Crunch Hype

Today after the bell, Apple, Alphabet, Facebook and Amazon reported their earnings results. Each bested expectations, and all but one are up sharply in after-hours trading. Coming on the heels of a day’s worth of congressional hearings in which the four companies highlighted competition and downplayed their market position, the results are loud. The group’s […]

COVID-19 isn’t keeping Apple down. The company smashed Wall Street expectations, delivering Q3 revenue of $59.69 billion, beating down the $52.25 billion analysts had expected. The company also announced earnings per share of $2.58 compared to Wall Street expectation of $2.04 EPS. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Apple’s overall revenue was up nearly 11% year-over-year, reflecting […]

The sixth full-scale testing prototype of SpaceX’s Starship has successfully completed a key static fire test of its Raptor engines, according to SpaceX founders and CEO Elon Musk . The so-called ‘SN5’ Starship prototype is now ready to move on to a 150m (nearly 500 feet) short duration flight test, which would mark the furthest […]

Atlassian today announced that it has acquired Mindville, Jira-centric enterprise asset management firm based in Sweden. Mindville’s over 1,700 customers include the likes of NASA, Spotify and Samsung. With this acquisition, Atlassian is getting into a new market, too, by adding asset management tools to its lineup of services. The company’s flagship product is Mindville […]

ViacomCBS has announced a significant expansion to its streaming library, with the addition of more than 3,500 episodes of shows like “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” “Chapelle’s Show” and “Laguna Beach.” Viacom and CBS were previously merged, then separated, then most recently merged again, and the additional content comes from across the company’s different brands — […]

Today’s the day for all you early-stage startup founders to learn everything you’ve always wanted to know about Startup Alley but were afraid to ask (10 points if you get that pop culture reference). We’re live-streaming an Ask Me Anything session from the TechCrunch LinkedIn page today at 4 p.m. ET/ 1 p.m. PT, and it’s not […]

Chinese electric vehicle and parts manufacturer Kandi Technologies Group is officially bringing two EVs to the United States through its subsidiary Kandi America — news that has prompted run up in its share price in the past day. Kandi shares opened at $3.88 a share on Wednesday, jumping to $16.51 today. Shares have now settled […]

Rocket launch startup Astra is readying for its first orbital flight test, set to take place either this weekend or next week, weather permitting. The company will launch its “Rocket 3.1” from Kodiak, Alaska — and while these are technically classified as orbital test flights, the company was quick to caution journalists on a press […]

A new report from Pew Research makes an attempt to better understand U.S. adults who get their news largely from social media platforms, and compare their understanding of current events and political knowledge to those who use other sources, like TV, radio and news publications. The top-level finding, according to Pew, is that social media […]

Impossible Foods said today that it will now be available in Walmart, the largest meat market in America. The deal with Walmart and other retail locations across the country increases the company’s physical footprint by fifty times. Impossible Foods will now be available at over 2,000 Walmart Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets across the country and […]

Google today announced a new autofill experience for Chrome on mobile that will use biometric authentication for credit card transactions, as well as an updated built-in password manager that will make signing in to a site a bit more straightforward. Chrome already uses the W3C WebAuthn standard for biometric authentication on Windows and Mac. With […]

Magnetis, an automated wealth management solution for Brazilian investors, has raised $11 million in a new round of funding as it transforms itself into a full-service brokerage for the nation’s investor class. Investors in the round included Redpoint eventures and Vostok Emerging Finance, the company said. “We’re quite happy with this vote of confidence from our investors. […]

From Airbnb to Zapier, and Coinbase to Instacart, many of the tech world’s most valuable companies spent their earliest days in Y Combinator’s accelerator program. Steering the ship at Y Combinator today is its president, Geoff Ralston . We’re excited to share that Ralston will be joining us on Extra Crunch Live tomorrow at noon […]

With a more hands-on approach to AI — that is, using the technology to actually augment everyday communications — workers can gain insight into concepts, workflows and ideas that would otherwise go unnoticed.

The video below contains the first glimpse at the upcoming electric GMC Hummer. The preview video is short, full of nonsense buzzwords, but still telling. It’s clear GM identified two main competitors against the upcoming Hummer: The Ford Bronco and Tesla Cybertruck. The Hummer EV was announced pre-COVID 19 during the Super Bowl. At the […]

In his opening statements, the chairman of Wednesday’s historic tech hearing argued that regulating tech’s most dominant players is vital in the midst of the ongoing pandemic that has driven even more of American life online. “Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, these corporations already stood out as titans in our economy,” House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee […]

The fortunes of startups that leverage artificial intelligence have soared dramatically in recent years. These AI-powered startups have seen quarterly investment totals rise from a few hundred rounds and a few billion dollars each quarter to 1,245 rounds and $17.3 billion in the second and third quarters of 2019, according to data from CB Insights. […]

Google One, Google’s subscription program for buying additional storage and live support, is getting an update today that will bring free phone backups for Android and iOS devices to anybody who installs the app — even if they don’t have a paid membership. The catch: While the feature is free, the backups count against your […]

When founders start fundraising is as important as how they make their pitch to investors. Timing matters and it’s more complicated than founders might realize, but it’s not just about picking the right month or time of day. Finding the right time to fundraise requires a micro- and macro-level strategy, according to Jake Saper of […]

Walmart is expanding its use of voice technology. The company announced today its taking its employee assistance voice technology dubbed “Ask Sam” and making it available to associates at over 5,000 Walmart stores nationwide. The tool allows Walmart employees to look up prices, access store maps, find products, view sales information, check email and more. […]

It’s a new world, and voice tech is shaping it.

Time to get your binge on at Disrupt 2020, startup fans. Tune in and engage September 14-18 — that’s five days of nonstop opportunity to expand your network, learn the latest tech and investment trends, exhibit your startup, pump up your portfolio and grow your business. If you want to get the best bang for […]

The COVID-19 pandemic’s continued impact on Spotify’s business was apparent in the results of the company’s Q2 2020 earnings today. On some fronts, Spotify had good news. As more users turned to streaming services to keep themselves entertained while social distancing, Spotify grew its active monthly users by 29% to reach 299 million in the […]

For some time now, Bixby hasn’t been much of a talking point for Samsung. It seems that the smart assistant has lost its luster even for the company that once touted it as the centerpiece of its massive hardware ecosystem. And now, according to a new report, Samsung is consider dropping the smart assistant from […]

Almost one-third of Americans have some criminal history. The U.S. accounts for 25% of the world’s prison population. Let’s stop ignoring this demographic and build tools that really make the world better for those who need it most.

No doubt about it, home fitness is hot. The category had already been gaining considerable traction in recent years and months, but the ongoing pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated interest by orders of magnitude. And understandably so. After all, while some businesses have begun reopening in some locations, gyms are still a big red flag, with […]

This morning Instrumental, a startup that uses vision-powered AI to detect manufacturing anomalies, announced that it has closed a $20 million Series B led by Canaan Partners. The company had previously raised $10.3 million across two rounds, including a $7.5 million Series A in mid-2017. According to a release, the Series B was participated in […]

Financial services companies like banks and insurance tend to be heavily regulated. As such they require a special level of security and auditability. Hearsay, which makes compliant communications tools for these types of companies, announced a new partnership with Salesforce today, enabling smooth integration with Salesforce CRM and marketing automation tools. The company also announced […]

Sophie Alcorn Contributor Share on Twitter Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives. More posts by this contributor Dear Sophie: How […]

Remittances — when people send money internationally to family and friends, or as a payment — has long been one of the most important levers for getting funds to people in developing economies. However, the persistent spread of the coronavirus is having a tough impact on that, with the World Bank estimating that remittances to low […]

Since launching in 2013, Taipei-based TNL Media Group has grown from an independent news site to a media company with several online publishing verticals and a data analytics business. The company, formerly known as The News Lens, announced today that it has raised $8 million from New York-based investment firm Palm Drive Capital, as part […]

CVS Caremark launched its point solutions management program with a sleep service from Big Health nearly a year ago, and now it’s adding another of the digital mental healthcare startup’s products to its suite of managed point solutions. The Daylight product, which is designed to help people alleviate worry and anxiety, will join an expanding […]

“The doctor’s office is dead.” That’s the way Nick Desai, the co-founder and chief executive of the Los Angeles-based startup Heal describes the future of traditional healthcare delivery. While Desai’s bluster may be wishful thinking, the doctor’s office is certainly changing, and that’s thanks in part to companies like Heal, which offer in-home and telemedical […]

Sema4, the Stamford, Conn.-based digital healthcare company now worth just over $1 billion, takes its name from the system of sending messages via code. And like its namesake, Sema4 is trying to send messages of its own to the broader healthcare system based on the signals it uncovers in massive datasets of population health that […]

Tesla CEO Elon Musk noted on Twitter on Tuesday night that the automaker would be “open to licensing software and supplying powertrains & batteries” to other automakers. Musk added that that would even include Autopilot, the advanced driver assistance software that Tesla offers to provide intelligent cruise control in a number of different driving scenarios. […]

Investment app eToro is to launch a debit card, following its acquisition of Marq Millions Ltd, the UK based e-money business. Marq Millions will now trade as eToro Money and will be the issuer for eToro’s card. The acquisition was for an undisclosed amount, and the Marq Millions management team stays on. The card will […]

Tesla has been counting on China to maintain its sales momentum, and it seems to be on track with the plan. In the three months ended June 30, the automaker’s revenue in China climbed 102.9% year-over-year to $1.4 billion, according to its latest SEC filing. That means China now makes up 23.3% of Tesla’s total […]

Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg will defend their companies before the House Antitrust Subcommittee Wednesday in a hearing that will make tech industry history, no matter what happens. Given that the tech giants are accustomed to answering to no one in particular, collecting four of them on a substantive topic is […]

A group of Japanese lawmakers is seeking to restrict the use of TikTok and other apps developed by Chinese firms, following in the footstep of India, which has already blocked dozens of Chinese apps, and the U.S., which is floating the idea of a ban. The decision was first reported by Japanese national broadcaster NHK. […]

With their big day before lawmakers just around the corner, previews of Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple’s opening statements are now available on the House Judiciary Committee’s site. On Wednesday, the CEOs of each company will appear in an unusually executive-packed Congressional hearing focused on antitrust concerns over the business practices. While the opening statements […]

Toppr, one of the largest online learning startups in India, has secured $46 million in a new financing round as it looks to scale its platform including a new product. Dubai-headquartered investment firm Foundation Holdings led the Mumbai-based seven-year-old startup’s Series D round. Kaizen Private Equity, an existing investor, also participated in the new round, […]

Before the COVID-19 epidemic, Density was being used by companies like TechCrunch’s parent company, Verizon, to see how it could better use office space after the Yahoo!/Aol merger. Now, thanks to the COVID-19 epidemic everyone wants the company’s technology to track building and room occupancy and use. It’s one reason why the company managed to […]

According to data pipeline startup Hevo, many small- to medium-sized companies juggle more than 40 different applications to manage sales, marketing, finance, customer support and other operations. All of these applications are important sources of data that can be analyzed to improve a company’s performance. That data often remains separate, however, making it difficult for […]

TransferWise, the London-headquartered international money transfer service, is disclosing that it is now valued at $5 billion by private investors, confirming an earlier Sky News report. The new valuation represents an increase of 43% since May 2019, and has been triggered by a further $319 million in secondary share sales. Leading the “secondary” share round […]

Founders pitch venture capitalists at every available chance, which is why most of them quickly develop the skills required to identify whether someone is offering them an opportunity or wasting their time. At TechCrunch Early Stage, I chatted with NFX Managing Partner James Currier about how founders can find the right investors and what they […]

We owe it to ourselves now and in the future to be deliberate, realistic and hopeful about what touch and technology can do, and what they can’t.

Microsoft’s new screen time and parental controls app, Microsoft Family Safety, is today launching publicly on iOS and Android, following a preview of the experience which had arrived earlier this spring. The app is designed to help parents better understand children’s use of screen time, set limits and create screen time schedules, configure boundaries around […]

Online alcohol delivery startup Drizly has told customers that it was hit by a data breach. In an email to customers obtained by TechCrunch, the company said that a hacker “obtained” some customer data. The hacker took customer email addresses, date-of-birth, passwords hashed using the stronger bcrypt algorithm, and in some cases delivery address, the […]

When SAP announced it was spinning out Qualtrics on Sunday, a company it bought less than two years ago for an eye-popping $8 billion, it was enough to make your head spin. At the time, then CEO Bill McDermott saw it as a way to bridge the company’s core operational with customer data, while acquiring […]

This week has brought with it two tasty pieces of IPO news — Rackspace’s return to the public markets and BigCommerce’s debut will be far more interesting now that we know what a first-draft valuation for each looks like. But amidst the numbers is a question worth answering: Why aren’t cloud-focused Rackspace and e-commerce-powering BigCommerce […]