Zynga
Emerging as an Eastern powerhouse, Earlybird Digital East Fund launches new $242M fund
Earlybird Digital East Fund — a fund associated with Germany’s Earlybird VC, but operating separately — has launched a €200 million ($242 million) successor fund. The fund’s focus will remain…
Citadel ID raises $3.5M for API-delivered income and employment verification
This morning Citadel ID announced a combined $3.5 million raise for its income and employment verification service. The startup provides an API to customer companies, allowing them to rapidly verify…
With a reported deal in the wings for Joby Aviation, electric aircraft soars to $10B business
One year after nabbing $590 million from investors led by Toyota, and a few months after picking up Uber’s flying taxi business, Joby Aviation is reportedly in talks to go public in a SPAC…
Zynga CEO says he’s on the lookout for more acquisitions
If you’re wondering why Zynga issued $875 million in convertible notes at the end of 2020, CEO Frank Gibeau said the company was fundraising to build up a “war chest”…
While much of what made 2020 such an absolute nightmare will still be with us on January 1 (sorry!), we will really, truly be leaving Adobe Flash and FarmVille behind…
Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners looks to make CA power grids more reliable with a $100 million investment
Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, the company which spun out of Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs to fund, develop and own the next generation of infrastructure, has unveiled its latest project — Resilia, which…
Daily Crunch: Social media confronts election misinformation
You may have heard that the United States had a presidential election yesterday, with plenty of implications for the tech world, particularly with social media as one of the battlegrounds…
Zynga reports record revenue and strong user growth while still losing $122M
Zynga’s revenue grew to a record $503 million (up 46% year-over-year) in the third quarter, with bookings of $628 million (up 59%), according to its latest earnings report. It also…
India’s FreshToHome raises $121 million to grow its meat and vegetable e-commerce platform
FreshToHome, an Indian e-commerce startup that sells fresh vegetables, fish, chicken and other kinds of meat, has raised $121 million in a new financing round as the Bangalore-headquartered firm reports…
Daily Crunch: Twitter confronts image-cropping concerns
Twitter addresses questions of bias in its image-cropping algorithms, we take a look at Mario Kart Live and the stock market takes a hit after President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis. This…
Zynga completes its acquisition of hyper-casual game maker Rollic
Zynga announced in August that it would be acquiring Istanbul-based Rollic, developer and publisher of hyper-casual gaming hits like Go Knots 3D and Tangle Master 3D. Today, it says the…
With Goat Capital, Justin Kan and Robin Chan want to keep founding alongside the right teams
Justin Kan and Robin Chan have each been angel investing for more than a decade. They’re starting a new fund together now, though, to stay involved as cofounders of more…
The cold email worked — you’ve landed a meeting with your dream investor. Hell, you even set aside $40,000 for a pitch deck consultant to make sure your presentation looks…
Amazon and Zynga partner on Word Pop, a Words with Friends spinoff created for Alexa
Zynga’s popular game, Words with Friends, is coming to Alexa. The new voice-powered game will be known as Word Pop, and — sorry — you can’t actually play it with…
Zynga acquires Turkey’s Peak Games for $1.8B, after buying its card games studio for $100M in 2017
Today, some news of a huge acquisition out of Turkey that represents the first billion-dollar-plus exit for a startup out of the country. Social gaming company Zynga confirmed that it…
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Despite pandemic, gaming is well-positioned to withstand recession
Efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 have led to a global economic downturn, but the gaming industry is booming. With hundreds of millions of people sequestered in their homes, game usage has spiked. And while the economic repercussions will persist after people cease physical distancing, gaming is positioned to fare well during a recession.…
New Early Stage speakers to talk fundraising strategies, growth marketing and PR
TC Early Stage SF goes down on April 28, and we are getting pretty damn excited about it! The show will bring together 50+ experts across startup core competencies, such…
Spatial raises $14M more for a holographic 3D workspace app, a VR/AR version of Zoom or Hangouts
The worlds of virtual and augmented reality have yet to land on the applications and hardware to truly spark mass-market, consumer interest in the space, but in the meantime, a…
Greylock’s Reid Hoffman and Sarah Guo to talk fundraising at Early Stage SF 2020
Early Stage SF is around the corner, on April 28 in San Francisco, and we are more than excited for this brand new event. The intimate gathering of founders, VCs,…
Impossible adds ‘ground pork’ and ‘sausages’ to its lineup of plant-based foods
Impossible Foods made huge waves in the food industry when it came up with a way of isolating and using “heme” molecules from plants to mimic the blood found in…
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Define and manage growth on your own terms
Growth means different things at different companies, but correctly identifying avenues for sustainable and scalable growth is a universal priority.
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Mobile gaming is a $68.5 billion global business, and investors are buying in
By the end of 2019, the global gaming market is estimated to be worth $152 billion, with 45% of that, $68.5 billion, coming directly from mobile games.
This $3.5 million new Pagani hypercar got its world debut in a Zynga mobile game
High-priced, handmade boutique sports cars typically make their debut where the well-heeled and the media gather. Pagani took a different approach this time around. The Italian supercar manufacturer unveiled its…
WeWork CEO Adam Neumann has reportedly cashed out of over $700 million ahead of its IPO
Adam Neumann, the co-founder and chief executive of the international real estate co-working startup WeWork has reportedly cashed out of more than $700 million from his company ahead of its initial…
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Meet TezLab, the Fitbit for Tesla vehicles
Some of the best real-time insights into Tesla and its global fleet of electric vehicles — outside the confines of its Silicon Valley headquarters — might be through the lens of TezLab, a tiny upstart in Brooklyn. Now, a little more than two years after its founding, TezLab is on the verge of hitting what…
Zynga launches battle royale game as a Snap Games exclusive
Zynga the casual games developer which once rode Facebook’s platform to popularity and riches is now turning its attention to Snap for growth. Today, the gaming company is launching its…
India’s FreshToHome raises $11 million to expand its fish, meat, and vegetable e-commerce platform
Shan Kadavil, who spent early days of his career managing tech support firm Support and then heading India operations of gaming firm Zynga, says he had a calling of sorts…
Canopy’s upscale co-working business adds a new location in SF on the heels of strategic funding
Canopy, an upscale, profitable developer of co-working spaces, has expanded its footprint in San Francisco to a third location on the heels of a strategic financing round. Co-founded by the…
In-car commerce startup Cargo extends Uber partnership to Brazil
Cargo, the startup that brings the convenience store into ride-hailing vehicles, is making its first international expansion through an exclusive partnership with Uber in Brazil. Uber drivers in São Paulo…
Snapchat launches Mario Party-style multiplayer games platform
Snap is unlocking a new revenue stream while giving you something to do between chats and Stories. Today Snapchat debuts its Snap Games platform that lets you play real-time, multiplayer…
