Cedric Kovacs-Johnson launched Flume Health after watching his own family struggle with payments for his sister’s surgery. “When we looked at who was calling the shots [on prices] it was this litany of service providers that was unknown to us and the cost was unknown to us until we got the bill weeks later,” says…
Another tech giant is under investigation in Europe for potential privacy breaches of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), TechCrunch has learnt. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which is the lead data protection regulator for most multinational tech giants in Europe, has opened a formal probe into Quantcast’s business — adding +1 to the…
Tesla is raising up to $1.55 billion through the sale of notes and shares, according to a filing made by the EV maker today. The document outlines that Tesla will sell up to $1.35 billion in convertible senior notes. The number could increase further: Tesla is giving underwriters the chance to buy a further $202.5…
Toyota AI Ventures, a subsidiary of Toyota Research Institute, has a new $100 million fund that will focus on finding and investing in early-stage robotics and autonomous technology startups. This second fund, aptly dubbed Fund II, brings the firm’s total assets under management to more than $200 million. “The growing interest in automated systems has…
In the two years since GrainChain launched its distributed ledger-based transaction platform for bulk dry goods the company has brokered thousands of contracts on everything from corn, sorghum, wheat, and soybeans to even sand from its headquarters in McAllen, Tex. Now the company is expanding its services to Mexico, partnering with the government of Tamaulipas,…
Central banks in Canada and Singapore claim to have successfully completed a cross-border payment using distributed ledger technology. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced earlier today that it has successfully settled an international payment with The Bank of Canada, in what it refers to as “Project Jasper-Ubin.” The project’s technology was developed with assistance…
If you use a Dell computer, then beware — hackers could compromise your system remotely. Bill Demirkapi, a 17-year-old independent security researcher, has discovered a critical remote code execution vulnerability in the Dell SupportAssist utility that comes pre-installed on most Dell computers. Dell SupportAssist, formerly known as Dell System Detect, checks the health of your…
Live Conference Call: Josh Constine and Frederic Lardinois talk all things F8 in just a bit Facebook’s annual F8 conference is in full swing, with major redesigns of the company’s apps and all sorts of news trickling out of San Jose. We have Josh Constine and Frederic Lardinois on the ground talking to everyone, and…
Fitbit’s financial rebound continued in the first quarter, as the company generated $271.9 million in revenue, beating Wall Street expectations of $259.7 million. The good news is almost exclusively the domain of the company’s increased focus on smartwatches, which grew 117% year over year. That, in turn, is thanks to this year’s debut of the…
After Square issued weak guidance in Q4, all eyes were on the payments company to see what kind of growth it really had in Q1. Results reported today underscored some of the challenges the company is facing. Square’s adjusted revenues were $489 million, up 59% year-on-year, with adjusted earnings per share of $0.11. Both figures beat analysts’ estimates.…
