Author: TechBrunch
Tonight at Playground Global in Palo Alto, some very smart people who are building things you don't understand yet will explain what's coming. This is the last StrictlyVC event of 2025 and the line-up is truly ridiculous. Image credit: Aaron V. Barrera Photography The series traveled around the world under the auspices of TechCrunch. Steve Case rented a theater in Washington, DC. We spoke with the Greek Prime Minister in Athens. Kirsten Greene hosted us at the Presidio in San Francisco. However, the concept is always the same. Bring together people working on really important developments in a small environment…
Fintech company Marquis has notified dozens of U.S. banks and credit unions that customer data was stolen in a cyberattack earlier this year. Details of the cyberattack emerged this week after Marquis filed data breach notifications in multiple U.S. states confirming the Aug. 14 incident was a ransomware attack. Texas-based Marquis is a marketing and compliance provider that enables banks and other financial institutions to collect and visualize all their customer data in one place. The company has more than 700 bank and credit union customers listed on its website. As such, Marquis has access to and stores large amounts…
Milan-based technology conglomerate Bending Spoons this week acquired Eventbrite for $500 million, adding the event ticketing platform to its growing portfolio of high-profile consumer technology brands. The deal, announced Tuesday, is the latest acquisition by the 12-year-old company, which has quietly become one of the technology industry's most prolific buyers despite little public knowledge. So what exactly is Bending Spoon? Despite its catchy name, the company rarely attracts attention and typically only makes headlines when another well-known brand is added to its portfolio. Its portfolio currently includes Evernote, WeTransfer, Meetup, Streamyard, and more. But Bending Spoons is neither a traditional…
India has backed away from a plan to force smartphone makers to pre-install government apps on all devices, following backlash and growing concerns that the mandate would give the state greater access to users' devices and weaken privacy protections. India's telecom ministry said Wednesday that anti-theft and cybersecurity protection app Sanchar Saathi will remain optional and smartphone manufacturers will no longer be required to preload it on the devices they sell. The new notice effectively rescinds a directive issued to manufacturers last week (and circulated online on Monday) that told manufacturers to include the app on all devices and ensure…
Tomorrow evening at Playground Global in Palo Alto, some very smart people who are building things you don't understand yet will explain what's coming. This is the last StrictlyVC event of 2025 and the line-up is truly ridiculous. Image credit: Aaron V. Barrera Photography This series has traveled the world under the auspices of TechCrunch. Steve Case rented a theater in Washington, DC. We spoke with the Greek Prime Minister in Athens. Kirsten Greene hosted us at the Presidio in San Francisco. However, the concept is always the same. That means bringing together people working on really important developments in…
A cybersecurity incident at analytics provider Mixpanel, announced hours before the US Thanksgiving weekend, could set a new standard for how data breaches are not announced. Summary: In a bare-bones blog post last Wednesday, Mixpanel CEO Jen Taylor announced that the company detected an unspecified security incident affecting some customers on November 8th, but she did not say how or how many were affected, only that Mixpanel had taken various security measures to “root out unauthorized access.” Mixpanel CEO Jen Taylor did not respond to multiple emails from TechCrunch containing more than a dozen questions about the company's data breach.…
Simular, a startup developing AI agents for Mac OS and Windows, has raised $21.5 million in Series A led by Felicis, with participation from NVentures (NVIDIA's venture arm), existing seed investor South Park Commons, and others. Simular is an interesting agent startup because, unlike other startups, it seeks to control the PC itself rather than the browser. (Agent AI refers to systems that can autonomously complete complex tasks with minimal human intervention.) “We can literally move a mouse and click on a screen, so we can repeat any human activity in the digital world,” co-founder and CEO Ang Lee told…
The Indian government is expanding anti-theft and cybersecurity efforts to include both new and used smartphones, a move aimed at curbing device theft and online fraud, but the move also raises new privacy concerns. As part of this expansion, India's Ministry of Telecommunications has made it mandatory for businesses buying or trading used mobile phones to verify all devices through a central database of IMEI numbers. This comes in addition to a recent directive directing smartphone manufacturers to pre-install the government's Sanchar Saathi app on all new handsets and push it to existing devices through software updates. Reuters first reported…
A coalition of law enforcement agencies coordinated by Europol announced on Monday the closure of cryptocurrency laundering service Cryptomixer. Europol confirmed the seizure in a press release, stating that Cryptomixer is “the platform of choice for cybercriminals seeking to launder illegal proceeds from a variety of criminal activities, including drug trafficking, arms trafficking, ransomware attacks, and payment card fraud.” Since 2016, cryptomixers have facilitated the laundering of 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in Bitcoin, according to Europol. Hackers and other criminals use laundering services such as Cryptomixer to obfuscate and hide the origin of cryptocurrencies. By design, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin…
OpenAI has taken ownership of Thrive Holdings, whose parent company is Thrive Capital, one of the AI giant's major investors. Thrive Holdings operates like an AI private equity firm, attracting companies it believes could benefit from the technology in areas such as accounting and IT services. Neither company disclosed the terms of the deal, but the companies said it will include Thrive's internal engineering, research and product teams that have integrated OpenAI to accelerate AI adoption and drive efficiencies. If these companies are successful, their stake in OpenAI will increase and they will also receive compensation for their services, according…