Author: TechBrunch

With TikTok facing a looming shutdown on January 19th over its U.S. ownership (unless the Supreme Court intervenes), another Chinese app appears to be gaining traction. US users are flocking to the Chinese short video app Xiaohongshu (known in English as RedNote). The app rocketed to the number one free app spot on the US App Store today. It is also the top social networking app among all free iPhone apps. Some TikTok creators are promoting Xiaohongshu on their accounts and encouraging followers to migrate to the platform. Influencers may not have a crystal ball to predict whether TikTok will…

With TikTok facing a looming shutdown on January 19th over its U.S. ownership (unless the Supreme Court intervenes), another Chinese app appears to be gaining traction. US users are flocking to the Chinese short video app Xiaohongshu (known in English as RedNote). The app has rocketed to the number one spot among free apps on the US App Store today. It is also the top social networking app among all free iPhone apps. Some TikTok creators are promoting Xiaohongshu on their accounts and encouraging followers to migrate to the platform. Influencers may not have a crystal ball to predict whether…

Financial services firm Moody's announced Monday that it has agreed to acquire geospatial AI startup Cape Analytics for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter, subject to customary closing conditions, and will provide Moody's access to Cape's geospatial AI analytics technology in its underwriting operations. Moody's CEO Rob Fauver said the company plans to use the technology to build a real estate database that can provide “address-specific” risk insights to insurance customers. Cape's withdrawal comes as the insurance industry ramps up its adoption of AI and predictive analytics technologies. A 2024 study by insurance…

E-commerce giant eBay has announced plans to acquire Caramel, a startup that helps car sellers and buyers complete the final stages of a transaction, including verification, financing, documentation, title transfer, insurance, and more. As eBay has grown over the years, it has had to evolve to stay competitive. For example, the company last year eliminated sales commissions in the UK to combat a new wave of marketplace startups. Specifically in the automotive space, eBay has acquired several startups to stay ahead of the curve, including advertising and marketing technology company Cargigi and British classifieds site Motors.co.uk. Last month, eBay's archrival…

Float Financial, an expense management and corporate cards startup focused on the Canadian market, has raised $48.5 million in a Series B funding round. The Toronto-based fintech company likens itself to U.S.-based fintech giants Brex and Lamp, but says it's different in that it focuses exclusively on Canadian small and medium-sized businesses. “Canada's banking monopoly and strict policies have caused it to be overlooked,” said co-founder Rob Kazam. economic situation. ” Goldman Sachs Growth Equity led the funding, with participation from OMERS Ventures, FJ Labs, Teralys, and existing investor Garage Capital. This raise brings Float Financial's total venture funding to…

A hack and data breach at location data broker Gravy Analytics threatens the privacy of millions of people around the world, with smartphone apps disclosing location information collected by the data giant. It will be published soon. Although the full scale of the data breach is not yet clear, the alleged hackers have already collected large amounts of location data from major consumer phone apps, including fitness, health, dating, and transportation apps, as well as popular games. A large sample has been published. This data represents tens of millions of location data points that show where people have been, where…

Nominet, the UK domain registry that manages the .co.uk domain, has confirmed that it has experienced a cybersecurity incident that is related to the recent exploitation of a new Ivanti VPN vulnerability. In an email to customers seen by TechCrunch, Nominet warned of an “ongoing security incident” that it was investigating. Nominet said the hackers accessed its systems through “third-party VPN software provided by Ivanti,” adding that the intrusion “exploited a zero-day vulnerability,” leaving Nominet with no time to patch it. . Ivanti acknowledged last week that hackers were exploiting vulnerabilities in Connect Secure, the company's widely used enterprise VPN…

Healthcare is proving to be one of the more profitable industries by building AI solutions that speed up clinical, research, and administrative operations. Well, here's one of the latest examples of how that's playing out in terms of venture funding. Qventus, a startup that builds AI-based tools to automate tasks across a variety of healthcare scenarios, including surgeries, hospital discharges, and inpatient/outpatient testing, has raised $105 million in Series D funding. The funding includes $85 million in equity and $20 million in discretionary debt to create an “AI teammate” that can be used in a broader range of use cases,…

Coreweave, the $19 billion cloud computing company that provides AI computing resources to businesses, has officially opened its first two data centers in the UK. This is the first data center outside the US domestic market. CoreWeave opened its European headquarters in London last May, shortly after reaching a valuation of $1.1 billion to $19 billion. billion in funding. At the same time, the company announced plans to open two data centers as part of a £1 billion ($1.25 billion) investment in the UK. Today's news coincides with another announcement from the UK Government detailing a five-year investment plan to…

Fire tracking app Watch Duty has become a vital source of information for Los Angeles residents under the ongoing threat of wildfires. As TechCrunch's Maxwell Zeff explained, the app relies on a network of active and retired firefighters, first responders, official government reports, and volunteer reporters who monitor radio scanners to monitor ongoing It provides real-time updates on wildfires. This week's fires have propelled Watch Duty to the top of Apple's App Store charts, even though official alerts may have been buggy or inaccurate. And in an interview with The New York Times on Saturday, CEO John Mills said the…