Oct 28th
TechCrunch Disrupt 2024
San Francisco, CA
The Latest
Polytrade, a web3 protocol focused on global trade, has raised $3.8 million in a seed round led by Alpha Wave, Matrix Partners, Polygon Ventures and CoinSwitch Ventures, the startup exclusively…
Enterprise
How to build a sales development representative strategy that will fill your B2B pipeline
4:30 am PDT • March 30, 2023
Move over, marketers: Sales development representatives (SDRs) can be responsible for more than 60% of pipeline in B2B SaaS.
Climate
Qualcomm-backed Aravita wants to help Brazilian supermarkets control food waste
4:01 am PDT • March 30, 2023
Aravita’s AI-powered solution for supermarkets looks at variables, including climate, seasonality and consumer behavior, to manage the purchasing of fresh food.
Transportation
Uber expands Comfort Electric to 14 new US, Canadian markets
3:00 am PDT • March 30, 2023
Uber is expanding Comfort Electric, the ride-hailing giant’s premium electric vehicle offering, to 14 new markets across the U.S. and Canada. Now, customers in a total of 40 North American…
Startups
Parloa raises $21M to add a little automation to contact centers
1:00 am PDT • March 30, 2023
It’s estimated that over $400 billion are spent annually to run customer contact centers around the world. To cut costs, in recent years, contact centers have embraced AI and automation;…
Venture
Oxfam Novib and Goodwell target East African startups with €20M Pepea fund
12:00 am PDT • March 30, 2023
Impact investor Goodwell Investments and Oxfam Novib, a Dutch foundation and Oxfam International affiliate, have set up Pepea, a €20 million ($21.7 million) fund, to provide financing to early-stage startups…
Climate
After bootstrapping for 15 years, energy renovation company Effy raises $22 million
11:00 pm PDT • March 29, 2023
Effy is at a crossroads. The energy renovation company based in France is doing well, but it is addressing a market that is much bigger than anticipated. That’s why it…
Apps
Twitter announces new API with only free, basic and enterprise levels
10:43 pm PDT • March 29, 2023
After weeks of stalling, Twitter finally announced its new API price structures on Wednesday. These three tiers include a bare-bone free level mostly meant for content posting bots, a $100…
Unacademy has laid off 12% of its workforce, or more than 350 roles, in its latest round of layoffs — just over four months after cutting about 350 roles in November.…
Transportation
Jeep puts electrification front and center at Easter Jeep Safari
9:01 pm PDT • March 29, 2023
When Stellantis brand Jeep descended on Moab, Utah this week for its annual off-roading and concept roadshow, electrification ruled the road. The automaker showed off this week seven concepts —…
Where we’ll be next
Jun 11th
StrictlyVC – Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
May 21st
StrictlyVC – London
London
Transportation
Lyft might drop shared rides, stay focused on basics under new CEO
4:10 pm PDT • March 29, 2023
Lyft might once again drop its shared rides offering, just one of several changes the company’s newly appointed CEO could make in a bid to focus on its core ride-hailing…
Startups
Daily Crunch: After raising $3M seed, global fintech platform Payday plans to secure licensing in Canada, UK
3:05 pm PDT • March 29, 2023
Hello, friends, and welcome to Daily Crunch, bringing you the most important startup, tech and venture capital news in a single package.
The first crewed flight test of Boeing’s Starliner capsule is facing yet another delay, with NASA officials saying Wednesday that it is now targeting no earlier than July 21 for…
UPDATE: Tesla tweaks Model 3 page of U.S. website encouraging buyers to take delivery now in anticipation of reduced tax incentives by March 31. The U.S. Treasury Department’s guidance on battery…
Microsoft is “exploring” putting ads in the responses given by Bing Chat, its new search agent powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4. While these sponsored responses are clearly labeled as such, it…
Featured Article
Hampton is tech’s new membership community for chief executive officers
Sam Parr, founder of HubSpot-acquired newsletter and media brand The Hustle, doesn’t watch “Succession” because “it’s too real” (and because he prefers watching comedy compared to behemoth business billionaires fighting). But when he announced his new project, Hampton, an invite-only club for chief executive officers, the references started rolling. It’s specifically one Succession quote that…
2:02 pm PDT • March 29, 2023
Climate
Irrigreen’s precision sprinklers prevent water waste and wet legs
1:56 pm PDT • March 29, 2023
Investors just pumped millions into Irrigreen, a startup vying to quench America’s thirsty lawns with “approximately 50% less water.” Seed investor Ulu led the $15 million funding round. Two tech…
Fintech
6 VCs explain why embedded insurance isn’t the only hot opportunity in insurtech
1:42 pm PDT • March 29, 2023
According to David Wechsler, a principal at OMERS Ventures, “having an embedded strategy is not required for venture funding.”
Transportation
Online used-car marketplace Shift cuts workforce 30% following CarLotz merger
11:22 am PDT • March 29, 2023
Online used vehicle retailer Shift Technologies cut its workforce by 30% in the first quarter as the company sought to reduce costs and eliminate duplicate positions following its merger with…
Fintech
Ramp reports 4x revenue growth, says it still has ‘vast majority’ of equity funding
10:41 am PDT • March 29, 2023
2022 was a tumultuous year for many fintech startups. But for Ramp, it was a year of opportunity. The company shared today that it saw its revenue grow by 4x…
