Fungible raises $200 million led by SoftBank Vision Fund to help companies handle increasingly massive amounts of data
Catherine Shu

Fungible, a startup that wants to help data centers cope with the increasingly massive amounts of data produced by new technologies, has raised a $200 million Series C led by SoftBank Vision Fund, with participation from Norwest Venture Partners and its existing investors. As part of the round, SoftBank Investment Advisers senior managing partner Deep […]

Amperity update give customers more control over CDP
Ron Miller

The Customer Data Platform (CDP) has certainly been getting a lot of attention in marketing software circles over the last year as big dawgs like Salesforce and Adobe enter the fray, but Amperity, a Seattle-based startup, has been building a CDP solution since it launched in 2016, and today it announced some updates to give […]

Corporate travel platform TripActions quadruples valuation with $250M Series D
Kate Clark

The business plans to use the funds to double down on the international market.

Toronto Raptors founder brings Bird scooters to Canada as a platform partner
Darrell Etherington

Bird’s somewhat weird but also very clever global expansion model is to let others handle it, and one of those others is bringing their service online this month. Bird Canada, which is a wholly Canadian-owned company entirely distinct from Bird, will begin offering on-demand electric scooter rental service in Alberta this month, with plans to […]

When did work-life balance become such a bad thing?
DHH

The term work-life balance has taken a beating lately. It seems to be a favorite punching bag for grandstanding about what you really need is integration or that balance is a mirage anyway. Wat? Balance simple means that each portion of the system has a sustainable weight which keeps the composition in harmony. Going down… keep reading

Station F launches a co-living space for 600 startup people
Romain Dillet

Startup campus Station F is expanding beyond its original building in Paris with a co-living space called Flatmates. 600 people will be able to rent a room in shared apartments. Compared to traditional accommodation in Paris, it’s much easier to get a room as you don’t need a French full-time work contract, guarantors and all […]

Host your country’s startup delegation at Disrupt Berlin 2019
Leslie Hitchcock

Creative technology and innovative ideas know no boundaries, which is why thousands of early-stage startup founders, investors, innovators and entrepreneurs — from more than 50 countries — will convene at Disrupt Berlin 2019 on 11-12 December. In keeping with an international focus, we’re searching for countries that want to shine a spotlight on their best […]

WeGift, the digital rewards platform, raises £4M Series A
Steve O'Hear

WeGift, the U.K. startup that has developed a platform to let businesses easily issue e-gift cards and other digital rewards, has closed £4 million in Series A funding. Leading the round is Stride.VC — the relatively new early-stage venture capital firm founded by Fred Destin and Harry Stebbings — alongside a number of other investors […]

Couch
italkyoutalk

Couch is another word for…. a) desk b) coach c) bag d) sofa The answer is below!↓   Answer: d) sofa

India reportedly wants to build its own WhatsApp for government communications
Manish Singh

India may have plans to follow France’s footsteps in building a chat app and requiring government employees to use it for official communications. The New Delhi government is said to be pondering about the need to have homegrown email and chat apps, local news outlet Economic Times reported on Thursday. The rationale behind the move […]

Taster raises another $8 million for its native food delivery brands
Romain Dillet

If you’re an Instagram user, chances are you’ve encountered a ton of ads for companies trying to sell products directly to consumers, using social networks as storefronts paired with online stores. French startup Taster is doing the same thing with restaurants built specifically for food delivery startups. The startup raised an $8 million funding round […]

Jewelry startup AUrate raises $13M
Anthony Ha

AUrate, a startup selling gold jewelry directly to consumers, announced today that it has raised $13 million in Series A funding. The company’s co-founders Bouchra Ezzahraoui and Sophie Kahn said that AUrate’s prices range from $50 to $3,000, but they’re really aiming for what Ezzahraoui called “this new market sweet spot” of $300 to $500. […]

Skubana raises $5.4M for its e-commerce operations software
Anthony Ha

Skubana, a startup promising to help e-commerce business manage what can be a dizzying array of logistical challenges, is announcing that it has raised $5.4 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Defy Partners, with participation from Advancit Capital and FJ Labs. Early Skubana backer Brian Lee — who co-founded The Honest […]

Network with CrunchMatch at TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019
Emma Comeau

Ready to tackle the colossus that is enterprise software? Join us and more than 1,000 attendees for TC Sessions Enterprise 2019 on September 5 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. We’re talking founders, technologists and investors digging deep into the challenges facing established and emerging enterprise companies today. Get your […]

New tickets available to the 14th Annual TechCrunch Summer Party
Emma Comeau

Could you use a little summer startup fun? We’re rolling out our next round of tickets to the TechCrunch Summer Party at Park Chalet, San Francisco’s coastal beer garden. If you want to join your startup peers to eat, drink and be merry, don’t delay. These limited-release tickets will be snapped up before you can say […]

YouTube update gives users more insight and control over recommendations
Sarah Perez

YouTube today announced a series of changes designed to give users more control over what videos appear on the Homepage and in its Up Next suggestions — the latter which are typically powered by an algorithm. The company also says it will offer more visibility to users as to why they’re being shown a recommended […]

Oppo shows first under-screen camera in bid to eliminated the hated notch
Devin Coldewey

Ever since the notch was first added to smartphones, everyone in the world except the deeply deluded and my editor have wished it gone. Oppo has done it — or at least shown that it can be done — with a demonstration unit at Mobile World Congress in Shanghai. iPhone users can console themselves that Oppo kind of sounds like Apple.

Why Carbon just raised another $260 million
Brian Heater

Two months ago, we reported that Carbon was set to raise up to $300 million, bringing the 3D printing company’s valuation up to a lofty $2.5 billion. The real numbers released this week by the company aren’t quite so lofty, but are impressive nonetheless. The Series E fetched $260 million, putting its valuation at closer […]

Low-cost TV streaming service Philo comes to Android
Sarah Perez

Despite a slight price increase in April, Philo’s live TV streaming service is still one of the more affordable options on the market because of its strategic decision to not stream sports. That helps keep its costs down while providing an option for cord cutters who mainly want access to the traditional cable TV networks […]

Bright Machines wants to put AI-driven automation in every factory
Ron Miller

There’s a mythology around today’s factories that says everything is automated by robotics, and while there is some truth to that, it’s hard to bring that level of sophistication to every facility, especially those producing relatively small runs. Today, Bright Machines, a San Francisco startup announced its first product designed to put intelligence and automation […]

Facebook squeezes money from Instagram with new ads in Explore
Ingrid Lunden

Half of Instagram’s billion-plus users open its Explore tab each month to find fresh content and creators. Now the Facebook-owned app will do more to carry its weight by injecting ads into Instagram Explore for the first time. But rather than bombard users with marketing right on the Explore grid, Instagram will instead only show […]

HER, the dating app for queer women, revamps profiles
Jordan Crook

HER, the app that provides safe space for queer women to meet, has today revamped the app’s profiles. The updated profiles allow users to express themselves more fully in the categories of gender, sexuality, pronouns, diet preferences, star signs, drinking, smoking and cannabis habits, among others. HER has also added space for a text bio, […]

Fuck hard work
DHH

If I have to listen to one more banal ode to “hard work”, I’m going to puke. It’s such a trite tribute that keeps getting heaped on anyone who’s ever become even mildly successful, as though it was somehow this unique aspect of their achievement. The first rebuke to this reflexive compliment should always be… keep reading

300M-user meme site Imgur raises $20M from Coil to pay creators
Josh Constine

Meme creators have never gotten their fair share. Remixed and reshared across the web, their jokes prop up social networks like Instagram and Twitter that pay back none of their ad revenue to artists and comedians. But 300 million monthly user meme and storytelling app Imgur wants to pioneer a way to pay creators per […]

Apple News launches a guide to the 2020 Democratic candidates and debates
Sarah Perez

Apple today is introducing a new section in its Apple News application for iOS, iPad and Mac that’s designed to familiarize voters with the 20 U.S. Democratic presidential candidates ahead of the first Democratic debates hosted on June 26 and June 27 by NBC News, MSNBC, and Telemundo in Miami, Florida. The new guide is […]

Lifestyle goods resale marketplace StockX raises $110M, pushing valuation past $1B
Darrell Etherington

Detroit-based StockX, which provides a way for people to resell luxury and lifestyle goods including streetwear, bags, watches and shoes, is now valued at over $1 billion based on its most recent raise of $110 million, just revealed by the New York Times. Alongside the raise, StockX is bringing on a new CEO – ecommerce […]

Vulcan Cyber announces $10M Series A to automate security patching efforts
Ron Miller

Many software vulnerabilities are already known, and vendors have even issued patches, but the problem is there are so many patches that it’s often difficult for companies to keep up. Vulcan Cyber wants to help by bringing a level of automation to the patching operation, and in the process reduce exposure to known risks. Today, […]

Scribd introduces bite-sized nonfiction previews called Snapshots
Anthony Ha

Subscription e-book and audiobook service Scribd is unveiling a new content type that it calls a Snapshot — a distillation of a nonfiction book’s key points, which can be read or listened to in 15 minutes or less. In fact, although it’s only announcing Snapshots today, Scribd says it’s already created around 500 of them, […]

Web3 platform 3Box raises seed to bring back control of user data
Danny Crichton

Few debates in technology have been as intense over the past few years as the debate over privacy. As companies like Facebook and Google have swelled with all the minutia of our daily lives — our likes, our searches, our calendar invites — there is increasing awareness of the risks to our privacy as these […]

India’s Unacademy raises $50 million to grow its online learning platform
Manish Singh

Big money continues to flow in India’s growing education market. Bangalore-based Unacademy, which operates an online learning platform to help millions prepare for competitive exams in India, has raised $50 million to further scale its reach. The Series D financing round was led by Steadview Capital, Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners and Blume Ventures, with […]

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