Earlier this week, Thirteen Lune, a direct-to-consumer beauty platform that was launched last year in LA with $1 million in seed funding from Diddy, Gwyneth Paltrow and Beautycounter founder Gregg Renfrew, announced $3 million in additional seed funding. We might not normally pause on this kind of development, especially in a market where dozens of […]
Appetiser’s co-founders discuss building client relationships and getting to MVP
We interviewed Jamie Shostak and Michael MacRae, co-founders of Australian agency Appetiser, which focuses on designing, building and growing mobile and web apps.
Kenya’s Twiga raises $50M to scale food solutions across Africa
Years ago, Americans spent most of their disposable income on food but consistent investment in retail infrastructure has changed that. Now, they only spend 6% of their household income on food and beverages. Africa still battles with this and it is not hard to see why. The continent’s retail markets are highly fragmented and mostly made up […]
ShipBlu bags $2.4M for its e-commerce and fulfilment service in Egypt
African e-commerce fulfilment startups backed by Y Combinator seem to be piquing investors’ interest this year for their niche e-commerce play. Summer batch graduate ShipBlu is the latest on that list and confirmed to TechCrunch that it has raised $2.4 million in seed funding. The company, founded by Ali Nasser, Ahmed ElKawass, Abdelrahman Hosny in […]
Every startup has a tipping point. How do you recalibrate?
Welcome to Startups Weekly, a fresh human-first take on this week’s startup news and trends. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. I spent the past month interviewing current and former employees at Ro, a health tech unicorn, about rising tensions within the company as it struggles to grow into its $5 billion valuation. […]
A new venture studio, SuperLayer, aims to become a preeminent Web3 launch pad
There’s a new venture studio in the world that looks rather different from earlier venture studios from a structural standpoint. Unlike renowned outfits like Atomic or Science or Expa that create companies that then sell equity to VCs who expect that equity to rise in value, this new studio, SuperLayer, plans to spin up consumer […]
3 signs that a startup’s ‘impact’ is just a marketing ploy for investors
For some founders, tying themselves to impact is a way to play into trends and get noticed by investors, but there’s a fine line between impact and pushing a narrative for marketing purposes.
TechCrunch+ roundup: BNPL competition heats up, Bowery Farming TC-1, Silicon Valley dreams
Is Southeast Asia about to hit an inflection point for tech startups? Four hundred million people in the region already use the internet, but by year’s end, one estimate suggests that 80% of the population over the age of 15 in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam will be digital consumers. “As per […]
3 ways to humanize support automation
Your bot is an extension of your company and is likely to be the first interaction a customer will have on your website or app. Use this opportunity to showcase the qualities your customers want.
Quick observations on Udemy’s unicorn edtech IPO
The Udemy IPO might seem like good news. After all, the company sold more than $420 million worth of its stock while going public at a price that surpassed its final private-market price. And yet.