SparkLabs Taipei, part of SparkLabs Group, the global network of accelerator programs and funds that works with emerging startup ecosystems, has raised $4.25 million in an initial close led by CTBC Group, along with individual investors, for its first venture capital fund. SparkLabs Taipei also announced today that it has added Atlanta Hawks player Jeremy…
Ahead of Airbnb’s expected initial public offering next year, the home-sharing startup announced more than $1 billion in revenue during Q3 2018. Airbnb says this was its strongest quarter to date, where it saw “substantially more” than $1 billion in revenue. Airbnb, however, has been without a permanent chief financial officer since February, when Laurence…
Supply chains can be extremely complex and difficult to manage. Bringing digital into the mix and automating key processes is often a real help, or even essential. This can be achieved incrementally, said Jeff Engelmann, vice president of marketing at supply chain platform provider Slync, when we spoke to him about automating the supply chain, and…
Welcome to TechCrunch’s 2018 Holiday Gift Guide! Need more gift ideas? Check out our Gift Guide Hub. “How do I start a podcast?” As the producer of the TechCrunch podcast Equity, I get this question all the time. Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to get your voice out there, even on a shoestring budget. As…
In a change of course, Microsoft is to start working more closely with Facebook on open-source AI. The two companies had previously been competing, with Cognitive Toolkit and PyTorch respectively, and both failing to keep up with the adoption of Google TensorFlow. Since its launch in 2015, Google TensorFlow has been the most popular open-source AI…
More posts by this contributor Nigerian data analytics company Terragon acquires Asian mobile ad firm Bizense Africa Roundup: Local VC funds surge, Naspers ramps up and fintech diversifies Kenya’s Twiga Foods has raised $10 million from investors led by the International Finance Corporation to add processed food and fast moving consumer goods to its product line-up. The startup has…
DeepMind Health, and its Streams app, are being brought under the direct control of Google, in a move that fuels past controversies around patient data privacy. The DeepMind Health division will operate within Google Health, though the Streams team will remain in London. DeepMind was acquired by Google in 2014, with a mission to bring…
Apple has signed a multi-year agreement with A24, which will see the film studio producing multiple movies for Apple. Not much else is known about the deal yet — not the number of films, their genres or the talent involved. Still, the deal suggests that Apple is going to be investing seriously in original films,…
International Monetary Fund (IMF) director Christine Lagarde has used a speech at the Singapore Fintech Festival to explore the case for state-backed digital currencies. The future role of central banks is uncertain, particularly in an increasingly digital financial landscape. The subtext of Lagarde’s speech is clear: cryptocurrencies are not the way to go. Money is changing Both…
There are few things certain in our world except for the uplifting tendencies of technology. I’ve spent the past few years trying to prove this to myself, at least, by interviewing hundreds of thinkers on the topic. I’ve come to a singular conclusion: when tech moves into a city, be it an iOS dev shop…
