Instagram added two features to Reels yesterday: text-to-speech and voice effects. These features are popular already on TikTok, but now, creators can use them on Instagram too. This marks yet another effort from Instagram to keep up with TikTok when it comes to short-form video, as Instagram offers big reels bonuses to incentivize creators, Text-to-speech…
When we last checked in with Alt back in March, it had just raised $31M for its alternative asset platform — a platform, thus far, used primarily by those looking to research, trade, and securely store high-value sports cards. Just a few months later, the company has raised a $75M Series B from a roster…
As investors continue to pour billions into super speedy on-demand grocery delivery — trying to dislodge the dominance of traditional supermarket giants via a hyper convenience lever (whipping up some local opposition to their 24/7 dark stores and delivery methods in the process) — other entrepreneurs are spotting opportunities to slow things down a little.…
The fall hasn’t been kind to Disney’s streaming ambitions. Disney+ added just 2.1 million subscribers in its fourth quarter, giving it a total of 118.1 million customers. That’s in line with the company’s already cautious estimate (in the “low single-digit millions”) and 60 percent more total customers than a year earlier, but well below what some…
Zero-party data has very quickly become the biggest buzzword in marketing and digital advertising. Unlike third-party data, which is collected by aggregators and ad platforms through third-party cookies and unsavory tracking techniques, zero-party data is collected voluntarily and directly from customers. Think of the kind of things you’d tell a store associate helping you find…
The sales process can be chaotic, with data flowing in from a variety of sources and a number of people involved. Salesforce bought Slack for more than $27 billion last year because it recognized it could be the glue that holds this together. Momentum, an early-stage startup, wants to build on that relationship by being…
In February, Disha, a Nigeria-based platform that allows digital creators to curate, sell digital content, create portfolios and receive payments from their audience globally, announced that it was closing shop. Before the news, Disha had bootstrapped to more than 20,000 users; at some point, it claimed to have a monthly growth rate of about 100%.…
Mathpresso, the Seoul-based edtech company behind QANDA, an AI-based learning app for K-12 students, announced today it has added Google as a new investor. Google’s undisclosed investment is not part of its Series C raised in June, the company said without providing its valuation. The additional investment event comes five months after its $50 million…
Blue Origin’s failed lawsuit against NASA over the Human Landing System (HLS) contract, which was thrown out by a judge last week, and the growing progress of the Chinese space program were at the top of mind for NASA officials during a Tuesday briefing updating the public on the agency’s Artemis program. NASA Administration Bill…
Last night, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky took to Twitter to share what he’s seeing in the company’s data. The broad strokes version was that the pandemic-induced flexibility in our work lives has allowed more people to travel during the week, and even travel for months at a time, effectively living on Airbnb. 13. So basically,…
