The tourism and travel industry has been one of the hardest hit by the global Covid-19 health pandemic, and today a promising startup in the space announced some funding to help it weather the storm. Berlin-based Tourlane, which has built a platform that mimics the role of an in-person travel agent to plan and book […]
Many restaurants still rely on spreadsheets to track their inventory of produce, meat and other ingredients. But using manual methods often results in food wastage and higher costs. Malaysia-based Food Market Hub is a cloud-based platform that connects food and beverage (F&B) outlets directly to suppliers, making it easier to communicate and manage orders. The […]
True Balance, a South Korean startup which runs an eponymous financial services app aimed at tens of millions of users in small cities and towns in India, said on Wednesday it has raised $28 million in a new financing round and expects to turn a profit next year. SoftBank Ventures Asia, Naver, BonAngels, Daesung Private […]
Nigeria based startup Autochek looks to bring the sales and servicing of cars in Africa online. The newly founded venture has closed a $3.4 million seed-round co-led by TLcom Capital and 4DX ventures toward that aim. The raise comes fresh off of Autochek’s September acquisition of digital car sales marketplace Cheki in Nigeria and Ghana. […]
Vienna-based e-learning start-up GoStudent has increased the Series A round it raised earlier this year to €13.3 million, adding €5m this week, in a round led by Left Lane Capital and DN Capital. To date it has raised a total of €16m. GoStudent operates a platform connecting students with teachers worldwide for individual and group […]
Panasonic, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of lithium ion batteries, has signed a preliminary agreement with the Nordic energy company, Equinor, and engineering and industrial company, Norsk Hydro, to collaborate on building a battery business in Northern Europe. The three companies said that over the coming months they’ll work to assess the market for […]
Launched in the Philippines, social commerce startup Resellee wants to recreate the success of Pinduoduo, one of China’s fastest-growing e-commerce companies, in Southeast Asia. A major part of Resellee’s business is grocery deliveries, including fresh produce, and it has struck partnerships with the government and farmers’ groups to meet demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. The […]
French startup Yubo is the biggest social media app you’ve never heard of — unless you’re a teen. With a focus on young people under 25, the company has managed to attract 40 million users. A fraction of them hang out every day in live-streaming rooms, meet new people and spend money for more features. […]
Tech companies around the world are still identifying the “next big thing” enabled by 5G connections. Some, such as Oppo, are betting it will be augmented reality. The Chinese smartphone firm showcased its progress in AR at a Tuesday event swarmed by hundreds of reporters, analysts, and partners in Shenzhen. Green strobe light, the color […]
Chris Krebs, one of the most senior cybersecurity officials in the U.S. government, has been fired. Krebs served as the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) since its founding in November 2018 until he was removed from his position on Tuesday. It’s not immediately clear who is currently heading the agency. A […]
Seldon is a U.K. startup that specializes in the rarified world of development tools to optimize machine learning. What does this mean? Well, dear reader, it means that the “AI” that companies are so fond of trumpeting does actually end up working. It has now raised a £7.1 million Series A round co-led by AlbionVC […]
The musician’s life is rarely an easy one. That goes double for these last, oh, eight or so months. Most artists who haven’t risen the ranks to rock-star levels make the lion’s share of their money from live shows, and that’s just not in the cards for now — and likely won’t be for some […]
Sight Tech Global is little more than two weeks out, and today we published the detailed agenda for Dec. 2 & 3. The show runs from 8 a.m. to noonish Pacific standard time. If you have not already grabbed a free pass to the 100% virtual event, now is the time! Sight Tech Global will […]
Google has taken the wraps off Chimera Painter, a web-based tool that lets anyone generate terrifying cryptozoological entities in an interface that looks like MS Paint by way of Diablo. Why, you ask? Well, isn’t it obvious? No… no, I suppose it isn’t. Surely the strangest thing to hit Google’s AI blog for at least […]
We review each of Apple’s new M1-powered Macs, Twitter launches its new Stories-like format and Amazon launches a pharmacy service. This is your Daily Crunch for November 17, 2020. The big story: Reviewing Apple’s new Macs We’ve got three big hardware reviews today, each one highlighting a new Mac with Apple’s M1 chipset. First up, […]
The latest tech hearing was a study in contrasts. Contrasts between lawmakers who made an effort to stay on topic in a hearing ostensibly about social media and the 2020 election and those who… just talked about whatever was on their minds. Also contrasts between then and now. Social media companies previously treated any attempt […]
Even without a Green New Deal, the sweeping set of climate-related initiatives many Democrats are pushing for, President-elect Joe Biden will have plenty of opportunities to move ahead with much of the ambitious energy transformation plan as part of any infrastructure or stimulus package. Should Republicans manage to maintain control of the Senate, there are […]
As President-elect Joe Biden readies his transition team and sets the agenda for his first 100 days in office, startups can expect to see some movement on long-stalled infrastructure initiatives that could mean big boosts to their business. Infrastructure is high on the list of priorities of the incoming Biden Administration as the former vice […]
Twitter’s new Stories feature, “Fleets,” appears to be struggling under the load. Launched this morning to Twitter’s global user base, Fleets appear at the top of the Twitter app, allowing users to post ephemeral content that disappears in 24 hours as well as view stories posted by others. But user demand and curiosity about the […]
Conan O’Brien is making the move to streaming. In June of next year, his nightly talk show “Conan” will be ending its 10-year run on TBS, while he launches a new, weekly variety series on streaming service HBO Max. “In 1993 Johnny Carson gave me the best advice of my career: ‘As soon as possible, […]