Crunch Hype

Controversial opinion here: The Coen Brothers are very good filmmakers, and their latest movie, “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” is also very good. Still, it’s not hard to see why the movie was made by Netflix, rather than a major Hollywood studio. “Buster Scruggs” is one of the Coens’ less commercially promising films, an anthology […]

Amazon Alexa is gaining new capabilities, including support for location-based reminders and routines, the ability to call local businesses by voice and the ability to check your email, hands-free, on supported Alexa devices, among other things. These features were previously introduced this fall at Amazon’s Echo event in Seattle, alongside a host of other capabilities […]

Verizon today announced 10,400 employees are taking buyouts to leave the company. That’s about 7 percent of the company’s worldwide workforce. This is part of an effort to trim the telecom giant’s workforce ahead of its push toward 5G. I still have a job. Everyone at TechCrunch, which is part of the Verizon Media Group, […]

Trello, the organizational tool owned by Atlassian, announced an acquisition of its very own this morning when it bought Butler for an undisclosed amount. What Butler brings to Trello is the power of automation, stringing together a bunch of commands to make something complex happen automatically. As Trello’s Michael Pryor pointed out in a blog […]

Solo.io, a Cambridge, Mass-based startup that helps enterprises adopt cloud-native technologies, is coming out of stealth mode today and announcing both its Series A funding round and the launch of its Gloo Enterprise API gateway. Redpoint Ventures led the $11 million Series A round, with participation from seed investor True Ventures . Like most companies […]

If the last few years has seen a growing consensus that the tech industry has a diversity and inclusion problem, then what is clearly needed next are practical solutions. While most people agree that building a diverse and inclusive company culture is easier to achieve the earlier you set out to do so, for startups […]

I’m heading back to Europe to run a pitch-off in Wroclaw and Warsaw, Poland. Are you ready? The Wroclaw event, called In-Ference, is happening on December 17 and you can submit to pitch here. The team will notify you if you have been chosen. The winner will receive a table at TC Disrupt in San Francisco. […]

Where there is discovery in an app, there is paid discovery. Google helped you choose between links, then sold ads that promote a few. Facebook helped you choose between pieces of content, then sold ads that promote a few. And eventually, as Uber helps you choose between restaurants, it will sell ads that promote a […]

A more personalized version of Google Maps is now arriving on iOS. At Google’s I/O developer conference earlier this year, the company introduced a series of new features designed to help Google Maps users learn what’s happening around them, track area businesses to receive updates about their events and promotions, and receive personalized suggestions of […]

Verve, the word-of-mouth selling platform, has acquired Campus Vacations, a provider of “unforgettable” travel experiences to students across North America. The thinking behind the acquisition is to increase Verve’s market share and competitive positioning in the North America and Canada markets. Specifically, Verse says it will provide the company with an entrance into the ski […]

Google is increasing its efforts in India after it snapped up the team behind popular transportation app ‘Where is my Train.’ The app claims 10 million registered users and, as the name suggests, it helps commuters track arrivals and departures as well as buying seats. That’s no small job given that India is estimated to operate […]

Waggel, a new ‘insurtech’ startup in the U.K., is officially launching today to offer what it describes as “fully digital” pet insurance. Founded by Andrew Leal, and Ross Fretten (a contestant of The Apprentice 2017), the company wants to offer more transparent cover for your pet, where you’ll know exactly how much you’re paying and […]

Months after it landed a major $550 million investment from Google, China’s JD.com — the country’s second highest-profile investor behind Alibaba — has teamed up with another U.S. tech giant: Intel. JD and Intel said today that they will set up a “lab” focused on bringing internet-of-things technology into the retail process. That could include […]

China’s largest music streaming service has had a whirlwind year. With 800 million monthly users across multiple apps and a profitable business, Tencent Music Entertainment is gearing up for one of this year’s most anticipated initial public offerings in the US. But the firm has landed in hot water in the months leading up to […]

Jake Bright Contributor Jake Bright is a writer and author in New York City. He is co-author of The Next Africa. More posts by this contributor Nigerian logistics startup Kobo360 raises $6M, expands in Africa SimbaPay launches Kenya to China payment service over WeChat Nigerian consumer data analytics firm Terragon Group acquired Asian mobile marketing company Bizense in a […]

Twitter co-founder and chief executive officer Jack Dorsey recently went on a birthday trip to Myanmar. As Dorsey recounted in a series of tweets to his 4.1 million followers, he studied Vipassana meditation. The practice’s “singular objective is to hack the deepest layer of the mind and reprogram it,” Dorsey wrote, and it is “likely […]

A sizable funding round is poised to heat up a race to automate China’s logistics infrastructure. Beijing-based fleet management company G7 announced on Monday that it has banked $320 million to drive technological development, bringing its total capital raised to around $500 million. G7, which runs a proprietary connected platform for trucks, shippers, fleet manager and […]

Alibaba Group announced today that it will increase its stake in Alibaba Pictures from 49% to 50.92%, making it the loss-making movie production company’s controlling shareholder. Under the agreement, Alibaba Pictures will issue one billion new shares, priced at HKD $1.25 each share for a total of HKD $1.25 billion (about $160 million), to Alibaba […]

South Korea has got its third unicorn startup after Viva Republica, the company beyond popular payment app Toss, announced it has raised an $80 million round at a valuation of $1.2 billion. This new round is led by U.S. firms Kleiner Perkins and Ribbit Capital, both of which cut their first checks for Korea with this […]

Atlassian’s JIRA began life as a bug-tracking tool. Today, though, it has become an agile planning suite, “to plan, track, and release great software.” In many organizations it has become the primary map of software projects, the hub of all development, the infamous “source of truth.” It is a truism that the map is not […]

A mindful, contemplative approach to internalized racism and sexism is a necessary piece of the puzzle of dismantling systems of oppression, Awaken founder and CEO Ravi Mishra says. That’s the entire point of Awaken, a mindfulness and meditation app specifically geared toward helping people cope with the harsh realities of today’s society. Awaken got its […]

When the hell did building a house become so complicated? Don’t let the folks on HGTV fool you. The process of building a home nowadays is incredibly painful. Just applying for the necessary permits can be a soul-crushing undertaking that’ll have you running around the city, filling out useless forms, and waiting in motionless lines […]

When Apple announced its latest Series 4 Watch with electrocardiogram features, my mom took a sigh of relief, and then proceeded to set a reminder to order one for my dad. That’s because we found out last year, by chance, that he has atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is an irregular heartbeat, often times rapid heart rate […]

These first-time VCs want to raise $50M for a Dallas-based, millennial-focused venture firm.

Much has been said about the SoftBank Vision Fund, mostly in awe of the size of the investment vehicle. Today, however, the Vision Fund inched yet closer to that twelve-figure goal.

The internet is a community, but can it be a nation-state? It’s a question that I have been pondering on and off this year, what with the rise of digital nomads and the deeply libertarian ethos baked into parts of the blockchain community. It’s clearly on a lot of other people’s minds as well: when […]

Coinbase is the most conservative exchange in cryptoland, largely because it operates in the U.S. under the watchful eye of the SEC. The $8 billion-valued company trades fewer than ten cryptocurrencies to consumers but on Friday announced it announced a major expansion that could see it list up to 30 new tokens. The company said it is […]

The ride-hailing giant is expected to go public in early 2019.

Slack, the workplace messaging company, has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to lead its IPO next year, according to a Reuters report. Reuters’ sources say the company is hoping to nab a valuation of “well over $10 billion.” The WSJ reported back in September that Slack was “actively preparing” for an IPO in the first […]

Qualcomm’s struggling data center business was hit another massive blow as the company laid off hundreds. The news, first revealed by the Information, has since been confirmed by TechCrunch. The chipmaker laid off 269 employees in all, including 144 in Raleigh, North Carolina, where its data center business is located, and an additional 125 in […]

The InSight Mars lander accomplished a perfect landing last week on the Elysium Planitia region of the planet, where it is hard at work preparing to drill into the surface (and taking selfies, of course). But one "unplanned treat" is a recording of the wind rolling across the Martian plains — which you can listen to right here.

New details have emerged surrounding Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou's arrest in Vancouver.

Artificial intelligence systems and creators are in dire need of direct intervention by governments and human rights watchdogs. Surprisingly, it looks like the tech industry just isn't that good at regulating itself.

Though many people still scratch their head at the idea of watching people play video games, Twitch and its content creators have proven that the platform is attractive to (even beloved by) tens of millions of people. Got a friend or loved one who believes they have the skill, personality and wide open schedule to […]

Leica’s pricey — but sexy — CL camera is the closest thing you can get to an original portable luxury shooter without spending more than a used Toyota Corolla. The CL, which launched last year, is essentially a pared-down M series camera that has gotten rave reviews over the past year. Now, in time for […]

It appears that most mobile carriers, including O2 and SoftBank, have recovered from yesterday’s cell phone network outage that was triggered by a shutdown of Ericsson equipment running on their networks. That shutdown appears to have been triggered by expired software certificates on the equipment itself. While Ericsson acknowledged in their press release yesterday that expired […]

Google is by no means perfect when it comes to issues relating to gender, but it’s clear the company is trying. Google recently made some important changes to its Translate tool — reducing gender bias by providing both masculine and feminine translations for gender-neutral words. Previously, Google would default gender-neutral words to the masculine form. […]

Netflix just broke new records on consumer spending in its mobile apps, according to new data app intelligence firm Sensor Tower has shared with TechCrunch. In November, Netflix pulled in an estimated $86.6 million in worldwide consumer spending across its iOS and Android apps combined — a figure that’s 77 percent higher than the $49 […]

A few days ago, Google removed popular Cheetah Mobile and Kika Tech apps from its Play Store following a BuzzFeed investigation, which discovered the apps were engaging in ad fraud. Today, as a result of Google’s ongoing investigation into the situation, it has discovered three malicious ad network SDKs that were being used to conduct ad […]

Andy Rubin’s Essential has acquired CloudMagic, makers of the Newton email app, for an undisclosed sum. The news, first reported this morning, has since been confirmed by TechCrunch. An Essential spokesperson offered the following admittedly open-ended statement, “We are always on the lookout for companies with great technology and talent to help accelerate our product […]

Pivotal has always been about making open-source tools for enterprise developers, but surprisingly, up until now, the arsenal has lacked a serverless component. That changed today with the alpha launch of Pivotal Function Service. “Pivotal Function Service is a Kubernetes-based, multi-cloud function service. It’s part of the broader Pivotal vision of offering you a single […]

Even after a few minutes behind the wheel, it’s easy to forget the Audi e-tron is electric. The SUV is not outrageous or radical, but rather pedestrian and effortless. Audi didn’t invent something new with the e-tron. The German car company stuck a competent electric powertrain in an SUV, and, in the process, created a […]

The year is 1940. Through the use of arcane atomic technologies, the Axis have brought back modern technology from the year 2018. Their main prize? This amazing Enigma Pocket Watch. This tiny watch, created by a maker calling himself asciimation, uses an Arduino Pro Micro and a small OLED screen to recreate the Enigma machine […]

Rapper 2 Milly is suing Epic Games over Fortnite’s use of his dance move, the Milly Rock. The lawsuit claims direct infringement of copyright, contributory infringement of copyright and violation of the Right of Publicity under California Common Law, among other things. From the filing: Defendants capitalized on the Milly Rock’s popularity, particularly with its […]

IBM announced last night that it is selling the final components from its 1995 acquisition of Lotus to Indian firm HCL for $1.8 billion. IBM paid $3.5 billion for Lotus back in the day. The big pieces here are Lotus Notes, Domino and Portal. These were a big part of IBM’s enterprise business for a long […]

According to a new report from Reuters, Amazon is looking at several top U.S. airports for potential locations for its cashier-free Go stores. The service cites public request records from airport operators suggesting meetings with the head of the retail service. Both the San Jose and Los Angeles airports have confirmed Amazon’s interest. Dallas appears […]

Spotify has made some significant moves to bypass record labels and work directly with artists, and there are signs that Apple could be eyeing up a similar approach to get a bigger share of original content. According to a report in Music Business Worldwide and also confirmed by us with sources close to the deal, Apple […]

Walmart’s acquisition spree continues. Only a couple of months after picking up apparel and lingerie brands ELOQUII and Bare Necessities, respectively, the company on Thursday announced its plans to acquire the assets from online art and wall décor retailer Art.com. The all-cash deal is expected to close in early 2019, and includes Art.com’s catalog, IP, trade […]

 If you’re reading this post, you probably want to watch the first trailer for the new Avengers movie. So go ahead, watch it. I’ll wait. It doesn’t show much that viewers of “Avengers: Infinity War” hadn’t already guessed (spoilers!): Namely, that the galactic warlord Thanos has succeeded in his plot to eliminate half the […]

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This week we had Connie Loizos in the studio along with Kate Clark, myself and a special guest. The special guest was fitting, as it was a special episode. Why? Because this is our 100th episode, a milestone […]