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Last fall, Hulu and Spotify teamed up to offer students a bundle including both of their services for a discounted price, compared with paying for each subscription separately. Today, the companies are announcing a similar discounted bundle will be available to all users. Spotify’s 71 million-plus existing Premium users will get the first shot at […]

After a few years of hype, a lot of the noise within the VR industry has died down, but with so many pushing social experiences as one of the platform’s most endearing user cases, there has still managed to be a feverish amount of activity to own the social networking space. One such startup, Liverpool-based […]

Qualcomm’s chips already power virtually every Android smartphone on the market, but the company has long set its sights beyond this core market and is increasingly looking at IoT as one of its next major growth areas. Earlier this year it launched its new embedded platform for IoT developers; today, it’s introducing two new systems-on-a-chip […]

TravelPerk, a Barcelona-based SaaS startup that’s built an end-to-end business travel platform, has closed a $21 million Series B round, led by Berlin-based Target Global and London’s Felix Capital. Earlier investors Spark Capital and Sunstone also participated in the round, alongside new investor Amplo. When we last spoke to the startup back in June 2016 — as it […]

Tandem, the U.K. challenger bank founded by fintech veteran Ricky Knox, has rolled out its second banking product today with the addition of fixed term savings accounts. The new offering enables customers to get a guaranteed interest rate if they deposit their money with Tandem over one, two or three years, and follows the launch […]

Ant Financial, the Alibaba affiliate that looks after the firm’s hugely popular Alipay service, is reportedly gearing up for an enormous funding round that could take its valuation to $100-$150 billion. The Wall Street Journal reported that Ant is in talks to raise upwards of $9 billion at the $100 billion mark, while Bloomberg suggested […]

Retail has been revolutionized over the last decade, with brands like Casper and Warby Parker offering high-quality goods at lower costs simply by selling them through the internet. Koio, a relatively new high-end sneaker brand, is looking to get in on the new retail wave, and the company has some fresh cash to do it. […]

Lyft, Uber’s chief nemesis in the U.S., is thinking of entering the fiercely competitive Japanese ride-hailing space, according to comments from one of its founders. “We would love to be in Japan, and we also will be looking at that possibility,” John Zimmer, Lyft co-founder and president, said at the New Economy Summit 2018 in Tokyo. […]

German insurance giant Allianz is following Google and Tencent by backing Go-Jek, the Indonesia-based ride-hailing and local services company valued at over $4.5 billion, after it announced an investment. The money comes from Allianz X, the firm’s digital investment arm, which confirmed it put in $35 million in what is its first deal in Southeast Asia. The […]

Liberis, the London-based fintech that provides finance for small businesses, has raised £57.5 million in new funding to help support the company’s growth. The alternative finance provider makes loans against a company’s future credit and debit card sales. The majority of the new capital being raised by Liberis is debt, which in turn will enable […]

Boris Teksler Contributor Boris Teksler is the former licensing chief at Apple and current chief executive of the patent licensing company Conversant IP. Joe Silino Contributor Joseph Siino is the former intellectual property chief at Yahoo and the current president of Via Licensing. Ira Blumberg Contributor Ira Blumberg is the vice president of IP at […]

How can an electric scooter ride-sharing company like Bird possibly make money? If you live in a select number of cities in the U.S., it’s hard not to see electric scooters appearing on sidewalks all over the place. Electric scooter ride-sharing services are also remarkably cheap: $1 to start a ride and another $0.15 per […]

The app permissions that led to 87 million Facebook users’ data being harvested and sold to Cambridge Analytica may have also allowed access to those users’ inboxes, the company confirmed today. This wasn’t achieved by any underhanded means, exactly, but people might not have realized that they were granting permission to read and record their […]

Okay, Apple, now you’ve got my attention. Not content with landing an Amazing Stories reboot from Steven Spielberg, multiple series from Reese Witherspoon, a space opera from Ron Moore and much more for its upcoming original TV initiative (which might launch next March), Apple is also developing a series based on Isaac Asimov’s Foundation books. […]

Spotify’s got something big up its sleeve, that much we know for sure. The music streaming service has a big event in the works for April 24 in New York — though it hasn’t really offered up anything useful beyond that. A revamped version of the company’s free tier could certainly make sense for the […]

While many of us in the tech world are familiar with Facebook’s business model, there is a common misconception among people that Facebook collects information about you and then sells that information to advertisers. Zuckerberg wants everyone (especially the U.S. Senate) to know that’s not the case, and has laid forth the most simple example […]

The death spiral of blood-testing startup Theranos just became even more real today for the bulk of its remaining employees. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company has laid off the majority of its staff as part of a “last-ditch effort” to save cash and avoid bankruptcy. The layoffs have taken the staff from […]

Myst holds a special place in the hearts of many. Released in 1993, it was unlike any video game most had seen at the time — and yet, its DNA lingers in countless games released today. It was also the game that made tens of thousands of kids beg their parents for a CD drive. […]

Today’s testimony by Mark Zuckerberg in front of a Senate joint committee was often boring or redundant with previous statements. But there was an exchange near the two hour mark that was pleasantly refreshing: Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) doggedly pursuing a common-sense answer from Zuckerberg on the question of whether it had any real competition. […]

Facebook’s founder said last month that the company is open to being regulated. But today he got asked by the US senate what sort of legislative changes he would (and wouldn’t) like to see as a fix for the problems that the Cambridge Analytica data scandal has revealed. Zuckerberg’s response on this — and on […]

There is a classic stereotype of the Silicon Valley entrepreneur: often a computer science nerd, almost certainly male, ambitious, and most importantly, young — very young. Founders who have been covered extensively by the media, like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg, started their companies still glimpsing their teenage years, and that reputation has […]

Ilya Strebulaev Contributor An expert in corporate finance, venture and angel capital, innovation financing, corporate innovation and financial decision-making, Ilya Strebulaev is the David S. Lobel Professor of Private Equity and Professor of Finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. A $1 billion valuation was until recently a significant badge of honor for a […]

In testimony before the Senate Judiciary and Commerce, Science, and Transportation committees, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said that his company did not notify the Federal Trade Commission about the initial user data leak that triggered its most recent privacy scandal. “They considered it a ‘closed case’,”Zuckerberg said in response to a question over whether […]

At the core of Facebook’s “well-being” problem is that its business is directly coupled with total time spent on its apps. The more hours you pass on the social network, the more ads you see and click, the more money it earns. That puts its plan to make using Facebook healthier at odds with its […]

In his opening statement in today’s Senate hearing with Mark Zuckerberg, Senator Thune (R-SD) noted that Cambridge Analytica, the company most associated with the ongoing privacy debacle, will be examined separately at another time. “There are plenty of questions about the behavior of Cambridge Analytica and we expect to hold a future hearing on Cambridge […]

This isn’t really surprising if you’ve been following Uber’s legal woes. But the Court of Justice of the European Union has confirmed to Uber France that Uber is operating a transportation company. Member countries can prohibit or punish Uber in their own countries without involving the European Union. Over the past few years, Uber has […]

Facebook has become the de facto way people today keep up with their friends and family and, at times, their wider network of professional acquaintances and colleagues. But its inattention to user data protection is leading some people looking for an out. A new app called Garden, officially launching today, wants to offer people a […]

It’s hard to #DeleteFacebook with no viable alternative, but at least you can export all your data. There’s no such option on Instagram. That lack of data portability puts users at the mercy of Instagram’s product and policy decisions. And it could even put users at risk as those who seek to backup their accounts […]

Alex Wilhelm Contributor Alex Wilhelm is the editor-in-chief of Crunchbase News and co-host of Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast. More posts by this contributor Spotify steadies, DocuSign’s big year, and scooters are the new blockchain Live from Disrupt SF: Equity talks Slack, Lyft and flying cars Today Carbon Black filed to go public, publishing its S-1 […]

It’s Equal Pay Day today — that is, the day women had to work full-time this year to make up the difference between what men made working full-time last year. The actual date is mostly symbolic, but while it’s been narrowing, the gender pay gap is real. Earlier this month, I had a chance to […]

Entrepreneurs have it rough in Africa, India, Pakistan — places where VC cash doesn’t fall from the sky and necessary infrastructure like reliable banking and broadband can be hard to come by. But companies grow and thrive nevertheless in these rugged environments, and DFS Lab is an incubator focused on connecting them with the resources […]

Uber is rolling out a new app for drivers starting today. The hope with the redesign is to make it easier for drivers to access the information they need the most, while ensuring the app is not a distraction while behind the wheel, three Uber driver app product leads told TechCrunch last week. Earnings and […]

So far we’ve been telling you about all of the awesome humans we’re going to have at TC Sessions Robotics next month in Berkeley — humans like Boston Dynamics’ Mark Raibert, Playground’s Andy Rubin, Fetch’s Melonee Wise and Pieter Abbeel, Ken Goldberg and Robert Full from U.C. Berkeley. But what of the robots? Don’t worry, […]

b8ta, the store founded by Nest alums to sell trendy gadgets, is entering new territory. Today, the startup is launching “Built by b8ta,” which functions as a retail-as-a-service platform for brands that want a physical presence. Building off the success of its own retail stores, b8ta is confident it can provide an easy, cost-effective solution […]

Vimeo today announced the launch of a new Mac app that will give video creators using Final Cut Pro more control over their file formats and video codecs. The app expands upon the existing integration with Final Cut Pro, which already offered the ability to upload to Vimeo. With the new app, creators can upload […]

Julia is Sesame Street’s first autistic character and her mission is to make neuroatypical kids feel more comfortable and understand that there are kids out there just like them. She’s a sweet little muppet and now she’s getting her own Kickstarter campaign. The campaign is raising $75,000 to produce content and a free book featuring […]

Cambridge, U.K.-based startup Spectral Edge has closed a $5.3M Series A funding round from existing investors Parkwalk Advisors and IQ Capital. The team, which in 2014 spun the business out of academic research at the University of East Anglia, has developed a mathematical technique for improving photographic imagery in real-time, also using machine learning technology.  As we’ve reported […]

There’s a new venture fund in town from some familiar faces. Carey Lai, who previously worked at Intel Capital and IVP, is joining forces with Paul Yeh, formerly of Kleiner Perkins. They’re calling it Conductive Ventures and it’s launching with $100 million under management. They’ll be investing in “expansion stage” companies across enterprise software and […]

Sam Kim, co-founder and CEO of Lucidity, said blockchain technology offers a solution to cut down on fraud and bring more transparency to digital advertising. Kim was previously chief operating officer at The Mobile Majority, a mobile ad company where he said he saw the challenges of reconciling the data used by different parts of […]

By now it’s crystal clear to just about everyone that the password is a weak and frankly meaningless form of authentication, yet most of us still live under the tyranny of the password. This, despite the fact it places a burden on the user, is easily stolen and mostly ineffective. Today, two standards bodies, FIDO […]

Landing pages might not sound like the most exciting problem for a startup to tackle, but Tyson Quick, founder and CEO of Instapage, said that they’re a real issue for marketers. Quick was previously working on a marketing product called Jounce, where he was frustrated by the fact that even after someone had clicked on […]

Walmart is expanding its grocery delivering business with the help from new partner, Postmates, the retailer announced this morning. Postmates will initially begin Walmart Online Grocery Delivery in Charlotte, North Carolina with plans to reach other markets in the months ahead. Postmates joins Walmart’s existing delivery partners Uber and Deliv, who have been helping Walmart […]

Google and Netflix today announced the launch of Kayenta, a new open source project that aims bring the canary analysis tools Netflix developed internally to a wider audience. Kayenta is integrated into the Netflix-incubated Spinnaker continuous delivery platform, which works across virtually every public and private cloud. While Spinnaker is the focus of this release, though, […]

Some folks I met in Chicago are holding an amazing event at a great place on South Canalport Avenue. This former macaroni factory now builds startups and I’ll be helping judge their pitch-off alongside some Chicago luminaries. You can RSVP here and sign up for a spot to pitch here. We’ll choose eight startups to […]

Splunk has always been known as a company that can sift through oodles of log or security data and help customers surface the important bits. Today, it announced it was going to try to apply that same skill set to Industrial Internet of Things data. IIoT is data found in manufacturing settings, typically come from […]

Fleetsmith, a startup that wants to make it easier for companies to manage their Apple devices, announced a $7.7 million Series A round today led by Upfront Ventures. Seed investors Index Ventures and Harrison Meta also participated in the round. The company has raised a total of $11 million. They also announced that Luke Kanies, […]

A report by US reseller ThredUP estimates that second-hand fashion will soon overtake “fast fashion”, with an expected market worth of $41 billion USD by 2022. According to the site, in 2017 resale equated to six percent of the fashion market, with fast fashion at nine percent. By 2027 however, it’s projected to sit at […]

Google’s two smart speaker products — the Google Home and Google Home Mini — and its Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones are now available in India following a launch event in the country. The devices are priced at Rs 9,999 ($154), and Rs 4,499 ($69), respectively, and Google confirmed that they are available for purchase online via […]

French startup Alan closed a $28.3 million Series A round a few months ago. Index Ventures is leading the round, Xavier Niel is participating as well as existing investors CNP Assurances, Partech and Portag3 Ventures LP. Alan wants to make health insurance as simple as subscribing to a software-as-a-service product. It starts with clear pricing […]

Stringify, an IFTTT-like app that lets consumers control and automate their smart home devices, was quietly snatched up by Comcast last fall to join the company’s larger efforts involving the smart home and the Internet of Things. Today, in its first major update post-acquisition, Stringify is relaunching its app with a new look-and-feel, deeper integrations with Comcast’s […]

Sick of chatting but want to stay connected? Tribe‘s app lets you play clones of Space Invaders, Flappy Bird, Fruit Ninja, Name That Tune and more while video chatting with up to 7 friends or strangers. Originally a video messaging app, Tribe failed to gain traction in the face of Snapchat and Facebook Messenger. But […]

From leaked passwords to identity theft, cybersecurity issues are constantly in the news. Few issues though are as important — or as under-reported by the media — as the security of America’s industrial control infrastructure. Oil rigs, power plants, water treatment facilities and other critical infrastructure are increasingly connecting to the internet, but often without […]

Instagram is preparing to launch a feature called Nametags that lets you create a special image that people can scan with the Instagram Stories camera to follow you. TechCrunch broke the news of Nametags code in Instagram’s Android APK last month. But now thanks to reader Genady Okrain we have screenshots and more details of […]

All of us grew up around tech different from what we have today, and many of us look back on those devices with fondness. But can you recall the exact sound your first Casio keyboard made, or the cadence of a rotary phone’s clicks? Conserve the Sound aims to, well, conserve the sound of gadgets […]

Last week, Apple called out the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to rollback the Obama-era Clean Power Plan. The company cited both the obvious environmental impact of such a move, along with potential economic fallout. It turns out Apple’s got quite a bit invested in the latter.  The company announced today that its global facilities are […]

Over the course of the last few years, the Holberton School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Engineering has made a name for itself as one of the more comprehensive coding schools. The two-year program trains full-stack engineers with a focus on the basics of engineering and sees itself as an alternative to a traditional college experience. […]

Duolingo today launched one of its biggest updates in recent years. The company is introducing a range of new exercise types, as well as a new leveling system that lets you choose between delving deeper into specific skills or learning new content. When you are building a popular language learning service like Duolingo, you’re inevitably […]

The popular quiz startup HQ Trivia is beginning to roll out the first of many new social features to its app focused on leveraging competition with friends and family during game time. HQ Trivia has managed to bring people together in real life to play the game on their phones, but the startup has done […]

PayPal is expanding into traditional banking through partnership with smaller banks to offer consumers debit cards connected to their PayPal accounts, along with direct deposit for paychecks and other services, according to news the company shared with The Wall St. Journal. The company says its new products are targeted specifically at the unbanked, and will launch […]

As Coinbase slowly earns the opportunity to begin thinking about taking a breath after the insane growth of the past few months, it’s thinking more about what all it has to say. The cryptocurrency exchange startup has hired Spark Capital partner Rachael Horowitz as its first VP of communications. Horwitz led marketing and communications work […]

In turns out, SpaceX was indeed not responsible for the loss of a top secret government satellite that fell back to earth and was destroyed following a Falcon 9 rocket launch earlier this year, a report in the Wall Street Journal today states. The Zuma satellite’s purpose was highly classified, but the fate of the […]

UK startup Juro, which is applying a “design centric approach” and machine learning tech to help businesses speed up the authoring and management of sales contracts, has closed $2m in seed funding led by Point Nine Capital. Prior investor Seedcamp also contributed to the round. Juro is announcing Taavet Hinrikus (TransferWise’s co-founder) as an investor […]

Scribd is setting its sights on bigger, newer titles. E-book and audiobook versions of The Fates Divide, the second volume in Veronica Roth’s Carve the Mark series, will go live on Scribd tomorrow. It’s not an exclusive deal — you’ll be able to buy The Fates Divide in bookstores and from online retailers — but […]

Transportation startup Comma.ai has raised $5 million, according to a new SEC filing. George Hotz, the founder of Comma.ai, started the company in an attempt to take on Tesla. Initially, Hotz was working on a self-driving car kit called Comma One. The Comma One was an add-on that would’ve enabled certain cars to have Tesla […]

I’ll be helping build a larger meetup focused on pre-ICO companies in New York on April 23 and I’d love to see you there. It will be held at Knotel on April 23 at 7pm and will feature a pitch-off with eight startups – I will write about the best ones – and two panels […]

TechCrunch is headed back to Africa to find the next wave of early stage startups tackling big ideas! Last October, TechCrunch held Startup Battlefield in Nairobi, Kenya and featured 15 early stage startups from across the continent. We’re impressed by the Sub-Saharan Africa startup scene and can’t wait to meet the next crop of innovators […]

In an interview last month Parker Harris and Marc Benioff told the story of how when they first launched the company, they were trying to raise money and nobody would give them a dime. Benioff said he went to every venture capital in Silicon Valley — and was turned down every single time. This could […]

Apple is doing it again. The company just unveiled a new version of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. It has a bright red enclosure and a black front. A portion of Apple’s proceeds will fund HIV/AIDS grants from the Global Fund. Other than that, it’s an iPhone 8. You’ll get the exact same […]

Microsoft has released the source code for the original, 1990s-era File Manager that is so familiar to all of us who were dragging and dropping on Windows 3.0. The code, which is available on Github under the MIT OSS license, will compile under Windows 10. File Manager uses the multiple-document interface or MDI to display […]

When Armis launched in 2015, the company founders looked over the horizon and they saw the Internet of Things requiring a strong security layer. Today, the Israeli IoT security startup announced a $30 million Series B. The company has attracted a strong group of venture capitalists. The round was led by Bain Capital Ventures and […]

James Murray is a funny man. A producer, actor, and writer, Murray is best known as Murr on the show Impractical Jokers. I spoke to him for a Technotopia interview about the future of TV, VR, and media and he has a lot to say. His dream? To offer immersive experiences to his audiences using […]

Grab has given the Uber app a stay of execution in yet another market as regulators across Southeast Asia continue to investigate the merger deal announced between the ride-hailing companies last month. Fresh from extending the closure date a week in Singapore, Grab has done the same in the Philippines, a spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch. […]

Leap Motion has been in kind of a weird place for quite a while now. They’ve raised north of $100 million for their tightly-focused computer vision work hell-bent on replicating real-time hand movements, like, really well. Their work has all been very convincing in demos, but after eight years, the company itself still feels like […]