Oldsmar is a small town in Florida that became the center of the cyber world this week when a hacker broke into its drinking water supply and tried to poison it. It’s the nightmare scenario that the security community has warned for years, one that could kill thousands by targeting the critical infrastructure that we […]
“We intend to build the Standard Oil of renewable energy,” said James McGinniss, the co-founder and chief executive of David Energy, in a statement announcing the company’s new $19 million seed round of debt and equity funding. McGinniss’ company is aiming to boost renewable energy adoption and slash energy usage in the built environment by […]
TC Sessions: Justice, our second-ever dedicated event to diversity, equity, inclusion and labor in tech, is coming up on March 3, 2021. This is a virtual one-day conference featuring the brightest innovators, leaders and worker-activists in the industry. We’re pumped to be able to host Backstage Capital founder and Managing Partner Arlan Hamilton, Gig Workers […]
LiveRamp has acquired DataFleets, a fresh young startup that made it possible to take advantage of large volumes of encrypted data without the risk or fuss of decrypting or transferring it. LiveRamp, an enterprise data connectivity platform itself, paid more than $68 million for the company, a huge multiple on DataFleet’s $4.5 million seed announced […]
The commercial real estate industry is facing its share of challenges, considering the fact that so many people are working from home (and not in offices) and retail is riding a slippery slope as more people shop online. But from downturns, opportunity emerges. Enter OptioLend, a new startup that wants to help individual investors take […]
Aurora has reached a deal with Toyota and auto-parts supplier Denso to develop and test vehicles equipped with the self-driving startup’s technology, beginning with a fleet of Toyota Sienna minivans. Engineering teams from Aurora and Toyota will work together to design and build the self-driving Sienna minivans with an aim to start testing a fleet […]
Spotify this morning confirmed it’s testing a new, synced lyrics feature in the U.S. market, following a report from Engadget. Though the streaming music service today offers live lyrics in a number of markets — 27, in fact, including its recent launch in South Korea — it has not offered lyrics in the U.S. for […]
Once upon a time, the idea of 3D-printed homes felt like a thing of the future. But as housing gets less and less affordable — especially in ultra-expensive markets such as the Bay Area — companies are getting creative in their quest to build more affordable homes using technology. One of those companies, Oakland-based Mighty […]
Jüsto, an online supermarket based in Mexico City, announced Tuesday it has raised $65 million in a Series A round led by General Atlantic. The amount is sizable for a Series A in general, but supersized for a LatAm startup. In fact, according to PitchBook data cited by General Atlantic, the round represents the largest […]
Zeta co-founder Aditi Shekar has spent the past three years tracking the ways couples share and manage their finances, from each card swipe to every split bill. Her effort led to tens of thousands of couples signing up for a free budgeting app experiment. Today, those learnings have been formed into a venture-backed startup. Zeta […]
A new study from Mount Sinai researchers published in the peer-reviewed “Journal of Medical Internet Research” found that wearable hardware, and specifically the Apple Watch, can effectively predict a positive COVID-19 diagnosis up to a week before current PCR-based nasal swab tests. The investigation dubbed the “Warrior Watch Study,” used a dedicated Apple Watch and […]
“Seed rounds are up!” “Seed rounds are higher valued than ever!” “There were 10% less VCs investing in seed rounds last year!” !!!!!!!!! We’ve all seen these stories, and we’re fine connoisseurs of them here at TechCrunch, for sure. Trend data about VC investing are always enticing to startup founders and investors, since they affect […]
To ensure anyone who wants to create change has the tools, resources and skillsets to do so, we must renew our focus on closing the skills gap and addressing deep inequalities in our society.
During a small gathering of journalists in China, Ren Zhengfei made his first public remarks since Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States. The Huawei CEO struck a hopeful tone for those gathered around the table, in comments reported by CNBC among others. “I would welcome such phone calls and […]
Eniac Ventures, a seed firm with a focus on New York startups, is announcing its fifth fund totaling $125 million. Eniac’s four general partners — Hadley Harris, Nihal Mehta, Vic Singh and Tim Young — have been making investments together for more than a decade, and they’ve known each other for even longer, having first met […]
Nextmv, a platform that optimizes and tests decision models for logistics companies, announced the close of an $8 million Series A round earlier today. FirstMark, an existing investor, doubled down on nextmv and led the Series A. Other investors include GitHub CTO Jason Warner, Seamless founder Jason Finger, Stripe COO Claire Johnson, Ankit Agarwal from […]
Shopify announced this morning it’s partnered with Facebook to expand its payment option, Shop Pay, to all Shopify merchants selling across both Facebook and Instagram. This is the first time Shop Pay will be made available outside of Shopify’s own platform, and represents a significant expansion for the e-commerce platform’s payments technology. The company tells […]
This morning Monte Carlo, a startup focused on helping other companies better monitor their data inflows, announced that it has closed a $25 million Series B. The round, which was co-led by GGV and Redpoint, comes mere months after its September Series A that was worth $15 million. Accel led the company’s Series A and […]
