Startups

Qeepsake, a New York-based family journaling app, has raised $2 million in seed funding. Founded in 2015, Qeepsake sends its users daily questions via text or push notifications to encourage them to reflect on their day, children, parenting and more. Text, photo and video responses are then automatically organized into digital journals in Qeepsake’s app.

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, Crunchers! Wait, that’s kind of a weird nickname, as if you’re munching on granola. What should we call y’all? Never mind that. Tomorrow, we’re running a Twitter Spaces where Jacquelyn and

Lights, camera, another backhand winner down the line. It’s hard to imagine that in two weeks, Serena Williams is playing what could — and most likely will be — her last tennis tournament after 23 Grand Slams and decades of dazzling on center courts. She announced her retirement in the latest issue of Vogue magazine,

WhatsApp has long transcended its roots as a simple messaging app for friends, and is now a core communication tool for businesses seeking a direct channel to their customers’ pockets — both literally, and metaphorically. Countless companies have turned to the omnipresent messaging app as they build the very foundation of their business, something that

Atlanta’s venture ecosystem is looking pretty peachy. In H1 2022, Atlanta companies raised $1.6 billion in funding, according to a recent PitchBook report. If the second half of the year is the same, it places the city on track to nearly hit the $3.7 billion in capital it raised last year. Another promising sign is

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. Last night was a full moon, somehow it’s already halfway through August, and did you know there’s a Beach Plum LaCroix flavor? The world’s gone topsy-turvy, but at least it’s time for

When Databricks announced earlier this month that it crossed a run rate of $1 billion, it was certainly a big milestone for the company, but it wasn’t a huge surprise. The data lake startup has been flying. Almost exactly a year ago, Databricks announced a $1.6 billion raise on an astonishing $38 billion valuation with

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

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

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

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

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, Minnesota! We’re back with another City Spotlight on September 7, where all eyes are on Minneapolis. Burnsy wrote up a teaser of the event for you. Because you read this newsletter

Sophie Alcorn Contributor Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives. More posts by this contributor Dear Sophie: How long am I

Convertedin, an Egyptian startup that operates a marketing operating system for e-commerce brands, has raised $3 million in a seed round led by Saudi Arabia-headquartered Merak Capital. Other participating investors include 500 Global and MSAS. The company, in a statement, said it plans to utilize the funds for strategic hiring and further development of its

Social media marketing firm Hootsuite says it has slashed its workforce by 30%. “We need to refocus our strategies to drive efficiency, growth and financial sustainability,” CEO Tom Keiser said in a statement sent to TechCrunch. The company offered no specifics on what exactly is changing about the business. It did not disclose the specific

If blockchain, cryptocurrency, decentralized finance (DeFi) and web3 get your entrepreneurial motor running, do not miss our TC Sessions: Crypto daylong deep dive on November 17 in Miami. We have special launch pricing on passes and exhibitor packages, and you can save a chunk of change. But don’t pussyfoot around — supplies are limited, running

Accel has led a $2.6 million funding in Produze, an Indian startup that is attempting to help local agri producers sell to international retailers, the latest in a series of bets as investors and entrepreneurs look to bring efficiency to supercharge one of the world’s largest agri producers. “We are helping agri-producers to reliably access

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. Hey, folks! A quick word on pitching. If you are starting your fundraising journey, apply to be part of the 2-minute life pitch practice on our TechCrunch Live series. If you’ve already

Singapore-based cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com has acquired two startups in South Korea — payment service provider PnLink and virtual asset provider OK-BIT — for an undisclosed amount, Crypto.com said.  The company also said Monday it has secured registrations under South Korea’s electronic financial transaction act and as a virtual asset service provider. “We are committed to

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann got together with Maggie this week for our weekly roundup show, and per usual, there was a lot to talk about, including the fact that there were

We don’t need to tell you about the layoffs that are defining the tech landscape right now, concentrated particularly in late-stage companies that are struggling to raise extension rounds and grow into existing valuations. What we do think is important, though, is focusing on a frustrating trend that is emerging between all these headlines: some

Jason Richelson Contributor Until recently, tech startups traditionally enjoyed relative freedom from financial oversight from the venture capitalists who funded them. As long as these firms could report progress in developing their products and generating some level of earnings from sales and software subscriptions, they could burn through their millions without having to endure close

Sahil Mansuri Contributor My first month with a sales quota was September 2008 — not the best month for a 21-year-old to start his career by cold calling strangers and convincing them to buy a $10,000 piece of software. The economy was in free fall, companies were slashing workforces nationwide and all budgets were frozen.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s share of the global population without access to electricity stood at 77% in 2020, according to reports. Also, the average daily electricity supply in some of Africa’s largest cities is less than 12 hours. As a result, individuals and businesses find other options and substitutes, such as generators, to deal with their power

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. Haje and I are swapping places for the next two days while he gets some much-needed rest. While he’s away, please enjoy his latest Pitch Deck Teardown on Glambook. In the meantime,

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

Walmart let go of almost 200 corporate employees on Wednesday amid the economic downturn and rising inflation, according to a person familiar with the development. The company said in a statement that these layoffs are a part of updating its structure. Last month, the firm slashed its Q2 and yearly profit guidance and said people

Despite Zuckerberg & Co. spending billions of dollars on virtual reality tech every fiscal quarter, the wider VR startup ecosystem has been having a tough few years coming down from the highs of 2016, when investors dumped money into the sector expecting Oculus-sized returns only to see most of their investments slowly wilt away. This

Which startups will benefit the most from a strengthening greenback? And will changes in the value of major currencies lift any particular region? The U.S. dollar is having a good year. The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the value of the dollar against other currencies, for example, bottomed out at around 95 points in early

Bluecopa, an Indian startup building a finance operations automation platform for high-volume companies, has raised $2.3 million to expand its offering in the global market. The seed funding round was led by Mumbai-headquartered Blume Ventures, with participation from Titan Capital, T-Fund, Speciale Invest, Bharat Founders Fund, T2D3, Amplify and Force Ventures. It was also joined