Sound.xyz raises $5M from a16z to explore how Web3 can upend the economics of the music business

This year, we’ve seen plenty of evidence that NFTs can shake up the economics of selling visual art, but there’s been less activity when it comes to web3 upending the economics of different verticals in the art world, including music. Sound.xyz is a new startup looking to help recording artists monetize their community through NFTs, […]

Global ClimateTech investment triples, but cash for tech directly cutting emissions lags

Investment from VC and PE into climate tech is booming, reaching $87.5bn over H2 2020 and H1 2021, with in excess of $60bn in the first half of 2021 alone, according to a new report from PWC. This is a 210% increase from the $28.4bn invested in the 12 months prior. Some 14¢ of every […]

Katie Haun is splitting off from a16z to launch her own crypto fund

Katie Haun, who co-led Andreessen Horowitz’s $2.2 billion crypto fund, is splitting off from the firm and taking a number of colleagues with her — including operating partner Rachael Horwitz — to start a new crypto-centric fund, Axios reports. Haun joined the firm in 2018 after a career as a federal prosecutor for the Justice […]

Google’s Area 120 launches Qaya, a service offering web storefronts for digital creators

A team at Google is today launching a new service called Qaya, which will allow creators to easily set up new web storefronts where they can sell their products and services directly to their audiences. The project is the latest to emerge from Google’s in-house project incubator, Area 120, which was recently a part of […]

SQream acquires no-code data platform Panoply

SQream, a well-funded Israel-based data analytics platform, today announced that it has acquired no-code data platform Panoply in an effort to expand its cloud services. At the core of SQream’s service is its GPU-centric “data acceleration platform,” which promises to speed up SQL queries and enable users to run their queries on more data. Panoply, on […]