Crunch Hype

Innowatts, an automated toolkit for energy monitoring and management targeting utilities, has raised $18.2 million in a new round of funding from investors led by Energy Impact Partners . Previous investors Shell Ventures, Iberdrola and Energy and Environment Investment participated along with another new investor, Evergy Ventures. As utilities respond to new, renewable power coming […]

New Relic, the SaaS applications performance management platform, announced a major update to that platform today. Instead of ripping off the Band-Aid all at once, the company has decided to take a more measured approach to change, giving customers a chance to ease into it. The new platform, called New Relic One, has been designed […]

As wild as it sounds, the race is on to build a functioning space internet — and SpaceX is taking its biggest step yet with the launch of 60 (!) satellites tomorrow that will form the first wave of its Starlink constellation. It’s a hugely important and incredibly complex launch for the company — and […]

There has been an ongoing debate regarding whether or not gig-economy drivers for Uber and Lyft are independent contractors or employees, who would be eligible for benefits. The National Labor Relations Board recently ruled Uber drivers, specifically between 2015 and 2016, were independent contractors, Bloomberg Law first reported. “Drivers’ virtually complete control of their cars, […]

Love it or hate it, Game of Thrones ends this week. The series finale will air this upcoming Sunday, capping a final season that has been criticized for being too short, too rushed, and, at times, too damned hard to see. Seemingly immune to the ires of the Internet, the series’ showrunners are moving […]

In this section of my exploration into innovation in inclusive housing, I am digging into the 200+ companies impacting the key phases of developing and managing housing.

VR’s most hyped game is getting a price bump later this month as it expands the amount of headsets that it’s playable on. We did a big deep-dive last week on Beat Saber, the best seller from a tiny Prague VR studio that’s pulling in big revenues. The game is part Guitar Hero, part Fruit […]

Twitter is finally allowing a number of locked users to regain control of their accounts once again. Around a year after Europe’s new privacy laws (GDPR) rolled out, Twitter began booting users out of their accounts if it suspected the account’s owner was underage — that is, younger than 13. But the process also locked […]

TomboyX, a direct to consumer, gender-neutral underwear brand, has today announced the close of an $18 million Series B funding round led by Craftory. With this deal, Craftory becomes TomboyX’s majority shareholder. TomboyX develops gender-neutral, size inclusive underwear at a relatively affordable price point. The company started when cofounder Fran Dunaway struggled to find herself […]

Cool missions need cool names, and NASA's new plan to establish a permanent lunar presence and put an American on the Moon again now has one: Artemis. It's nod both to Apollo, the 50th anniversary of the culmination of which is this year, and to the fact that the program is likely to send the first woman to the Moon.

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s lawyer argued Tuesday in a court filing that the British cave diver who became embroiled in a public spat with his client and later sued for defamation can’t recover damages because his reputation was not harmed. In court documents filed Tuesday, Musk’s new lawyer Alex Spiro of Quinn Emmanuel […]

Big tech is stepping in to patch newly disclosed security flaws affecting almost every Intel chip since 2011. Researchers on Tuesday released details of the vulnerability, known as ZombieLoad — or microarchitectural data sampling (MDS) as its technical name — which can leaked sensitive data stored in the processor, such as passwords, secret keys and […]

On Wednesday, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will ask tech companies to sign a pledge called the Christchurch Call, as The New York Times previously reported. Digital ministers of the Group of 7 nations are meeting tomorrow to talk about toxic content and tech regulation. The Christchurch Call is the first result on that […]

Google today announced a major revamp of its travel planning tools on the web. After launching a similar set of tools on mobile last year, the company today announced that google.com/travel on the web will now let you see information about all of your previously reserved trips and easily switch between flight, hotel and package […]

It’s just over two years since Yext debuted on the New York Stock Exchange, and to mark the occasion, I sat down with co-founder and CEO Howard Lerman for an interview. As Lerman noted, Yext — which allows businesses to manage their profiles and information across a wide variety of online services — actually presented […]

TechCrunch Sessions is heading to San Jose on July 10 and we’re thrilled to announce our jam-packed agenda, overflowing with some of the biggest names and most exciting startups in the transportation industry. With Early Bird ticket sales ending soon, you’ll want to be sure to grab your tickets after checking out this agenda. Throughout […]

The broader AR market is made up of a lot of hype and excitement, but fundamentally it’s all based around the promise that waveguide displays can continue to stay wafer-thin while getting better and cheaper. Waveguide-maker DigiLens is aiming to stay aggressive in lowering the costs of the expensive component. It has just closed a […]

Security researchers have found a new class of vulnerabilities in Intel chips which, if exploited, can be used to steal sensitive information directly from the processor., The bugs are reminiscent of Meltdown and Spectre, which exploited a weakness in speculative execution, an important part of how modern processors work. Speculative execution helps processors predict to […]

Twitter is finally modernizing its core APIs after seven years of stagnation, and it wants early feedback from developers. That’s why today it’s launching Twitter Developer Labs, which app makers can sign up for to experiment with pre-release beta APIs. First up will be real-time streaming access to the Twitter firehose with the expansion of […]

Google today announced the launch of its Osaka region, its second cloud region in Japan and seventh in Asia Pacific. With this, the company now offers its users a total of twenty regions, all of which feature at least three availability zones. In Japan, the Osaka region joins Google’s Tokyo region and will offer lower […]

Voi Technology, the “micro-mobility” startup that operates an e-scooter service on the streets of a growing number of European cities, has unveiled a range of new scooters and a first e-bike more suited to rentals. The company is also revealing plans to expand to another 150 cities and towns, having ratcheted up 2 million rides […]

For Pan-African e-commerce startup Jumia, going public has been an up and down affair. The company filed SEC IPO docs in March and saw its share rise 70% after listing on the NYSE in April at $14.50. Then last week, Jumia’s stock tumbled when it came under assault from a short-seller accusing the company of […]

As a former entrepreneur turned independent designer, Phil Weiner gets the startup life. He often describes himself as a second co-founder for his clients, unafraid of 2AM phone calls and prepping pitch decks for investors. He’s a “full stack” creative director based in Oakland, CA with a passion for tackling cultural tension. Learn more about […]

OnePlus has never been particularly beholden to industry trends. Nowhere is that better demonstrated than with the 7 Pro. In the face of a stagnated smartphone market, Apple, Samsung and Google all went budget, releasing lower-tier takes on their pricey flagships to appeal to consumers looking for something akin to a premium experience without having […]

Every once in a while a major bug, vulnerability or security scare will spark panic. In most cases, it’s absolutely unnecessary panic. Take yesterday’s reported vulnerability. Israeli hacking outfit NSO Group, a developer of malware typically used by governments, was caught using a hack targeting WhatsApp that allowed the attackers to remotely spy on the […]

Sisense announced today that it has acquired Periscope Data to create what it is calling, a complete data science and analytics platform for customers. The companies did not disclose the purchase price. The two company CEOs met about 18 months ago at a conference, and running similar kinds of companies, hit it off. They began […]

OnePlus’ original Bullets weren’t the sexiest of earbuds, but they were a solid, workhorse offering for those who prefer a yolked design to fully wireless. And like the rest of OnePlus’ offerings, the price was right. Announced today alongside the 7 Pro, the Bullets Wireless 2 aren’t a radical departure from their predecessor, but do […]

Google is giving its Shopping destination a revamp and introducing a universal cart across its platform of services, including Search, Shopping, Images, and even YouTube. The search company announced today an entirely redesigned and now personalized Google Shopping experience where shoppers can discover and compare products, then checkout instantly using their Google account. As a […]

Algorithmia, a Seattle-based startup that offers a cloud-agnostic AI automation platform for enterprises, today announced a $25 million Series B funding round led by Norwest Partners. Madrona, Gradient Ventures, Work-Bench, Osage University Partners and Rakuten Ventures also participated in this round. While the company started out five years ago as a marketplace for algorithms, it […]

If the world of online dating feels too intimidating, Match’s new service AskMatch aims to help. The flagship dating brand from Match Group — which also operates Tinder, Hinge, OKCupid, Plenty of Fish, and others — is first-to-market with a new service that puts a professional dating coach right in its app. The coaches are […]

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is ramping up stablecoin support around the world. Customers can now trade USD Coin (or USDC for short) in 85 countries — USDC support was only available in the U.S. excluding NY. You can trade USDC on both Coinbase and Coinbase Pro. The company has been aggressive when it comes to international […]

Bitcoin is now trading at around $8,130, up a whopping 60.84 percent over the past month, with the price surging $3,086.14 over the period. The cryptocurrency’s meteoric rise is reminiscent of its rocketing growth in the latter half of 2017, when prices reached over $18,400 on the back of buoyant capital markets, rampant speculation, and […]

Rivet, a new app from Google’s in-house incubator, wants to help children struggling to read. The app hails from Area 120 — Google’s workshop for experimental projects — and includes over 2,000 free books for kids as well as an in-app assistant that can help kids when they get stuck on a word by way […]

There’s something about gaming laptops that make manufacturers do weird things. It’s kind of wonderful, in a way. Companies tend to give their teams a much wider berth for strange and novel designs, and HP’s Omen line is certainly no stranger. Designs that tend to be relegated to the concept shelf of history actually hit […]

Disney will be taking full operational control of Hulu, although Comcast will hold onto its ownership stake until 2024. Disney became a majority owner of in the streaming service — currently a joint venture between Disney and Comcast — earlier this year with the acquisition of Fox. And last month, Hulu announced that it would […]

Defy, a Series A venture capital fund, has hired its first non-founding partner.

E-commerce giant Amazon was built on the concept of a large marketplace that could be the home for all online shopping, whether it was for items and services it was selling itself or those sold by third parties. Now — capitalising on the new trend for direct-to-consumer (D2C) selling, it is partnering with Adobe to […]

Adobe Lightroom is getting its first new slider in a long time today that helps bring out texture in images. This new feature, which will be available in Lightroom, Lightroom Classic and Camera Raw, is part of today’s May release of Adobe’s photo editing and management tool. In addition, the company is also launching a […]

Hailo, a Tel Aviv-based AI chipmaker, today announced that it is now sampling its Hailo -8 chips, the first of its deep learning processors. The new chip promises up to 26 tera operations per second (TOPS) and the company is now testing it with a number of select customers, mostly in the automotive industry. Hailo […]

Tempo Automation, a San Francisco-based startup that helps shorten the time from prototype to production for electronics manufacturers, announced today that it has raised a $45 million Series C led by returning investor Point72 Ventures. The round also includes new investor Lockheed Martin and existing investors Lux Capital and Uncork Capital. The company’s turnkey solution […]

After delaying a promised 2018 arrival (while offering a beta as consolation), Google Assistant is finally arriving on select Sonos speakers. Not an earth shattering bit of news, but certainly a nice little free software upgrade for those who already own a Sonos One speaker or Sonos Beam soundbar. It’s a mutually beneficial deal for […]

This week, the new $100 million Statue of Liberty Museum opens in the shadow of one of America’s most iconic landmarks. The 26,000 square foot space offers insights into the statue’s storied history, along with context for that majority of visitors who ultimately can’t make it inside the structure. For those who can’t don’t make […]

Earlier this year, Spartan, the French manufacturer of a silver-lined underwear designed to block EMF radiation from cell phones and wireless routers, relocated to the U.S. and raised some capital from the Los Angeles-based investment firm, Science. Now the company has relaunched as Lambs and is adding a radiation-proof silver-lined beanie to its $29-per-pair underwear […]

LinkedIn, the social networking platform for the working world that’s now owned by Microsoft, has leveraged its role as a repository for people’s work profiles into making itself a job hunting and recruitment powerhouse. The company today has amassed more than 20 million job listings — up from a mere 300,000 five years ago — […]

Founders might not believe it, but managing a venture capital firm isn’t all that dissimilar to a startup. Case in point today: InnoVen Capital, one of Asia’s most prominent venture debt firms, has pulled in $200 million in new money to continue its expansion in the region. The money comes from InnoVen’s two shareholders — […]

In November 2017, Spotify picked up the online music studio Soundtrap as part of its efforts to offer more services to artists on its platform. Now that Spotify has a growing interest in podcasts and the needs of podcast creators, Soundtrap is launching a new product to address that market instead. The company today announced […]

Rimac Automobili, the European EV startup that landed an investment from Porsche last year, has again gained the backing of traditional automakers after Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors jointly invested €80 million, or around $90 million. Beyond the significant cash infusion, the three parties said the deal includes “a strategic partnership to collaborate on […]

Amazon announced this morning that it’s begun to roll out Alexa Guard to all Echo customers in the U.S. The feature lets the company’s line of smart home products double as home security devices while the user is out. Say “Alexa, I’m leaving” on your way out the door, and the Echo device will start […]

Paytm, India’s largest mobile wallet app, has branched out to several businesses in recent years as threat from Google and Facebook grows. On Tuesday, it added another category to the list: credit cards. The firm, operated by One97 Communications, today unveiled Paytm First Credit Card with lofty benefits as it races to bulk up its […]

JD.com, the Chinese answer to Amazon and Alibaba’s long-time rival, is looking to further automate its logistics network after agreeing to pour 376 million yuan (around $55 million) into Jiangsu Xinning Modern Logistics in exchange for up to 10 percent stake. That’s according to a filing released on Monday by Xinning, a China-listed logistics firm […]