Daily Crunch: Google Play halves commission on developers’ first $1M

Google is letting developers keep more of their Play revenue, Instagram adds teen safety features and we examine the global distribution of venture funding. This is your Daily Crunch for March 16, 2021. The big story: Google Play halves commission on first $1M Following a similar mo

SoftBank, Tencent backs IP analytics platform PatSnap in $300M round

As enterprises around the world pour more money into research and invention to stay competitive, the need for analyzing the worthiness of R&D expenses also grows. One company serving that function is PatSnap. When co-founder Jeffrey Tiong was working in the medical devices industry more than a

A crypto company’s journey to Data 3.0

Data is a gold mine for a company. If managed well, it provides the clarity and insights that lead to better decision-making at scale, in addition to an important tool to hold everyone accountable. However, most companies are stuck in Data 1.0, which means they are leveraging data a

Squarespace raises $300M at a staggering $10B valuation

Squarespace has raised $300 million in a round of funding that values the company at a staggering $10 billion valuation. New backers include Dragoneer, Tiger Global, D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and Spr

Wise accuses former Brazil banking partner of smear campaign after ‘unfounded’ accusations of fraud

Wise, the London-headquartered company that made its name offering international money transfers and is reportedly planning an IPO, has accused its former banking partner in Brazil of a “smear campaign” after allegations of fraud — claims that Wise says are “false and unfounded.

Three energy-innovation takeaways from Texas' deep freeze

Individual solutions to the collective crisis of climate change abound: backup diesel generators, Tesla powerwalls, “prepper” shelters. However, the infrastructure that our modern civilization relies on is interconnected and interdependent — energy, transportation, food, water and waste s

Trading platform eToro to go public via SPAC merger in $10B deal

Multi-asset investing and trading platform and Robinhood competitor eToro announced Tuesday it will go public via a merger with SPAC FinTech Acquisition Corp. V in a massive $10.4 billion deal. Once the transaction closes sometime in the third quarter, the combined company will operate as eToro Gro

Socure raises $100M at $1.3B valuation, proving identity verification is hotter than ever

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital adoption in a way that no one could have ever anticipated, and as more people conduct more services online and via mobile devices, businesses have had to work even harder to validate users and security. One company working to serve that need, Socure —

In new round, Dutchie, focused on smoother cannabis retail, sees its valuation soar by eight times

Dutchie, a nearly four-year-old, Bend, Oregon company that charges cannabis dispensaries a monthly fee to create and run their websites, process their orders and track what needs to be prepped for pick up, has raised $200 million in Series C funding at a $1.7 billion valuation. That’s roughly

Talking product-market fit with Sean Lane, whose company tore through 28 products to become a unicorn

Occasionally, it’s easy for startups to achieve so-called product-market fit, but more often, it’s a struggle. Perhaps no one knows this as well as Sean Lane, co-founder and CEO of Olive, a company whose software completes so many tedious administrative healthcare tasks for hospitals th

Aiming to become the definitive source for location data, SafeGraph raises $45M

While there are plenty of companies selling data about physical locations, SafeGraph CEO Auren Hoffman said his startup is “one of the few companies to sell this data to data science teams.” For the most part, location data has traditionally been sold to marketers, and Hoffman said, “In the m

Get feedback on your pitch deck from tech leaders on Extra Crunch Live

"">The importance of the pitch deck can't be underestimated. It is often the first point of contact between a company and venture investors… but how investors consume a pitch deck (and what they really think) is also a bit of a black box. Are they speed-flipping through the slides or taki

London’s Jiffy picks up £2.6M seed to enter the grocery dark store race

Another online grocery delivery and “dark store” operator breaks cover today: London-based Jiffy, which aims to deliver fresh groceries and household essentials in around 15 minutes, has raised £2.6 million in seed funding as it readies for launch. Backing the upstart, which already fa

Google Play drops commissions to 15% from 30%, following Apple’s move last year

Google will lower its Play commissions globally for developers that sell in-app digital goods and services on its marquee store, the company said, following a similar move by rival Apple late last year. The Android-maker said on Tuesday that starting July 1, it is reducing the service fee for Googl