In what should be an interesting beginning to the coming avalanche of ICO failures, the SEC has come down hard on Munchee, a company that…
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Descript gets $5M to make sound editing like a word document
Right before jumping on the phone Friday afternoon, Andrew Mason, who then ran a walking tour startup called Detour and ran Groupon, was hand-correcting a…
ThredUP launches Stitch Fix competitor for try-before-you-buy clothes
Consignment startup thredUP is launching Goody Boxes, for people who want to try on clothes at home before making purchases. Customers will be able to order…
Homeis, a culture network for immigrants, launches and nabs $4m seed round led by Spark Capital
Immigrating to a new country is one of the most challenging experiences any person can face. In a single instant, your social networks, your ability…
Brazilian startup Creditas is revolutionizing credit in the world’s third largest lending market
After twelve years working for banks and consulting firms on the digital transformation of financial services, Creditas founder Sergio Furio finally found a problem he…
Alohomora! Harry Potter game hits your phone next year with Jam City
Niantic’s much-anticipated Harry Potter follow up to Pokemon Go is coming next year, but Harry Potter fans who want their first taste of Hogwarts on mobile…
Ed Lee, SF mayor who had a close relationship with the tech world, has died aged 65
Ed Lee, the mayor of San Francisco who worked closely with leaders in the city’s tech industry, has died after a heart attack aged 65.…
Bitwise Investments raises $4M to launch its crypto index fund
Last month San Francisco-based Bitwise Investments announced a passively managed index fund comprised of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. The fund rebalances once…
WhatsApp business accounts will either be verified, confirmed or unconfirmed
Another tidbit around how WhatsApp’s incoming business accounts will function: According to a FAQ for users of the messaging platform — on “Chatting with businesses” —…
Apple’s App Store now lets you pre-order iOS apps and games before they launch
Apple has quietly allowed developers to make their apps available for pre-order. It’s a basic feature — as Android fanatics will point out — but…
Germany’s Penta is a new digital bank account for startups and SMEs
Germany’s Penta is the latest European startup to throw its banking wares into the ring. The burgeoning company is launching a new digital bank account…
Google: Southeast Asia’s internet economy is growing faster than expected
Southeast Asia is now the world’s third largest region for internet users — with more people online than the entire U.S. population — and internet…
With Norrsken House, ex-Klarna executive envisions a global network of co-working spaces focused on impact
In 2016, Niklas Adalberth stepped away from day-to-day operations at the financial services startup Klarna, the billion-dollar company he helped create, to begin working on…
Devialet built a car audio system for Renault’s Symbioz concept car
High-end speaker maker Devialet is branching out of home speakers. The company announced a partnership with Renault for its first ever car audio system. You…
Watch SpaceX launch a reflown ship on a reflown rocket live here
SpaceX is launching a space station resupply mission later this morning, with an instantaneous launch window opening at 8:46 AM PST (11:46 AM EST) from…
Africa’s SureRemit joins the tokenized race to win the global remittance market
Nigerian based SureRemit has launched a crypto token aimed at money sent home by global immigrants. The startup — which is incorporated in Mauritius —…
India’s Vahdam Teas raises $1.4M to bring fresher tea to your door faster
Vahdam Teas, an e-commerce that’s focused on selling the freshest brews on the planet, has closed a Series A funding round worth $1.4 million to…
One month after denying it will exit China, AWS opens its second region there
Amazon Web Services has opened its second region in China with a local partner, Ningxia Western Cloud Data Technology. The launch comes just one month…
MyEtherWallet plans official iOS app after knockoff version is booted from App Store
The organization behind MyEtherWallet is planning to release an official version of its popular cryptocurrency wallet for iOS after Apple removed a knockoff that had…
Crunch Report | Apple Confirms Shazam Acquisition
Apple confirms its Shazam acquisition, MyEtherWallet knockoff goes live on the App Store and is now removed and the NFL is partnering with Verizon and…
Soylent co-founder Rob Rhinehart steps down as CEO
After an eventful (and sometimes challenging) year for Soylent, co-founder Rob Rhinehart announced today that he will resign as the meal replacement shake company’s chief…
Nextdoor raised about $75 million to connect neighbors
Nextdoor, the neighborhood social networking site raised about $75 million in a funding round, The Information reported, estimating that the valuation is $1.5 billion. The round…
A venture firm focused on real estate, Navitas Capital, just raised $60 million
Real estate heavyweights clearly don’t want to be left in the dust by tech startups that see opportunities to do things more efficiently, more transparently,…
Apple GymKit is coming to a treadmill near you
It’s been half a decade since Apple transitioned to the lighting connector, and still I regularly see the long-retired iPod 30-pin cable flopping off treadmill…
With markets going crypto-crazy, SEC chairman weighs in
Given the crazy run cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ether and litecoin have been on in the last week, it was only a matter of time before…
Iron Mountain acquires IO Data Centers US operations for $1.3 billion
Iron Mountain announced today that it’s acquiring the US data center assets of IO Data Centers for a cool $1.3 billion — and the price…
Max Levchin’s Affirm raised $200 million at nearly $2 billion valuation
Affirm, the platform that helps consumers find financing is getting some financing of its own. The San Francisco-based company confirmed that it’s raising $200 million,…
Former Gawker employees are crowdfunding an effort to buy Gawker.com
Gawker may soon return from the dead. While Univision acquired most of Gawker Media’s sites last year (and renamed them as the Gizmodo Media Group),…
Netflix users collectively watched 1 billion hours of content per week in 2017
Netflix users burned a lot of time watching content in 2017, though metrics seem to point that users have been watching less and less on…
N26 partners with Younited Credit to launch credit offering in France
German startup N26 is now live in 17 European countries, but many features first launched in Germany and never made their way to other markets.…
Instagram hires Twitter’s former VP of revenue product
Instagram made a big hire last week when it brought on board Ameet Ranadive, Twitter’s former VP of revenue product. At Instagram, Ranadive is working…
Google launches three new photography apps for testing experimental technology
Google today is launching a trio of new photo apps – a part of new series of what it has dubbed photography “appsperiments.” (Get it?…
Popular podcast ‘Welcome to Night Vale’ scores an FX development deal
With narrative podcasting on the rise, it’s no surprise that TV execs have begun looking at the medium as a resource for new shows. If…
Inciting a new future
Swati Mylavarapu and Matt Rogers are the definitive Silicon Valley power couple. Rogers, a cheerful, be-fuzzed technologist, co-founded Nest Labs. Swati, a sharp visionary, was at…
Facebook is trying to make the Poke happen again
Facebook’s “Poke” feature has never really gone away, but now the social network is giving it a more prominent placement – and is even considering…
Augmented reality treasure hunting app Seek pivots to become a hub for AR projects
One year after launching at South by Southwest with an augmented reality treasure hunting app, the Utah-based startup Seek has returned with an update transforming…
Zyper thinks ‘micro influencers’ are the future of online advertising
Advocacy marketing — the idea of getting existing customers to talk about your company and its products — is nothing new, but as marketing spend…
Paris asks Airbnb to delist 1,000 apartments
The city of Paris’ officials told the AFP that they have asked Airbnb and competing platforms to comply with new regulation. The Mayor’s Office has…
Amazon Alexa can now wake you up to music
This fall, Amazon made a play to become your new alarm clock with the introduction of a combination smart speaker and clock called the Echo…
Google’s new Star Wars AR stickers put Porgs everywhere
After months of teasing, Google’s finally brought its AR stickers to the Pixel 2. For most users with the company’s latest flagship handset, the feature…
LiDAR autonomous sensor startup Ouster announces $27M Series A led by auto powerhouse Cox Enterprises
Angus Pacala has had a lifelong passion for autonomous cars going all the way back to high school. A little more than a decade ago,…
Here is the first official Ready Player One trailer
Ready Player One, the Ernest Cline book sensation that was, in part, the inspiration for Oculus VR, has been turned into a movie ready to…
MakeX announces the first 3D-printing backpack
In the year 2020, when the Earth is overrun by aliens, it will be mandated by the Galactic Council of Extraterrestrial Life that all children…
HBO and Netflix top the list of Golden Globes nominations
The Golden Globe nominations are out, and once again HBO and Netflix have come out on top as the most-nominated networks. HBO is down by…
Apple to confirm Shazam acquisition today; Snap and Spotify also expressed interest
After we broke the story last week that Apple was acquiring London-based music and image recognition service Shazam, Apple will be confirming the news today,…
‘Oumuamua, an interstellar space oddity, is Breakthrough Listen’s next challenge
Right now, an interstellar object dubbed ‘Oumuamua is hurtling through space on its way out of our solar system. I say ‘interstellar object’ because there…
Microsoft releases quantum computing development kit preview
At the Microsoft Ignite Conference in September, Microsoft let it be known it was going to be a player in the future of quantum computing,…
Google’s premium Home Max smart speaker goes on sale
Looks like Google’a premium smart speaker has hit the market just in time for the holidays. The Home Max is now available through a handful…
Some HP laptops are hiding a deactivated keylogger
Researcher Michael Myng found a deactivated keylogger in a piece of software found on over 460 HP laptop models. A full list of affected laptops…
The NFL and Verizon’s new streaming deal will bring games to all mobile carriers
Verizon will no longer be the exclusive U.S. mobile carrier for watching NFL games on smartphones and tablets. According to an announcement this morning, the…
LimeBike, the cycle-sharing startup, expands to Europe as it hits 1M rides in the US
LimeBike, one of the many startups hoping to steal a march in the crowded bike-sharing market, is today taking its first step to scale internationally.…
Menlo Security secures $40 million Series C to keep malware at bay
Menlo Security, a startup with a unique approach to protecting your company from malware and phishing attacks, announced a $40 million Series C round today.…
Lyft partners with Guild Education to offer drivers tuition discounts
Lyft is going to start offering its drivers access to college advising and tuition discounts for classes, certificates and degrees through Guild Education. The discounts…
Imgur’s take on Snapchat Stories is for people who really love GIFs
Imgur, the hugely popular photo and GIF sharing site with over 250 million users, is the latest to board the ephemeral storytelling train. Like the ‘stories’…
Apple let a knockoff version of one of the world’s biggest crypto wallets into the App Store
An app masquerading as MyEtherWallet.com, one of the internet’s most popular services for storing ETH and other crypto coins, has made its way to the top…
The Boring Co. tops 30,000 hats sold
That didn’t toque too long! The Boring Company has now sold 30,000 hats to fund its hole-some mission, founder Elon Musk tweeted today. That’s double…
Time’s up for the Ticker? Facebook appears to axe feed for tracking your friends’ activity
As Facebook continues to tinker with its layout and services to spur more interactions and engagement, it seems that not even the most well-known or…
Bitcoin futures are now tradable on the CBOE
Bitcoin futures trading on CBOE, the world’s largest futures exchange, just launched at 5pm CT. Within a minute of the launch bitcoin spiked about 10% from…
Why gear rental marketplace Lumoid shut down
Lumoid, a tech gear rental startup is no longer in business and its founder Aarthi Ramamurthy is moving on to Facebook. The startup launched as…
New Altered Carbon trailer thickens the plot for Netflix’s new sci-fi series
The new trailer for Netflix’s latest science fiction series, Altered Carbon, finally gives viewers a window into the plot for its first season. Like the Richard…
In spite of digital transformation, 2017 did not yield the desired financial results for GE
GE is a great example of a traditional company that has recognized the need to transform into a digital organization, but by all measures 2017 has…
As the federal government falters, technology is leading a rise of the rest in statehouses nationwide
The tech revolution is no longer confined to Silicon Valley or the California statehouse. Earlier this week, Steve Case announced that his Rise of the Rest seed…
The Flying Eye and you and I
It’s refreshing, in this difficult time, when technology and the tech industry seem trapped in a quicksand of endless ethical compromises and disconcerting emergent properties,…
Net Neutrality isn’t the only thing the current FCC is screwing up
Lost amid the furor over the Federal Communications Commission’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad decision to reverse net neutrality regulations is another, equally awful…
This is the future if net neutrality is repealed; the creeping, costly death of media freedom
When a country lacks an open internet, the government (and companies friendly with said government) are able to do anything from simply blocking or banning…
How tax changes may impact US startups
In an effort to envision how the pending tax bill might affect U.S. startups and their investors, Crunchbase News reached out to tech industry taxation experts. We…
Gillmor Gang: Coin Operated
The Gillmor Gang — Frank Radice, Dan Farber, Denis Pombriant, Keith Teare, and Steve Gillmor. Recorded live Friday, December 8, 2017. G3: Last Hope —…
Uber settles lawsuit with woman who accused executives of obtaining medical records after she was raped
Uber has settled its lawsuit with a woman (Jane Doe) who accused its now-former CEO Travis Kalanick, president of business in Asia Eric Alexander and…
Graphene running shoes will hit the market next year
Running shoes and graphene were made for each other. One is always in search of the latest gimmick and the other has produced some of…
The 5-year bootstrapped odyssey of Sno-Go, a snow bike for the everyday ski mountain visitor
Skiing has always been something of a nightmare for me. I first “learned” how to ski in middle school, and still to this day don’t…
Andy Rubin is back at Essential after leave of absence following reports of improper behavior
Essential smartphone startup founder Andy Rubin, who took a leave of absence last month in light of allegations of an improper relationship at his previous…
Google Maps will soon tell you when it’s time to get off your train or bus
Google is about to launch a small but useful update to Google Maps that will give you live guidance and interactive real-time notifications during your…
Holography-based 3D printing produces objects in seconds instead of hours
3D printers are useful devices for all kinds of reasons, but most have a critical weakness: they simply take a long time to actually make…
Jony Ive is leading Apple’s design team again
Two years ago, Jony Ive was promoted to chief design officer at Apple. The newly created role found the company’s beloved designer taking a break…
Education technology meets its limits
This week has been a good one for those who like to talk about the limits of technology. Over in the UK, a prankster managed…
Here’s everything new Niantic just added to Pokémon Go
Niantic is rounding out the year with one of Pokémon GO’s biggest updates to date. We knew earlier this week that the update was right…
In the world of VC, harassment claims aren’t necessarily a deal killer
Silicon Valley has hardly been immune. In the world of venture capital, two of the highest-profile poster boys for this uprising (as of this writing)…
Sources: Apple is acquiring music recognition app Shazam
As Spotify continues to inch towards a public listing, Apple is making a move of its own to step up its game in music services.…
Ex-Uber data chief Kevin Novak joins LA-based startup Tala in big win for LA ecosystem
Kevin Novak, the architect of Uber’s dynamic pricing technology and the head of its data team, has joined the Los Angeles-based financial services startup Tala…
Apple’s widened ban on templated apps is wiping small businesses from the App Store
ollowing its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple released updated App Store guidelines that included a new rule allowing it to ban apps created by a “commercialized…
Following controversies over kids’ content, YouTube makes several YouTube Red family shows free
Amid controversies over how YouTube has been handling content aimed at children on its network, YouTube is making a number of its previously subscription-only YouTube…
Coinbase CEO: ‘Please invest responsibly’
In a Medium post, the CEO of Coinbase, one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges out there, is urging users to be responsible about their…
These are Facebook’s internal policies on harassment and bullying
Facebook, in a similar manner to what it did with its internal policies around Managing Bias, is making its policies on harassment and bullying publicly…
Facebook Sound Collection lets you add no-name music to videos
The right soundtrack can make a boring video interesting. So after years of reported discussions with the record labels, Facebook is launching video editing tool Sound…
Apple TV finally gets SiriusXM streaming
A little potential bonus for those thinking of picking up an Apple TV for the holidays. As of this week, streaming from the satellite radio…
Researchers train robots to see into the future
Robots usually react in real time: something happens, they respond. Now researchers University of California, Berkeley are working on a system that lets robots “imagine…
AWS has a post re:Invent surprise as it enters the single sign-on market
Steve Jobs used to famously end his keynotes with “there is one more thing…” AWS decided to wait a week after their re:Invent conference ended…
Spotify and Tencent agree to swap stakes in their music businesses
Tencent’s overseas investment splurge continues after the company confirmed a deal with Spotify that will see the duo make investments in each other’s music businesses.…
Equity Podcast: Lyft’s driving fast, Blue Apron’s troubles and bitcoin infinity
Welcome to Equity, our venture capital and tech business podcast. On the latest episode, we were joined by Nagraj Kashyap, who runs Microsoft Ventures. Topics…
Amazon brings its Echo smart speakers and Music Unlimited service to 28 new countries
Amazon is continuing to push its media services worldwide after it expanded its Alexa smart speakers and its standalone Music Unlimited service to an additional…
Why is bitcoin’s price so high?
Bitcoin’s price has risen stratospherically, a fact that leaves many minor players in the market with massive gains and many bigger players millionaires. But is…
Zelda expansion, Death Stranding and other titles hyped at The Game Awards
The Game Awards, an event that’s exactly what it sounds like, took place shortly ago and, like any gaming event, it was shot through with…
Nvidia’s $2,999 Titan V is a 110 teraflop GPU for AI processing
Nvidia cards are the de facto standard for running machine learning workloads and today, the company added yet another high-end compute-centric card to its line-up:…
Uber lands investment from Singapore’s largest taxi operator in blow to rival Grab
Uber has struck a major deal in Southeast Asia after ComfortDelGro, Singapore’s largest taxi operator, announced [PDF] it has agreed to buy a majority share of…
MishiPay raises £1.6M led by Nauta Capital for its mobile self-checkout technology
MishiPay, a London startup that has built mobile self-checkout technology that promises to put an end to queuing to pay, has raised £1.65 million in…
Coinbase hits top spot on Apple’s US App Store despite struggling to handle bitcoin demand
Ignoring recent price rises for a second, if you can — there’s no greater sign of bitcoin fever than an app that lets you buy…
Samir Arora unveils Sage Digital, a startup that’s all about accurate location data
Samir Arora says it’s time for a new wave of applications that use reliable location data. Arora previously founded Mode Media (which he departed before…
PhoneWagon raises $1.2M to track when marketing campaigns lead to phone calls
When it comes to tracking the effectiveness of online advertising campaigns, PhoneWagon CEO Ryan Shank said there’s been a big piece missing for most businesses…
6 red flags of an ICO scam
With exponential growth in public interest, esoteric terminology and a lax regulatory framework, it is no surprise that some ICOs have been used to fund…
Apple issues fix for HomeKit vulnerability impacting smart locks and other devices
Apple says it has issued a fix for an iOS security flaw that left key connected home hardware open to unauthorized third-party access. The bug,…
Salesforce is latest big tech vendor to join the Cloud Native Computing Foundation
Salesforce announced today that it was joining the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), the open source organization that manages Kubernetes, the popular open source container…
Sony has sold over 70 million PS4 consoles, 2 million VR headsets
Sony released some new stats today detailing the progression of sales for its PS4 console and PS VR headset systems. The numbers that matter: 70.6M PS4…
Facebook adds support for live streaming and video chats to Messenger games
Last November, Facebook launched Instant Games, a new platform for gaming with friends inside the Messenger chat app. Today, the company is announcing a couple…
San Francisco made things much tougher for robotic delivery startups this week
San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors made it a lot tougher to test delivery robots this week. In a five to one vote, the committee handed…
The price of Bitcoin has doubled in two weeks, now above $16k
Bitcoin prices are hockey-sticking on a hockey stick. The cryptocurrency’s gains Thursday morning hit new heights striking well above $18k across widely varying exchanges, coming…
iPhone models dominate Flickr’s list of most popular cameras in 2017 with 54% of top 100 devices
Apple’s iPhone remains the most popular camera used by the Flickr community, the photo-sharing site revealed today in its annual review of camera rankings and…
Women’s lifestyle startup Tara&Co brings on board advisory council
Despite a belief that women don’t support each other, Tara&Co is bringing on three female leaders in the tech industry to serve on the lifestyle…
Pinterest brings on a new head of corporate and business development
Pinterest today said it is hiring a new head of corporate and business development, bringing on former Facebooker Gary Johnson as it looks to continue…
China’s JD partners with accelerator program Plug and Play to reach US startups
E-commerce giant JD.com, the closest rival to Alibaba in China, is broadening its presence in Silicon Valley after it announced a collaboration with accelerator firm…
Microsoft introduces Simplygon Cloud 3D object optimization for AR and VR
In January, Microsoft acquired 3D optimization service Simplygon for an undisclosed sum. Today, we’re seeing the fruits of that buy with the launch of Simplygon…
Lyft hires first-ever VP of corporate development and investor relations
Following Lyft’s recent $1.5 billion funding round, the company has decided to bring on board Kristina Omari as its first-ever vice president of corporate development…
New airline rules are leaving smart luggage makers in a tough spot
America’s top airlines are taking a stand against smart luggage. In a rare bit of solidarity, a number of the country’s top carriers have announced rules…
Heptio teams up with Microsoft to build a better Kubernetes disaster recovery solution
With the rise of Kubernetes as the de facto standard for container orchestration, it’s no surprise that there’s now a whole ecosystem of companies springing…
Burrow raises $4.3M for its modular sofa
Burrow, a startup bringing a Casper-style approach to manufacturing and delivering sofas, is announcing that it has raised $4.3 million in seed funding. This might…
Google’s mobile search results now include videos of celebs answering your questions
Google is testing a new feature that will allow celebrities and other notable figures to answer users’ search queries directly in the form of “selfie”…
Spark Capital leads $3.3m round into Boston-based, on-demand life sciences marketplace Clora
On-demand labor marketplaces have been around for decades on the internet. Paying someone to identify a cat using Amazon Mechanical Turk or hiring someone to…
Netflix posts trailers for each episode of Black Mirror Season 4, plus a release date
Netflix has been teasing the next season of Black Mirror at an excruciatingly slow pace. But now, we have everything we need to emotionally prepare…
Drake, ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Moana’ top Apple’s 2017 most downloaded list
Over the past several years, tech year-end lists have become as much of an annual tradition as Twilight Zone marathons and going to a bar…
3D home design startup Modsy raises $23 million in Series B funding
Technology has made buying stuff for your house a whole lot easier to do on a whim, but there haven’t seemed to be quite as…
Instagram is testing a standalone app for direct messaging
Instagram has changed a lot since its acquisition by Facebook in 2012. The original premise was so simple. Beautify your photo and share it to…
PullRequest pulls in $2.3M seed round led by Google’s Gradient Ventures
PullRequest, a Y Combinator Summer 17 graduate, announced a $2.3 million seed round today led by Google’s new AI fund, Gradient Ventures. The Slack Fund, Fika…
Compass gets $450M from SoftBank; real estate portal now valued at $2.2B
Less than a month after raising $100 million led by Fidelity, real-estate startup Compass is striking while the iron is hot. The company has now…
Echofin is Slack for financial professionals
Historically, financial organizations have watched forlornly through the front window while startups have adopted new and cool tools like Slack, Twitter, and Convo. Now they…
Prose raises $5.2 million for custom shampoo
Whether your hair is straight, curly, color-treated or oily, the texture is unique. And a newly launched startup called Prose thinks your hair products should be,…
Naspers, Innova Capital invest $82 million more for Movile’s iFood delivery business
Naspers, a South African-based global investor and media conglomerate, has joined the private equity firm Innova Capital to funnel another $82 million into Movile — primarily to…
Honda is working with Chinese AI unicorn SenseTime on self-driving car tech
Honda is putting the focus on artificial intelligence after it announced a partnership with SenseTime, a Chinese startup valued at over $1 billion, that will…
Syte.ai’s new API makes visual search accessible to more online fashion retailers
Earlier this year, Syte.ai, which develops visual search technology for fashion brands, raised $8 million from investors including top Asian tech firms NHN, Line Corp.…