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Memberful, a Patreon subsidiary, launches a newsletter product to challenge Substack
Between Facebook outages and Twitch data breaches, last week was bumpy for social platforms and the creators who build businesses on them. As internet creators look to diversify their income…
Google brings AppSheet automations to Gmail, Jira support to Chat and Spaces
Google today announced a new feature for its AppSheet automation service that will allow developers on its no-code platform to create custom apps and automation that can interact directly with…
Reddit hires former Google Cloud exec as its first chief product officer
Reddit announced today that it has hired Pali Bhat, the former vice-president of product and design at Google Cloud, as the company’s first chief product officer. Bhat will be tasked…
Google Search update will provide more context about websites, including descriptions and what others say
Google is making a change to its search results with the goal of improving the media literacy of online users. The company is expanding the capabilities of its “About this…
Google is redesigning Search using AI technologies and new features
Google announced today it will be applying AI advancements, including a new technology called Multitask Unified Model (MUM) to improve Google Search. At the company’s Search On event, the company…
DoorDash launches alcohol delivery in U.S., Canada and Australia
Food delivery service DoorDash will now deliver alcohol — a move that will allow it to better compete with rivals who already offer alcohol delivery in markets where permitted, like…
OnlyFans’ explicit content ban should spark a conversation about a creators’ bill of rights
OnlyFans’ decision to ban sexually explicit content is reigniting an important and overlooked conversation around tech companies, content guidelines and sex work.
Privacy-oriented search app Xayn raises $12M from Japanese backers to go into devices
Back in December 2020 we covered the launch of a new kind of smartphone app-based search engine, Xayn. “A search engine?!” I hear you say? Well, yes, because despite the…
Creators can now monetize their expertise on Quora
In May, Yahoo! Answers shut down after helping the internet answer its most burning questions since 2005. But now, Quora, which began as a question-and-answer site but expanded to incorporate…
One week left to buy passes to TC Disrupt 2021 for less than $100
TechCrunch Disrupt 2021, the world’s original and most epic conference dedicated to tech startups, takes place September 21-23. Are you ready to take full advantage of this opportunity-packed event? Start…
Colombian on-demand delivery startup Rappi raises ‘over’ $500M at a $5.25B valuation
Rappi, a Colombian on-demand delivery startup, has raised “over” $500 million at a $5.25 billion valuation in a Series F round led by T. Rowe Price, the company announced late…
End-to-end moving startup Updater buys on-demand moving startup Dolly
Moving services giant Updater is bringing on the team from Dolly as the New York company looks to expand its scope of offerings with the acquisition of the on-demand startup…
In latest Big Tech antitrust push, Germany’s FCO eyes Google News Showcase fine print
The Bundeskartellamt, Germany’s very active competition authority, isn’t letting the grass grow under new powers it gained this year to tackle Big Tech: The Federal Cartel Office (FCO) has just…
Fresh out of YC, Houm raises $8M to improve the home rental and sales market in LatAm
As a longtime real estate developer based in Chile, Benjamin Labra was able to spot gaps in the buying and renting markets in Latin America. To meet demands, he started…
Substack acquires team from community consulting startup People & Company
New media poster child Substack announced today that they’ve added a small community-building consultancy team to its ranks, acquiring the Brooklyn-based startup People & Company. The small firm has been…
Armed with $160M in funding, LatAm’s Merama enters the e-commerce land grab
Merama, a five-month old e-commerce startup focused on Latin America, announced today that it has raised $60 million in seed and Series A funding and $100 million in debt. The…
Mighty Networks raises $50M to build a creator economy for the masses
Mighty Networks, a platform designed to give creators and brands a dedicated place to start and grow communities, has closed on $50 million in a Series B funding round led…
The #8meals app from Habits of Waste helps people cut back on meaty meals to save the planet
Earth Day may have come and gone, but with apps like #8meals from the non-profit Habits of Waste, anyone can try and do their part to help reduce deforestation and…
Steady’s Adam Roseman and investor Emmalyn Shaw outline what worked (and what was missing) in the Series A deck
Steady founder and CEO Adam Roseman and Flourish Ventures’ Emmalyn Shaw joined Jordan Crook for a recent episode of Extra Crunch Live.
Reddit has raised a new funding round, totaling $250 million. This is the company’s Series E round of financing, and it comes hot on the heels of renewed public attention…
Google now gives you more information about the sites in your search results
Google regularly tweaks its search results pages and tries out new designs. It’s not that often, though, that it adds new features to those results, so when it does, it’s…
Google threatens to close its search engine in Australia as it lobbies against digital news code
Google has threatened to close its search engine in Australia — as it dials up its lobbying against draft legislation that is intended to force it to pay news publishers…
Roblox raises at $29.5 billion valuation, readies for direct listing
Roblox is now one of the world’s most valuable private companies in the world after a monster Series H raise brings the social gaming platform a stratospheric $29.5 billion valuation.…
Group Nine Media forms a SPAC to fund acquisitions
Group Nine Media — which owns Thrillist, NowThis, The Dodo, Seeker and PopSugar — is the latest company to form a SPAC, according to a filing with the SEC. These blank-check…
Coronavirus, election results, Kobe Bryant and Zoom among Google’s top 2020 search trends in US and world
The coronavirus outbreak, elections and Zoom meetings were on the minds of U.S. consumers this year, according to Google’s list of the U.S. top trending searches in 2020, released this…
Thumbtack, a marketplace where you can hire local professionals for home improvement and other services, is announcing that it has acquired Setter. Founded in 2016, Setter provides its customers with…
Uber today announced the official completion of its Postmates acquisition deal, which it announced originally back in July. The all-stock deal, valued at around $2.65 billion at the time of…
Microsoft brings new shopping tools to its Edge browser
Microsoft announced a few updates to its Edge browser today that are all about shopping. In addition to expanding the price comparison feature the team announced last month, Edge can…
After filing earlier this year, DoorDash dropped its public S-1 filing this morning, bringing clarity to its numbers and moving it closer to a public debut that should happen before…
Spying a pivot to ghost kitchens, SoftBank’s second Vision Fund pours $120 million into Ordermark
“We’re building a decentralized ghost kitchen,” is a sentence that could launch a thousand investor calls, and Alex Canter, the chief executive officer behind Ordermark, knows it. The 29-year-old CEO…
