New research examining what happens after Internet users in Europe land on an ad-supported website and express their “privacy choices” — using a flagship ad industry consent management platform which is supposed to allow them to control the types of ads they receive (i.e. non-tracking vs “personalized”) — has raised fresh questions over the IAB […]
Spotify acquires podcast tech company Whooshkaa which turns radio broadcasts into on-demand audio
Spotify is continuing its investments in podcasts with today’s news that’s it’s acquired another podcast technology company, Whooshkaa, an Australia-based all-in-one platform for hosting, managing, distributing, promoting, monetizing and measuring podcasts. The deal follows Spotify’s earlier acquisitions in the podcast technology market, including last year’s deal for hosting and ad company Megaphone, and, more recently, […]
Sidewalk Labs products will be folded into Google proper
Alphabet’s smart city project is winding down and Google will take over its products. Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff announced the news in a letter, in which he noted he is stepping down.
Waymo says self-driving car that struck pedestrian in San Francisco was in manual mode
A Waymo self-driving Jaguar I-Pace that struck a pedestrian in San Francisco on Wednesday evening was in manual mode, the company told TechCrunch in response to an initial report posted on Reddit. Waymo says the vehicle was in manual mode at the time, meaning the human safety driver who was behind wheel was actually driving. […]
Gopuff, the instant grocery startup, is raising $1.5B in a convertible note at up to a $40B valuation, ahead of going public as soon as mid-2022
Instant grocery — where urban-dwelling consumers buy food and other essentials and can get them delivered in 15 minutes or less — continues to be a big business, and one of the juggernauts in the space is now raising a big round of funding to meet that opportunity: Gopuff is in the process of raising […]
Z Fellows wants to give you $10K to launch a crypto startup
Capital may help someone take the jump into entrepreneurship, but what about the activation energy to let them think that big in the first place? To Cory Levy, the latter has always been more important. The entrepreneur behind First Text, a low-friction service that connects founders to investors, launched Z Fellows last year to test […]
Who pays when an Uber driver is killed?
The brother of an Uber driver who was killed during an armed robbery in San Francisco has published a letter to the ride-hailing giant demanding access to his brother’s Uber account, $4 million in immediate aid for the victim’s family and better pay for all Uber drivers. Afghan refugee Ahmad Fawad Yusufi, 31, had been […]
Voodoo bets on play-to-earn crypto mobile games
French startup Voodoo has announced that it plans to make a significant investment in blockchain-powered mobile games. The company estimates that it represents a $200 million investment over the coming years. 2021 has been an important year for crypto gaming, with Axie Infinity popularizing the play-to-earn model. Some companies, such as Mythical Games, raised massive […]
Voly raises $13M led by Sequoia to deliver instant groceries in Australia
The trend that is instant grocery delivery — online ordering of essentials with your purchases being delivered to you in under an hour — continues to proliferate across multiple markets, and in the latest development, Sequoia is leading an investment in one out of Australia. Voly, a five-month-old Sydney-based startup that offers thousands of SKUs […]
UBQ Materials’ plastic replacement product attracts $170M from impact investor TPG Rise
UBQ Materials, which claims it has developed a plastic-like material made from 100% unsorted household waste, has raised a $170 million funding round led by TPG Rise, TPG’s global impact investing platform, made through TPG Rise Climate, the firm’s dedicated climate investing fund, and The Rise Funds, its multi-sector impact investing fund. The financing round […]