Okta SaaS report finds Office 365 wins the cloud — sort of

Each year Okta processes millions of SaaS logons via its authentication system. It kindly aggregates that data to find the most popular apps and publishes an annual report. This year it found that the most popular tool by far was Microsoft Office 365. It’s worth noting that while app usage po

Cadeera is doing AI visual search for home décor

In recent years we’ve seen a whole bunch of visual/style fashion-focused search engines cropping up, tailored to helping people find the perfect threads to buy online by applying computer vision and other AI technologies to perform smarter-than-keywords visual search which can easily match an

SEC issues statement on past week’s turbulent market activity prompted by Reddit-fueled GameStop run

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an official statement on the tumult of the past week in the public stock market. It’s a relatively brief statement and doesn’t mention any of the key players by name (aka GameStop, Reddit, Robinhood and others), but it does ac

Robinhood raises $1B after trading halts to keep its platform running

After a turbulent week for the stock market and halts to the trading of certain speculative securities including GameStop (GME) and AMC, consumer investing app Robinhood has raised new capital. The new funds total more than $1 billion, with the company telling technewss that they were raised from

Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine is 85% effective against severe cases, and 66% effective overall per trial data

Another COVID-19 vaccine is almost ready to begin being distributed — a single-shot inoculation made by Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals subsidiary. The company just released an efficacy report based on data from its Phase 3 trial, which found that the new vaccine is 66%

Uber’s Autocab acquisition gets eyed by UK competition watchdog

Uber’s plan to acquire Autocab, a maker of SaaS for booking and dispatch software for the taxi and private-hire vehicle industry, which also operates a global trip marketplace for taxis and PHVs (iGo), is being looked at by the U.K.’s competition watchdog — which announced the lau

Sirenum, a platform for managing shift and gig workers, raises a $2.7M Series A

Sirenum, a platform for remotely managing a shift-based workforce across industries such as railway, aviation, construction and the gig economy, has raised a $2.7 million Series A funding round from new investors, including former Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy, alongside the William Currie Group. Siren

Chefclub raises $17 million to expand its food media brand beyond social networks

French startup Chefclub announced earlier this week that it has raised a $17 million funding round led by First Bridge Ventures. SEB Alliance, the venture arm of kitchen appliance maker Groupe SEB, Korelya Capital and Algaé Ventures are also participating. Chefclub has been building a major media

Xiaomi teases over-the-air wireless charging, but it's not coming to its devices this year

Xiaomi, the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, today unveiled “Mi Air Charge Technology,” which it says can deliver 5W power to multiple devices “within a radius of several metres” as the Chinese giant invited customers to a “true wireless charging era.” The company said it h

Stock trading app Trade Republic expands to France

German startup Trade Republic is rolling out its app and service in France this week. This is a significant expansion move as Trade Republic has only been available in Germany and Austria so far. Trade Republic lets you buy and sell shares or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from your phone with low, t

Huawei’s struggles hurt overall smartphone shipments in China, but rivals like Apple found new opportunities

The impact of United States government sanctions on Huawei is continuing to hurt the company and dampen overall smartphone shipments in China, where it is the largest smartphone vendor, according to a new report by Canalys. But Huawei's decline also opens new opportunities for its main rivals,

Hong Kong startup ICW eyes supply chain diversification demand amid trade war

For American importers, finding suppliers these days can be challenging not only due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. The U.S. government’s entity list designations, human-rights-related sanctions, among other trade blacklists targeting Chinese firms have also rattled U.S. supply chains. One

Daily Crunch: Robinhood restricts GameStop trading

The GameStop stock saga continues, Apple releases more details about its privacy changes and Qualtrics goes public. This is your Daily Crunch for January 28, 2021. The big story: Robinhood restricts GameStop trading Robinhood has responded to an upsurge in retail investors buying sh

SoftBank earmarks $100 million for Miami-based startups

Miami, an emerging startup hub, has a new check-writer in town: SoftBank. The Japanese multinational conglomerate announced plans today to invest $100 million, drawn from across its funds, into Miami-based startups. Notably, SoftBank's $5 billion Latin America fund is headquartered in Miami, as