The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact us in ways that stretch well beyond our physical health, and one side effect of that in tech world has been a surge of attention for apps that address mental health and help with mindfulness. According to a recent report from app store intelligence firm Sensor Tower, the world’s […]
Investors are becoming more bullish on online education platforms in India as startups demonstrate growth at the height of a global pandemic that has severely impacted other industries. Bangalore-based startup Vedantu said on Thursday it has raised $100 million in its Series D financing round, just five months after it closed its Series C funding. […]
The future of transportation is in flux, and that continues to provide opportunities for tech companies to build solutions provide new ways for us to get from A to B. In the latest development, a startup out of the UK called Drover that provides access to flexible car subscriptions for private users — longer than […]
Josh Stein has been an investor for the past 16 years, joining the firm DFJ as a young operator, rising through its ranks, and ultimately, along with fellow managing director Emily Melton, becoming the most senior member of the firm, which was last year renamed Threshold Ventures. Stein, who sat on Box’s board for the […]
A highly anticipated ruling by Europe’s top court has just landed — striking down a flagship EU-US data flows arrangement called Privacy Shield. “The Court of Justice invalidates Decision 2016/1250 on the adequacy of the protection provided by the EU-US Data Protection Shield,” it wrote in a press release. The CJEU’s finding is that “the […]
Uber has named Prabhjeet Singh as the new president of its India and South Asia business, filling a role vacated weeks ago after Pradeep Parameswaran was promoted to be the regional general manager in the Asia Pacific region. Singh, who joined the ride-hailing firm five years ago, has helped Uber manage operations in dozens of […]
In recent decades, Hong Kong has been considered a haven for data centers given its strategic location in Asia, a legal system trusted by international businesses, and reliable internet connectivity. Many virtual private network (VPN) operators keep servers in the city, serving mainland users who want to conceal their internet activity or access websites blocked […]
Can a bank charge for software? That’s the existential question Monzo appears to be asking itself with its second — or, possibly, third — attempt at launching Monzo Plus, a premium version of its popular current account. In an uncharacteristic (and very public) misstep, Monzo originally launched a version of Monzo Plus in 2019, only […]
A hacker allegedly behind a spate of Twitter account hacks on Wednesday gained access to a Twitter “admin” tool on the company’s network that allowed them to hijack high-profile Twitter accounts to spread a cryptocurrency scam, according to a person with direct knowledge of the incident. The account hijacks hit some of the most prominent […]
Brad Feld, the longtime investor and founder of both Foundry Group in Boulder, Colorado, and Techstars, the now-global accelerator program, has a new book coming out next week called “The Startup Community Way: Evolving an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.” In it, he and co-author Ian Hathaway offer some advice about how to make burgeoning startup communities as […]
Reliance Jio continues to add billions of dollars to its bank account, Apple scores a tax victory in Europe and researchers test a system for undersea Wi-Fi (with lasers!). Here’s your Daily Crunch for July 15, 2020. Google invests $4.5 billion in India’s Reliance Jio Platforms Another giant tech company has invested in India’s largest […]
Optimizely, a San Francisco-based startup that popularized the concept of A/B testing, has laid off 15% of its staff, the company confirmed in a statement to TechCrunch. The layoff impacts around 60 people, and those laid off were given varied levels of severance. Each employee was given six months of COBRA and was allowed to […]
Twitter’s stock slid as much as 4% in after-hours trading as the company tried to swat down hackers that had taken over the accounts of multiple high-profile users. Accounts belonging to Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Kanye West, Joe Biden, Warren Buffet, Apple and many others had their accounts compromised Wednesday afternoon, all posting […]
In a set of new lawsuits, two Illinois residents argue that three tech giants violated state laws prohibiting the use of personal biometric data without permission. Illinois residents Steven Vance and Tim Janecyk allege that images of their faces appeared in IBM’s “Diversity in Faces” database without their consent and were used to train facial […]
StackHawk, the Denver-based software startup offering service to detect and fix security bugs, is doubling down on its support for the popular open-source OWASP Zed Attack Proxy web app security scanner by bringing on board its founder, Simon Bennetts. At StackHawk, Bennetts will continue to focus on the development of the open-source project, which the […]
On the heels of nCino’s blockbuster debut, GoHealth’s public offering proved a more sedate affair, at least when comparing the two companies’ initial trading days. GoHealth priced above its anticipated IPO range, selling more shares than initially planned in the process. By vending 43.5 million shares at $21 apiece — $1 per share more than […]
A number of high-profile Twitter accounts were simultaneously hacked on Wednesday by attackers who used the accounts — some with millions of followers — to spread a cryptocurrency scam. Apple, Elon Musk and Joe Biden were among the accounts compromised in a broadly targeted hack that remained mysterious hours after taking place. Those accounts and […]
Virgin Galactic is shuffling its uppermost leadership ahead of the private space tourism company’s commercial service launch: It just announced Michael Colglazier, who had been president and managing director of Disney Parks International, will join as the new Virgin Galactic CEO, replacing George Whitesides, who will assume the newly created position of chief space officer. […]
Navistar and TuSimple deepened their two-year relationship on Wednesday, announcing plans to develop and begin producing autonomous semi trucks by 2024. The strategic partnership includes Navistar taking an undisclosed stake in self-driving trucks startup TuSimple. The plan is to move away from retrofitting the Navistar International commercial trucks that TuSimple currently uses and instead develop […]
What if you could mix and match different tracks from your favorite artists, or create new ones on your own with their voices? This could become a reality sooner than later, as AI models similar to the ones used to create computer-generated art images and embed deepfakes in videos are being increasingly applied to music. […]
