Early-stage startup founders it’s now or never, it’s do-or-die, it’s [insert your preferred time-crunch cliché here. The application deadline for the Startup Battlefield at Disrupt San Francisco 2019 expires in just 24 hours. If you’re ready to go up against a cadre of approximately 15-30 outstanding startups on the Disrupt Main stage, then apply to compete in…
As one European VC raises a fund to double down on bigger growth rounds in Europe, another has closed a fund to continue focusing on early-stage investments. Stocklhom-founded Creandum, an early backer of companies like Spotify and iZettle, has closed a fifth fund €265 million ($300 million). The plan is to use the money to…
The latest pairing between a tech upstart and a financial titan is a digital prepaid card targeted at Southeast Asia’s 430 million-plus unbanked and underserved population. On Monday, Razer, the Singapore-based company best known for its gaming laptops and peripherals, announced a partnership with Visa to develop a Visa prepaid solution. The service, which allows…
What do early-stage startups Forethought, Pi and Recordgram have in common with successful tech companies like Dropbox, Mint and TripIt? They all competed in Startup Battlefield, our epic pitch competition. If you’re ready to step up, go big and launch your startup to the world, you need to get moving. We stop accepting applications in…
There is so much to write about Libra, and so much which has already been written misses the mark, mostly, I think, because most pundits haven’t spent much time in the developing world, which is very clearly the target market here. Just look at its launch video: I’ve seen apocalyptic reactions warning of Libra ushering…
Hello, weekend readers. This is Week-in-Review where I give a heavy amount of analysis and/or rambling thoughts on one story while scouring the rest of the hundreds of stories that emerged on TechCrunch this week to surface my favorites for your reading pleasure. Last week, I talked about how the top gaming industry franchises were…
This week, a young, New York-based startup called Alma raised $8 million in funding to expand its “co-practicing community of therapists, coaches, and wellness professionals,” which it first launched from a space on Madison Avenue last fall. As CNN was first to report, the company is charging psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers and acupuncturists $165…
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (think Pokémon GO, but with wands and giant spiders instead of pokéballs and Pikachus) officially launched earlier this week, but with a catch: it was only available in the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Why? Amongst other reasons, a country-by-country rollout helps Niantic ensure that their servers stay stable. By…
NASA’s Curiosity Rover has detected high levels of methane output during its mission on the Martian surface, the New York Times reports. The discovery, found during a measurement taking on Wednesday by the robot and observed by NASA researchers, could indicate that microbial lifeforms may have taken up residence underground on Mars. Methane is often…
The private space industry is seeing a revolution driven by cube satellites, which are affordable, lightweight satellites that are much easier than traditional satellites to design, build and launch. It’s paving the way for new businesses like Wyvern, an Alberta-based startup that provides a very specific service that wouldn’t even have been possible to offer…
