Month: June 2022
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Funding the robot revolution – TechCrunch
Greetings from Berkeley, California, where we’ve just wrapped up our first-ever Climate-focused event. It was slightly surreal being back on stage at Zellerbach Hall, given the last time I stepped foot in the building was a very different time, way back in March 2020. I’m writing to you from an extremely sunny sidewalk a few…
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JOKR leaving U.S., ‘for now,’ to focus on LatAm – TechCrunch
On-demand food delivery company JOKR said it was shuttering its New York and Boston deliveries as of June 19 and leaving the U.S. market altogether, with co-founder and CEO Ralf Wenzel saying the startup is going to focus on Latin America. “We have decided to stop our business activities in the U.S. for now, which…
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Ergeon’s $40M Series B deck – TechCrunch
Last week, I wrote about Ergeon, the fence-building startup founded by a licensed contractor and the co-founder of Upwork. It employs more than 350 people in over 40 countries and raised more than $53 million to shake up the art of building fences, creating driveways and more on its path to “eventually building entire homes.”…
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Elon Musk tells Twitter employees he wants to be involved in product – TechCrunch
In a company-wide Twitter call today, presumptive buyer Elon Musk answered questions from “tweeps” for the first time. Will the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s $44 billion offer to buy Twitter actually go through? Your guess is as good as mine — but the market downturn means that his offer is a bit more steep than…
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Crypto’s emphasis on community could lead followers off a cliff – TechCrunch
The idea of the “family” culture that so many businesses push for is seeping deeper into the crypto world as communities are formed on a sometimes toxic, cultish stance to unwaveringly back the projects they are invested in. Don’t get me wrong, some parts of the crypto community are great — I’m a part of…
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The Weak Argument Jeopardizing the American Innovation and Choice Online Act
Opponents of the antitrust push targeting Big Tech have lobbed all kinds of arguments to try to weaken support for new legislation. They may finally have found one that sticks. This week, a group of four Democratic senators led by Brian Schatz, of Hawaii, sent a letter to Amy Klobuchar asking her to pump the…
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Firefly Aerospace co-founder Tom Markusic is out as CEO – TechCrunch
Firefly Aerospace is on the hunt for a new CEO, after it announced Wednesday that co-founder Tom Markusic is transitioning to Chief Technical Advisor and full-time board member. The leadership switch up comes just four months after private equity firm AE Industrial Partners (AEI) bought out Ukranian firm Noosphere Venture Partners’ significant stake in the…
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Google for Startups deploys $4M of grant funding to 40 Black-led startups across Europe – TechCrunch
In an effort to kick-start a greater number of Black tech Founders in Europe, last year Google for Startups launched a $2m (£1.5m) grant fund to help tackle the quite obvious and stark racial inequality in the European tech industry. That fund ended up doubling to $4m (£3m) and now 40 Black-led tech starups across…
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Crypto founders face falling valuations, pulled deals amid market volatility – TechCrunch
As the crypto market continues to plummet, founders in the space are struggling to hold on to investors who are now trying to minimize their risk and backing out of funding rounds. This week, the global crypto market capitalization fell below $1 trillion for the first time since January 2021. As many companies prepare for…
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YouTube Music introduces seasonal recap playlists to compete with Spotify Wrapped – TechCrunch
YouTube Music has launched a new feature called seasonal recaps, a culmination of your top artists, songs, albums, and playlists. “Spring Recap” will be the first recap that users can try. This acts as an expansion of its 2021 Recap experience introduced last year. According to the company, it received positive feedback after rolling out…