TechCrunch Startup News
3,873 episodes — Page 48 of 78
Indonesia-focused Intudo Ventures closes $115M third fund
Intudo Ventures, the “Indonesia-only” investment firm, announced today it has closed its third fund, totaling $115 million. Called Intudo Ventures Fund III, it was raised in less than three months and oversubscribed. Fund III’s limited partners include Black Kite Investments, the family office of Singaporean businessman Koh Bon Hwee; Wasson Enterprises, the family office of […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
E-commerce aggregator Rainforest raises $20M just months after its last funding
Four months after its last funding announcement, Singapore-based e-commerce aggregator Rainforest has closed a $20 million pre-Series A round led by Monk’s Hill Ventures. Other participants included January Capital, Crossbeam Venture Partners, Amasia and Lo & Behold Group, along with returning investors Nordstar and Insignia Venture Partners. Rainforest announced in May that it had raised […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
DigitalOcean enhances serverless capabilities with Nimbella acquisition
As developers look for ways to simplify how they create software, serverless solutions, which enable them to write code without worrying about the underlying infrastructure required to run their applications, is becoming increasingly popular. DigitalOcean announced today that it is enhancing its existing offering in this area with the acquisition of serverless startup Nimbella. The […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Playbyte’s new app aims to become the ‘TikTok for games’
A startup called Playbyte wants to become the TikTok for games. The company’s newly launched iOS app offers tools that allow users to make and share simple games on their phone, as well as a vertically scrollable, fullscreen feed where you can play the games created by others. Also like TikTok, the feed becomes more […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Barbershop technology startup theCut sharpens its platform with new $4.5M round
The mobile app that provides information and reviews on barbers for potential customers while also managing appointments, mobile payments and pricing on the back end for barbers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Customer experience startup Clootrack raises $4M, helps brands see through their customers’ eyes
Clootrack is a real-time customer experience analytics platform that helps brands understand why customers stay or churn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Challenger bank Bunq rolls out Spanish IBANs
Amsterdam-based challenger bank Bunq is updating its service with a handful of new features. In addition to Dutch, German and French bank account numbers, existing and new users in Spain can now get a Spanish IBAN. European IBANs are supposed to work across Europe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
VanMoof raises $128 million to become the world’s leading e-bike brand
Amsterdam-based startup VanMoof has raised a $128 million Series C funding round. The company designs and sells electric bikes that are quite popular in some markets. It now wants to become the world’s leading e-bike brand by iterating at a faster pace. Asia-based private equity firm Hillhouse Investment is leading the round, with Gillian Tans, […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Pancake aims to make customers flip for its virtual home design platform
Pancake is democratizing interior design services to make it accessible to everyone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Pixalate tunes into $18.1M for fraud prevention in television, mobile advertising
Pixalate provides fraud protection, privacy and compliance analytics for connected television and mobile advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tribe and Arkam back Jar app to help millions in India start their savings journey
Even as hundreds of millions of people in India have a bank account, only a tiny fraction of this population invests in any financial instrument. Fewer than 30 million people invest in mutual funds or stocks, for instance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cheeterz Club wants to make reading glasses hip
Can reading glasses actually be cool? A new eyewear company called Cheeterz Club thinks so. The startup is working to change the perception of reading glasses from being just cheap, disposable items you pick up from a rotating display rack at your local drug store to being something you’d actually be proud to wear. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dance launches its e-bike subscription service in Berlin
German startup Dance is launching its subscription service in its hometown Berlin. For a flat monthly fee of €79 (around $93 at today’s exchange rate), users will get a custom-designed electric bike as well as access to an on-demand repair and maintenance service. Founded by the former founders of SoundCloud and Jimdo, the company managed […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
As 5G demand grows, Sitenna helps telcos find more cell tower locations, faster
The buildout of 5G networks continues apace, with wide-scale deployments across much of the developed world. Yet, one of the largest challenges with closing the gaps in coverage maps are constraints on 5G transmissions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Stipop offers developers and creators instant access to a huge global sticker library
With more than 270,000 stickers, Stipop’s library of colorful, character-driven expressions has a little something for everyone. The company offers keyboard and social app stickers through ad-supported mobile apps on iOS and Android, but it’s recently focused more on providing stickers to developers, creators and other online businesses. “We were able to gather so many […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Accounting platform Synder raises $2M to automate e-commerce bookkeeping
The company bills itself as an easy accounting platform for e-commerce businesses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Job offer management platform Compa emerges from stealth with $3.9M
The offer management platform provides “deal desk” software for recruiters to easily manage compensation strategies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Celebrity chef Michael Chernow whips up new lifestyle brand, Kreatures of Habit, raises $2.2M
Michael Chernow is already known as a restaurateur, chef, television host and entrepreneur, but now he can also add lifestyle and wellness guru to that list. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Shares is a new stock trading app with a focus on social features
Meet Shares, a new European startup that wants to add a social twist to financial investment —Â in that case, the company means ‘social’ as in ‘social network’. The startup has been developing its product under the radar for a few months already. It is also moving at a fast pace. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Forward Kitchens cooks up $2.5M to transform existing kitchens into digital storefronts
Forward Kitchens provides a turnkey tool for restaurants to set up an online presence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
testRigor scores $4M seed to turn a list of actions into a QA testing script
Imagine typing out of a series of steps in plain English that would reflect a list of actions a human QA tester would undertake to test an app, then turning that list into an automated testing script. That’s exactly what testRigor, a member of the Y Combinator Summer 2021 cohort has done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NoRedInk raises $50 million Series B to help students become better writers
“In order to become a better writer, read your written words out loud.” That’s one of the first, and best, writing tips I ever received. I always found the advice ironic because it required me to change the medium of my writing to become a better writer. Still, all these years later, it’s true: vocalizing […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Elastic acquires build.security for security policy definition and enforcement
Less than a year after raising its $6 million seed funding round, Tel Aviv and Sunnyvale-based startup Build.security is being acquired by Elastic. Financial terms of the deal are not being publicly disclosed at this time. The deal is expected to close in Elastic’s Q2 FY22, ending Oct. 31, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Givz raises $3M in seed funding to make donations a marketing tool for businesses
Givz, which has developed an API-powered platform that gives brands a way to convert discounts into donations, has raised $3 million in seed funding. Eniac and Accomplice co-led the financing for the New York-based startup. Additional investors include Supernode Ventures, Claude Wasserstein of Fine Day, Phoenix Club and Dylan Whitman. Givz was founded in 2017 […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Y Combinator-backed Adra wants to turn all dentists into cavity-finding ‘super dentists’
Adra is bringing AI into the dentist's day-to-day workflow so they can spend less time finding cavities and more time with patients. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Rutter comes out of stealth with $1.5M in funding for its e-commerce API
Rutter is developing a unified e-commerce API that enables companies to connect with data across any platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Diamond Age raises $8M to speed up home construction with 3D printing and robot arms
Bay Area-based Diamond Age this week announced that it has raised $8 million. The seed round is led by Prime Movers Lab and Alpaca VC and features a slew of additional firms, including Dolby Family Ventures, Calm Ventures, Gaingels, Towerview Ventures, GFA Venture Partners and Suffolk Construction. The startup looks to put a slew of […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Split.io announces $50M Series D to continue growing feature flag platform
As developers build applications, they often want to test new functionality on a limited set of users to blunt any possible negative impact or to gauge user reaction to the change before rolling it out more broadly. They use a technique called a feature flag, and Split.io, a startup that has built a platform to […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
FloodMapp wants to predict where water goes before it washes away your home
Floods are devastating. They rip asunder communities, wipe out neighborhoods, force the evacuation of thousands of people every year, and recovering them can take years — assuming recovery is possible at all. The U.S. government estimates that floods in recent decades (exclusive of hurricanes and tropical storms) have caused an estimated $160 billion in damage […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mealworm farming company Beta Hatch raises $10M
Last time I was in Hong Kong, a startup gave me a jar of mealworms as a snack. They were crunchy and a bit odd looking (as one might expect from a jar full of baked larvae). They really didn’t offer much in the way of flavor, though, so maybe supply your own seasoning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Food conglomerate Forward Foods becomes Starday, raises $4M
Forward Foods, creating healthy and sustainable food products, changed its name to Starday and raised $4 million in seed funding to take on “big food” incumbents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apple’s sustainability-focused Impact Accelerator invites first 15 Black- and brown-owned companies
Among Apple’s more recent social good initiatives is the Impact Accelerator, an effort launched about a year ago intended to find and elevate minority-owned small businesses taking on sustainability and climate change. The program now has its first 15 participants, gathered from all over the country for a three-month program and a shot at an […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tropic picks up $25M to streamline software procurement experiences
The pandemic was a catalyst for showing companies looking to cut costs, just how much they were spending on their software tools. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Shopistry bags $2M to provide ‘headless commerce without the headaches’
Shopistry enables customers to create personalized commerce experiences accessible to all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
ThirdAI raises $6M to democratize AI to any hardware
ThirdAI is building tools to speed up deep learning technology without the need for hardware like graphics processing units. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Kiddom grabs early revenue amid $35M Series C funding
Kiddom, a platform that offers a digital curriculum that fits the core standards required by states, announced today that it has raised a $35 million Series C round led by Altos Ventures, with participation from Owl Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Outcomes Collective. The financing came nearly three years after Kiddom’s Series B, a $15 million […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Talkdesk’s valuation jumps to $10B with Series D for smart contact centers
Talkdesk uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve customer service for mid-market and enterprise businesses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Motivo raises $12.5M Series A to speed up chip design with AI
Chip design is a long slog of trial and error, taking years to bring a design to market. Motivo, a five year old startup from a chip industry veteran is creating software to speed up chip design from years to months using AI. Today the company announced a $12.5 million Series A. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Consumer goods software company Aforza bags $22M to open US headquarters
Built on Salesforce and Google Cloud platforms, consumer goods companies can use Aforza to digitally transform product distribution and customer engagement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Space manufacturing startup Varda inks deal with Rocket Lab for three spacecraft
Orbital manufacturing startup Varda Space Industries is moving fast. Only a few weeks after announcing a $42 million Series A, Varda has signed a deal with launch company Rocket Lab for three Photon spacecraft to support the startup’s initial missions. The first spacecraft will be delivered in the first quarter of 2023, with the second […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bite Ninja scoops up pre-seed funding to reimagine restaurant working environments
The company's remote hiring technology enable restaurants to fill last-minute drive-thru or cashier shifts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The art of startup storytelling with Julian Shapiro
"Signal is more important than frequency in an era where we're overloaded with content." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
WoodSpoon’s food delivery service cooks up support for home chefs with $14M round
The co-founders reached out to local home chefs and gathered them together in a marketplace where they could share their culture and passion of food with others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Canopy raises $15M Series A after posting 4.5x customer growth in H1 2021
Canopy's leaders expect focused fintech products to win out over large bundles of services. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
CommandBar raises $4.8M to make web-based apps searchable
James Evans and his co-founders at CommandBar were working on a different software product when they hit a wall while trying to find certain functionalities within the software. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The first Zambian startup to get into YC is developing Africa’s first card-issuing API
More than 40 African startups from a handful of countries have gone through YC over the past decade. Zambia joins that list today, and its entrant, Union54, is a worthy first entry. Union54 (54 is a nod to the number of African countries) is a fintech company founded by Perseus Mlambo and Alessandra Martini. The […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Micromobility startup Voi raises $45 million to end sidewalk riding, improve safety
Micromobility startup Voi has raised $45 million, funds it says will be used to research and develop technology that will improve safety, keep users from riding on sidewalks and ensure scooters are properly parked. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
3 invaluable founder lessons I learned on my immigration journey
In my journey to the U.S., I became good at three things: accepting uncertainty, building resilience and maintaining a positive mental attitude. I needed them all to get my startup off the ground. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bluecore lands $125M Series E on $1B valuation as e-commerce personalization grows
During the pandemic, especially when we were in lock down, just about every retailer had to build its online presence and do it quickly. As people move to shop online in larger numbers, being able to personalize that experience has become more crucial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Robinhood is now a stonk
The wild swing in the price of Robinhood today appears from our vantage point to be another stonk moment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices