After settling on Thursday with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), bankrupt crypto company Voyager is permanently banned from handling consumers’ assets. But the government agency also announced on Thursday that it’s suing Voyager’s former CEO, Stephen Ehrlich, for falsely claiming that users’ accounts were FDIC insured. When a bank or financial service is FDIC insured,…
Investing apps help anyone access the stock market to make trades. Alpaca, a San Mateo-based startup, offers stock and crypto brokerage trading services via API that enables investing fintech companies and others to embed this functionality into their apps. Today, the startup announced it has secured $15 million in the form of a convertible note…
Access to education in Bangladesh is filled with inequalities, say the founders of edtech 10 Minute School. Many rural areas don’t have good learning centers and as a result, students travel to capital Dhaka to prepare for their university admission exams. That option, however, is only available to families who have the financial means. Originally…
Twitch streamers can finally block banned users from watching their streams, thanks to a recent update to the platform’s anti-harassment features. Twitch first announced the feature in August. Though tools to prevent banned users from participating in a stream’s chat have existed for years, streamers could do little from preventing banned users from actually watching…
Sarah Leary is the co-founder of Nextdoor and is a venture partner at Unusual Ventures, leading investments in early-stage consumer startups. It’s a tough time right now for founders looking to raise their next round, and many are coming to the painful realization that VCs simply aren’t buying what they’re selling. Investors are looking for…
Hello, and welcome back to Equity, the podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, where we sit down with a guest, talk about their work and dive deep into the rest. This week we had Tony Stubblebine, the CEO of Medium.com, a…
On January 14, 2022, former crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted: “First, we’re launching a $2 billion venture fund, FTX Ventures. As a founder, it’s important to support other founders creating great companies. Hopefully this will allow us to do that a lot more.” A noble goal, to be sure. But rather than raise capital for…
Mojave, California-based Evolution Space has a new deal with NASA to begin building a solid propulsion center and solid rocket motor testing at the agency’s Stennis Space Center, which will see former facilities repurposed into Evolution’s “Space Propulsion Center.” Evolution plans on repurposing former facilities that were part of the Mississippi Army Ammunition Plant, which…
When you’re doing stage pitch, a demo can really liven up your connection with the audience. Plus, being able to explain what the product is and does while showing it in action is a great way to make a story visually interesting as well. That makes a lot of sense when you’re pitching in TechCrunch’s…
Pair Eyewear, a direct-to-consumer customizable eyewear brand, raised $75 million in new Series C funding to boost its automated U.S. manufacturing technology and expand its customer base around the world. The company enables glasses-wearing adults and children to easily change their look with over 1,000 “top frame” options from brands like DC Comics, Marvel and…
