Author: TechBrunch

So to speak, S2G Ventures has graduated today. For the past three years, the climate technology investment firm has operated under Builders Vision, the philanthropic and investment umbrella organization of Walmart heir Lucas Walton. Walton was his sole limited partner in S2G. Now, the organization is bringing others on board. Mr. Walton started S2G in 2014 to invest in startups focused on energy, agriculture, and oceans, with the goal of creating new companies that benefit the climate and environment. Mr. Walton plans to continue investing in and supporting S2G, giving the company a little more control, but not leaving the…

SoundCloud has launched a new set of playlists named “Buzzing Playlists” to highlight up-and-coming tracks from artists. It has pop, hip-hop, R&B, and electronic music playlists, and includes tracks from artists participating in SoundCloud's Next Pro paid subscription program. SoundCloud said it looks at signals such as repeat plays, playlist additions, likes, comments, and reposts to add tracks to Buzzing Playlists, which are updated weekly. Last year, the company launched its First Fans program, which suggests new songs to people in autoplay mode to help artists reach the first 100 listeners with a new release. The company says it will…

Danti, an artificial intelligence company building an ultra-powerful search engine for Earth data, has brought on prominent defense technology investor Shield Capital as it looks to expand its technology for government customers. Founded by Jesse Kallman in early 2023, Danti develops a natural language search engine that targets previously highly siled data, such as satellite imagery, and cross-checks it with other commercial and government sources. , created reports across multiple sources and domains. For example, an analyst can pose a complex question in simple terms, such as “What are the recent tank movements in eastern Ukraine?” And in turn, you…

Nigeria's logistics industry, like other informal sectors, suffers from poor infrastructure and other inefficiencies that make it difficult for businesses large and small to move and store goods. I am. While many startups have tackled the challenges of middle- and last-mile delivery, one untapped area is providing end-to-end fulfillment solutions. Renda, a three-year-old startup, is filling this gap by simplifying order fulfillment and retail distribution for businesses in Africa. The company has secured a pre-seed round of $1.9 million, which will be used to improve its service. Expanding to more cities in Nigeria and Kenya, two of his current markets.…

Digital fraud detection company BioCatch has become a new major shareholder. UK-based private equity firm Permira is acquiring stakes in the company “primarily” from existing investors including Bain Capital, Maverick Ventures and Tech Opportunities in a value-driven secondary market transaction. Biocatch is worth $1.3 billion. Existing shareholders Sapphire Ventures and Macquarie Capital are also increasing their stake in BioCatch, but neither company has disclosed the amount. Permira also declined to confirm how much of a majority stake it currently holds in BioCatch. This is the second notable private equity deal announced in the past week in the cybersecurity space. Thoma…

Butcherbox is known for taking over $600,000 in revenue and moving forward. The company has not traditionally followed the M&A path, but today it announced that it will acquire Truffle Shuffle. Some of you may remember him from a 2021 episode of Shark Tank (or maybe The Goonies). The acquisition could make Butcher Box's customers better cooks and broaden its appeal (and product line) to more customers. Truffle Shuffle's goal is to make us home cooks feel like pros, and we do that by providing an easy-to-follow cooking show. When I tried it during the pandemic, I was struck by…

Freshworks, a publicly traded SaaS company, will acquire U.S.-based startup Device42 for $230 million, the company said in an SEC filing. Along with the acquisition disclosure, Freshworks also revealed that founder Girish Mathrubootham has stepped down as CEO. Dennis Woodside, who will join Freshworks as president in September 2022 and previously served as CEO of Motorola Mobility, will become the new CEO. Mr. Mathrubootham will become Executive Chairman. Device42 helps businesses manage their IT infrastructure, providing insights into systems ranging from mainframes to the cloud. We recently started offering carbon emissions tracking. Device42 claims that by providing a comprehensive, real-time…

TikTok users can once again create music clips using tracks from the UMG catalog featuring some of today's biggest names in music, including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Ariana Grande. After months of wrangling, the social media platform and Universal Music Group (UMG) have finally reached a truce with a new content licensing agreement. The companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal. The move comes at a critical time for the company. TikTok is under threat of further bans in major markets, including the United States. Therefore, this win for UMG is important not only to strengthen its…

The company this week invested $5 million in Agora, a front-end solution for Dao governance. Blockchain startups were in hot water when Katie Haun left Andreessen Horowitz in 2021 to launch a venture firm focused on cryptocurrencies. However, shortly after Haun announced that his two funds at Huan Ventures had a total of $1.5 billion, crypto prices skyrocketed and FTX collapsed. Despite having a large amount of dry powder, Haun Ventures was in no hurry to raise crypto and Web3 stock cheaply, leaving many observers wondering when the company might pick up the pace of deployment. I was wondering. Haun…

At the 2024 IAB NewFronts event held on Wednesday, Snapchat announced a series of new augmented reality (AR) and machine learning (ML) tools designed to help brands and advertisers reach users on the social network with interactive experiences. announced. The company said it is investing in ML and automation to help brands create AR try-on assets faster and easier. Over the past few years, Snapchat has worked with companies like Amazon and Tiffany & Co. to allow users to virtually try on different products within the app. The social network says it will reduce the time it takes to create…