The public markets have been so active lately that it’s hard to drum up excitement for yet another company making its way to the bull market. But, in the case of Bumble, a dating app where women message first, next week’s public debut is worth paying attention to. The market Read more…
You’ve landed on Human Capital, a weekly newsletter detailing the latest in diversity, equity, inclusion and labor. Sign up here to receive the newsletter every Friday at 1 p.m. PT. The events of this week perfectly encapsulate the variety of worker and workplace-related struggles happening in the tech industry. Google Read more…
For the latest episode of the Original Content podcast, we looked back at “Soul,” which was released on Disney+ at the end of last year. The new Pixar film tells the story of Joe Gardner, a high school music teacher and jazz musician voiced by Jamie Foxx. Joe seems to Read more…
The SPAC mania continues unabated, with new SPACs being filed with the SEC on an almost hourly basis at times. SoftBank, the Japanese telecom conglomerate which has also been running the gigantic Vision Fund and its successor, doesn’t want to be left out. Yesterday, it filed back-to-back SPAC registration statements Read more…
Police in Minneapolis obtained a search warrant ordering Google to turn over sets of account data on vandals accused of sparking violence in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd last year, TechCrunch has learned. The death of Floyd, a Black man killed by a white police officer Read more…
On Friday just past midnight, I stumbled across a Clubhouse room hosted by a well-known figure in the Chinese startup community, Feng Dahui. At half-past midnight, the room still had nearly 500 listeners, many of whom were engineers, product managers, and entrepreneurs from China. The discussion centered around whether Clubhouse, Read more…
Everyone knows YouTubers and other creators are popular with internet users of all ages. But today, these influencers also have real businesses powered by a range of software tools and service providers who help weave videos, pictures, clips, memes and other types of content into sustainable success. The pandemic added Read more…
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry is as hot as ever, with a record 218 billion downloads and $143 billion in global consumer spend in 2020. Consumers last year also spent 3.5 trillion minutes Read more…
The Upright buzzer vibrates when the wearer slouches, to encourage them to sit up straight. Source: BBC
According to a recent report on Greece’s startup ecosystem by management consultants Found.ation, venture capital and venture debt have continued to grow in the country, although its angel scene remains low-key. Oddly enough, 2020 was a banner year, with the sale of InstaShop to Delivery Hero valuing the company at Read more…
Venture funds have historically counted on several types of limited partners — or LPs — for their own investing capital. One of these groups is institutional investors — think pension funds, university endowments, hospital systems and the like. Another is corporations. A third bucket centers on wealthy individuals and often Read more…
A study indicates AI can improve knee pain diagnosis of black patients, spotting signs doctors miss. Source: BBC
Myanmar’s government extends its internet crackdown, Microsoft’s lobbying arm blacklists presidential election objectors and Dublin’s Frontline Ventures raises a new fund. This is your Daily Crunch for February 5, 2021. The big story: Myanmar blocks Twitter and Instagram The military government in Myanmar recently told telecom operators and internet service Read more…
Demo days at startup accelerators are a pretty big deal around here. These events aren’t just a chance to review the latest cohort of hopeful entrepreneurs — they also showcase the technology, products and services that will compete for VC and consumer attention over the next few years. You never Read more…
This week, flexible workspace operator (and one-time unicorn) Knotel announced it had filed for bankruptcy and that its assets were being acquired by investor and commercial real estate brokerage Newmark for a reported $70 million. Knotel designed, built and ran custom headquarters for companies. It then managed the spaces with Read more…
The first major Section 230 reform proposal of the Biden era is out. In a new bill, Senate Democrats Mark Warner (D-VA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) propose changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act that would fundamentally change the 1996 law widely credited with cultivating Read more…
The Founder Institute isn’t just trying to help entrepreneurs launch new startups — with its new VC Lab, the accelerator says it’s also hoping to fuel the launch of 1,000 new venture capital funds. FI co-founder Jonathan Greechan described this as an attempt to bring more “alignment” to the startup Read more…
Police say Encrochat, a secret communications network, was used by criminals to trade guns and drugs. Source: BBC
After “pausing” political giving to any politician who voted to overturn the 2020 election, Microsoft has clarified changes to the lobbying policy of its employee-funded PAC, doubling down on its original intention and changing gears with an eye toward funding impactful organizations. Microsoft, along with most other major companies in Read more…
A legal challenge was heard today in Europe’s Court of Justice in relation to a controversial EU-funded research project using artificial intelligence for facial “lie detection” with the aim of speeding up immigration checks. The transparency lawsuit against the EU’s Research Executive Agency (REA), which oversees the bloc’s funding programs, Read more…