Earlier this week, TechCrunch reported that the former head of payments at Instacart recently left the grocery delivery outfit for a new adventure. As it happens, Matthew Birnbaum, Instacart’s head of talent acquisition for the past four years, is also out the door, having quietly joined the venture firm Pear VC last month. What do…
Corporate venture capital investments boosted by new entrants and mega-rounds Alex Wilhelm Anna Heim 8 hours The venture capital boom of 2021 was not built from merely traditional VC money. A host of other capital sources played a role in the global trend, from new methods of disbursing angel and seed capital to crossover funds…
Microsoft has today announced plans to support 10,000 startups in Africa over the next five years through a series of initiatives including partnerships with accelerators and incubators across the continent. It also announced plans to partner with venture capital investors to increase funding access for startups in Africa by unlocking $500 million in “potential” investment.…
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PST, subscribe here. Hello and welcome to Daily Crunch for Wednesday, March 2, 2022. We have a packed newsletter for you today. We’ve got acquisitions, funding rounds, the end of products, and more. Also TechCrunch…
With the Polestar 2 already in production, Polestars 3 and 4 on the horizon and the Precept concept slated to become the Polestar 5 in 2024, Polestar the company has just unveiled its latest electrified vehicle idea: the Polestar O2 convertible concept. Polestar “Polestar O2 is our vision of a new era for sports cars,”…
Last May, Walmart announced its acquisition of the virtual clothing try-on startup Zeekit, which leveraged a combination of real-time image processing, computer vision, deep learning and other A.I. technologies to show shoppers how they would look in an item by way of a simulation that takes into account body dimensions, fit, size and even the…
More Africans now suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension than ever before. A growing population and lifestyle changes, especially around urbanization and food habits, are significant factors that contribute to this sharp rise. This isn’t an issue in developed markets, as healthcare systems change with the times to adequately provide healthcare when…
Fervor surrounding the opportunities in the crypto space has seemed to upend the venture world over the past couple years with major players shaking up how their firms are fundamentally organized in order to compete with so-called crypto native investment firms. While a plethora of breakout web3 funds popped up in the past several months,…
Rivian has raised the price of its all-electric R1T pickup by 17% and R1S SUV by about 20% as the newly public automaker tries to adjust to inflationary pressure, increases in the cost of raw materials and parts as well as a prolonged chip shortage. The price change, which was updated on the company’s website…
Alongside news that Disney+ will now house the Marvel live-action shows that were previously available on Netflix, the comapny today announced it will also introduce new parental controls that allow families to block younger children from being able to view these incoming TV-MA rated properties. The streamer said that starting on March 16, Disney+ will…
