TechCrunch Industry News

A ‘credible alternative to Google and Amazon’: Klarna brings its price comparison tool to Europe

15 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Klarna is expanding into the competitive world of price comparisons, with the launch of a new tool that compares prices across thousands of retailers....

Amazon eyes devices group as it undertakes broad cost cutting

14 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Echo business has always looked like Amazon playing the long game from the outside. Above all, the company’s home consumer hardware is a conveni...

Australia tells Medibank hackers: ‘We know who you are’

14 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Australian Federal Police claims to have identified the cybercriminals behind the Medibank ransomware attack, which compromised the personal data ...

Have you tried turning it off and on again, Elon?

11 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A few days ago, new Twitter owner Elon Musk said that the company will try a lot of dumb things in the coming days. And that seems to be the product s...

Aiphone door entry systems can be ‘easily’ bypassed thanks to NFC bug

11 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The vulnerability in the door entry security system, used in government buildings and apartment complexes, cannot be fixed.Aiphone door entry systems ...

Twitter blocks new accounts from its $8 verified tier after high-profile fakes abound

10 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The motto over at Twitter is clearly a throwback ‘move fast and break things’ at the moment under new ruler Elon Musk, and the latest thing to bre...

Ping wants to simplify global payments while helping Latin Americans embrace crypto

10 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ping users create a free account in U.S. dollars to receive bank transfers in either their local currency or cryptocurrency.Ping wants to simplify glo...

Filing: Meta slashes expenses on reduced hiring and capex investments

09 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Meta’s body blow layoff announcement will see the parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp making its first-ever major layoffs as a company, cutti...

Southeast Asia health tech platform Speedoc raises $28M

09 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Speedoc, a health tech platform that brings hospital care to homes, has raised $28 million in pre-Series B funding. Learn more about your ad choices. ...

Netflix launches a new interactive trivia experience, ‘Triviaverse’

08 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today, Netflix is launching a new interactive game called “Triviaverse” that allows subscribers to test their knowledge and compete against an all...

Ouster and Velodyne agree to merger, signaling consolidation in lidar industry

08 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ouster and Velodyne, two lidar companies, have agreed to a merger in an all-stock transaction, the companies said Monday. Both Ouster and Velodyne wil...

Unity and IronSource’s $4.4B merger is now complete

07 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Unity‘s proposed merger with IronSource has formally concluded, with the two companies coming together to create an end-to-end platform for develope...

Ant’s global play is to be a payments aggregator and it now reaches 1B users

07 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After trying for years to replicate the success of its QR code-enabled payments solution overseas, Ant Group seems to have finally found a path to sca...

After Stripe and Square, Venmo and PayPal are set to support Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhones

04 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

PayPal announced Thursday that it will soon support Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhones. The company said in its Q3 2022 earnings report that both PayPal ...

Patreon adds a long-awaited native video feature

04 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Patreon creators can now upload videos directly to the platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Smartex sews up $24.7M to put smarter eyes on textile manufacturing

03 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A lot of things might spring to mind when you hear “fashion,” but taking care of the planet generally isn’t on that list. Smartex just raised a ...

Ex-Bain investor launches $30M web3 consumer VC fund as solo female founder

03 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Magdalena “Mags” Kala, a self-described “lifetime degen,” is no stranger to beating the odds. Before she became an investor, she co-founded an...

Byju’s eyes $1 billion IPO for physical tutor chain Aakash

02 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Indian edtech giant Byju’s is engaging with bankers to put together a plan for the initial public offering of its unit Aakash, which it acquired ...

Volocopter raises $182M to bring air taxi closer to certification

02 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Volocopter, a German startup building electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, has secured $182 million for the second signing of its S...

Evolito, with an axial-flux motor lighter than Tesla’s, starts ramping up its team

01 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Last year YASA, a British electric motor startup with a revolutionary “axial-flux” motor, was acquired by Mercedes-Benz to develop ultra-high-perf...

Hong Kong to explore legalizing retail crypto trades in reversal of previous proposal

01 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Hong Kong has proposed allowing retail investors to trade in cryptocurrencies and crypto exchange-traded funds and plans to conduct pilots in NFT issu...

GM pauses paid advertising on Twitter as Chief Twit Elon Musk takes ownership

31 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

General Motors has temporarily paused paid advertising on Twitter, one day after billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk finalized a $44 billion acquisiti...

US sanctions on China could extend to biotech, official says

31 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On the heels of the Biden administration’s decision to impose sweeping chip sanctions on China, there are signs that China might also lose access to...

Europe schools Elon Musk that Twitter’s wings are already clipped

28 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

And so the it begins… Elon Musk has only been owner of Twitter for a few hours but he’s already earned himself a schooling from the European Union...

It’s time to admit self-driving cars aren’t going to happen

28 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A couple caveats for those going apoplectic over the headline: I mean self-driving isn’t going to be a thing A) in our lifetimes and B) with any kin...

Versa raises $120M for its software-defined networking and security stack

27 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Networking and cybersecurity firm Versa today announced that it raised $120 million in a mix of equity and debt led by BlackRock, with participation f...

US charges Ukrainian national over alleged role in Raccoon Infostealer malware operation

27 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

U.S. officials have charged a Ukrainian national over his alleged role in the Raccoon Infostealer malware-as-a-service operation that infected million...

Twitter’s Elon problem could soon become Apple’s Elon problem, too

26 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Reports indicate Elon Musk is on track to close his purchase of mildly popular bird website Twitter dot com as of this Friday, which is when he’s be...

Google hit with $113 million fine in India for anti-competitive practices with Play Store policies

26 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

India’s antitrust watchdog has hit Google with $113 million fine for abusing the dominant position of its app store, the second such penalty on the ...

Jasper’s robots assemble fresh meals for nearby apartment dwellers

25 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After attempting to sell its tech to large food service companies, cooking automation startup Jasper has shifted to direct-to-consumer. Learn more abo...

Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ is the priciest digital album Tencent has sold

24 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Taylor Swift’s latest album “Midnights” has dropped, and it might be setting a new standard for China’s digital music industry. Learn more abo...

YouTube Premium’s family plan gets a price hike in several countries

24 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

YouTube is raising prices for its Premium subscription plans across many countries including the US, the UK, Canada, and Argentina. Learn more about y...

Uber pilots electric cab offering in India

21 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Uber has started offering electric vehicles to customers in certain parts of the Delhi-NCR region and says it will be expanding its efforts over the c...

Google Messages adds reaction support for iPhone texts and in-app reminders

21 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Google has left no stones unturned in pushing Apple to adopt the Rich Communication Services that the search giant argues will improve cross-platfo...

Ocean-climate VC Propeller launches with $100M to fund ‘tomorrow’s narwhals’

20 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Propeller, a new climate-tech investor with a focus on the ocean, tells TechCrunch that it has hooked $100 million for its first seed fund. Learn more...

Pinterest partners with record labels to bring popular music to its TikTok rival, ‘Idea Pins’

20 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Pinterest’s TikTok competitor is gaining new music. The company announced today its video-focused “Idea Pins” feature will now include the abili...

Eswatini’s central bank mulls issuance of a digital currency

19 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The kingdom of Eswatini is considering the introduction of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), joining the growing list of African countries explo...

Rolls-Royce Spectre EV to launch next year with 260-mile range

19 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rolls-Royce plans to deliver its first EV, the Spectre two-door coupe, to customers late next year as it transitions toward becoming a fully electric ...

Belkin’s $30 Continuity Camera accessory is now available for MagSafe iPhones

18 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Continuity Camera was one of the odder additions that arrived in the last round of Apple operating system updates. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

Shares of Korean internet giant Kakao slide after fire disrupts service

18 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The stock price of South Korea’s internet giant Kakao tumbled on Monday after a fire at a data center that cut off power on Saturday, causing severa...

PayPal debuts a new rewards program that combines Honey’s discounts with other ways to earn

17 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

PayPal is taking a step away from the Honey brand, the $4 billion shopping rewards acquisition it made in 2019, with today’s launch of PayPal Reward...

Shein owner fined $1.9M for failing to notify 39M users of data breach

17 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A data breach from 2018 is putting Shein under the spotlight as the ultra-fast fashion e-commerce platform continues to conquer Gen-Z markets across t...

Repairable laptop firm Framework introduces refurbished program

14 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Framework is at the vanguard of a growing movement to make electronics more repair-friendly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.co...

Nudge Security emerges from stealth to tackle cybersecurity’s people problem

14 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Social engineering attacks are on the rise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Uniswap Labs valued at $1.66 billion in $165 million new funding

13 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Uniswap Labs has raised $165 million in a new funding round as the parent firm of the world’s largest decentralized exchange looks to broaden its of...

Roboadvisor Betterment launches crypto offering with four themed portfolios

13 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Betterment, a roboadvisory platform which manages over $33 billion in assets, has finally launched its crypto offering after completing a private beta...

Moon set for November traffic jam as both ispace and NASA target launches

12 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If all goes to plan, Florida’s Space Coast could see two separate lunar missions take off in November. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podca...

OatFi secures capital to power BNPL services for SMBs

12 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The buy now, pay later (BNPL) market was once seen as a bulletproof investment, given the meteoric rise of players like Klarna and Afterpay during the...

Starship partners with Grubhub to bring sidewalk bots to colleges

11 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Autonomous sidewalk delivery robot company Starship Technologies is partnering with food ordering and delivery company Grubhub to provide robotic deli...

Samsung seeks smart TV growth with first Tizen OS licensing deals

11 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Samsung has confirmed the first third-party smart TV makers to ship with its Tizen operating system (OS), with several manufacturers preparing to laun...

Google removes The OG App from the Play Store as founders think about next steps

10 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Almost a week after Apple removed The OG App from the App Store, an Instagram client that promised to provide an ad-free and suggestion-free feed, Goo...

Purple Elephant Ventures, Kenya’s tourism-focused startup studio, raises $1M pre-seed funding

10 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A Kenya-based venture studio with a focus on tourism, Purple Elephant Ventures (PEV), has raised $1 million pre-seed funding to build the next generat...

Twitter nudges you to share the tweet instead of taking a screenshot

07 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Screenshots of tweets are one of the most popular ways to share tweets with friends or post them on your other social media accounts. Learn more about...

UK to probe Inmarsat and Viasat’s $7.3B merger on competition grounds, says it could lead to pricier in-flight Wi-FI

07 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that the proposed merger between London-based satellite communications company Inma...

Uber’s former security chief found guilty of covering up 2016 data breach

06 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Uber’s former head of security has been found guilty of criminal obstruction for attempting cover up a data breach that saw tens of millions of cust...

Party Round’s rebrand is banking on founder bank accounts

06 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Party Round wants you to know that the party isn’t over. In fact, it just rebranded, put the music just a little bit lower, and finally put out some...

White House proposes voluntary safety and transparency rules around AI

05 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The White House this morning unveiled what it’s colloquially calling an “AI Bill of Rights,” which aims to establish tenets around the ways AI a...

VLC-developer VideoLAN sends legal notice to Indian ministries over ban

05 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

VideoLAN, the developer and operator of popular media player VLC, has filed a legal notice to India’s IT and Telecom ministries, alleging that the I...

App Store experienced sharp revenue drop in September, Morgan Stanley says

04 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Apple’s App Store suffered a 5% year-on-year dip in net revenue in September according to a note from Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring. Learn mo...

Rivian taps Capital One exec Diane Lye as its first CIO

04 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rivian has hired Diane Lye as its first chief information officer, a position that the EV maker says is necessary to expand globally. Learn more about...

Amazon is launching a dedicated hub for its affordable shopping options

03 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Amazon is launching Amazon Access, a new hub for customers to explore the programs, discounts and features that the online retailer offers for afforda...

Truepill, a digital health unicorn, conducts fourth round of layoffs in 2022

03 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Truepill, a platform that helps other companies offer diagnostics, telehealth services and prescriptions, has conducted its fourth layoff of the year....

YouTube TV users can now subscribe to standalone networks without a base plan

30 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

YouTube TV launched a new option that allows subscribers to purchase add-ons without subscribing to the full channel offering in the service’s Base ...

Fairphone adds fully refurbished handsets to its modular reuse mix

30 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Away from the premium smartphone feature-utility hyperbole swirling around dynamic islands, mobile devices remain much of a muchness. Learn more about...

Square now supports Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhones

29 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Block, the company behind Square and Cash App, now supports Apple’s Tap to Pay for iPhone feature for merchants. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

Hacker breaches Fast Company systems to send offensive Apple News notifications

29 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

U.S. business publication Fast Company has confirmed that a hacker breached its internal systems to send offensive push notifications to Apple News us...

Cionic gets $12.5M to accelerate its assistive mobility wearable

28 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

There’s been plenty of excitement on the robotic exoskeleton front in recent years. For the most part, these devices slot into two categories: 1) wo...

Document onboarding startup Flatfile nabs $50M from investors, including Workday

28 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Data cleansing — prepping data for applications like predictive analytics — takes time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com...

NASA’s DART anti-asteroid satellite successfully smashes into space rock

27 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

NASA has completed a key step of its “Double Asteroid Redirection Test” (DART), smashing a satellite roughly the size of a vending machine into a ...

Apple starts manufacturing iPhone 14 in India

27 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Apple has started assembling the iPhone 14 models in India, it said Monday, locally producing the current lineup for the first time in the same calend...

Samsung launches credit card in India

26 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Samsung has launched two credit cards in India, entering a crowded category that sees over 50 companies fiercely compete for consumers’ attention in...

Rad Power Bikes and Cycle pilot consumer e-bike subscriptions

26 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rad Power Bikes, a popular American e-bike brand that has raised over $300 million in the past two years, will start offering bikes as a subscription ...

Breaking Bad creator is making a new show for Apple TV+ with Rhea Seehorn

23 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Apple TV+’s original programming has received a major boost with the company landing a deal with “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” creat...

Alibaba Cloud pledges $1B to boost overseas alliance

23 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Alibaba is known for its sprawling e-commerce empire, but like Amazon, cloud service has been a big driver of its revenues in recent years. Learn more...

Florida escalates the fight over a controversial social media law to the Supreme Court

22 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After an appeals court struck down key portions of a state law designed to prevent social media companies from freely making content moderation decisi...

Berlin’s Kaiko Systems nets €2M to help maritime technical operations go paperless

22 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From healthcare to manufacturing, traditional industries have been getting a digital makeover over the past decade. Learn more about your ad choices. ...

Google is integrating Assistant and Calendar reminders with Tasks

21 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In its latest step of the app cleanup drive, Google is folding in Assistant and Calendar reminders in its Tasks app. Learn more about your ad choices....

YouTube’s ‘dislike’ and ‘not interested’ options don’t do much for your recommendations, study says

21 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

There is no secret that both viewers and creators are confused by the puzzle that is YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. Learn more about your ad ch...

Slack adds persistent information layer to channels called Canvas

20 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Slack has succeeded in large part in the enterprise by allowing people to communicate in a number of ways while integrating with many common enterpris...

This Mac app makes it easy to create your own AI images with Stable Diffusion

20 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Everyone wants to get in on the AI image generation action, but if you’ve been intimidated by the existing options out there based on Stable Diffusi...

Swedish last-mile delivery companies Instabox and Budbee to become Instabee in $1.7B merger

19 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Swedish last-mile delivery companies Instabox and Budbee have have announced plans to merge in a 18 billion krona ($1.7 billion) deal. Learn more abou...

Autonomous electric truck company Einride rides into Germany

19 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Autonomous and electric truck maker Einride is rolling into Germany, representing its first new market in Europe outside its native Sweden. Learn more...

YouTube encourages creators to make Shorts directly from replies

16 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If one short video app has a feature, everyone else has to have it. That’s the rule. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adch...

Adobe snaps up Figma for $20B, taking out one of its biggest rivals in digital design

16 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Big news in the world of digital creative tech: Adobe today announced that it would acquire Figma for $20 billion. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

Lightyear opens to stocks and ETFs across the UK and Europe

15 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

U.K.-based fintech Lightyear is extending its stock-trading offering to include a wide selection of U.K. and European stocks, as well as exchange trad...

Chameleon raises cash to help SaaS companies build better onboarding experiences

15 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Chameleon, a startup providing low- and no-code tools designed to help software companies personalize the appearance of their apps, today announced th...

GoPro’s Hero11 gets improved image quality, stabilization and a Mini version

14 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This year marks GoPro’s 20th year. It’s been an interesting journey for a company that has become synonymous with a specific product category for ...

Hone raises $30M to grow its corporate learning platofrm

14 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

One of the co-founders of FanDuel has raised $30 million to fund a startup — Hone — that’s providing a platform for “enterprise-scale,” exec...

Ashby lands $21.5M to automate key aspects of recruiting

13 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As hiring remains challenging in an economy where jobs are plentiful (depending on the sector), venture capitalists continue to pump money into HR sta...

Roku’s latest update adds short-form video, a universal save list and ‘continue watching’ feature

13 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Alongside its fall hardware update, which included new streaming and audio devices, Roku today unveiled the features it has in store for the next vers...

Gotham Greens just raised $310M to expand its greenhouses nationwide

12 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

That’s not a typo. $310 million, with a zero at the end. This latest round brings Gotham Greens’ total funding up to $440 million since its 2009 l...

Rocket Lab, Sierra Space sign agreements under US military’s rocket cargo project

12 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rocket Lab and Sierra Space have signed separate agreements with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to explore how their respective flight systems —...

Tesla wants your vote for new Supercharger locations

09 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Tesla said Thursday it is turning to the public to help determine where to locate its next Superchargers as the automaker continues to expand its netw...

Uber wants court to nullify Kenya’s new ride-hailing law that caps service fee at 18%

09 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Uber has appealed to Kenya’s apex court to annul the new digital taxi-hailing regulations claiming that some aspects are unconstitutional, discrimin...

Bloomingdale’s goes all-in on metaverse with new virtual store

08 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Bloomingdale’s virtual store will initially feature collections from brands like Polo Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, David Yurman, MCM, Byredo and Bacca...

Boston’s ClearMotion funded by Nio Capital to switch on in-car metaverse in China

08 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

U.S.-China decoupling is expected to discourage cross-border investments between the two superpowers as investors shy away from sanctions and geopolit...

Twitter will let you edit your tweet up to five times

07 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Twitter announced a much-anticipated feature last week — the ability to edit tweets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adch...

Open-source password manager Bitwarden raises $100M

07 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Bitwarden, an open-source password manager for enterprises and consumers, has raised $100 million in a round of funding led by PSG, with participation...

LG Electronics launches NFT platform that lets users buy and sell digital artwork

06 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

LG Electronics said today it has released its non-fungible token (NFT) platform LG Art Lab, which lets users discover, buy, sell and trade NFTs on LG’...

Docquity, a community for healthcare professionals, raises $44M Series C

06 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A call between doctors can save lives. That’s what Docquity co-founder Indranil Roychowdhury learned when his father was hospitalized with a life-th...