TechCrunch Startup News
TechCrunch
Listen to select TechCrunch articles on startups coverage—who's raising, who's exiting, who's changing the world.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 3, 2020 • 4min
Le Wagon raises $19 million to build a global coding bootcamp
French startup Le Wagon has raised its first round of funding after many years of bootstrapping. The company closed a $19 million funding round (€17 million) a few months ago. Cathay Capital is leading the round with AfricInvest also participating. “We’ve always bootstrapped since 2013 and we’ve always been profitable since day one,” Le Wagon co-founder and COO Romain Paillard told me. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 3, 2020 • 4min
mParticle raises $45M to help marketers unify customer data
mParticle, which helps companies like Spotify, Paypal and Starbucks umanage their customer data, is announcing that it has raised $45 million in Series D funding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 2, 2020 • 5min
End Game, the startup behind Zombs Royale, raises $3M
End Game Interactive CEO Yang C. Liu has a refreshingly straightforward description of what he and his co-founder Luke Zbihlyj are up to: “We’re just building games. And to be honest, we don’t know what we’re doing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 2, 2020 • 5min
Notivize makes it easier for non-technical teams to optimize app notifications
A new startup called Notivize aims to give product teams direct access to one of their most important tools for increasing user engagement — notifications. The company has been testing the product with select customers since last year and says it has already sent hundreds of thousands of notifications. And this week, it announced that it has raised $500,000 in seed funding led by Heroic Ventures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 28, 2020 • 5min
Indian research firm Convergence Catalyst is ready for its second act
A 9-year-old is smashing the shuttle far and wide, and frantically pacing back and forth on the court in Bangalore, India, as her competition refuses to back down. Her rival is not a human. She is playing against a machine that is mimicking the game of badminton legend P.V. Sindhu, toned down a few notches to adjust for the age difference. By the court, her father, Jayanth Kolla, is watching the game and taking notes. Kolla is a familiar name in the tech startup and business ecosystem in India. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 28, 2020 • 4min
Salesforce grabs Vlocity for $1.33B, a startup with $1B valuation
It’s been a big news day for Salesforce . It announced that Co-CEO Keith Block would be stepping down, and that it had acquired Vlocity for $1.33 billion in an all-cash deal. It’s no coincidence that Salesforce targeted this startup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 27, 2020 • 6min
Chicago’s M1 Finance, a consumer-focused fintech platform, reaches $1B under management
Eagle-eyed readers will recall that we mentioned M1 Finance earlier today in our look at a few trends in the fintech industry. We’re back with the firm this afternoon as it has a bit of news that’s worth discussing. Chicago-based M1 Finance announced today that it has reached the $1 billion assets under management mark, or AUM. Reaching AUM thresholds provides useful milestones that we can use to track the progress of various players in the fintech and finservices worlds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 27, 2020 • 7min
Vice President Mike Pence will lead the US response to the COVID-19 outbreak
In an early-evening press conference, President Donald Trump tapped Vice President Mike Pence to lead the U.S. response to the COVID-19 outbreak that has spread through Europe, Asia and Latin America. The new coronavirus strain, which has infected about 81,000 people around the world and killed 3,000, has already wrought havoc on the global economy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned yesterday that the U.S. will likely not be able to escape the spread of the virus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 26, 2020 • 6min
New York’s BounceX reaches $100M ARR, rebrands
Welcome to the $100 million ARR club, BounceX. This morning (evening, timezone depending), BounceX, a New York-based marketing technology startup, announced that it has reached the $100 million annual recurring revenue (ARR) threshold, adding its name to our running list of companies that have crossed over into nine-figure revenue while remaining private. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 26, 2020 • 6min
Startup malaise, startup ambition
Recapped. Layoffs. Slowdown. CEO transition. Budget cuts. Downsizing. In spite of a spate of massive startup exits the last few months, culminating in fintech’s shining moment yesterday with Intuit’s $7.1 billion acquisition of Credit Karma, it’s been a tough period for the startup world. Layoffs abound, centered perhaps on SoftBank’s Vision Fund portfolio but hardly exclusive to it. Startups, both infamous and unheard of, are shutting their doors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
