Given the number of rooms I’ve stayed in over the past couple of years that still sported a 30-pin iPod alarm clock, I think it’s a safe bet that refreshing a new technology isn’t high up on the list of priorities for most hotels. For those looking to offer a little tech hospitality beyond the […]
Hundreds of founders have launched their startups with an aim to change the world. But uttering the words “making the world a better place,” isn’t the same as doing it or doing it well. Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, founder of Promise, and Jessica O. Matthews, founder of Uncharted Power, have not only launched companies that “do good,” […]
Chinese internet giant Alibaba Group has put on hold plans to invest in Indian startups amid geo-political tensions between the two countries, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing two unnamed sources. The Chinese group, which has invested more than $2 billion in Indian startups since 2015, plans to freeze new investments in Indian startups for at least […]
The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on the music industry, as artists who relied on live performances and concerts suddenly had the rug pulled out beneath them, impacting their ability to generate income. An upcoming feature in development at Spotify could help turn things around, by again connecting artists with their fans through […]
Turning away from the public markets, IPOs, SPACs and Palantir for a moment, would you like to talk about startups again? I would. This morning, I pored over venture capital funding patterns for wellness-focused startups. Broadly, according to a new report, these startups raised less money in the first half of 2020 than they did […]
GM provided a glimpse Wednesday of not one, but two versions of the Chevrolet Bolt, the all-electric vehicle that first launched in 2017 with an aim at hitting the market before — and carving sales away from — the Tesla Model 3. The all-electric hatchback, which came to market with 238 miles of range, had […]
Santa Monica, California-based Atom Tickets, the ticketing and concessions buying app, is finally launching its branded ticket buying experience inside Snapchat. The new Movie Tickets by Atom joins a slew of mini apps released by companies like Headspace, which are using Snap’s new mini app-distribution platform to offer services directly inside the Snapchat app. Atom […]
Beyond the drones it’s known for, DJI has carved out a nice niche for itself in the camera stabilization market. Building on the technology it has developed for the aerial imaging space, the company’s got a number of products, running the gamut from professional video to consumer smartphone accessories. DJI Osmo Mobile 3 review Today […]
Messenger Rooms, Facebook’s social Zoom competitor, is today rolling out new features aimed at making Rooms easier to both create and discover, as well as those for further personalizing your Rooms experience. The changes follow Messenger’s recent slight dip from the top of the U.S. App Store charts, where typically it ranks in the top […]
Stride.VC, the London early-stage VC firm founded by Fred Destin and podcaster Harry Stebbings, is losing Paris-based partner Pia d’Iribarne, TechCrunch has learned. According to a regulatory filing, d’Iribarne’s partnership officially ended today, a little more than a year and a half after her appointment as Stride’s third investment partner was announced. Contacted by TechCrunch, […]
We’ve all been in a video conference, especially this year, when the neighbor started mowing the lawn or kids were playing outside your window — and it can get pretty loud. Cisco, which owns the WebEx video conferencing service, wants to do something about that, and late yesterday it announced it was going to acquire […]
Like other accelerators, Brinc hasn’t let 2020 get in the way of its program for early-stage startups. The firm is known for focusing on food technology, health tech, clean energy and hardware, and has a knack for finding some of the most interesting startups in those spaces. Today, we joined Brinc’s first online Demo Day […]
Finix, a startup that provides payments-related services to other companies, announced it has extended its Series B financing with a $30 million investment led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and American Express Ventures. The fintech startup has now raised more than $96 million in venture capital. According to CEO and co-founder Richie Serna, $90 million of […]
Desktop Metal’s had no shortage of investor interest in its business during its half-decade existence. To date, the metal 3D printing company has raised $430 million, becoming one of the fastest U.S. companies to achieve unicorn status in the process. Today it also became the latest in a recent string of firms to announce its […]
Grid, a SaaS startup founded in Iceland that lets you turn spreadsheets into visual “narratives,” has closed $12 million in Series A funding. The round is led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with participation from existing investors BlueYard Capital, Slack Fund, Acequia Capital and other unnamed “strategic” partners. The injection of capital will be used […]
Xiaomi reported a revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter that ended in June this year, up 3.1% since the same period last year and up 7.7% over the previous quarter as the Chinese smartphone maker sees recovery in most of its overseas markets. The company, which appointed Alain Lam (former APAC senior executive from […]
Building out its previous commitment, the White House is announcing a $1 billion investment into two of tech’s most promising frontiers, AI and quantum computing. Last year, the Trump administration rolled out an executive order on AI declaring its intention to bolster U.S. dominance in the field, but the order didn’t address much in the […]
The once-pioneering BlackBerry is pretty much out of the smartphone manufacturing game, but the Canadian company has been busy transitioning to providing software for connected devices, including smart cars. Now it’s brought that section of its business to China. This week, BlackBerry announced that it will be powering the Level 3 driving domain controller of […]
A lagging trend of the past few months has been witnessing startups that COVID seemed poised to kill end up scaling back some of those deep cuts and taking off again. Not all spaces have been quite so lucky, in particular, lately we’ve seen a host of location-based virtual reality startups shut their doors. Virtual […]
FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that offers derivatives, options and other sophisticated products, is acquiring a popular portfolio tracking app, Blockfolio. FTX is spending $150 million for the acquisition. But take that price with a grain of salt as it’s a combination of cash, cryptocurrency and stock. Cryptocurrency (and stock) in particular might not be perfectly […]
