Google now lets people under 18 or their parents request to delete photos from search results

Google is rolling out the ability for kids, teens and their parents to request to have pictures deleted from the company’s image search results. The new privacy option was one of many changes the company announced in August in an effort to preemptively build in additional protections for users under the age of 18. Google’s […]

Learn how studying lunar samples may help sustain human life beyond our planet at TC Sessions: Space 2021

The dream of understanding, exploring and even settlin1g other worlds is alive and well at TC Sessions: Space 2021. On December 14-15, some of this planet’s foremost experts will be in the house to talk about lunar samples and why they’re critical to determining whether humans can live on other planets. Lunar samples, in the […]

Tiger Global leads $3M round in Zambia’s Union54 for its card-issuing API

Union54, the first Zambian startup backed by Y Combinator, has gotten another major venture capital firm on its term sheet: Tiger Global. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that the VC juggernaut led its just-completed $3 million seed round, coming only two months after graduating from Y Combinator’s summer batch. San Francisco-based venture capital firm Runa […]

Health tech startup mPharma acquires Vine Pharmacy, enters Uganda

mPharma, a Ghanaian health startup, has taken a controlling stake in Uganda’s Vine Pharmacy for an undisclosed amount, marking the firm’s entry into its latest market in Africa. mPharma disclosed to TechCrunch that it has acquired a 55 percent stake previously held by  the Abraaj Group, a private equity firm that collapsed after investors, including […]

Open banking startup Finverse wants to build the Asia-Pacific region’s Plaid

Based in Hong Kong, Finverse’s ambitious goal is to enable open banking throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The startup recently came out of stealth mode with $1.8 million in seed funding, and is now live in four markets (Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam) with connections to 30 banks. Founder and chief executive officer Stephane […]

Zolve raises $40 million to help global citizens access financial services

Zolve, a neobanking startup that aims to help immigrants in the U.S. gain access to financial services, said on Wednesday it has raised $40 million in a new financing round as it begins to roll out its offerings. Partners of DST Global led the Bangalore-headquartered startup’s Series A financing round. The round, which values the […]

Smart Eye’s latest acquisition points to consolidation among driver monitoring system suppliers

Smart Eye, a supplier of driver monitoring systems for automakers, has agreed to acquire human behavior software company iMotions for $46.6 million just five months after it snapped up emotion-detection software startup Affectiva. Smart Eye, a publicly traded Swedish company, said Tuesday this is a cash-and-stock deal. Smart Eye will provide $23.2 million (200 million Swedish […]

Lawmakers confront TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube about eating disorder content

Representatives from TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security today to discuss how to protect kids online. This hearing follows Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen‘s document leaks to the Wall Street Journal, which — among many things — exposed Facebook’s knowledge that Instagram is toxic for […]