Utility that shreds – TechCrunch

A recent move to Auckland, New Zealand — a city with lackluster public transit and hills that can turn a quick bike ride to the store into a sweaty workout — piqued my interest in e-bikes.  Strong demand and skyrocketing prices, however, made it difficult to access these coveted e-bikes here in the Land of…

“Autonomous accounting” platform Vic.ai raises $50M round led by ICONIQ Growth – TechCrunch

Vic.ai, a startup that has built an AI-based platform it claims can ‘automate’ enterprise accounting, has raised a $50M Series B round led by ICONIQ Growth, with participation from existing investors GGV Capital, Cowboy Ventures and Costanoa Ventures, bringing total capital raised to $63 million. The company’s customers include HSB (Sweden’s largest real-estate management company), Intercom Inc. and HireQuest…

TikTok’s new Creator Marketplace API lets influencer marketing companies tap into first-party data – TechCrunch

TikTok is making it easier for brands and agencies to work with the influencers using its service. The company is rolling out a new “TikTok Creator Marketplace API,” which allows marketing companies to integrate more directly with TikTok’s Creator Marketplace, the video app’s in-house influencer marketing platform. On the Creator Marketplace website, launched in late…

South Korea passes ‘Anti-Google law’ bill to curb Google, Apple in-app payment commission – TechCrunch

After a number of delays, South Korea’s National Assembly today voted to approve the passage of its “Anti-Google law.” Nicknamed after the search giant but more wide-ranging, the law will prevent Google and Apple from forcing developers to use their in-app billing systems when building apps for their two market-dominating app stores . This is…

This Sequoia- and Henry Kravis-backed prediction market wants to turn opinions into money – TechCrunch

More than 15 years ago, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, which was acquired by Nasdaq in 2008, and another since-sold exchange called HedgeStreet, both announced they intended to offer something called event contracts to investors. The idea was to allow people to bet “yes” or “no” on questions about future events that were structured as all-or-nothing…