Extra Crunch roundup: B2B marketplaces, edtech M&A, breaking into the $1M ARR club
I’ve worked at technewss for a little over a year, but this was one of the hardest weeks on the job so far.
Like many people, I’ve been distracted in recent days. As I write this, I have one eye on my keyboard and another on a TV that sporadically broadcasts election results from battl
Startups making meat alternatives are gaining traction worldwide
Startups that produce lab-grown meat and meat substitutes are gaining traction and raising cash in global markets, mirroring a surge of support food tech companies are seeing in the United States.
New partnerships with global chains like McDonald’s in Hong Kong, the launch of test kitchens in
Funded by Connect Ventures, Purple Dot plans to take on Klarna-style purchase debt
In recent times startups have appeared offering credit at an e-commerce basket checkout so that a customer can buy a product without needing to pay right away. Klarna or Clearpay are the two most notable in this field. But what if you flipped the model around so that consumers could buy the item at
French startups can apply to the Next40 and French Tech 120
Last year, the French government and the government-backed initiative La French Tech unveiled an index of French startups so that it would be easier to identify them. The 40 top-performing startups get the label Next40, and the top 120 startups are grouped into the French Tech 120 — it's a pl
Challenger bank Starling is out raising a new £200M funding round
Starling founder Anne Boden recently told technewss that the U.K. challenger bank is on track to be profitable by Christmas, but this doesn’t mean it isn’t out raising additional capital already.
According to well-placed sources, Starling has hired Rothschild with the aim of raising a
Why Florida residents may soon be seeing jet-powered ‘flying taxis’
Florida is renowned for its strange news stories. In recent weeks alone, one resident reported an alligator in her garage that turned out to be a pool floatie; another discovered a python in her washing machine; and a horse needed to be pulled out of a septic tank by firefighters.
Still, don’
Implementing a data-driven approach to guarantee fair, equitable and transparent employee pay
Your pay is important. It’s usually something most people don't understand — why are we paid what we're paid? Ultimately, this lack of clarity can lead to confusion and negative feelings that affect our productivity and relationships with our employers. You may have encountered situ
The volcano method for understanding the fintech revolution
The Department of Justice moved to block the long-impending Visa-Plaid deal today.
The transaction was announced in early 2020, making the decision by the government to try and scuttle its consummation in November a large irritation to both parties. The pair spent nearly the entire year operating i
NASA wants new and innovative storytelling tech to document its Artemis moon missions
NASA has issued a new request for proposals from partners that would be able to help it supplement its own storytelling in new and innovative ways, including potentially through use of robotic camera systems, high-resolution and 360-degree video capture, immersive VR content and more. The agency ha
Reposite streamlines the most tedious tasks for travel agents
Meet Reposite, a software-as-a-service startup that wants to help travel agents of all kinds deal with their daily tasks. While the travel agency industry is huge, most people who work in this industry still don't have a good system in place to deal with information, orders and communication.
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DOJ files antitrust lawsuit challenging Visa’s $5.3 billion acquisition of Plaid
The Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit challenging Visa’s proposed $5.3 billion acquisition of Plaid.
News of the DOJ’s investigation first broke last month.
“By acquiring Plaid, Visa would eliminate a nascent competitive threat that would likely
Mobile testing platform Kobiton raises $14M, acquires competitor Mobile Labs
Atlanta-based Kobiton, a mobile testing platform that allows developers and QA teams to test their apps on real devices, both on their own desks and through the company’s cloud-based service, today announced that it has acquired Mobile Labs, another Atlanta-based mobile testing service.
To fi
How growth investing grew so big so quickly
It was 2013, and I'd been camping out in Uber's San Francisco offices for weeks. Our team wanted to invest in the company on behalf of my private equity firm, but was utterly daunted by its “eye-popping” $1 billion valuation.
Back then, unicorns were a rarity and that was a far steeper
Singapore-based digital business assistant Osome raises $3 million
"attachment_2069100" aria-describedby="" style="width: 1024px">Osome's founding team: Anton Roslov, Victor Lysenko and Konstantin Lange. Image Credits: Osome
Osome, a Singapore-headquartered business assistant app that digitizes accounting and compliance tasks, has raised $3 million. An extensio