Last week, GIF-finding platform Giphy revealed a new line of business offering artist-created stickers in Apple’s iMessage app. But what it didn’t announce was that it also made an acquisition to bolster this new sticker strategy. TechCrunch has learned and confirmed that Giphy quietly acquired imoji, a startup that had developed a popular platform for creators to build and… Read More
Are you sitting on campus but dreaming of the Big Apple? We’ve got the opportunity for you. TechCrunch is thrilled to announce that we will once again be giving college students the opportunity to purchase deeply discounted tickets to Disrupt NY 2017, so all you undergrad and graduate students can attend the best startup show in New York, even on a ramen budget. Student Disrupt tickets… Read More
iflix, a Netflix-like service that covers Southeast Asia and other emerging markets, has closed $90 million in new funding to expand its service into new countries. The round was financed by international cable firm Liberty Global, Middle East and Africa-focused operator Zain and existing backers Sky, Catcha Group and EMC. Sky made a $45 million investment last year, while Catcha Group and… Read More
Function of Beauty, the YC-backed company that creates personalized shampoo and conditioner based on #hairgoals, has today announced the close of a new $9.5 million Series A funding round led by GGV Capital. Y Combinator followed on in the round. Function of Beauty launched back in December of 2015 with a simple mission: create hair products that are built exclusively for a single… Read More
Arkadium is launching a new product called InHabit, which can automatically introduce polls, quizzes and games that are tailored to each article. When we’ve written about Arkadium in the past, we’ve talked about them as a casual gaming company, but CEO Jessica Rovello told me her team has become focused on one specific aspect that business, namely “providing visual… Read More
The tech-enabled investment advisory space gains a new entrant this morning as Motif, a mobile and web-based investment platform, launches its own version of automated investments for customers. While companies like Betterment and Wealthfront have built sizable holdings by creating automating investment tools that purport to better manage an investor’s money, Motif takes the technology… Read More
MongoDB is still best known for its flagship NoSQL database product, but last year, the company also launched Atlas, a managed database-as-a-service offering that runs on AWS. At the time, MongoDB only offered a paid version of this service (which made sense, given that the company has to pay AWS for its servers), but starting today, it’ll offer developers who want to simply learn… Read More
A subscription commerce startup that sells its own brand of daily disposable contact lenses, Hubble, has raised $16.5 million in a new round of venture funding just five months after having launched its service publicly. One might say the deal happened in the blink of an eye for the startup, which is incorporated as Vision Path Inc. Co-founded by Ben Cogan and Jesse Horwitz, Hubble sells… Read More
When Salesforce announced its spring release this week, it revealed that its artificial intelligence platform, dubbed Einstein, can build data models automatically, even when customers have customized their products to meet the company’s unique requirements. They called this “using artificial intelligence to generate artificial intelligence,” and it’s not something… Read More
Hyperloop One is building its first full-scale test track, which is meant to demonstrate every aspect of its eventual first shipping Hyperloop transportation system, in the Nevada desert – and it’s making good progress. The so-called ‘DevLoop’ site is under construction currently, and the company released the first images and video of its progress on Tuesday morning. As… Read More
Confluent, the commercial company built on top of the open source Apache Kafka streaming database project, announced today that it has closed a $50 million investment.
The round was led by Sequoia with Benchmark and Index Ventures also participating. Sequoia’s Matt Miller will be joining the Confluent board as part of the deal. Today’s round brings the total investment into the… Read More
Anchor FM, the audio social network, has just raised $2.8 million and launched some new tools as it looks to make recording and transmitting interactive audio content even easier. Accel Partners, one of Silicon Valley’s leading consumer-focused investment firms, led the new round with participation from the Omidyar Network, the Chernin Group, and the eponymous audio artist… Read More
Fintech startup Qapital has raised $12 million in Series A funding from investors that include Industrifonden, Northzone, Rocketship VC and Anthemis Exponential Ventures to expand its capabilities. Read More
Lemnos Labs, a hardware-focused venture firm in San Francisco, is today announcing the close of its third and newest fund, with $50 million in commitments. It’s a proud moment for cofounder Jeremy Conrad, whose pitch for Lemnos wasn’t met with a lot of enthusiasm when the firm was founded in 2011 but whose passion for hardware now resonates with plenty of investors.… Read More
A special version of the new Land Rover Discovery dubbed ‘Project Discovery’ and designed for search and rescue operations is actually being deployed with the Austrian Red Cross – complete with a quadcopter drone that can take off from and land on the SUV, even while it’s moving. Magnets lock the drone in place while the Discovery is login, and the drone can assist… Read More
Samsung Pay has launched in India where it is working on selected devices, according to a report from Sam Mobile. The Korean firm had teased its entry to India’s payments market last month, but now it has rolled out with support for banks Axis, HDFC, ICICI, SBI, and Standard Chartered, and credit and debit cards from MasterCard and Visa. Beyond traditional financial organizations,… Read More
Kenya’s leading mobile provider, Safaricom, is teaming up with data collection startup, mSurvey, to launch Consumer Wallet―an online platform using mobile and SMS to map Africa’s cash-based economy.
A beta version of the product goes live in Kenya this month. Safaricom and mSurvey are testing the app with potential clients and corporate partners, including McKinsey Consulting… Read More
While all-in-one soundbars are popular with folks who have their TVs mounted to the wall, what about the few and the brave who have their TVs standing on a table? These people have been this far out of luck when it came to Sonos but, I’m pleased to report, their luck just changed. The Playbase (or PLAYBASE) is an all-in-one wireless speaker system designed to sit under a TV. This $699… Read More
