‘A city where you can pilot almost anything and figure out if it’s going to work’

Scott Bade Contributor Share on Twitter Scott Bade is a former speechwriter for Mike Bloomberg and co-author of "More Human: Designing a World Where People Come First." More posts by this contributor The tech of giving back: an interview with Salesforce’s Chief Philanthropy Officer Omidyar Network CEO opens up about VC-influenced philanthropy As founding executive director of Tech:NYC, Julie Samuels is one of the state’s most prominent advocates for the tech sector, both in Albany and at City Hall. Samuels, a lawyer by training, came...

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Facebook has acquired Scape Technologies, the London-based computer vision startup

Scape Technologies, the London-based computer vision startup working on location accuracy beyond the capabilities of GPS, has been acquired by Facebook, according to a regulatory filing. Full terms of the deal remain as yet unknown, although a Companies House update reveals that Facebook Inc. now has majority control of the company (more than 75%). However by looking at other filings, including a recent share issue, I understand the price could be about $40 million. Further filings show that Scape’s previous venture capital representatives have...

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3 unicorn takeaways from the Casper and One Medical IPOs

With Casper’s public offering earlier this week, we’ve closed the book on the first two venture-backed IPOs of note in 2020. Casper, joined by One Medical, carried over $870 million of private capital, venture and otherwise, across the finish line. Even though each IPO featured an unprofitable tech-enabled business that had posted sub-30% growth and gross margins under 50% (far more, in the case of One Medical), they wound up miles apart in terms of their market reception and resulting valuation, measured in revenue multiples terms. So what can...

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Senators attempt to force Twitter to ban Iranian leadership

Four Senators, including Ted Cruz (R-TX), have asserted that, as a consequence of sanctions placed on Iran, Twitter must cease providing its services to Ayatollah Khamenei and other leaders in the country. “The Ayatollah enjoys zero protection from the United States Bill of Rights,” he wrote in a letter to the company. Although the move comes as relations between Iran and the U.S. grow ever more strained following a series of violent incidents connected with the country, it is also clearly an attempt to exert executive power over tech companies...

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Our.News fights misinformation with a ‘nutrition label’ for news stories

A startup called Our.News is working to make its users smarter consumers of the news. In other words, it’s confronting some big, seemingly intractable problems. For one thing, there’s a tremendous amount of disinformation online — as Our.News founder and CEO Richard Zack put it, “Unfortunately, you have thousands of people all over the world who intentionally make it hard for people to know what’s true.” At the same time, many people don’t trust the media and don’t trust fact-checkers. (Also, facts don’t actually change people’s minds.) All of...

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AssoConnect is a service that helps you manage your nonprofit organization

Meet AssoConnect, a French startup that is building a software-as-a-service application to give you all the tools you need to manage your non-profit organization (association in French). The company just raised a $7.7 million (€7 million) funding round with XAnge and ISAI leading the round. Various business angels, such as Nicolas Macquin, Rodolphe Carle, Michaël Benabou, Thibaud Elzière and Phil Tesler are also participating in today’s funding round. Many non-profit organizations use tools and services that aren’t really designed for this type...

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What to expect when pitching European VCs

Russ Heddleston Contributor Share on Twitter Russ is the cofounder and CEO of DocSend. He was previously a product manager at Facebook, where he arrived via the acquisition of his startup Pursuit.com, and has held roles at Dropbox, Greystripe, and Trulia. Follow him here: @rheddleston and @docsend More posts by this contributor First mover advantage: Does it matter in startup fundraising? Data says there are only two seasons for fundraising and one secret window Fundraising is the single most important thing you can do for your business,...

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New Early Stage speakers to tackle growth marketing, media strategy and M&A

In a little less than three months, TechCrunch will bring its Early Stage event to SF for the very first time. Early Stage is meant to bring together more than 50 experts across startup core competencies, from funding to marketing to operation. Today, I’m pleased to announce another four experts being added to the agenda. We’re thrilled to be joined by Priti Youssef Choksi, Brooke Hammerling, Ethan Smith and Susan Su. Priti Youssef Choksi Choksi is a partner on the Norwest Venture Partners consumer internet team. Before joining Norwest, she spent...

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Attempt to fold Motorola’s Razr 100,000 times doesn’t go great

{rss:content:encoded} Attempt to fold Motorola’s Razr 100,000 times doesn’t go great https://ift.tt/2vYVPyc https://ift.tt/2SxzJKW February 07, 2020 at 04:36PM The Galaxy Fold felt like an omen for a burgeoning category. The fascinating and promising product was plagued by broken review units that forced Samsung to go back to the drawing board with a reinforced model. But even that version ultimately ran into issues, as I can personally attest. No doubt other companies readying their own devices took the opportunity to reconsider their strategy....

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Motorola embraces the stylus life on its budget G series

{rss:content:encoded} Motorola embraces the stylus life on its budget G series https://ift.tt/2v9nSL1 https://ift.tt/3bk1Plq February 07, 2020 at 03:00PM Motorola’s long been a kind of quiet workhorse on the mobile scene. Aside from the occasional razzle-dazzle of a Moto Z or Razr, the Lenovo subsidiary mostly trades in budget handsets. The G line is probably the best example of the bunch. The devices aren’t flashy and the specs are often a year or two old, but you can’t really argue with the sub-$300 price point. To its credit, however, the brand...

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Why is One Medical worth more than Casper?

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This week was something fun. First, we were back as a group in the San Francisco studio, which is always fun. Even better, we had NEA’s Rick Yang on hand to chat with Danny and Alex about the week. Yang, as old-school Equity listeners will recall, was back on the show in 2017. (Equity turns three soon, which is somewhat amazing.) All that aside, let’s talk about what we talked about. As always, we kicked off with three...

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Carta debuts fund to invest in startups that tap into its platform

This morning Carta, a startup that helps private companies manage equity, announced it has created an investing vehicle called Carta Ventures. The well-funded unicorn wants to invest in young startups that it sees building off of its data-driven perspective into the world of private companies, helping to foster an ecosystem around its core products and services. As TechCrunch has reported, the world of corporate venture capital has seen an enormous rise in the number of players active in the category, as cash-rich incumbents of all sizes deploy...

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Instagram prototypes letting IGTV creators monetize with ads

Instagram may finally let IGTV video makers earn money 18 months after launching the longer-form content hub. Instagram confirms to TechCrunch that it has internally prototyped an Instagram Partner Program that would let creators earn money by showing advertisements along with their videos. By giving creators a sustainable and hands-off way to generate earnings from IGTV, they might be inspired to bring more and higher quality content to the destination. The program could potentially work similarly to Facebook Watch, where video producers earn...

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Instagram prototypes letting IGTV creators monetize with ads

{rss:content:encoded} Instagram prototypes letting IGTV creators monetize with ads https://ift.tt/2S6cYic https://ift.tt/31vuY8H February 07, 2020 at 07:58AM Instagram may finally let IGTV video makers earn money 18 months after launching the longer-form content hub. Instagram confirms to TechCrunch that it has internally prototyped an Instagram Partner Program that would let creators earn money by showing advertisements along with their videos. By giving creators a sustainable and hands-off way to generate earnings from IGTV, they might be inspired...

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Ride-share startup HopSkipDrive raises $22 million to focus on school transportation

It’s no secret that it’s hard to make the economics work at drive-share companies. That may explain the success to date of HopSkipDrive, a six-year-old, L.A.-based company that pairs drivers with both families but also, crucially, school districts. Specifically, the now 100-plus person company has deals in place with school districts in 13 markets across eight states where it works with more than 7,000 contractors. All, says cofounder and CEO Joanna McFarland, have at least five years of childcare experience before they are allowed to drive for...

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Twitter-backed ShareChat eyes fantasy sports in India

The growing market of fantasy sports in India may soon have a new and odd entrant: ShareChat. The local social networking app, which in August last year raised $100 million in a financing round led by Twitter, has developed a fantasy sports app and has been quietly testing it for six months, two sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. ShareChat’s fantasy sports app, called Jeet11, allows betting on cricket and football matches and has already amassed more than 120,000 registered users, the sources said. The app, or its website, does not...

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