Author: TechBrunch
2023 was the year social networks realized that they were sitting on massive troves of data. And some companies, such as Twitter (now X) and Reddit, decided to change their terms to shut out third-party experiences on these platforms. In the process, they also put a price on their data — something they believe is highly valuable today as it can be used to train AI models. After talking to several third-party developers who built apps and services on top of these larger social networks, we learned that there are mixed feelings among the developers about building experiences around social…
When I was… As a student in the UK, I remember that it was common for some people, especially students living in short-term accommodation, to rent home appliances such as washing machines and televisions. Israeli startup Xyte (pronounced “excite”) believes a return to this kind of Hardware-as-a-Service model is the way forward for manufacturers whose profits are constantly under pressure, and has raised $30 million. I just procured it. If software-as-a-service works well, why doesn't it work well in hardware? Xyte let me look at a deck of 27 slides to see how it worked. Were you excited about Zayt's…
20VC founder Harry Stebbings has announced his third and final derivative fund, called 20PRODUCT, starting with a $5 million capital commitment. Like his previous funds, 20Sales and 20GROWTH, 20Product brings together a group of experts who invest in early-stage founders looking to build, grow, and scale their companies. Essentially, it's like lining up a bunch of experienced operators on the cap table, Stebbings told TechCrunch. The fund will write checks of $100,000 or more to pre-seed, seed and Series A companies and will not make any further investments. These three special funds emerged from Stebbings' efforts to leverage experts from…
Grammarly announced this week that it will lay off 230 employees worldwide as part of a “business restructuring.” The company said the layoffs are part of Grammarly's efforts to increase its focus on the “AI-powered workplace of the future.” “To arrive at today's decision, we looked at our organizational design and the current skill sets of our teams from a company strategy perspective,” said Rahul Roy Chowdhury, CEO of Grammarly. stated in a memo to. “Increasing our focus on promoting an AI-enabled workplace and deepening our technology investments in AI will require a different mix of capabilities and skill sets.…
Elon Musk's X, formerly of Twitter, has signed a deal with sports betting operator BetMGM, the companies announced Friday. The deal, which BetMGM describes as a “strategic partnership” with X, will see the operator become X's exclusive live odds sports betting partner and introduce access to betting services on X. Initially, X users in the US will be able to explore pro football betting odds, with more pro and college sports to be rolled out over time. Through the new interface, users will be able to click through to BetMGM's website or app and place bets there, but the company…
Odyssey, a mushroom-based functional energy drink maker, has raised an additional $6 million in equity investment, bringing its total funding since launching its first drink two years ago to $14 million. Odyssey's products harness the health benefits of Lion's Mane and Cordyceps mushrooms to create a drink that combines energy boosting with 2,750 milligrams of mushrooms to provide cognitive clarity and focus. A 2023 National Institutes of Health preliminary study shows that lion's mane, in particular, has a positive impact on cognitive function and mood in young people. Scott Frohman, founder and CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Odyssey, first learned…
In the midst of a funding downtime last year, and with conditions getting tougher for fund managers raising capital as backers (limited partners) enhanced their focus on strategy and track record, some new African and Africa-focused funds still emerged, with several of the existing ones receiving fresh backing. Among the notable VC funds that came up last year include the $300 million Partech Africa II, the largest Africa-focused fund to date, and Africa People + Planet fund by Novastar Ventures, an over $200 million pool that will invest in agriculture and climate sectors. Meanwhile, Norrsken22, one of the biggest VCs…
Pinterest has announced a new advertising deal with Google, aiming to increase advertising revenue. Google is the social platform's second third-party advertising partner, following Amazon's multi-year deal with Pinterest last year. The company talked about its partnership with Google during its fourth-quarter 2023 earnings call, announcing results that were lower than analysts expected. His Pinterest revenue for the same period was $981 million, an increase of 12% year over year. Meanwhile, monthly active users jumped to his 498 million, an 11% year-over-year increase. Pinterest's stock price fell nearly 28% after lower-than-expected revenue, but rebounded after CEO Bill Ready announced a…
Software asset management, an area of enterprise IT designed to reduce costs for businesses, continues to attract significant funding in its own right. In the latest development, Xensam, a Stockholm startup that offers AI-based tools that help companies understand and track how and where their software is used, has raised $40 million, marking an eight-year It raised its first external funding since its previous founding. The funding will come from a single investor: London-based Expedition Growth Capital. Oskar Fösker, CEO of Xensam, who co-founded the company with his brother Gustav (CTO), continues to develop the AI technology stack, hire more…
Will 2024 be the year of fintech IPOs? According to F-Prime Capital's State of Fintech 2024 report, that possibility is quite high. F prime — VC firm with over $4.5 billion in assets under management Track the performance of emerging public and private financial technology companies. Unsurprisingly, he remains bullish on the fintech space, saying:Although fintech companies collectively capture less than 10% of financial services revenue, many large private fintech companies have revenues of more than $1 billion, are still growing rapidly, and are It is expected to be listed on the market. ” “Many major companies are currently applying…