Author: TechBrunch

Recently, there has been an increased focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the fintech world, and the growth of Swedish startups is one example of this. Mynt, which built an AI-based platform for corporate card and spend management for small and medium-sized businesses, has raised €22 million ( Completed a $23 million round. . London-based investment firm Vor Capital, which previously backed Mynt, is leading the round, with other previous backers CNI and Incore also participating. Mynt has currently raised approximately €50 million, and our understanding is that this funding could value it at around €200 million ($210…

Peak XV and Hongshan, the Indo-Chinese investment firms that spun off from giant Sequoia last year, have pledged $10 million to KAST, a dollar-denominated neobank-like platform that allows customers to hold and spend stablecoins through traditional payment methods. Co-led the seed investment. . Kast also issues credit cards that work with standard merchant networks, allowing users to use their stablecoin holdings even with merchants that do not support cryptocurrency transactions. The startup is targeting emerging markets where access to the US dollar is limited and remittance costs are high. Although KAST does not operate in India or China due to…

This story has been updated throughout with more details as the story has developed. We will continue to do so as the case and dispute are ongoing. The world of WordPress, one of the most popular technologies for creating and hosting websites, is going through a very heated controversy. The core issue is the fight between WordPress founder and Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg and WP Engine, which hosts websites built on WordPress. WordPress technology is open source and free, and it powers a huge chunk of the internet — around 40% of websites. Websites can host their own WordPress instance…

Generative AI has many well-documented abuses, from fabricating academic papers to copying artists. And now it appears to be manifesting itself in state influence operations. According to a recent report by Massachusetts-based threat intelligence firm Recorded Future, one recent campaign was powered by a commercial AI voice generation product, including technology published by high-profile startup Eleven Labs. is extremely high.” The report describes a Russia-aligned campaign called “Operation Undercut” aimed at undermining support for Ukraine in Europe, using AI-generated voiceovers in fake or misleading “news” videos. Used prominently. These videos were aimed at a European audience and covered themes such…

Joby Aviation, an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft startup, has launched a public offering to sell up to $300 million in common stock, according to a regulatory filing. Joby initially offered $200 million in October, but the offer was increased by $100 million after amendments to its prospectus. Joby said the proceeds from the procurement, along with existing cash, will be used to support certification and manufacturing efforts, preparation for commercial launch in 2025, and general working capital. The eVTOL company added that it intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional $30 million worth…

YouTube announced Tuesday that its automatic dubbing feature, which allows creators to generate translated audio tracks for their videos, will be rolled out to hundreds of thousands more channels. YouTube first introduced an AI-powered auto-dubbing tool at Vidcon last year, but the tool was only tested with a limited group of creators. This tool can help make content on the platform more accessible and understandable to people around the world. The auto-dubbing feature is now available for channels that focus on informational content, such as videos that teach viewers how to cook or sew. We plan to expand it to…

The future of audiobooks and the impact of AI on the publishing industry was a talking point for HarperCollins, whose CEO Brian Murray spoke at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Tuesday. During the event, the executive praised Spotify's entry into the audiobook market and detailed its future growth plans in this space. He also touched on how AI technology could threaten and harm publishers in the future. Notably, Murray said audiobooks continue to outpace e-books in terms of total revenue, making up for the decline due to slower e-book sales. Regarding AI, the CEO declined to discuss…

On this week's episode of Found, Dom and Becca are joined by former Bonobos CEO Andy Dunn about his mission to reverse America's loneliness epidemic through Pi, an app built to foster real-world connections. talk about. During this conversation, they talk about Dan's personal experience moving to a new city, which served as the inspiration for the app. The idea behind Pie is to allow people to connect directly by allowing users to promote events based on shared interests. Dunn calls these users “IRL creators.” “We need to stimulate a new gig economy,” Dunn said. “These are people who are…

Tiger Global famously fueled the pandemic-era venture capital boom, investing heavily in a wide range of startups, launching bidding wars for even the most unproven startups, and driving them to sky-high valuations. Hedge funds backed 315 startups in 2021 alone, according to PitchBook data. And many in the VC industry weren't happy about this even back then. Towards the end of 2021, the New York company persuaded investors to commit $12.7 billion to its 15th venture fund (named PIP 15), and in the months that followed put most of that money into even more funds. Started pouring into startups. By…

The United States has sanctioned a Chinese cybersecurity company and one of its employees for exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in the Sophos firewall to target American organizations. The U.S. Treasury Department announced Tuesday that Guan Tianfeng, an employee of Sichuan Silence, used the vulnerability to breach approximately 81,000 firewalls in April 2020. The hacking campaign, detailed by Sophos in November, led to the breach of more than 23,000 firewalls in China. In the United States, dozens of them were used by government agencies and critical infrastructure companies. One of the companies was an energy company involved in drilling operations. The…