Oct 28th
TechCrunch Disrupt 2024
San Francisco, CA
The Latest
Startups
African fintech Flutterwave triples valuation to over $3B after $250M Series D
12:05 am PST • February 16, 2022
African fintech Flutterwave has raised $250 million in a Series D round that tripled the company’s valuation to over $3 billion in just twelve months. In March 2021, the San…
Mini-apps are lightweight programs that run within a larger app and serve as additional sources of user engagement and revenue. They became popularized by “super apps” like WeChat, Alibaba and…
Startups
SME lender Funding Societies raises $144M led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, plus $150M in debt lines
7:15 pm PST • February 15, 2022
Small businesses are the backbone of Southeast Asia’s economy, but many struggle to secure working capital loans because they don’t have traditional credit records or collateral, say the founders of…
Featured Article
Inside the Uber and Google settlement with Anthony Levandowski
One of Silicon Valley’s most infamous characters has narrowly avoided — yet again — the worst consequences of his actions. Anthony Levandowski reached a settlement agreement last week that resolves a number of disputes with his two former employers Uber and Google and puts to rest one of the most dramatic and complicated storylines in…
4:11 pm PST • February 15, 2022
Hardware
Why startups may want to rent hardware instead of buying it
4:06 pm PST • February 15, 2022
“Time is the most valuable resource in a startup, so if remote employees can get up and running faster and easier, I can see companies paying a premium for that.”
Venture
Daily Crunch: India’s Central Bank says cryptocurrency ‘may even be worse’ than Ponzi schemes
3:32 pm PST • February 15, 2022
Hello friends and welcome to Daily Crunch, bringing you the most important startup, tech and venture capital news in a single package.
Enterprise
New DocuSign-Zoom integration lets you sign docs in a Zoom meeting
3:32 pm PST • February 15, 2022
Anyone who had to get documents signed early in the pandemic knows how harrowing and dangerous the situation was. Nobody wanted to meet face-to-face, but we still had to conduct…
Let’s chat through Airbnb’s quarterly results’ highlights and our occasional quibble as we digest a world for technology companies that appears increasingly like the pre-pandemic days.
Akamai, the company you probably mostly think of as a content delivery network but that also offers security and edge computing services, today announced that it has acquired Linode. The…
Venture
Transform your startup investors into growth marketers without them noticing
12:45 pm PST • February 15, 2022
Investors want to benefit themselves and their own personal and professional networks along the entire journey to an IPO.
Where we’ll be next
Jun 11th
StrictlyVC – Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
May 21st
StrictlyVC – London
London
Startups
Cannabis beverage startup Cann raises $27M as it expands to Canada
12:15 pm PST • February 15, 2022
Cann, a THC beverage company marketing itself as a fun alternative to alcohol, is bulking up on funding as it brings the product into Canada — its first international market…
Startups
Existing investors double down on Ro at boosted $7 billion valuation
11:35 am PST • February 15, 2022
Tech healthcare unicorn Ro announced today that it has raised $150 million exclusively from existing investors, led by ShawSpring Partners, with participation from FirstMark Capital, General Catalyst, Seven Seven Six,…
Media & Entertainment
Twitter launches beta test of anti-abuse tool ‘Safety Mode,’ adds prompts to enable it
11:00 am PST • February 15, 2022
Twitter is broadening access to a feature called Safety Mode, designed to give users a set of tools to defend themselves against the toxicity and abuse that is still far…
Enterprise
TechCrunch+ roundup: Zendesk rejects $17B offer, sidewalk robots, recruiting survey
10:42 am PST • February 15, 2022
The laws of physics dictate that momentum can only take you so far. Eventually, external forces like gravity, friction — or increased competition in your chosen sector —will cause things…
Media & Entertainment
Facebook renamed its ‘news feed’ to just ‘feed’
10:32 am PST • February 15, 2022
Remember writing on your friend’s “wall” before the Facebook timeline? Now, the Facebook “news feed” will join the graveyard of anachronisms in our memories. Henceforth, the “news feed’ will now…
Transportation
Fisker starts taking reservations for its $29,900 Pear EV
9:50 am PST • February 15, 2022
Fisker is at last ready to share more about Project PEAR. The automaker has started taking reservations for the Pear, a five-passenger “urban EV.”
Security
European data watchdog calls for EU-wide ban on Pegasus spyware
9:47 am PST • February 15, 2022
The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has called for a bloc-wide ban on the controversial Pegasus spyware tool, warning its use could lead to an “unprecedented level of intrusiveness.” Israeli’s…
Transportation
Ford makes it easier to 3D-print accessories for its Maverick pickup
9:39 am PST • February 15, 2022
Ford teased the prospect of 3D-printing your own accessories when it unveiled the Maverick hybrid pickup truck, and it’s acting on that promise, with newly-released CAD files.
Google today announced Chrome OS Flex, an early preview of a new initiative that aims to bring Chrome OS to virtually any PC (and older Intel-based Macs). Built on top…
Sony makes some of the best headphones. The WF-1000xm5? Terrific. WH-1000xm4? Fantastic. One of the best things about the latter is their noise canceling. It’s true that they’re long overdue…
