Vanguard announced earlier this week that it was leaving the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, a nascent attempt by the industry to self-regulate its carbon emissions. Its departure reinforces the need for government oversight of climate risks in investments. Absent legal, financial or professional repercussions, industry self-regulation is often little more than window dressing so
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Primer, a U.K. startup founded by alums of Braintree and PayPal that provides a drag-and-drop framework for merchants to build online payment stacks, last year raised $50 million at a $425 million valuation from investors like ICONIQ, Accel, Balderton Capital and Seedcamp — a round the came amid a bullish period for e-commerce, with record-levels
Fire TV is now available on the Echo Show 15. In September, Amazon announced it was soon bringing its Fire TV experience to its larger, 15.6-inch wall-mounted Echo, offering consumers a way to access a combination smart speaker, smart home hub and TV-like device at a relatively affordable price point — it’s currently selling for
Brodmann17, an Israeli computer vision technology startup that developed a novel approach to take on a marketplace dominated by Mobileye, shut down this week. Brodmann17’s co-founder and CEO Adi Pinhas posted a message on LinkedIn announcing the move, stating that while the company would not be able to bring its products to the mass market
Microsoft today announced that it acquired Lumenisity, a U.K.-based startup developing “hollow core fiber (HCF)” technologies primarily for data centers and ISPs. Microsoft says that the purchase, the terms of which weren’t disclosed, will “expand [its] ability to further optimize its global cloud infrastructure” and “serve Microsoft’s cloud platform and services customers with strict latency
I have nothing against the investor class, but sitting in a room with several VCs while I try to sell them on my billion-dollar idea sounds very stressful. When an investor inevitably asks founders about their valuation expectations, it is a trick question of the highest order. If the response is too high, it’s a
Elon Musk’s desire to stir conspiratorial shit up by giving select outsiders aligned with his conservative agenda access to Twitter systems and data could land the world’s richest man in some serious doodoo with regulators on both sides of the Atlantic. In recent days, this access granted by Musk to a few external reporters has
Keeping fit doesn’t need a lot of technology. A decent pair of running shoes and an exercise mat might just do it. But of course sometimes a little extra tech can give an inspiring boost — so long as whatever it is is useful, accessible and can move with you. The smart spot for fitness
On Thursday, Disney+ launched its first-ever ad-supported plan, “Disney+ Basic,” in the U.S. at $7.99 per month, which is the same price as the previous ad-free plan before Disney raised the price to $10.99/month. However, Roku users wanting to switch to the new plan are out of luck — at least for now. According to Disney
Ubie, a Tokyo-based startup providing an AI-powered symptom checker app and hospital SaaS products, has closed a $19 million extension to its previous Series C round. This brings the health tech startup’s total funding to $45.2 million in Series C. The extension round consists of 90% equity and 10% debt financing, according to the co-founder
Rule one: Don’t throw out a number Evan Fisher 10 hours Evan Fisher Contributor Founder of Unicorn Capital and Minimal Capital, Evan Fisher‘s pitching and investor strategy has helped startups raise more than $2.5 billion. More posts by this contributor The pre-pitch: 7 ways to build relationships with VCs Don’t send VC a cold deck
David Rusenko Contributor David Rusenko is a full-time climate tech investor. He was previously the founder and CEO of Weebly, which sold to Square in 2018. Leeor Mushin Contributor Leeor Mushin is a principal at Floodgate Fund, where he focuses on application SaaS, climate and healthcare. He also is the co-founder of the GSB 20|20
After weeks of rumors, Getir has announced that it is acquiring Gorillas. This is a major consolidation deal for the instant grocery delivery space. The Financial Times first reported that Getir has closed the acquisition of its competitor. TechCrunch has confirmed the news with Getir. “Markets go up and down, but consumers love our service
Komi, a personalized website page builder tool for influencers and celebrities to create and customize a landing page to promote their projects, today closed a $5 million seed round led by Contour Venture Partners. Launched in October 2021, Komi is designed to provide content creators, musicians, athletes, celebrities and other creative talent and personalities alike
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here. Hello, Happy Thursday. There is a lot of news today, much of it posting as I write this — for example, the Federal Trade Commission is now suing to block Microsoft from
Artificial intelligence is taking over almost every industry. The investment and finance industry is no exception. In Deloitte’s 2019 report, the firm reveals that AI is transforming the financial ecosystem to reduce costs and make operations more efficient by providing automated insights and alternative data, analysis and risk management. Technology such as AI has digitized
How do you know when you have a hit on your hands? When your competitors complain about it. Over the weekend, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act constituted a “new assertive industrial policy” and that Europe needed a “structural answer.” Von der Leyen’s measured words contrast with
Virgin Orbit is retargeting a launch that was supposed to take place as soon as next week from Cornwall, England — and that was to be the first spaceflight to depart from British soil — due to additional technical to-dos and remaining regulatory hurdles. In a statement, Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said the company
Cameo today launched Cameo Kids, its new video messaging service that features personalized videos from popular animated characters like Thomas the Tank Engine, JJ, Cody, Cece and Nina from “CoComelon,” Blippi from “Blippi Wonders,” True from Netflix’s “True and the Rainbow Kingdom,” as well as an animated Santa Claus. Today’s launch is notable as it
If you told me that a company that’s charging $70 per month for multivitamins would be able to raise a $10 million round, I’d demand to see the receipts, and I’d be very curious indeed to see its pitch deck. It looks like today is my lucky day! Rootine is the company, and the founders
As part of Airtable’s decision to cut 20% of staff, or 254 employees, three executives are “parting ways” with the company as well, a spokesperson confirmed over email. The chief revenue officer, chief people officer and chief product officer are no longer with the company. Airtable’s chief revenue officer, Seth Shaw, joined in November 2020
Salesforce has always fashioned itself as a socially responsible company, and that includes working on a Net Zero carbon emissions goal. In fact, it launched Sustainability Cloud (now called Net Zero Cloud) in 2019, a product for tracking customer Net Zero goals. This year, they are taking that idea a step further with a new
When Svetlana Kordumova was studying for her doctorate in AI and computer vision, she grew frustrated by the process of looking for items to buy online. Search results were often inaccurate, and she knew the tech she was learning could improve the experience. Pixyle AI was launched in 2019 to improve product discovery on e-commerce
You know what I miss about working in an office? Literally nothing, apart from having access to a fancy coffee machine. It turns out that the magic of the liquid black gold is within reach even for work-from-home keyboard warriors. You don’t even need to spend ridiculous amounts of money for a tasty hot beverage
The day has arrived. Today, Disney+ launched its ad-supported tier, “Disney+ Basic,” at $7.99/month. The plan is currently only available in the U.S. and will become available in other countries sometime next year. Image Credits: Disney+ “Today’s launch marks a milestone moment for Disney+ and puts consumer choice at the forefront. With these new ad-supported
Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley talks about why he admires competitor Tesla CEO Elon Musk and how they can compete in the electric vehicle space. He spoke to Bloomberg’s Emily Chang.
Matt Barbieri Contributor Matt Barbieri is partner-in-charge, Media, Technology and Life Sciences at Wiss & Co. Many founders are reactive when business doesn’t go as planned. They may make knee-jerk reactions like: “If I lose 10% of revenue then I’ll just lay off five people.” The problem with such approaches is that they don’t always
Less than two months after announcing a new $9.2 billion valuation, TripActions said today it has secured $400 million in credit facilities from Goldman Sachs and Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Specifically, TripActions has secured a warehouse debt facility from Goldman Sachs with a $200 million commitment and the potential to “flex up” to $300 million
As electric vehicles begin to take some market share, the nation’s charging infrastructure is playing catch-up. Some folks already have an edge in this race, including some California residents and Tesla fans, but many EV owners in America still face charging deserts and unreliable stations — two key obstacles to decarbonizing transportation and doing right