Mendel, a corporate spend management solution for enterprises in Latin America, announced today that it has secured $35 million in debt and equity. The Mexico-based startup closed the $15 million Series A round and $20 million debt financing after participating in Y Combinator’s Winter 2021 cohort. ALLVP and Infinity Ventures, a firm founded by a…
Swiggy, India’s top food-delivery startup, will invest $700 million in its express grocery delivery service Instamart, significantly intensifying the competition for quick commerce in the world’s second largest market. The SoftBank-backed startup, which initially launched Instamart in two Indian cities in 2020, said on Thursday that the quick grocery delivery service is now available in…
Kakao Mobility, the South Korea-based mobility as a service (MaaS) startup behind Kakao T, a ride-hailing app, said it has raised an additional $55 million (65 billion won) from strategic investor GS Retail. This brings its total raised to about $941.4 million (1.11 trillion won) and values it at more than $4.2 billion, a spokesperson…
The fintech giant Square is changing its name to Block, effective December 10. The name change, which has been in the works for over a year, is intended to house the company’s various products — including music streaming service Tidal, Cash App, TBD, and of course, Square — under one brand. This announcement comes just…
General Motors is deepening its commitment to operate a vertically integrated battery supply chain with the announcement that it would form a joint venture with South Korea-based POSCO Chemical to build a new cathode active material facility in North America by 2024. Cathode active materials comprise around 40% of the cost of electric vehicle batteries,…
South African tech talent marketplace OfferZen is one of the beneficiaries of the growing global demand for tech workers: It confirmed to TechCrunch that it has raised €4.5 million ($5.07 million) in Series A funding from South African investment company Base Capital. This is OfferZen’s first round of funding since Philip Joubert, Malan Joubert and Brett…
Maple VC is based in San Francisco, but don’t let that fool you, says its founder, Andre Charoo. The young fund, which launched in 2016 with $1.2 million in capital commitments, just closed on $16.5 million in capital commitments for a second fund that promises to almost exclusively back savvy Canadian founders, no matter where…
Twitch introduced a new way for streamers to fight accounts that evade channel-level bans Tuesday. The automated tool is called “Suspicious User Detection” and can spot users trying to get around bans, giving anyone moderating a Twitch channel more recourse for dealing with potentially disruptive behavior before it starts. The company announced that the new…
What does it take to venture into outer space? A bold vison, nerves of steel and a giant cash payload for starters. Early-stage space startups can’t afford to waste any amount of money, which brings us to this timely reminder. The price for general admission passes to the all-virtual TC Sessions: Space event goes up…
LG Energy Solution, the battery unit wholly owned by LG Chem, received preliminary approval for an initial public offering, the Korea Exchange said in a statement on Tuesday. LG Energy Solution is reportedly planning to submit its IPO application to Financial Supervisory Service as early as this week, aiming to list at the end of…
