Welcome back to Chain Reaction. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m. PT, subscribe here. This past week has been all about U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs in the crypto world. Rumors started swirling around last week that approvals were coming, which…
Processing returns is a big job for retailers. Total returns for the industry amounted to $743 billion in merchandise in 2023, according to the National Retail Federation and Appriss Retail. Retailers have tried making it easier for customers to return items. For example, Amazon partnered with Kohl’s and Target started accepting returns from your car.…
Finn, a startup based out of Munich that operates a platform for new car subscriptions — an alternative to buying or leasing for those who want to drive new vehicles — has raised a sizable round of growth funding, money it plans to use to expand its tech and reach, with a move into more…
Like any good buzz phrase, “software-defined vehicle” is as straightforward as it is obtuse. If you’re trying to figure out what automakers and suppliers mean by this term — which was all over CES 2024 — you’re in the right place. A software-defined vehicle is a vehicle defined by software — okay, sorry, I can…
Barely two weeks into the year, the 2024 startup news machine is running at full clip. A quick scan of TechCrunch headlines reveals venture funds adding new capital, and startups that have either raised lots of money or are in the process of closing deals to raise lots of money. We’ve gone over how venture…
Tesla is now selling the revamped version of its Model 3 sedan in the United States, just four months after it debuted in China and Europe. It’s the first real overhaul of the electric vehicle that brought Tesla to a true mass market. And it comes at a time when the company has been aggressive…
After the app economy slowed for the first time ever in 2022, things picked up pace again over the past year. According to app intelligence provider data.ai’s annual “State of Mobile” report, out today, consumer spending on apps saw a modest 3% increase year-over-year in 2023 to reach $171 billion across the App Store, Google…
Earlier today, Forbes reported that renowned venture capitalist, operator and entrepreneur Keith Rabois is returning to Khosla Ventures (“KV”), the Silicon Valley outfit where he cut his teeth as a full-time VC before joining Founders Fund (“FF”), where in 2019 he teamed up with former Stanford classmate Peter Thiel. The move came as a surprise…
Sandbox AQ, the AI and quantum firm spun out of Google parent company Alphabet in 2022, has acquired Good Chemistry, a Vancouver-based quantum and computational chemistry startup, for an undisclosed sum. Good Chemistry, founded by Arman Zaribafiyan in 2021 as a spin-off of quantum computing company 1QBit and backed by investors including Green Sands Equity…
Schools in the United States are already struggling with a teacher shortage. For students with thinking and learning differences, it’s even harder to find teachers and other specialists that are equipped to work with them. Parallel Learning is solving that problem with a teletherapy platform that partners with school districts to create individualized plans for…
