Why OSOM went web3

“I want to do some crazy stuff,” Jason Keats says with a laugh. “I want to bring back that GEM phone.” He reaches behind him and pulls the strikingly slender device off a shelf. The battery's dead, but as a prop, it still works. Essential released images of the prototype device in Octob

Former Theranos exec Sunny Balwani is found guilty of fraud

Former Theranos COO and ex-boyfriend of disgraced founder Elizabeth Holmes, Sunny Balwani has been found guilty on all 12 criminal charges after a three-month trial. At her own high-profile trial this winter, Holmes was found guilty of defrauding investors and conspiring to defraud investors on fou

Roe reversal weighs heavily on emerging tech cities in red states

On June 24, Khadijah Robinson planned to offer a woman a job. As founder of the Atlanta-based tech startup Nile, she spent three years scaling the platform, which connects consumers to Black online businesses. That Friday, she was thrilled to finally find someone willing to relocate from California

Flipping the sales script: How to break biases and diversify sales teams

Technology leaders don't like to admit it, but sales has a perception problem that deters many fabulous candidates — especially women and minorities — from pursuing careers in tech sales. I've seen and experienced these biases firsthand as a woman of color in tech sales. Unfortunately,

a16z leads $6.5M seed round for Adaptive, a construction software and fintech play

In the construction business, time is money. But with so many moving parts, it can be extremely challenging for construction companies to manage the administrative aspects of their finances. Adaptive, an 11-month-old startup that has set out to give construction teams better tools t

Casper king Philip Krim is getting into the insurance business

Since departing his role as Casper CEO in 2021, Philip Krim has spent the majority of his time investing and incubating companies via Montauk Ventures. The latest is an insurance company called Ranger, which aims to elevate the agents in the insurance industry, rather than replace them. Most of the

Fyto combines automation, robotics so aquatic 'superplants' can grow almost anywhere

Fyto wants our plants to work smarter, not harder. The Petaluma, California–based company is developing both hardware and software to automate and scale the production of aquatic plants, or what founder and CEO Jason Prapas calls “superplants,” in a controlled environment as a more resilient

Embattled digital mortgage lender Better.com reveals string of new senior exec hires in 'rebirth' attempt

Online mortgage lender Better.com is on a mission to reinvent its image. The embattled startup announced today several new hires of senior executives, including a new chief growth officer and a new head of sales. In case you missed it, Better.com has seen a flurry of execs depart th

Happeo lands $26M to provide a central intranet portal for employees

As companies adopt new tools to accommodate remote ways of work, it’s becoming tougher for their workforces to keep track of and manage information across internal services. It’s not just the C-suite that’s being challenged — lower-level employees, too, are having to wrestle wit

Japan’s gaming blockchain builder Oasys raises $20M in private token sale

Veterans from the established gaming world are flocking to web3. Whether they do it out of a fear of missing out or genuine belief in blockchain technologies, the trend appears irreversible at least for now, as investment keeps pouring into the industry. Oasys, a Japan- and Singapore-based startup

Octopus keeps stuff out of Indonesia’s crowded landfills

According to the World Bank, Indonesia produces 4.8 million tons of plastic waste each year that is “mismanaged” — meaning it ends up uncollected, chucked into dumpsites or leaked from improperly managed landfills. Octopus wants to reduce that number with a platform that makes it easier to co

Daily Crunch: After filing for bankruptcy, crypto lender Voyager Digital says it will ‘maintain operations’

To get a roundup of technewss's biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here. Greetings, and happy Wednesday! I had to check the calendar before I said the day because does anyone really know what day it is anymore? Amanda had me cracking u

When did the startup boom peak?

The startup market is global in footprint, varied in focus, diverse in business model and constantly evolving. The venture capital market, meanwhile, is slower to molt, but it’s also changed in the last decade. Startups and their financial backers went a bit nuts last year, raising too much

How e-commerce companies can brave the new retail environment

E-commerce companies were once considered nearly invincible as they grew unfettered and saw record profits. But of late, they're braving a new market shaped by three major trends: stunted online shopping growth, the impact of the latest iOS privacy updates on social media customer acquisition s