Running a company is expensive. And it’s more than just the product and employee costs that add up. From furniture to electronics, there’s a lot of day-to-day corporate spending that can be hard to keep tabs on. That’s why procurement software has become a big business. Investors are betting that Scout RFP will emerge as a leader in the space. Menlo Ventures is leading a… Read More
Another day, another major round of funding for a security startup, underscoring just how active the area of IT protection is right now — both in terms of business need and as an investment opportunity. Today, Illumio — a startup that provides data center and cloud security services, monitoring and protecting individual applications and processes within an enterprise network by… Read More
Roll up, roll up, there’s a new fintech VC fund in Southeast Asia town. Today, Thailand-based Kasikorn Bank announced its inaugural tech fund which is 1 billion THB, just shy of $30 million, in size. Kasikorn, which was founded in 1945 and is one of Thailand’s major banks, is calling the fund Beacon — think lights on top of lighthouses — and it is aimed at giving the… Read More
After months of trailing a move into original TV content, Apple yesterday pushed play on the first episode of Planet of the Apps, which can now be watched online via iTunes if you’re a subscriber of the company’s streaming music service, Apple Music. Read More
Apple put a heavy focus on improving iOS at its WWDC this week with introductions such as file management, more visible iMessage features, QR code scanning and more, but there are a number of notable features in iOS 11 that weren’t explicitly announced. One of those, which will be well-received by many, is a tweak to security settings that allows users to restrict the use of their… Read More
Cross-border commerce platform WaystoCap has raised new funding to expand its reach in Africa, the startup confirmed to TechCrunch today. A recent graduate from the Y Combinator accelerator program in the U.S., WaystoCap is an online destination for buyers and sellers of business-to-business goods in Africa. Founded in Casablanca, Morocco, it aims to digitize the centuries old… Read More
While venture investing outside the U.S. has come a long way in recent years, our analysis shows it remains an entirely different industry than U.S. venture capital. And when we say different, we mean totally different. Read More
Is there room for smaller, more focused Airbnb competitors? French startup Misterb&b thinks so as the startup just raised $8.5 million from Project A and Ventech to build an apartment renting platform focused on the LGBTQ community.
As the name suggests, Misterb&b started with a focus on gay people, but the company says that it wants to become the inclusive platform for the LGBTQ… Read More
I have an aversion to karaoke after the band I used to play in was entirely upstaged at a gig by a karaoke machine, but, as pastimes go, it remains a huge market. And where markets are big, startups like to go. Enter Finland’s Singa, which is building a digital karaoke service that, in its own words, wants to do for karaoke what Spotify has done for music. The Helsinki-based company… Read More
In the fast-paced with of traditional venture capital, corporate venture sometimes gets a bad rap, but often it depends on the people involved rather than the brand name, logo or misguided perceptions. Likewise corporate accelerators. However, many have been getting a makeover in the last couple years, so outfits like Founders Factory is linking corporates up with startups in a sort of pact… Read More
Bozoma Saint John leaves Apple for Uber, 20 people get fired at Uber over sexual harassment, Amazon discounts Amazon Prime for the less fortunate and Pinterest passes a $12 billion valuation. All this on Crunch Report. Read More
DeRay McKesson has a plan. The man who became one of the most recognizable faces (and social media voices through his over 800,000 person strong Twitter feed) for the campaign for social justice that launched in the wake of the police killing of Michael Brown in 2014, is thinking about what’s next for the increasingly large community of people in the United States advocating for change… Read More
OnePlus has been doing a solid job hyping its next handset without delivering much in the way of actual information about the thing. On June 20, the company will finally debut the phone to the world, in a customarily idiosyncratic fashion, offering up “popup” events at locations around the globe to show it off in person. OnePlus has never been above a good launch gimmick, a part of… Read More
On the same day Uber announced it dismissed 20 employees due to harassment claims, the guy in charge of diversity at the company said the latest report was “the first step of many” to improve culture at the company. Read More
At TechCrunch Sessions: Justice today, New York Times bestselling author Shaka Senghor unveiled Mind Blown Media, a new media company that aims to create high-impact content focused on the criminal justice system and mass incarceration. Senghor, who spent 19 years in prison — seven of which were in solitary confinement — founded Mind Blown Media to tell the stories of people who… Read More
Elon Musk couldn’t help but include some teasers in his Tesla shareholder meeting address on Tuesday, reiterating that the company would be holding a special event to reveal its Semi Truck at the end of September, but noting also that he would “really recommend showing up” for the event because “maybe there’s a little more than we’re saying here.”… Read More
During a Tesla shareholder press conference on Tuesday, CEO Elon Musk talked a bit more about the company’s plans around the upcoming Model Y crossover/small SUV vehicle. The company “made a mistake in trying to derive the Model X from the Model Y platform,” Musk noted, since it’s clear now it should focus on designing “an SUV the way it’s meant to be… Read More
Tesla says that it should be able to deliver its first production Model 3 next month, and also noted that it’ll reveal the Model 3 configurator at that time. The configurator won’t offer a lot of choice, however – Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at a shareholder meeting on Tuesday that it’ll basically let you pick “what color” and “what size wheels”… Read More
The new HomePod sounds great. I walked away from WWDC impressed with the full and rich sound the company has managed to get out of such a small form factor. There’s nice hardware on-board and a lot happening on the back end to create an optimal audio experience, including a six-mic array that sonically maps the room the speaker is in. Other smart home hubs like the Echo – and… Read More
Cadre, a three-year-old, New York-based real estate startup, has raised $65 million in Series C funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. Famed VC Jim Breyer of Breyer Capital also joined the round, along with the Ford Foundation, General Catalyst Partners, Goldman Sachs, Khosla Ventures, and Thrive Capital. Ryan Williams, a Goldman Sachs and Blackstone alum, cofounded Cadre along with Joshua… Read More
