Author: TechBrunch

Tourism continues to recover from the impact of COVID-19, with global tourism receipts reaching $2.23 trillion in 2023, exceeding pre-pandemic levels for the first time since 2020. This has huge ramifications for startups building technology to serve this sector. Mews, one of his startup companies building tools to improve his IT management in hotels, announced a $110 million growth round to win more business . The financing, led by Kinnevik, has a post-money valuation of $1.2 billion. This is slightly more than Amsterdam-based Muse's Series C announced in late 2022, when Muse raised $185 million at a valuation of $865…

Regina Yeh and Topsort co-founder Francisco Larraín say they've learned a lot in the two years since they launched their auction-based advertising startup. The company raised $8 million in seed funding in 2022, valuing the company at $110 million. Topsort develops retail media technology that allows small businesses to use auctions as a way to create effective advertising. Tired of the complexity of creating ad campaigns on Meta, Amazon, and Google, they created a simple API that users can install. When launching a campaign, customers can add items such as sponsored listings, banner ads, and video ads. Then, control how…

Spotify welcomes the European Commission's decision announced today to hold Apple accountable for anti-competitive practices in the streaming music market with a hefty €1.84 billion fine. The streamer said the fine sends a “powerful message” that even a “monopolist like Apple” cannot “abuse its power” to control how other companies interact with customers. He said that. “Today's decision marks a key moment in the fight for a more open internet for consumers. The European Commission (EC) has made its conclusion clear: Apple's actions to restrict communications to consumers are Illegal,” Spotify shared in a statement on its company blog. Despite…

Qatar announced a startup investment program through its development bank at the recent Web Summit. The program aims to attract seed and growth-stage technology companies looking to establish or expand operations in the country. TechCrunch has learned that the program, known as the “Startup Qatar Investment Program”, is backed by a $100 million fund managed by Qatar Development Bank (QDB). QDB said in a statement that the program will provide funding of up to $500,000 to startups looking to establish a presence in Qatar and up to $5 million to startups looking to expand their operations in the Middle Eastern…

The European Union has fined Apple 1.84 billion euros for violating antitrust rules in the market for music streaming services on the iOS mobile platform. The penalty focuses on the enforcement of Apple's anti-steering provisions, which impose limits on music streaming apps' ability to notify consumers of cheaper offers outside of Apple's App Store. The iPhone maker has its own music streaming service, Apple Music, but rivals such as Spotify say the restrictions put them at a disadvantage compared to platform operators. Today, the European Commission said this restriction prevents European consumers from making free choices. “Apple's rules have resulted…

The CEO of a Norwegian hardware startup shared with me his pitch deck, which included some unusual slides. It included the company's capitalization table, a breakdown of who owned what part of the company. Cap tables are typically shared during the investment diligence stage. If you take a closer look at the table, something is very wrong. This cap chart is an exact reproduction of the cap chart that was in the deck. Condensed and edited to remove investor names. Image credit: Haje Kamps/TechCrunch The problem here is that the company gave up more than two-thirds of its equity to…

Wagely, an Indonesian fintech company, has made a name for itself with its access to earned wages, a way for workers in Southeast Asian countries to get salary advances without resorting to high-interest loans. The startup, which currently has 500,000 users on its platform, is expanding its business into a broader “financial wellness” platform, and the company has now raised $23 million to further boost its efforts. Masu. This news is particularly noteworthy given the funding crunch that Indonesian startups have faced over the past few years, and shows that developing countries have been hit even harder than developed markets…

India has entered the global AI debate with an advisory requiring technology companies to seek government permission before launching new models. India's Ministry of Electronics and IT issued the advisory to companies on Friday. The advisory, which is not in the public domain but a copy of which was seen by TechCrunch, requires technology companies to ensure that their services and products “do not tolerate bias or discrimination of any kind and do not threaten the integrity of the electoral process.” ”. Although the ministry acknowledged that the recommendations were not legally binding, Rajiv Chandrasekhar, India's deputy IT minister, said…

Camshaft announced this week that approximately $533 million that it controlled for Byju's Alpha, the U.S. arm of Indian education technology group Byju's, has been transferred to another wholly owned U.S.-based subsidiary of Byju's. It made the disclosure in a court filing, refuting claims that Indian companies had used the wealth. Misappropriation of money from the services of a manager. Camshaft said in a court filing that the capital was transferred to Byju's Delaware-based subsidiary Inspilearn LLC. Camshaft also clarified that Byju and its entities are not limited partners of hedge funds. Byju's said in a statement that the camshaft…

Derek Smith, founder of Plug In South LA, grew up in South Los Angeles and saw firsthand the frustration that comes from a lack of economic development. That's why, after spending the first half of his career in New York, he decided to return to his hometown in 2015 and start his startup incubator in his old neighborhood. He wants to help aspiring entrepreneurs learn the tricks of growing a startup, and in the process learn that building these businesses can bring good-paying jobs to the region. I was expecting it. Smith already knew that founders of historically underrepresented groups…