Barcelona-based Payflow, a YC-backed salary-advance fintech with ambitions to evolve into a neobank, has banked a $9.1 million Series A funding round — bringing its total raised since January 2020, when the business was founded, to $13.6M. Investors in the round include a mix of national and international funds, including Spain’s Seaya Ventures, a new […]
Chilean election offers stark choice: a leftist or an admirer of Pinochet
The campaign has resurfaced deep divisions and revived bitter memories of the country’s recent pastChilean voters head to the polls on Sunday to chose between two presidential candidates offering starkly contrasting visions for the future, in the count…
Dear Sophie: How to maneuver the latest travel bans, H-1B alternatives
Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies.
From bootstrapped to a $417M valuation, Chile’s Buk raises $50M for its HR management platform
Chile’s Buk, which has developed a human resources management platform for Latin American companies, announced today that it has raised $50 million in a Series A funding round that values the company at $417 million. There are a few notable things about this financing. For one, it represents one of the largest (if not the) […]
China roundup: Tesla supplier CATL to buy Canada’s Millennial Lithium
Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch’s China roundup, a digest of recent events shaping the Chinese tech landscape and what they mean to people in the rest of the world. China’s anti-competition tech crackdown continues to redefine the dynamics among the country’s internet giants, leading to collaboration between Alibaba and Tencent in the payments race. In […]
Porsche’s new synthetic gasoline may fuel Formula 1 races
Electrolyzed hydrogen is combined with CO2 to make methanol, then gasoline.
Esta tierra es de las dos, de indígenas y de marginales
Camila Moreno has a new album out: Rey.
There’s a great colab on it: Déjame (feat. Ximena Sariñana & Lido Pimienta)
She’s Chilean, was lauded originally as carrying on Violeta Parra’s legacy, but has a distinctive sound, mixing folklore, nueva c…
Foreign investors have a bigger role to play in growing Latin America’s startup ecosystem
There has been significant hype around Latin America’s startup success. For good reason, too: Startups have raised $9.3 billion in just the first half of 2021, almost double the amount in all of 2020.
How a hot blob off New Zealand is contributing to drought in South America
Study reveals the vast patch of warm water has produced a dry ridge of high pressure across the south Pacific, blocking storms from reaching ChileA vast patch of warming water off the coast of New Zealand – referred to as a “warming blob” – has contrib…
Spotify expands its radio DJ-like format, Music + Talk, to global creators
Last fall, Spotify introduced a new format that combined spoken word commentary with music, allowing creators to reproduce the radio-like experience of listening to a DJ or music journalist who shared their perspective on the tracks they would then play. Today, the company is making the format, which it calls “Music + Talk,” available to […]