Author: TechBrunch

Spotify is now allowing unhosted podcasters to upload videos to the platform, a new feature that the company quietly introduced last week, a Spotify spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch. Previously, creators who wanted to upload video podcasts to Spotify had to sign up to host them with Spotify for Podcasters, a free platform for podcast creators, or a partner hosting company. Creators could also separate the video feed from the audio, but this wasn't ideal as it would be uploaded as two episodes. Now, any creator can upload directly to Spotify using their podcast hosting service of choice. To use the…

Online shopping trends are expected to remain strong this year, but e-commerce is more fragmented than ever. With brands selling on numerous platforms, from TikTok shops to established marketplaces, live shopping, and even their own channels, you might think it would be easier for shoppers to find what they're looking for. But that's not quite the case, and shoppers often have to spend a lot of time searching. To make matters worse, SEO algorithms and an influx of content have made it difficult to sift through useful information, making current search less effective for shopping. But it's 2024, and if…

Amazon is opening up the smarts of its Generative AI listing creation to more sellers, announcing today that sellers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK will now have access to a tool designed to improve their product listings by generating product descriptions, titles and related details. Additionally, sellers can also “enrich” existing product listings by automatically adding missing information. The announcement comes nine months after Amazon first revealed plans to offer its generative AI technology to sellers. Amazon hasn't been very forthcoming about its availability by market, but it's likely limited to the U.S. so far; however, the…

WorldCoin, a cryptocurrency startup co-founded by OpenAI's Sam Altman, has been allowed to resume iris scanning and other operations in Kenya after a year-long government investigation into privacy concerns was halted. Kenya was one of the countries where WorldCoin launched its iris scanning system, which the company was building as the basis for a new identity and cryptocurrency system, but its operations there have been suspended for nearly a year after the program fell foul of regulators just days after it was launched. Now, the country's Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) has issued a letter to the company's legal team…

Paris-based venture capital firm Briga has watched Africa's tech ecosystem mature over the years, with venture capital funding rising from less than $1 billion per year to a record $6 billion and the number of fast-growing companies on the rise, from one unicorn to seven in the space of three years. Now the venture capital firm wants to put some of its own money towards a $75 million fund to invest in early-stage startups in Africa, and told TechCrunch it had secured roughly 70% of the capital commitments by the first deadline. Since entering the venture capital industry in 2015,…

Malicious hacks are becoming more sophisticated, creating a very clear trend in security technology: security itself must continue to grow in complexity in order to keep people and organizations safe. Security startup PQShield is an early player in the concept, focusing on “post-quantum” encryption — a future-proof software and hardware solution that would theoretically be able to withstand hacks performed using the most powerful quantum machines of the future. Now the company has announced $37 million in funding to meet industry demand for building hardware and related systems based on its research. Addition, Lee Fixel's investment firm, led the Series…

Hero, a new Paris-based fintech startup, has announced an all-equity funding round of €11.3 million ($12.2 million at today's exchange rates) led by Valar Ventures. Over the past few years, the company has been quietly building an ambitious banking product for small and medium-sized businesses that can essentially replace all the functions you'd expect from a traditional bank, from managing your cash to receiving payments to getting lines of credit. If you are setting up a company in France, it is now very easy to register your company and open a bank account in your company’s name. At the same…

Wordsmith, an emerging Scottish legal tech startup that has managed to secure backing from two well-known venture capital firms, offers an AI platform aimed at in-house legal teams and law firms that can be set up to assist other employees within the company, allowing anyone in the company to ask for help with legal tasks such as reviewing contracts or answering specific questions about documents. Founded in October last year, the Edinburgh-based company is the brainchild of former TravelPerk senior executives Ross McNairn (CEO) and Robbie Falkenthal (COO), and CTO Volodymyr Giginiak, who held various engineering roles at Microsoft, Facebook…

Silicon Valley-based venture capital group General Catalyst is expanding its presence in India by partnering with local venture firm Venture Highway to allocate $500 million to $1 billion for investments in the country. Venture Highway's investments include social commerce startup Meesho and B2B industrial marketplace Moglix. TechCrunch reported in January that the two venture firms were in talks for a deal. With the deal, the combined company will develop a multi-stage investment strategy for General Catalyst in India targeting early- to growth-stage startups across industries, Venture Highway founder Neeraj Arora and general partner Priya Mohan told TechCrunch in an interview.…

Love it or hate it, artificial intelligence, and generative AI in particular, is the tech story of 2024. OpenAI may have monopolized most of the attention and funding so far, thanks to its viral services like ChatGPT and its billions of dollars in funding, but a new report from analysts at top VC firms Accel and Dealroom says there's a wave of up-and-coming companies in Europe and Israel looking to make a name for themselves right now. Europe and Israel combined typically account for around 45% of all venture funding annually, but when you scope this out to the specific…