Who will fare better in the current venture downturn? Will it be the legacy investors with years of experience amassed through multiple market cycles — but who also have a sizable portfolio to worry about — or the emerging managers who are looking at the market with fresh eyes and a clean slate? We’re about
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Sanjay Manchanda Contributor Sanjay Manchanda is CMO of Chargebee. He has helped build a multibillion dollar SaaS business, scale new product businesses and delivered go-to-market and demand-gen strategies at Box and Microsoft. Challenging times for the tech and consumer industries have created a lot of buzz around “subscription fatigue.” The very model that business and
More funding for European end-to-end encrypted messaging app, Wire: The enterprise-focused messaging platform told TechCrunch it closed a €24 million Series C round of funding led by growth equity firm Cipio Partners and Iconical, the investment vehicle of Skype co-founder Janus Friis. Existing investor UVC Partners also participating, among other returning backers. The messaging tool
Amazon’s cash-cow cloud division AWS has launched a new service designed to help companies deploy their own private 5G networks — eventually, at least. AWS first announced AWS Private 5G in early preview late last year, but it’s now officially available to AWS customers starting in its U.S. East (Ohio), U.S. East (N. Virginia), and
With the overturning of Roe v. Wade earlier this year, digital health and reproductive care startups bolstered their efforts to make abortion pills and emergency contraceptives more accessible. Now, as state laws shift and abortion bans go into effect across the United States, companies are still trying to find ways to provide care while reimagining
Coinbase earnings reports carry weight because the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange commands material market share in a budding portion of the digital economy. Additionally, it’s an active startup investor and a key data point in determining the current health of the crypto market. Naturally, TechCrunch was all over its recently released financial data, pulling out a
Rivian is holding on tight to its goal of delivering 25,000 electric vehicle by year’s end, but to get there it now anticipates to burn an extra $700 million. The automaker tucked the revised guidance on losses within its second quarter earnings report, telling investors that it expects to lose a whopping $5.45 billion in
Climate change and the industrial food complex are intrinsically linked. As that sinks in to the public consciousness, more and more people ask the question “What can I do to help reduce my impact?” The answer is pretty obvious: waste less, eat more local, eat seasonally, and watch what’s on your plate. You don’t have
Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee will receive a presidential pardon on Monday, South Korea’s Ministry of Justice said, paving way for the heir to the country’s biggest company to regain power at the top. Lee was paroled from prison last year after serving 18 months in jail for bribing former South Korean president
Facebook has avoided the risk of being forced to shut down its service in Europe this summer as a result of the latest twist in a long-running data protection complaint saga that relates to a clash between EU privacy and U.S. surveillance law. The delay — in what’s still widely expected to be a suspension
As Google continues the great merger between its Duo and Meet video communications apps, the company today announced that it’s introducing new Apple SharePlay-like live-sharing features to Meet, making it easier for call-participants to engage with content together in real time. It’s worth noting that Google already introduced some live-sharing features (e.g. watching YouTube videos
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, and “happy Friday junior,” as someone put in their email to me today. I hope it has been a productive Thursday for you. Haje is hanging with a bunch of robotics
Amanda Barbour Contributor Across the globe, financial transactions have trended upward. In 2021, international merger and acquisition (M&A) activity increased significantly, eclipsing $5 trillion in deal volume for the first time in history, growing 64% over the previous year. I’ve worked at startups, private equity firms and high-growth companies, handling acquisitions as both the acquirer
Truepill, a platform that helps other companies offer diagnostics, telehealth services and prescriptions, has conducted its third mass layoff in a string of workforce reductions, sources tell TechCrunch. The layoff impacted about third of the company, or 175 people. One source says that Truepill’s entire U.K. team was laid off, as well as a meaningful
VoltStorage’s iron-salt batteries help it land $24 million Series C from Cummins, the diesel engine giant Tim De Chant 8 hours With the impending passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, renewables are about to get a fresh jolt in the U.S. They’re already some of the cheapest sources of electricity to build and run, but
MGM (which is owned by Amazon) is making a viral video show based on footage from Ring security cameras (also owned by Amazon). The syndicated television show, “Ring Nation,” is poised to be a modern-day, surveillance-tinged spin on “America’s Funniest Home Videos” with Wanda Sykes as host. According to a report in Deadline, the show
A final decision on a complaint against Instagram’s handling of children’s data in the European Union is set to land within weeks, TechCrunch has learned, following the completion of a procedural mechanism to resolve regulatory disputes over how to enforce the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The enquiry about Instagram’s handling of kids’ data
Happy unofficial foldables week! An increasingly rare bright spot in the broadly struggling smartphone space, manufacturers are looking toward the emerging form factor to help kickstart them out of the doldrums. Following announcements by Xiaomi and category-leader Samsung, Motorola returned this week with the latest version of the revived Razr brand. The latest version of
The world of crypto venture has had a whirlwind few years, with powerful new players inspiring furious catch-up among traditional VC firms aiming to make a name for themselves in the sector. All the while, the corporate venture fund has been reshaped by plenty of the top crypto startups, now capitalizing on historic revenues to
Venture capital firms continue to raise new funds, at what seems like lightning speed. Two firms stuck out in recent days, including Urban Innovation Fund, which closed with commitments of $100 million for its Fund III and $20 million Opportunity Fund, and VMG Catalyst‘s $400 million Fund II. Both firms are led by women, Clara
Edtech’s day in the sun wasn’t too long ago. As the pandemic struck, consumers became hungry for new virtual-first tools, Zoom school turned into a reality for millions, and it felt like every late-stage company was getting a chance to become a unicorn. Fast-forward to today, and while the sector is still enjoying a boom
If there is ever going to be a national hydrogen economy, we’re going to need to change a few things. One of them is how we produce hydrogen itself, the vast majority of which comes from fossil fuels. SunGreenH2 brings a nanotech-level advance to green hydrogen production, supercharging electrolysis so orders of magnitude more hydrogen
In retrospect, edtech’s spotlight feels like a fever dream. In the early innings of the pandemic, top companies turned into unicorns seemingly overnight as Zoom school became an actual reality for millions across the world, and a frenzy of check-writing seized investors. Then, we slowly saw the spotlight focus and sharpen. The very companies building
Amazon has been fined again for breaching labor laws in Catalonia, Spain. The ecommerce giant has been under investigation by regional labor authorities over its subcontracting practices for a number of years. According to local press reports, the latest fine for Amazon — of €3.2 million — follows a penalty of over €800,000 it received
A day after Samsung announced a pair of foldable devices, Xiaomi launched its second-gen foldable, Mix Fold 2, in China. The new phone sports a 6.56-inch outer display, 8.02-inch inner display and a Leica-powered camera system. The phone is China-only for now for the base price of RMB 8,999 (~$1,335) for a version with 12GB
Sharing a meme with someone you just met can be tricky, especially if you’re trying to flirt with them. Are they into wholesome puppy memes? Or maybe they like dark Homelander memes? Whatever the case may be, Schmooze, the meme-based dating app, is designed to match users with like-minded people who want to make each
Jiminny, a U.K.-based conversational intelligence platform that companies use to record, transcribe, and analyze communications from across sales and other customer-facing teams, today announced it has raised $16.5 million in a series A round of funding. Founded out of London in 2016, Jiminny offers companies the technology to gain insights into how well their sales
Nightfall AI, a startup providing cloud data loss prevention services, today announced that it raised $40 million in Series B financing from investors including WestBridge Capital, Venrock, Bain Capital Ventures and — for some reason — athletes and celebrities including Paul Rudd, Drew Brees and Josh Childress. CEO Isaac Madan says that the proceeds will
Building wealth is a long process and can be complex, but Farther is bringing both technology and advisors to the table to make these kinds of services more accessible. The wealth technology company was co-founded in 2019 by Taylor Matthews and Brad Genser, who say Farther is “a new kind of financial institution” catering to
Kenyan retail B2B and end-to-end distribution platform Marketforce laid off a chunk of its workforce in July, according to sources familiar with the matter. In an email sent from Marketforce CEO Tesh Mbaabu and obtained by TechCrunch, the layoffs were a part of a reorganization strategy in Kenya, one of its five markets which include