Google launches the first developer preview of Android 12

Almost exactly a year after Google announced the first developer preview of Android 11, the company today released the first developer preview of Android 12. Google delayed the roll-out of Android 11 a bit as the teams and the company’s partners adjusted to working during a pandemic, but it l

Report: Social audio app Clubhouse has topped 8 million global downloads

Social audio app Clubhouse has now topped 8 million global downloads, despite still being in a prelaunch, invite-only mode, according to new data released today by mobile data and analytics firm App Annie. Per its estimates, Clubhouse grew from over 3.5 million global downloads as of February 1, 20

TikTok parent ByteDance joins patent troll protection group LOT Network

LOT Network, the nonprofit that helps businesses of all sizes and across industries defend themselves against patent trolls by creating a shared pool of patents to immunize themselves against them, today announced that TikTik parent ByteDance is joining its group. ByteDance has acquired its fair sh

Census raises $16M Series A to help companies put their data warehouses to work

Census, a startup that helps businesses sync their customer data from their data warehouses to their various business tools like Salesforce and Marketo, today announced that it has raised a $16 million Series A round led by Sequoia Capital. Other participants in this round include Andreessen Horowi

Logging startups are suddenly hot as CrowdStrike nabs Humio for $400M

A couple of weeks ago SentinelOne announced it was acquiring high-speed logging platform Scalyr for $155 million. Just this morning CrowdStrike struck next, announcing it was buying unlimited logging tool Humio for $400 million. In Humio, CrowdStrike gets a company that will provide it with the abi

Data breach warning after California DMV contractor hit by file-stealing ransomware

California’s Department of Motor Vehicles is warning of a potential data breach after a contractor was hit by ransomware. The Seattle-based Automatic Funds Transfer Services (AFTS), which the DMV said it has used for verifying changes of address with the national database since 2019, was hit

Tired of ‘Zoom University’? So is edtech

The rise of “Zoom University” was only possible because edtech wasn't ready to address the biggest opportunity of the past year: remote learning at scale. Of course, the term encapsulates more than just Zoom, it's a nod to how schools had to rapidly adopt enterprise video confer

Pipe17 closes $8M to connect a range of e-commerce tools without any code required

This morning Pipe17, a software startup focused on the e-commerce market, announced that it has closed $8 million in funding. Pipe17’s service helps smaller e-commerce merchants connect their digital tools, without the need to code. With the startup’s service, e-commerce operations that

Facebook applies overly broad content block in flex against Australia’s planned news reuse law

Outrage fast-followed Facebook’s announcement yesterday that it was making good on its threat to block Australian users’ ability to share news on its platform. The tech giant’s intentionally broad-brush — call it antisocial — implementation of content restrictions too

Wholesale marketplace Abound raises $22.9M

Abound, an online marketplace that helps independent retailers stock their shelves with new products from up-and-coming brands, is announcing that it has raised $22.9 million in its first institutional round of funding. CEO Bill Shope founded the company with Niklas de la Motte and Drew Sfugaras. H

Varo Bank raises another $63M, led by NBA star Russell Westbrook

Varo Bank, which last year became the first U.S. neobank to be granted a national bank charter, announced this morning it’s raised another $63 million in new funding. The round was led by NBA star Russell Westbrook, who will also join the startup as an advisor focused on the direction of Varo

Torii announces $10M Series A to automate SaaS management

Today, that software is offered as a cloud service should be pretty much considered a given. Certainly any modern tooling is going to be SaaS, and as companies and employees add services, it becomes a management nightmare. Enter Torii, an early-stage startup that wants to make it easier to manage S

Sennheiser partners with Formlabs for customized headphones

3D printing has come a long way over the course of the last decade, but questions about mainstream adoption still linger around the technology. Medical devices have been a pretty compelling use case — they're not really mass produced and require a high level of personalization. Clear orth

Proptech startup Knock secures $20M to grow SaaS platform for property managers

In recent years, the U.S. has seen more renters than at any point since at least 1965, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau housing data.  Competition for renters is fierce and property managers are turning to technology to get a leg up. To meet that demand,