It’s been a blistering start to summer if you’re an investor interested in business software. With the U.S. Memorial Day holiday in the rearview mirror and temperatures beginning to climb across the country, the heat index for dealmaking among companies focused on selling technol … | Continue reading
Literally next week, the TechCrunch team will be inStockholm for the TechCrunch Meetup + Pitch-Off. We will be getting together to network and hear up to 10 startups pitch. The startups and winners will be written about, and this is also you chance to meet and network with key Te … | Continue reading
With institutional investors being approached regularly for fresh capital from the venture firms with which they work, it’s harder than ever for a new fund to secure the commitments it needs to get off the ground. There is one major exception to the rule, however: institutional i … | Continue reading
On February 14, 2016, Google had its first on-road accident). The fault lies entirely with Google, and we need to understand just how much this will impact our society. We’re about to enter a hybrid world where there will be human-controlled vehicles and algorithm-controlled vehi … | Continue reading
A year ago, Mapbox, the open-source based map provider that competes against the likes of Google and Here for B2B deals for customized and in-app maps, raised one of the biggest rounds ever for a mapping startup. And as it continues to grow out its existing business (which serves … | Continue reading
OnePlus will be dropping one of its signature features from its upcoming smartphone. And really, it’s a good sign for the Chinese smartphone maker. Previous generations of handsets have been regulated by an invite system, something put in place by the company early on as it attem … | Continue reading
Several photos have surfaced showing what is supposed to be the next iPhone and MacBook Pro over the last few days. These leaked photos themselves are not surprising. Apple spy photos are big business and a staple in tech journalism. But if these photos are to be believed, radica … | Continue reading
There are now more than 6.5 million scattered Syrian refugees throughout the world and many of them are left without any way to make a living as the war wages on in their home country. Iraqi NGO Re:Coded and New York-based code school Flatiron are putting together a plan to help … | Continue reading
Salesforce made its name originally with cloud-based software to help salespeople manage their leads and close deals; and today the company took a big step into the business of sales themselves. Today the company announced that it would spend $2.8 billion to acquire Demandware, a … | Continue reading
Virtual reality software startup Jaunt announced today that it has teamed up with two Chinese media firms to launch a new company called Jaunt China. Read More | Continue reading
Romulus Capital has raised its third—and largest—fund to back early-stage startups, many sourced in labs at MIT, the alma mater of the firm’s two young General Partners, Neil Chheda and Krishna K. Gupta.The duo closed their newest fund, Romulus Capital III LP, at $75 million. The … | Continue reading
Back in April Nokia announced it was buying health and fitness focused gadget maker Withings for €170 million (~$190M). At the time it was expecting the acquisition to close in Q3 but it has now confirmed the close of the transaction ahead of schedule. Following the acquisition, … | Continue reading
China is once again renewing its efforts to get all people who sign up for a mobile number to use their real names. According to state-run news agency China News Service (link via Google Translate), the government has declared that everyone who buys a SIM card in China—even non-c … | Continue reading
Lost My Name, the London-based “full-stack” publisher and kids content startup, has added a new investor to its impressive list of backers that already includes Google Ventures, Greycroft and Forward Parters. This time Berlin-based Project A Ventures has invested €4 million in th … | Continue reading
In a keynote presentation at Computex in Taipei and a couple blog posts today, Microsoft doubled down on the mixed reality efforts spearheaded by Hololens – Windows 10, the company aims to show, is place to be when it comes to mixed reality. Read More | Continue reading
The the movie in which Robert DeNiro plays an intern venerated appliance brand Whirlpool is spreading its wings, dusting out the cobwebs, and crowdfunding a freaking beer maker. The product, called Vessi, ferments and dispenses suds and even has a system for reducing and managing … | Continue reading
Viddsee, a streaming platform for independent short films in Asia, and Discovery Networks announced a content partnership today. The agreement is noteworthy because this is not only the biggest deal of its kind that Singapore-based Viddsee has inked so far, but also marks the fir … | Continue reading
When it came to discussing Peter Thiel’s involvement in the ongoing Gawker trial that’s raised questions surrounding free speech, Jeff Bezos quoted Confucius: “Seek revenge and you should dig two graves, one for yourself.” Bezos, naturally, should have strong opinions when it com … | Continue reading
Marketo bought by Vista Equity partners for $1.79 Billion dollars, Paypal is halting operations in Turkey after not being able to get a license, Iran wants messaging apps to throw Iranian citizens data on Iranian servers, Sirin Labs unveils a $14,000 privacy smart phone. Read Mor … | Continue reading
As we’ve discussed, Facebook’s bot platform is still in its early stages, and most apps aren’t ready yet to become part of your everyday life. This is mainly due to shortfalls in natural language processing and the trial-and-error process of developers actually figuring out how u … | Continue reading
Xiaomi is moving closer to launching its smartphones in the U.S. market. Today the Chinese company announced a partnership with Microsoft that includes a cross-license and patent transfer agreement and the pre-installation of Skype and Microsoft Office products on Xiaomi devices. … | Continue reading
There’s a new early-stage fund in town — town being Southeast Asia. Singapore-based Jungle Ventures, the VC firm that launched a $100 million fund last year, today announced a new fund focused on seed stage investments in the region. Read More | Continue reading
Smartphone apps have improved convenience for public transportation in many urban centers. In Washington, DC, riders can download apps to help them figure out where to go, when to show up and how long to wait for a bus or train. However, the problem with public transport in DC is … | Continue reading
Summer is almost here, which means… it’s time to download some workout apps! TechCrunch tested out dozens of the best fitness apps and we narrowed it down to our three favorites. Read More | Continue reading
The so-called Internet of Things is often underwhelming — who really needs a tweeting oven? — but inspiring applications of embedded sensors and ubiquitous connectivity still appear, and sometimes from the most unexpected places. Take this smart walker, for instance: the same tec … | Continue reading
Gone are the days where a humorous picture or phrase will get your site’s 404 page noticed. In a version of the internet where GIFs are the new text and videos are the new photos, it’s going to take a lot more than a witty phrase to stand out amongst the crowd.But, we were surpri … | Continue reading
In an office park overlooking a lake in Southern New Hampshire, Rajesh Mishra is working to change how cell networks are created. Rajesh and his company, Parallel Wireless, along with a dozen or so other nearby startups in Southern New Hampshire, are taking on a variety of challe … | Continue reading
Facebook’s artificial intelligence systems now report more offensive photos than humans do, marking a major milestone in the social network’s battle against abuse, the company tells me. AI could quarantine obscene content before it ever hurts the psyches of real people. Facebook’ … | Continue reading
Researchers in the Netherlands claim to have created the world’s first “robots that procreate.” What does that mean exactly? Well, child, when two robots’ fitness evaluation algorithms come to a successful conclusion, something beautiful happens. You’ll know when you’re older — o … | Continue reading
Live-streaming app Periscope is rolling out a new experiment with real-time comment moderation, the company announced today. While its parent company Twitter has struggled over the years with spam and abuse – without much success, let’s be honest – Periscope is aiming to go a dif … | Continue reading
Y Combinator announced today that it would launch its first basic income experiment in Oakland, CA. The startup accelerator began researching the concept of basic income last fall and will soon start paying salaries. Read More | Continue reading
Meet Energysquare, a thin charging pad so that you don’t have to plug your phone charger ever again. Energysquare doesn’t rely on induction like most wireless chargers out there. Instead, Energysquare uses a conductive surface as well as a sticker on the back of your phone. The c … | Continue reading
Apple’s Thunderbolt Display, first introduced in the summer of 2011, may be getting a refresh at WWDC, if inventory shortages at retail stores are any indication. Just try getting one at your local Apple store — dozens of locations near me are “ship to store” only, suggesting (as … | Continue reading
Microsoft just dropped the price of its gaming console. The Xbox One now costs $299 in the U.S. with a 500GB hard drive, or €299 in Europe. For $319, you get a 1TB hard drive. And bundles also get a $50 price cut.Interestingly, this news comes right before E3. Microsoft is set to … | Continue reading
You might not have thought of – much less visited – Myspace in years. (Yes, it’s still around. Time, Inc. acquired it and other properties when it bought Viant earlier this year.) But user data never really dies, unfortunately. For Myspace’s new owner, that’s bad news, as the com … | Continue reading
Simply Hired — a job search engine with 30 million monthly users that is active in 24 countries and 12 languages — is shutting down on June 26, with one report claiming that at least some of the company is getting acquired.We heard of the shutdown initially from one of Simply Hir … | Continue reading
Instagram this morning officially announced the launch of its tools for business users, including new business profiles, analytics, and the ability to turn Instagram posts into ads directly from the Instagram app itself. The launch comes following a series of leaks and reports of … | Continue reading
In the world of healthcare, physicians and insurers are struggling to meet seemingly conflicting goals: improving patient quality outcomes while reducing the total costs of care. Disrupt NY 2015 Startup Battlefield participant Wellth thinks it has found a solution to this problem … | Continue reading
Apple’s iTunes App Store is home to over 1.5 million apps and Google Play hosts over 2 million, but the number of apps that actually get installed and used on consumers’ devices is still quite small. We already knew that people only interacted with a small handful of third-party … | Continue reading
Is the world ready for another smartphone? How about one that will cost $14,000 for its most basic model? Today, Sirin Labs — a startup put together by a team of founders out of Israel — used an event in London to unveil the Solarin, a privacy-first device “aimed at the internati … | Continue reading
A communications test was performed in 1975 between Stanford and University College London for what was to become arguably the most important communication innovation of the 20th century: The Internet Protocol (IP). At its core, IP was focused on speed and simplicity. This requir … | Continue reading
ASUS is going big at Computex this year with the launch of new additions to ZenBook, Transformer and ZenPhone lines. But the biggest new piece to the company’s unfortunately named “Zenvolution” puzzle is this bright-eyed little guy who’s something along the lines of a cross betwe … | Continue reading
Facebook, Twitter, Google’s YouTube, Microsoft as well as the European Commission unveiled a new code of conduct to remove hate speech according to community guidelines in less than 24 hours across these social media platforms. The EU has ramped up efforts leading to this code of … | Continue reading
Whill, a startup dedicated to building better wheelchairs and mobility devices, plans to enter the European market after raising a $17.5 million Series B. The round was led by Eight Road Ventures with participation from other investors including Mirai Creation Investment Limited … | Continue reading
One of the first-world problems most plaguing the new corporate world is the time wasted trying to find and secure a meeting room. At least, that’s the premise Robin is based on.Robin is a company that helps offices organize, track, and monitor their spaces.The company just raise … | Continue reading
More often than not, mobile devices are a permanent dash from power socket to power socket. Mophie is the #1 brand in extending your range between charges, and with the launch of “Charge Force”, the brand wants to remove incessant plugging and unplugging from your life, too, with … | Continue reading
Marketo, the marketing software giant that went public in 2013, is being taken private again: PE firm Vista Equity Partners has acquired the company for $1.79 billion in an all-cash deal. The news ends weeks of speculation in which people guessed that Marketo would be snapped up … | Continue reading
Twiggle, a Tel Aviv-based startup that is developing a new e-commerce search engine, announced today that it has added Alibaba Group as a new investor. Alibaba’s funding counts as the second tranche of Twiggle’s Series A round. Read More | Continue reading