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A new study by Pew Research Center paints a picture of a pause in Twitter usage by U.S. adults, but the data doesn’t necessarily point the finger at Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media platform as the source of the blame. Instead, Pew’s survey of U.S. adults, which was conducted over a week in […] Pew: 60% of U.S. Twitter users have ‘taken a break’ from the platform in the past year by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

Several years ago, The New York Times acquired audio journalism app Audm with the goal of using it as the basis of its own audio product. Today, the media company is unveiling the result of that work with the official debut of New York Times Audio — a new mobile app that combines the publication’s […] Years after its Audm acquisition, The New York Times launches its own audio app by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

Curio, a startup building a platform that turns expert journalism into professionally narrated content, is embracing AI technology to create customized audio episodes, based on your prompts. The company today already has a large catalog of high-quality journalism licensed from partners like The Wall St. Journal, The Guardian, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, New […] Audio journalism app Curio can now create personalized episodes using AI by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

Your first hire as a startup is more like a fishing expedition, one made much harder because nobody has heard of you or your company yet. To hire your first startup employee, begin with a list of 1,500 people by Haje Jan Kamps originally published on TechCrunch

Today is last day to cast your vote for Audience Choice roundtables and breakouts at Disrupt 2023. Voting ends at 11:59pm PDT tonight. You pick the sessions you want at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 Specifically, you help decide which of the 17 roundtable discussions and 15 breakout sessions will earn a spot on the Disrupt agenda. […] Disrupt 2023 Audience Choice voting ends today by Lauren Simonds originally published on TechCrunch

Since our founding in 2014, we’ve reached $40 million in ARR through bootstrapping. From there, it was off to the races. Here’s what I learned while leading a bootstrapped startup to $40M ARR by Walter Thompson originally published on TechCrunch

Embedded insurtech is still hot, as the $196 million in funding landed by bolttech proves. The company, which started in Singapore but now has operations around the world, said it is now valued at $1.6 billion. The funding was led by Tokio Marine, Japan’s first insurance company, and life insurance leader MetLife through its subsidiary […] Insurtech bolttech gets $196M at $1.6B valuation from investors like MetLife by Catherine Shu originally published on TechCrunch

Entro, a Tel Aviv-based startup that is building a security platform that helps enterprises manage and protect their secrets like account credentials, certificates and API keys, today announced that it has raised a $6 million seed round led by StageOne Ventures and Hyperwise Ventures.  A number of angel investors, including Trusteer and Transmit Security founders […] Entro raises $6M to for its end-to-end secrets security solution by Frederic Lardinois originally published on TechCrunch

Jia, a blockchain-based fintech providing loans to micro and small businesses in emerging markets, has raised $4.3 million seed funding, and an additional $1 million commitment for on-chain liquidity, in a round led by early-stage backer TCG Crypto, with participation from a number of funds including BlockTower, Hashed Emergent, Saison Capital, and Global Coin Research. […] Jia, a blockchain-based lender of small businesses in emerging markets, raises $4.3 million seed by Annie Njanja originally published on TechCrunch

Venture capital (VC) firm Lifeline Ventures today announced a fresh €150 million ($163 million) fund aimed at early-stage startups across Finland. Founded in 2009, Helsinki-based Lifeline Ventures has invested in around 115 companies to date, with more than a dozen exits to its name including activity-tracking app Moves, which Facebook acquired back in 2014; food […] Finnish VC firm Lifeline Ventures closes $163M fund for early-stage startups by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch

Wefox, the German insurtech startup, has closed a new funding round from existing investors. The funding amount isn’t going to impress anyone as the company managed to secure $55 million. This could be considered as an extension of the $400 million Series D round as Wefox managed to maintain the same valuation of $4.5 billion. […] Wefox secures new funding at $4.5 billion valuation as it aims for profitability by Romain Dillet originally published on TechCrunch

According to the founder of Singapore-based telehealth platform Ora, 90% of its patients are less than 39 years old and have not been treated for their conditions offline. That puts the onus on Ora to make sure its patients, mostly millennials who live in cities, have a good experience. Ora wants to perform with verticals […] Singapore’s Ora takes a vertically-integrated approach to telehealth by Catherine Shu originally published on TechCrunch

We analyzed data from 30,000+ SaaS companies — here are five ways you can level up product-led, efficient growth. 5 ways SaaS companies can level up their product-led growth by Walter Thompson originally published on TechCrunch

Apple’s App Store prevented over $2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions last year, the tech giant touted in a press release on Tuesday. The company says it rejected nearly 1.7 million app submissions in 2022 for failing to meet the App Store’s standards for privacy and security. The press release comes as Apple faces a […] Apple says its App Store prevented over $2 billion in fraudulent transactions last year by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

Yesterday, we looked at a new hardware startup called Telly that’s giving away half a million of its new smart televisions for free. The catch is that the 55-inch smart television is fitted with a second display that sits underneath and displays ads while you watch your favorite shows. The trade-off for a free television […] Telly, the ‘free’ smart TV with ads, has privacy policy red flags by Zack Whittaker originally published on TechCrunch

Psychedelic startups want to make psilocybin, ketamine and other substances more mainstream, but how are investors approaching this space? TechCrunch+ roundup: Psychedelics VC survey, how to run an AI pilot, Europe’s robotics renaissance by Walter Thompson originally published on TechCrunch

The real estate industry is a bit of a greenhouse gas powerhouse, responsible for 40% of all global emissions. A quarter of that comes from building materials, and Tangible has had enough. The company is building a tool for finding, managing and reporting on lower-carbon, more sustainable, building materials, and just closed a $3 million seed […] Tangible wants to scale up construction decarbonization by Haje Jan Kamps originally published on TechCrunch

Digital creation platform Picsart is launching new in-app communities dedicated to specific topics and interests, the company announced on Tuesday. The communities are called “Spaces” and are described as a place where users can connect and create around the things that they love. In a blog post, Picsart explained that it sees Spaces as collaborative […] Picsart adds interest-driven communities called ‘Spaces’ for social collaboration by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

Belgian startup Telraam designed a device that lets anyone point out of a window a camera-like device that uses on-board tech to count the number of road users. It is currently installing a network of 50 or so devices in San Francisco, a project the company says is largely funded by Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, […] This European startup is installing 50 traffic-counting sensors across San Francisco by Haje Jan Kamps originally published on TechCrunch

The business of platforms for purchasing goods and services — in other words, procurement — is alive and well. Case in point, Zip, a startup developing procurement software, yesterday announced its $100 million Series C funding led by Y Combinator with participation from CRV and Tiger Global. Zip CEO Rujul Zaparde says that the financing, […] Procurement platform Zip raises $100M at a $1.5 billion valuation by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is the latest organization to bet on short-form videos to draw in more users. The league announced Tuesday its revamped mobile app, which includes a new home page with a TikTok-like vertical feed that features free content as well as other app updates like a new feature that hides […] WNBA app rolls out TikTok-style video feed to attract younger fans by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch

Apple is bringing concert discovery to two of its flagship apps, Apple Music and Apple Maps, the company announced today. On the Apple Music app, fans will gain access to a new feature called Set Lists, which allows users to browse and listen to the set lists from favorite artists on tour, and read more […] Apple brings concert discovery features to Apple Music and Apple Maps by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

Patrick Gilligan’s childhood struggle with food began when he was 10 years old. Placed on a caloric-restrictive diet by a doctor, the regime left him feeling ashamed and alone and triggered what would become a more than decade-long eating disorder. “I still look back on all the time that I spent as a teen, crushed […] Youth mental health startup Somethings launches with a $3.2M raise led by General Catalyst by Neesha A. Tambe originally published on TechCrunch

Normally in the music industry, it’s more or less impossible for ordinary investors to buy music rights. Thus, web3 startups saw an opportunity to tokenize music assets, allowing fans access to music rights in a wholly new fashion. Of course, this garnered a lot of interest during the crypto boom a couple of years ago. […] Success with Rihanna’s music rights helps web3 marketplace raise fresh VC round by Mike Butcher originally published on TechCrunch

Chances are you don’t like wasting time in useless meetings. People often say “this meeting should have been an email.” But what about one-to-one calls? Could they be a series of voice messages and quick text replies? Meet Async, a new productivity startup based in New York that wants to replace quick calls with asynchronous […] Async replaces work calls with asynchronous voice messages by Romain Dillet originally published on TechCrunch

Since its last raise in 2021, the company has gone through an evolution that took it from its origins as a fully custom-coded commission platform to a self-managed platform. Spiff begins ‘massive overhaul of core sales commission engine’ following $50M Series C by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch

In 1846, London surgeon John Hutchinson invented the spirometer, a thing you blow hard into, to measure the volume of air inspired and expired by the lungs. It’s a pretty basic idea. Incredibly, since then, the technology has barely evolved. Today, the modern spirometer doesn’t even measure the amount of CO2 expelled by the lungs, […] This UK startup plans to radically shake-up the antiquated word of COPD measurement by Mike Butcher originally published on TechCrunch

Logitech is moving forward with its handheld gaming console focused on cloud gaming as the company is about to launch its device in Europe. In addition to this release, the company is still actively releasing software updates for the Logitech G Cloud. The Logitech G Cloud will become available gradually between May 22 and June […] Logitech launches the Logitech G Cloud gaming handheld in Europe by Romain Dillet originally published on TechCrunch

Jenfi, a “growth-capital-as-a-service” platform, can provide online businesses with revenue-based financing in a little as a day. The Singapore-based startup announced today it has raised $6.6 million in pre-Series B funding, led by Headline Asia. Participation came from returning investor Monk’s Hill Ventures, which led Jenfi’s Series A two years ago, ICU Ventures, Granite Oak, Korea […] Jenfi raises more funding for its “growth capital as a service” platform by Catherine Shu originally published on TechCrunch

Aldagram, a startup out of Japan developing project management software for construction companies, has picked up a new strategic backer to help it build out its footprint across Asia and the Middle East. Panasonic, the consumer electronics giant that also develops solar panels, air conditioning units and many other products for its sizable buildings and […] Japanese construction tech Aldagram nails down backing from Panasonic by Kate Park originally published on TechCrunch