Amid pandemic, Middle East adtech startups play essential role in business growth

The pandemic's impact on the business world encouraged adtech startups and digital marketing agencies to collaborate more, helping brands survive the pandemic by bringing businesses closer to consumers. Although overall spending on advertising slowed in 2020, it is expected to recover in 2021 a

BBG Ventures just closed on $50 million to fund more women-led startups

BBG Ventures, an eight-year-old, New York-based seed- and early-stage venture firm that only backs founding teams which feature at least one woman, just locked down $50 million in capital for its third fund, a major leap over its first two funds, both sized at $10 million. One determining factor in

Daily Crunch: Zuckerberg defends Facebook over role in Capitol attack

Tech executives face Congress, Spotify gets a redesign and Snapchat is developing a new Remix feature. This is your Daily Crunch for March 25, 2021. The big story: Zuckerberg defends Facebook over role in Capitol attack Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey a

These House hearings on tech are a waste of time and everyone knows it

If Congress wants to write laws that effectively regulate companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter, it needs to change how it interacts with those companies, because these hearings ain’t it. They’re a waste of everyone’s time, and no one is even pretending otherwise. To truly p

Porsche adds the all-electric Taycan to its subscription program

Porsche has added its first all-electric vehicle, the Taycan sports sedan, to its subscription and short-term rental program as part of a broader expansion that aims to build a new customer base of U.S. owners. The German automaker said Thursday it is also expanding the Porsche Drive subscription a

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey busted for tweeting during congressional hearing

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey got called out by Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY) for tweeting during today’s congressional hearing on disinformation and extremism. The tech exec’s tweet was likely expressing frustration with the format of the hearing, which once again saw the tech CEOs forced to boi

Former Blue Apron CEO Matt Salzberg raises $25M for his new venture studio Material

Matt Salzberg, who co-founded and served as CEO of meal kit startup Blue Apron until 2017, is back in the startup business with a new venture studio called Material. Along with Salzberg, Material is led by partners Andy Salamon (formerly a general partner at Atomic Labs who backed Hims and Terminal

Pussy Riot shows the cypherpunk power of feminist NFTs

It might seem like everyone and their mom is selling a non-fungible token (NFT) these days, but Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova is one of the few strategizing beyond the hype cycle. The NFT market is just getting started, but where is it headed? “I've been using cry

Social media CEOs hedge on whether they’d boot the 12 anti-vax ‘super-spreaders’ cited by states’ attorneys general

On Wednesday, a coalition of a dozen state attorneys general called on Facebook and Twitter to step up their enforcement of their community guidelines to curtail the spread of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on their platforms. Their letter specifically identified 12 “anti-vaxxer” accou

Zuckerberg blames Trump, not Facebook, for the Capitol attack

In an interview with Reuters six days after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg infamously downplayed her company's role in the day's horrific events, which left five people dead. “I think these events were largely organized on platforms that d

EV makers oppose delay to automotive emissions penalty increase

Electric vehicle manufacturers are pushing back against a decision to delay penalty increases for automakers who fail to meet fuel efficiency standards. A lobbying group representing legacy automakers — many of whom are now making substantial investments in zero-emissions vehicles — said the in

Investors and business leaders: It's time to take coaching mainstream

The business world has a love-hate relationship with coaching. Founders are visionaries: They start with an idea, a talent, a dream, but not necessarily the business know-how. Because being an entrepreneur doesn't require a license or training — Jeff Bezos is an engineer and computer scientis

Automakers, suppliers and startups see growing market for in-vehicle AR/VR applications

Augmented and virtual reality have been used for years in gaming, design and shopping. Now, a new battle for market share is emerging — inside vehicles. Safety-glass windshields offer a new opportunity for suppliers, manufacturers and startups that are starting to adapt this technology: AR overla

Snapchat is developing its own take on TikTok Duets with a new ‘Remix’ feature

One of the challenges that some would-be TikTok rivals have faced is that they often lack the same robust set of content creation tools, like filters, effects and tools for repurposing others’ content — like TikTok’s Stitch and Duet, for example. It now appears that Snapchat is wo