When Greg Mark takes his 3D printer to VCs he gets blank stares. The Boston-based CEO of Markforged, a 3D printing company that specializes in printing carbon fiber and metals, has found that few of them could understand his technology. “The composite business is profitable, and we are scaling at 300% year-over-year,” said Mark. “We have an incredible product roadmap, and… Read More
It’s never been a better time to be a man who privately suffers erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation or hair loss. Before you roll your eyes, that is a lot of men. They are not the silver-haired septuagenarians depicted in drug advertisements, either. Approximately 25 percent of men with male pattern baldness begin shedding their locks before they reach the age of 21, says… Read More
Moving is one of the most stressful life events you can go through. But Clutter, the on-demand storage startup based in LA, is looking to make that a little more pleasant. Today, Clutter is announcing its expansion into the world of moving, offering in-city moving for $65/mover/hour. The company currently employs more than 270 people, many of whom are W2 movers who handle Clutter’s… Read More
You know what’s cool? Not just being worth over $1 billion, but saving your customers $1 billion. Today, zero-fee stock trading app Robinhood announced that it’s hit 3 million registered accounts, $100 billion transacted in its app, and $1 billion in saved commissions considering competitors like E*Trade cost $7 per trade.
And now, Robinhood is getting a web version where beyond… Read More
Cinematique has a new CEO — investor and entrepreneur Paul Dawalibi. The startup describes its product as enabling “touchable video.” In other words, when you’re watching a Cinematique-powered video, you can tap or click on different items to save them and learn more later, and in some cases buy the featured product. Dawalibi (whose long résumé includes a stint as VC… Read More
Amazon today is introducing a new feature called AR View that lets customers visualize online products in their own living space, using their smartphone camera. Launched today in the Amazon app for iOS devices, AR View offers the ability to view thousands of products for the home or office – including furniture, electronics, toys, games, home décor and more – in augmented reality.… Read More
Expense reports aren’t the most exciting thing in the universe. But when you reach the scale of say, Amazon, and have tens of thousands of employees, making sure everything comes through smoothly and the right things are being billed to the company could mean the difference in millions of dollars to your bottom line. And when Anant Kale walks into the office of a big company and asks for… Read More
Groupon, the local deals platform, reported Q3 earnings today that provided more details on how it is restructuring its business; and it also took the moment to announce that it has finally appointed a new COO, a role that has been vacant for the last two years. Steve Krenzer, who had been the CEO of direct-ad specialist Core Digital Media, is taking on the role, the first time Groupon has had… Read More
Investor Gil Penchina has a lot of ideas about the future of the seamless economy. Instead of car ownership, he says, we’ll walk outside and a car will pick us up. Instead of food we’ll be supplied exactly how many nutrients we’ll need at exactly the right time. Instead of money, he says, we’ll use cryptocurrency. In this episode of Technotopia we explore the future… Read More
There are venture-backed shoes, razors, and glasses. So why not, toothbrushes? Quip has raised a $10 million round for its dental care business. Sherpa Capital and other unnamed fashion and entertainment investors participated. The New York-based startup is “a lot more than just an electric toothbrush,” said Simon Enever, founder and CEO. Quip is “looking to help fix or… Read More
InVision, the design collaboration tool based out of New York, has today announced the close of a $100 million Series E funding round. The financing was led by Battery Ventures, with participation from existing investors Accel, Tiger Global Management, Firstmark and ICONIQ Capital, along with new investors Spark Capital and Geodesic. InVision launched back in 2011 as a tool that would simply… Read More
The Essential Phone has come a long way since launch in one key area: Photography. When it first hit the market a few months ago, the camera had a nasty tendency to crash and was a bit slow to load and process photos. But Essential has stayed true to its promise of delivering frequent and effective Camera app updates, and the result is a smartphone total package that is easily the best value… Read More
Applications are now open for student groups to attend Disrupt Berlin at Arena Berlin on 5 December (Tuesday). The program is part of Include, TechCrunch’s diversity program aimed at facilitating opportunities for underrepresented groups in tech to gain better access to the startup scene. Read More
The universe can welcome yet another entrant into the space race, and yet another company into Richard Branson’s portfolio. TechCrunch has learned that Branson’s Virgin Orbit has quietly created VOX Space, a wholly owned subsidiary of its space freight business, that will focus on servicing government contracts from the U.S. and its political allies. For Virgin Orbit, the creation… Read More
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have created as much excitement among a new generation of investors and speculators in this century as tulip bulbs meant for a past generation of prospectors, with about the same level of nuance of understanding. To help separate the wheat from the chaff of today’s investment harvest, TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin welcomes two of the founding figures… Read More
The rumors had it right: Sony is rebooting its robot dog, Aibo, announcing a new four-legged companion AI-powered bot incoming with the same brand name but more rounded corners and visible facial features for extra kawaii, including a pair of expressive, puppy-dog eyes. Read More
Nearly three years on from Microsoft unveiling its HoloLens augmented reality headsets, the company today announced a major expansion of its availability: 29 more markets in Europe, nearly tripling the total number of countries where you can buy the device up to 39. The news shows that while we don’t have a firm number of how many units have been sold, we do know that Microsoft is… Read More
Grab is best known for rivaling Uber in Southeast Asia, but today the company took a major step into becoming a fintech player, too.
That’s because the ride-sharing firm, which recently raised $2 billion from SoftBank and China’s Didi Chuxing, rolled out support for its GrabPay service among third-party merchants for the first time today.
Grab is present in seven markets across… Read More
Kano — the startup that teaches kids (and adults) about computers and coding by way of a variety of do-it-yourself hardware building kits — is announcing an important milestone in its growth today. The company has raised $28 million in funding, and ahead of the holidays, it will be using that investment to help spearhead a retail push in North America by getting the device into… Read More
Sunlight, a London startup that offers an employee learning and development platform to let companies offer more bespoke professional development, has picked up £500,000 in seed backing. Leading the round is Speedinvest, with participation from previous backers Seedcamp, and Annection, amongst a number of individuals. Read More
