From Ph.D. to boutique software developer: An interview with Solwey’s Andrew Drach

“In my opinion, the word ‘agile’ has been loosely applied to many different approaches and strategies to manage projects so the discussion of ‘fake’ versus ‘real’ agile is tricky without a specific context or example.”

Facebook and Instagram roll out personalized ‘Year in Review’ features

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has rolled out “Year in Review” features for both Facebook and Instagram. On Facebook, users can share their personalized “Year Together” card, which highlights the friends, feelings, places and people that mattered most to them in 2021. The new in-feed experience reflects on people’s year on the platform and curates […]

Netflix launches a website dedicated to news about renewals, exclusive interviews and more

Netflix has launched a new website called “Tudum,” which will host consumer news about renewals, release dates and extra content featuring its TV shows and movies. The company is marketing the website as “a place to discover more about your Netflix favorites.” For a more curated experience, users can log into the website with their […]

Enterprise escalator Impact Rooms rises to prepare African startups for growth and investment

A few years ago, at the start of the fintech services boom in Africa, Oliver Blantern got an opportunity to work in the continent offering advisory services to high-growth startups. For slightly over three years his company, Riverhouse Technology, helped the emerging tech firms in talent sourcing and acquisition. The trained lawyer did all this […]

Lydia grabs another $100 million for its European financial super app

Just a few weeks after announcing stock and crypto trading, French fintech startup Lydia is announcing that it has raised a $100 million Series C round. With this funding round, the startup has reached a unicorn valuation, which means that it is currently valued at more than $1 billion. Dragoneer and Echo Street are investing […]

Apple partners with Boys & Girls Clubs of America to launch a new coding program

Apple has partnered with Boys & Girls Clubs of America to launch a new program that aims to bring coding opportunities to children and teens across the U.S. Using the tech giant’s “Everyone Can Code” curriculum, children and teens at local Boys & Girls Clubs will integrate coding into their activities. Apple says the new […]

This Week in Apps: Apple and Google’s best apps of the year, Amazon Appstore fails, Twitter’s new CEO

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry continues to grow, with a record 218 billion downloads and $143 billion in global consumer spend in 2020. Consumers last year also spent 3.5 trillion minutes […]

New Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal begins restructuring as two execs step down

Earlier this week, Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down from his role. He appointed CTO Parag Agrawal as new CEO, effective immediately. Agrawal, who joined Twitter as an engineer in 2011, already announced a major reorganization of the company today, per an internal email obtained by The Washington Post. Twitter confirmed the news […]

Picsart acquires R&D company DeepCraft in seven-figure deal to aid video push

SoftBank-based digital creation platform Picsart, which recently hit uniciorn status, announced today it’s acquiring the research and development company DeepCraft. The deal is a combination of both cash and stock and is in the seven-figure range, but the exact terms aren’t being disclosed. Picsart today offers a range of digital creation and editing tools aimed […]

Social app IRL makes its first acquisition with deal for digital nutrition company AaBeZe Labs

IRL, the SoftBank-backed social app and recent unicorn, is today announcing its first acquisition. The company is purchasing, for an undisclosed sum, the “digital nutrition” company AaBeZe Labs and its portfolio of IP with the goal of making IRL a healthier and more ethically designed social networking app. AaBeZe’s founders Michael Phillips Moskowitz, the former […]