parent company Facebook, is getting the pair into hot water in Europe. Read More
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Prowler.io raises $2M to help AI systems make smarter choices
As we inch closer to a time when we may rely on truly autonomous devices to move us or do things on our behalf, the need for software that’s able to think on its feet (or mid-air) will be essential. Now, an artificial intelligence startup working on this emerging area of machine learning has raised a seed round of funding to try to do just that. Cambridge, UK-based Prowler.io, which… Read More
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Lystable adds Max Levchin to the list of investors backing its gig economy SaaS
Helping businesses better manage gig economy workers is turning out to be a pitch with serious pulling power for Lystable, the UK startup which closed an $11 million Series A this summer, led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures — following fast from its $3.5M seed round last year, which Thiel’s fund also participated in. Read More
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Lydia grabs $7.8 million for its peer-to-peer payment service
French startup Lydia raised $7.8 million (€7 million) from New Alpha AM and Oddo & Cie in order to expand to other European countries. The startup lets you easily pay back your friends without any fee using a mobile app — among other things. Think about it as a sort of Venmo for France. While Lydia has only been available in France, with today’s funding round, the company… Read More
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Facebook ordered to stop harvesting data on WhatsApp users in Germany
Facebook has been ordered to stop harvesting the data of WhatsApp users in Germany. The move follows the latter’s shock announcement last month that it would start sharing user data from its messaging platform with parent company, Facebook, including users’ phone numbers and last seen time in the app. Read More
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Kano moves beyond Pi with code-your-own device kits for kids
It’s been 16 months since Kano took to the stage at TC Disrupt New York 2015 to announce a $15M Series A, and to talk up its big ambition to build a creative computing brand. And 10 months since, flush with VC cash, it started work on its next big product reveal… Today it’s ready to show what it’s been working on. Read More
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With Daily Mix, Spotify taps algorithms to make infinite playlists from your favorite tunes
Are you a Spotify user who has a list of favorite bands and songs, but do not have the motivation to find and organize all of them into useful playlists? Today, the streaming company is launching a new service called Daily Mix that is partly aimed at you. Tapping into your own history of albums and tracks that you have listened to on the platform, Daily Mix brings together a… Read More
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Red Points bags $2.2M to help brands fight counterfeiting and piracy
Spanish startup Red Points has closed a €2 million (~$2.2M) funding round to grow usage of its piracy detection and removal SaaS by expanding from Europe into new markets, including North America. It’s also intending to broaden its customer focus. Read More
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Exclusive TechCrunch survey reveals startups and investors are divided over Brexit
On Thursday 23 June 2016 the world changed. On that day a referendum was held to decide whether the UK should leave or remain in the European Union. Leave won by 52% to 48%. The referendum turnout was 71.8%, with more than 30 million people voting (though not 100% of the electorate). The campaigns on both sides had issues in terms of what they promised, to put it mildly. But on the issue of… Read More
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Zenly raises $22.5 million from Benchmark for its location-sharing app
French startup Zenly has raised $22.5 million over the summer from Benchmark and a few other investors. Business Insider first reported the round and TechCrunch got an official confirmation. Here’s what we know. Benchmark is leading the round with Peter Fenton joining the board of the company. Fenton has invested in a few social network companies and also is a board member of Twitter. Read More
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Swiss public back law expanding surveillance powers
In the wake of the 2014 Snowden revelations about mass surveillance programs some startups with concerns about overreaching government requests for user data settled on Switzerland as a base for their business — owing to what they dubbed favorable privacy laws. However, they might need to have a rethink after the Swiss public approved more invasive state surveillance powers in a… Read More
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Reminder: This is the last week to save £400 on Disrupt London tickets
Procrastination is easy, but it can cost you. And if you wait until this weekend to purchase tickets to Disrupt London 2016, it will definitely cost you some hard-earned pounds — 400 of them, to be exact. Friday, September 30 is the final day to score tickets to Disrupt at the extra early bird price point of just £800 each (or £700 each when you buy two) and you can get your… Read More
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Crunch Network
Apple has done nothing wrong
Having read the European Commission’s original ruling, some prior rulings, the Treasury’s white paper about the European Commission’s actions and a lot of analysis in the tax community, in my opinion, the EC is over-reaching in their decision on Apple. Read More
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It’s not McLaren Racing, but McLaren Applied Technologies, that Apple is likely lusting after
When racing cars have only hundredths of seconds between them, in a race where the time to change a tire means the difference between winning and losing (and the impact on millions of dollars in sponsorship), a company gets good at technology. Fast. The data from drivers, cars and engines has to be parsed and acted upon literally in real-time. That’s why the racing industry’s… Read More
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This new electric car is designed for a $37 weekly subscription service
Europe continues to test the waters of shared vehicle ownership models, and the Amber One is a car designed to help eliminate the huge amount of time our own vehicles currently spend idle. The all-electric concept has a 250-mile range on a single charge, a top speed of over 93 mph, and a 0 to 60 time of a respectable 7 seconds. But you can’t buy one – to gain access, you… Read More
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Fotr forces you to print every iPhone photo you take
When was the last time you printed a photo? Well, Fotr is a new iPhone app that wants to turn that trend on its head, by automatically printing every photo you take. The idea is to bring back an aspect of analog photography: shoot fewer, but higher-quality photos. Read More
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