Crypto giveth, and crypto confuseth the heck out of Wall Street. In the wake of Coinbase’s earnings report yesterday afternoon, shares of the U.S. crypto exchange are off sharply this morning. What happened? Public-market investors continued to underestimate how volatile the crypto market is, leaving them to over-index on gains and over-despair on less impressive…
Investor interest in African fintech continues to grab headlines with large fundraises. Today, Africa’s largest digital payments network MFS Africa joins the fray. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that it has raised $100 million in Series C financing — split between $70 million equity and $30 million debt. Private equity fund AfricInvest FIVE co-led the Series…
A federal judge has ruled that Apple can’t push back the deadline to update App Store policies, as previously ordered in the court’s decision on California’s Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit. Though Apple largely won that lawsuit when the judge declared that Apple was not acting as a monopolist as Epic Games had alleged, the…
Unity has just announced its intent to acquire Weta Digital, the legendary visual effects company co-founded by Peter Jackson, for a massive $1.625 billion. Whether or not you recognize the name, you’ve seen Weta Digital’s work. From Lord of the Rings to Avatar to Shang-Chi, if its the kind of movie where people say “you…
On Tuesday, Flagship Pioneering, the major investor behind Moderna, announced yet another addition to their portfolio of RNA-curious companies. Following a year of hype around mRNA, a new company, called Alltrna, will now focus on developing medicines based on Transfer RNA or tRNA. At this point, you’re likely familiar with the idea that messenger RNA…
Cryptocurrency exchange Bitmart is in talks to raise about $20 million at a pre-money valuation of $300 million, two sources familiar with the matter told me. Alexander Capital Ventures, known for backing Airbnb and Spotify, is engaging with Bitmart to lead its Series B round, the sources said. Bitmart has raised about $10 million in…
In her latest turn in front of a phalanx of lawmakers, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen gave a polished testimony to the European Parliament on Monday — following similar sessions in front of UK and US legislators in recent weeks. Her core message was the same dire warning she’s sounded on both sides of the Atlantic:…
Clubhouse hosts and moderators will have a fresh tool in their kit today. The company is pushing a new feature live on both its iOS and Android apps that will let creators record an audio room so that anyone who misses the action live can check it out later. The company first announced that the…
Every development team needs documentation to help onboard new developers and track the details behind the project. If you’re producing an external API, it’s even more critical to have good instructions on how to implement it, but it’s traditionally an area that most programmers don’t love keeping up with. That’s where Swimm, an Israeli startup,…
JUMO, a South Africa- and London-based company that offers financial services to entrepreneurs and businesses in emerging markets, has raised $120 million in a new round of funding led by Fidelity Management & Research Company. The round, which marks Fidelity’s first investment in an African company, also saw the participation of fintech giant Visa and…
