Crunch Hype

Self-driving startup Waymo, a Google spin-off owned by parent company Alphabet, has been granted the first permit in California to begin driverless testing on public roads. Yes, that means self-driving cars without a human behind the wheel will be cruising around California, beginning with a limited geographic area in Silicon Valley. The company’s autonomous vehicles are a common sight […]

With its shiny new $8 billion valuation, Coinbase is now worth more than all but the top three cryptocurrencies that trade on the platform. That’s right, the only cryptocurrency assets that are worth more than the platform that trades them are Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple. Bitcoin Cash, the currency forked from Bitcoin, is a distant […]

After last quarter’s bloodbath earnings report that cut 20 percent from Facebook’s share price, the social network stumbled in Q3 2018, reaching 2.27 billion monthly users, up 37 million users or 1.79 percent — only slightly better than Q1’s slowest-ever growth rate of just 1.54 percent, and compared to an 2.29 billion Wall Street estimate. […]

It’s not too late for tech giants to learn to be responsible, self-aware competitors. However, a few central questions must be answered.

Will the company satisfy Wall Street with its latest earnings report Thursday?

Late this past summer, Meetup founder and CEO Scott Heiferman moved into the chairman position, leaving the CEO role vacant. Today, Meetup has announced that David Siegel will be taking the helm at the 15-year-old company. Siegel hails from Investopedia, where he served as CEO for three years, tripling the company’s revenue and doubling its […]

On the heels of a funding round to the tune of $18.8 million, Even Financial has acquired Birch Finance for an undisclosed sum. Even offers products like a pre-approval API, real-time pricing, machine learning optimization, a product comparison and recommendation engine for consumers and more. Birch Finance, a TC Startup Battlefield alum that raised $1 million earlier […]

Over the past two years, the notch move from anomaly to fact of life, and no company has proven itself more pro-notch than Google. From its embrace of #notchlife in Android Pie to the downright gigantic one found up top on the Pixel 3 XL, Google’s really notchin’ it up. In fact, as noted by […]

Local advertising startup ZypMedia is announcing that it has raised $5.6 million in Series C funding. That’s relatively small amount of money for a Series C (the company had previously raised $6.9 million total, according to Crunchbase), but co-founder Aman Sareen said, “We had the opportunity to raise a lot more, but we chose not […]

Gmail users on iOS are getting a notable upgrade today: a unified inbox. While Android users have had the option to see multiple inboxes in a single view, iOS users – until now – have had to switch accounts by tapping between them in the app’s navigation. Many people today have more than one email […]

Last summer, Google introduced its own take on Bitmoji with the launch of “Mini” stickers in its keyboard app, Gboard, which leverage machine learning to create illustrated stickers based on your selfie. Today, Google is expanding the Mini Stickers with the launch of what it calls “Emoji Minis” – meaning, emoji-sized stickers that look like […]

Drivers can now listen to their favorite tunes without having to leave the Waze navigation app. This week, Waze added an audio player to its crowdsourced navigation app that aims to deliver music, podcasts and other content from seven major platforms, including Pandora, Deezer, iHeartRadio, NPR, Scribd, Stitcher and TuneIn. These partners have integrated their audio […]

True Ventures never seems to be short on exits. Most recently, the 13-year-old venture firm saw early checks to Ring, Blue Bottle Coffee, Duo Security and Evident.io pay off via exits to Amazon, Nestle, Cisco and Palo Alto Networks, respectively. Collectively, it should be mentioned, these acquirers shelled out about $4 billion for the startups. […]

Why, it seems like only yesterday that Steve Jobs first pulled the MacBook Air from a manila envelope for the world to see. It wasn’t, of course — that was 10 years ago this January. In that past decade, the ultraportable laptop has become a massive hit for the company, helping to redefine the notebook […]

Aura, an app for emotional well-being, has raised a $2.7 million seed round co-led by Cowboy Ventures and Reach Capital, with participation from others. When Aura first launched a couple of years ago, its bread and butter was short, three-to-seven-minute meditations based on your current mood — be that stressed, anxious, happy or sad. Since then, […]

Apple’s newest MacBooks include a new feature that makes it far more difficult for hackers or spies to eavesdrop on your microphone. Buried in Apple’s latest range of MacBooks — including the MacBook Pro out earlier this year and the just-announced MacBook Air — is the new T2 security chip, which helps protect the device’s encryption […]

The new Pro marks what is arguably the single largest design change to the iPad line in its eight-and-a-half-year existence. In fact, the new slate is almost unrecognizable as an iPad from the front on. That’s probably a good thing, of course. The tablet-defining line was long overdue for a rethink. After nearly a decade […]

This is a public service announcement. The latest and greatest iPad, namely the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, will cost you $2,227 to buy in its best configuration and with the basic accessories that make it worth having in the first place. Plus tax, of course. I'm not making a value judgment here, just stating the facts. Tablets are getting pretty damn expensive.

Cockroach Lab’s open source SQL database, CockroachDB, has been making inroads since it launched last year, but as any open source technology matures, in order to move deeper into markets it has to move beyond technical early adopters to a more generalized audience. To help achieve that, the company announced a new CockroachDB managed service […]

Apple drove the final nails in the home button’s coffin on Tuesday, removing the once ubiquitous feature from its new line of iPad devices. The new iPad Pro devices, revealed at Tuesday’s Apple event in New York, no longer have a home button. The design move, which is meant to make room for a bigger, more […]

The headphone jack is missing from the latest versions of the iPad Pro. It’s gone. Dead. Worse yet, the headphones that come with the iPhone will not work either. Apple ditched Lightning for USB-C. Instead, Apple is selling a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle for $9. The latest iPad Pro models follows the trend lines set […]

American Express Ventures has led the round, with support from Citi Ventures, PAR Capital Ventures, General Catalyst and Accomplice.

We’re 10 short days away from making TechCrunch history, and we couldn’t be more excited. On 8 November, we kick off our first Startup Battlefield Latin America 2018 at the Tomie Ohtake Institute in São Paulo, Brazil. We can’t wait to add up to 15 of the region’s exceptional early-stage startup founders to our Startup Battlefield alumni […]

From new iPads to new MacBook Airs, Apple had a bunch of hardware refreshes to debut this morning. Here’s everything they showed off. New MacBook Air The MacBook Air is, at last, getting a Retina display. Roughly six years after the MacBook Pro went high-res, Apple’s slim line is following suit. It has a 13.3″ […]

Lightning had a good run, but it’s time to switch everything to USB-C. Apple finally dropped the Lightning port with the new iPad Pro. And the USB-C port is much more versatile than Lightning. For instance, you can plug a 5K display to your iPad Pro and show some video on the external display. It’s […]

To get an edge on the market, investors must look beyond traditional financial info like revenue and profits. Our every online activity generates data exhaust like web traffic, Twitter mentions, app downloads, and search trends. It’s the ability to overlay the old and new data sets to spot surprising trends that will set the best […]

Apple is expanding the number and types of classes it hosts at its retail stores, under the banner of “Today at Apple.” The company says it’s adding 60 more sessions at its stores, including those focused on using its newer apps, like Siri Shortcuts and Clips, as well as those focused on AR, art, music, […]

Apple is borrowing some ideas from the competition with the second-generation Apple Pencil. The most exciting thing is that you won’t lose it in your backpack anymore as it uses magnets just like your smart cover. You can attach it to the tablet and it won’t get in the way if you’re using it in […]

Here it is, the latest iPad Pro. A refreshed version of Apple’s highest-end tablet is, as anticipated, the centerpiece for today’s big event in Brooklyn. The new tablet marks what is arguable the most radical departure for the line from a design perspective, since the line rolled out some eight and a half years ago. […]

Now that the Air’s got shiny new update, it’s time for the other major neglected entry in the Mac line. As Tim Cook noted on stage, the company’s got another “small” addition to the line. The pint sized desktop is getting it’s “biggest updated, ever, according to the company. The footprint is the same familiar […]

MacBook Air fans aren't hard to find. Although I admit to being a bit skeptical at its introduction, the laptop grew from an underpowered runt to an underappreciated workhorse over the years. But the design has hardly changed in the decade (!) since it came out — at least until today's Apple event, when the company took the wraps off a totally redesigned Air with a retina display and Touch ID — and a new $1,199 price.

During its press event in Brooklyn, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared some numbers on the Mac in particular. The active install base of all Macs is currently 100 million. “People love the Mac and they use it to create all kinds of amazing things every day,” Cook said. Obviously this number is much smaller than […]

In the words of three of our greatest philosophers, “no sleep ’til Brooklyn.” That goes double for all of you West Coasters, because today’s Apple event is kicking off bright and early at 10AM ET/7AM PT. It’s been just over a month since the last big Apple hardware event, but it seems the company still […]

Apple is holding a keynote today at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House, and the company is expected to unveil a brand new iPad Pro as well as updated Mac computers. The event starts at 10 AM in New York (7 AM in San Francisco, 2 PM in London, 3 PM in […]

Twitter’s decision to double its character count from 140 to 280 characters last year hasn’t dramatically changed the length of Twitter posts. According to new data released by the company this morning, Twitter is still a place for briefer thoughts, with only 1% of tweets hitting the 280-character limit, and only 12% of tweets longer than […]

The march to add more artificial intelligence-powered tools into the enterprise stack continues apace, and today another startup has raised a growth round to position itself as one of the leaders in is particular niche. AppZen, which has developed an AI platform that analyses employees’ expenses to sniff out when someone is either violating company […]

Concord is raising a new $25 million funding round led by Tenaya Capital, with existing investors CRV and Alven also participating. The company is building a platform that makes it easier to manage your contracts all the way from writing them to signing them. Even if you used a service like DocuSign to sign a […]

The messaging-based primary care provider 98point6 has raised $50 million in its latest round of led by the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs. It seems that Jo Natauri, the global head of healthcare investing in Goldman Sachs’ investment banking group is a fan of the concept that millennials would rather text than video chat. […]

I’m bad at meditating. The act of sitting still with my thoughts is a terrifying, anxiety-inducing thing. I’ve been on and off meditation kicks for years now, so I’m willing to try just about any quick fix that promises to keep on track. I’ve had limited results with various mindful apps — Calm and Insight […]

Chatbots have largely been a disappointing development up to now in the world of artificial intelligence applications, with too many mistakes made when the AI fails to address a user’s actual intent. But in the world of enterprise apps, there remain some interesting, adjacent opportunities: for example, where AI may not be used to underpin […]

Volkswagen Group wants to reinvent itself in the age of connected and electric vehicles. And it starts with Volkswagen’s Moia, a brand new mobility brand with services and vehicles built for the cities of tomorrow. That’s why I’m excited to announce that Moia CEO Ole Harms is joining us at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin. Volkswagen has […]

Crypto exchange Coinbase says it is now valued at over $8 billion after it closed a new $300 million round of funding. The U.S. company said this Series E investment was led by Tiger Global with participation from Y Combinator — via its Continuity fund — in addition to Wellington Management, Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain among […]

HeadSpin has raised $20 million from GV, ICONIQ Capital, Battery Ventures and more.

Pedro H. Ramos Contributor Pedro H. Ramos is a partner at Baptista Luz Advogados. Pedro has been representing clients in the technology sector since 2009. He is an advisor to the Interministerial Committee for Digital Transformation, a board member at ABStartups (Brazilian Startup Association) and co-author of the book “Regulatory Environment: Public Policy Best Practices […]

Airobotics, the developer of automated drones that can fly without a pilot, has raised $30 million in a new round of financing. The new funding will be used to boost the company’s manufacturing efforts to meet new demand and help with the development of the company’s global headquarters in Arizona as it looks to capitalize on […]

Ethos, the startup marketing a new life insurance product for people who probably haven’t really thought about life insurance, may have 99 startup problems but new capital ain’t one. The company just announced that it raised $35 million in a new round of financing. That’s a pretty big number for a company in the normally staid […]

Nintendo is betting that two of its most-beloved franchises — Mario and Pokémon — can help it hit its lofty goal of selling 20 million Switch consoles this financial year. The company made the bold prediction at the start of its financial year and now, six months later, the Switch sales count stands at 5.07 million units […]

Snapchat, in hot competition with the likes of YouTube and Instagram’s IGTV to capture a growing audience that is replacing traditional TV with online and mobile video programs, now has 5 million people in the UK watching Shows on Snapchat that are produced by premium partners out of the US. Now, parent company Snap is […]

The food and beverage market is having a moment as venture capital money sloshes around looking for its high-potential startups. Hillhouse Capital, the China-based investment fund that counts Airbnb, Uber, Baidu, and Tencent and several other tech heavyweights in its portfolio, has set up a $100 million fund with San Francisco-based private equity firm VMG […]

Sony’s PlayStation business continues to come on leaps and bounds after a 27 percent increase in gaming revenue helped the company record a $2.1 billion profit in Q2. The PlayStation division is Sony’s top performer and once again that was the case, carding $4.9 billion in sales during the quarter with an operating profit of […]