Author: TechBrunch

EnerVenue, a startup developing an alternative to lithium-ion batteries for long-term storage of renewable energy, has raised $515 million in new capital, according to an SEC filing reviewed by TechCrunch. The company is building a gigawatt-scale factory in Kentucky to produce nickel-metal hydride batteries, estimated to cost $264 million. The company recently raised $125 million in a Series A round that closed in late 2021. Given the scale of the investment in the factory, the new funding will likely be dedicated to this project. EnerVenue has raised $308 million to date of a $515 million target, according to filings. A…

Meta is quietly rolling out a new “Communities” feature to Messenger, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The feature is designed to help organizations, schools, and other private groups communicate in a more organized and structured way. The rollout comes on the heels of Meta introducing Communities to WhatsApp in 2022. The feature lets users connect with other users even if they're not associated with a Facebook group. Meta introduced Messenger Community Chat in 2022 as a way for Facebook group members to connect in real time, but with this new feature, the company is letting users create a space on…

A lot is riding on next week's WWDC 2024 keynote. The importance of this presentation is much higher than the standard post-event market trends. The pressure on Tim Cook and his team to deliver is actually even higher than it was before the Vision Pro launch last year. On Monday, Apple will unveil its AI plans, a topic that has had a huge question mark hanging over Cupertino for the past few years as rivals like Google and Microsoft have embraced generative AI. There is a broad industry consensus that systems powered by large-scale language models like ChatGPT and Gemini…

Shopify has acquired Threads.com, a Slack alternative service backed by Seqiuoa, Threads announced on its website. The companies did not disclose terms of the deal but said the Threads.com team will join Shopify. Threads added that the startup had an “opportunity to sell the domain” after Meta launched its eponymous social network last year. It's not clear whether the startup sold the domain name to Meta, Shopify or anyone else, but the memo suggests that it would have had to rebrand from Threads if it had remained independent. We've reached out to all of these companies and will update the…

According to information obtained by TechCrunch, two senior officers working in Bangladesh's counter-terrorism police are accused of collecting sensitive and personal information of citizens on Telegram and selling it to criminals. According to the letter, signed by a senior Bangladeshi intelligence official and seen by TechCrunch, the data allegedly sold included identities of citizens, mobile phone call records and other “sensitive information.” The letter, dated April 28, was written by Brigadier General Mohammed Baker, director of Bangladesh's electronic eavesdropping agency, the National Telecommunications Monitoring Centre (NTMC), who confirmed the legitimacy of the letter and its contents in an interview with…

Carta, the Silicon Valley startup that loudly exited one of its businesses earlier this year, is pursuing a secondary sale that could value the company at $2 billion, TechCrunch has learned. Carta is working with investment bank Jefferies to advance the sale and had initially expected demand at a valuation of $4 billion, but sources said even $2 billion may be too ambitious. This is a significant, if not entirely unexpected, drop in valuation for Carta. The company originally focused on cap table management software, but over time began to evolve into the “private equity marketplace for corporations.” The company's…

Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off on Monday at 10am PST/1pm ET with the customary Tim Cook keynote. Last year's event will be remembered as the one where Vision Pro was finally introduced to the world, but the company is hoping to make WWDC 2024 even more memorable by finally clarifying its generative AI plans. What to expect include a major update to Siri, Mail incorporating Apple's Ajax LLM for suggested email replies, plus a new look and new features for Apple Photos. Find out how to live stream your event here. The opening of WWDC is different from…

In a research note, HSBC estimated that Indian education technology giant Byju's, once valued at $22 billion, is now worth zero. The write-down on that estimate has led to Byju's having one of the most dramatic share price declines of any startup in recent history. This follows an extremely tough year for the Bengaluru-based startup, which was until recently India's most valuable company: Last year, Bijoux struggled to meet financial reporting deadlines and faced a variety of governance issues, ultimately missing its revenue target by more than 50%. These issues, combined with the sudden resignations of the company's auditors and…

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference next week is sure to be a key moment in the iPhone maker's history, and while the Vision Pro debuted at last year's event, don't expect the hardware to be a highlight at WWDC 2024, which starts at 10 a.m. PST on Monday. WWDC is for developers, and much of the focus will be on iOS 18. The Cupertino tech giant will be showcasing its selection of integrating AI technologies into its devices and software, including its historic partnership with OpenAI. As the big event draws closer, various leaks have surfaced about what's in store for…

In its list of winners for the Apple Design Awards, Apple has celebrated indie apps and startups over big tech companies, including companies offering AI chatbots. With the App Store model under question from lawmakers and regulators, Apple's annual list of the best and most technologically innovative software available on its platform has been looking to smaller companies. For example, ChatGPT was not on the list of finalists for Apple's Design Awards. Instead, Apple's Design Awards finalists featured apps from small and mid-sized app makers like Copilot Money, SmartGym, recipe app Crouton, creativity app Procreate Dreams, Gentler Streak, and venture-backed…