Zoom is introducing a pilot advertising program that will show ads to users on its ‘Basic’ free tier. The company says the ads will support investments and enable it to continue providing its platform to free users. Basic tier users will only see ads if they join a meeting hosted by another Basic tier user.…
Electric vehicle startup BasiGo has today announced the launch of its operations in Nairobi, bringing clean energy options to Kenya’s public transport industry, currently dominated by fossil-fuel buses. The startup plans to sell locally assembled electric buses using parts from China’s EV maker BYD Automotive, the company said while announcing it had raised $1 million…
ShopBack, the Rakuten-backed e-commerce loyalty platform, announced today it will acquire buy now, pay later startup Hoolah. Both companies are based in Singapore and operate in Southeast Asian markets. The deal was done in stock and cash, and terms were undisclosed. After the merger closes, ShopBack will own all of Hoolah, but the BNPL service’s…
Catherine D. Henry Contributor There is a heated debate on the state of the race between the United States and China to dominate in AI. But perhaps the more strategic question is whether China is building the metaverse. Built upon infrastructural technologies like AI, the metaverse refers to the vast array of digital experiences and…
Tinder is bringing back “Swipe Night,” its interactive in-app event that allows its users another way to break the ice besides just matching and chatting. After the first season’s “choose your own adventure” apocalyptic storyline brought in over 20 million users, Tinder said it would introduce a new installment, this time featuring a “whodunit” murder…
Years ago, Americans spent most of their disposable income on food but consistent investment in retail infrastructure has changed that. Now, they only spend 6% of their household income on food and beverages. Africa still battles with this and it is not hard to see why. The continent’s retail markets are highly fragmented and mostly made up…
On the last Gang recording session in early October before the birth of our first grandchild, I tried to stir the pot by attacking Democratic Progressives for capsizing the second of two Infrastructure bills. The moderates, led by the recalcitrant Joe Manchin and his silent sidekick Kyrsten Sinema, were successfully gumming up the Democrats’ best…
Two 19-year-old entrepreneurs, who previously collaborated on a number of projects including a ride-hailing commute app for school kids and left Stanford last year to pursue a new startup, said on Sunday they have raised $60 million to disrupt India’s overcrowded and highly-competitive grocery delivery market. Glade Brook Capital led Zepto’s first institutional financing round,…
African e-commerce fulfilment startups backed by Y Combinator seem to be piquing investors’ interest this year for their niche e-commerce play. Summer batch graduate ShipBlu is the latest on that list and confirmed to TechCrunch that it has raised $2.4 million in seed funding. The company, founded by Ali Nasser, Ahmed ElKawass, Abdelrahman Hosny in…
Welcome to Startups Weekly, a fresh human-first take on this week’s startup news and trends. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. I spent the past month interviewing current and former employees at Ro, a health tech unicorn, about rising tensions within the company as it struggles to grow into its $5 billion valuation.…
