TechCrunch Industry News

Snap today announced a multi-year deal with Universal Music Group, one of the largest music companies in the world. From Queen to Justin Bieber, users can clip songs from the expansive UMG catalog to use in their Snaps and on Spotlight, the app’s TikTok competitor. This announcement comes after Snapchat added its Sounds feature in […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sneaker and streetwear empire GOAT just doubled its valuation in a massive new raise. The GOAT Group parent company shared today that it has raised $195 million in a Series F raise valuing the fashion giant at some $3.7 billion. The raise was led by a handful of hedge funds and P/E firms including Park […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Having read more SPAC investor decks in the last twelve months than I’d like to admit to, I thought I was over being irked by their bullishness. Call me conservative, but public companies shouldn’t be full of shit, and companies going public should probably aim for a similar target. That’s why S-1 filings for traditional […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s a big day for Kuaishou, TikTok’s largest rival in China. The Chinese short video company, known overseas for one of its video apps Kwai, announced it has sailed past the one billion monthly active user (MAU) mark. How big is that? Facebook’s MAUs stood at 2.85 billion as of March. TikTok was forecasted to […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Inspired by this Hunter Walk tweet and the ensuing chatter. TechCrunch recently sat down with Leading Investor from Well Known Firm to chat about their investing theses, the state of today’s venture capital market, and why prices are so high for early-stage startups. We’ve been hunting down Leading Investor for some time, so it’s great […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Freight technology startup, Forto, which we most recently covered when it raised $50 million late last year, is upping the stakes. It’s now raised $240 million in a round led by Softbank Vision Fund 2 to expand its trade shipments between China and Europe. Forto manages shipping containers from origin to destination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Thursday, Apple will mark the opening of a new store in downtown Los Angeles. The space occupies the newly renovated Tower Theatre, which opened in DTLA’s Broadway Theater District in 1927. Among other milestones, the 900-seat theater was the first in LA to be wired for the talkies, hosting a premier of “The Jazz […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chinese merchants selling on Amazon are having a moment. The scruffy exporters are used to roaming about suburban factory areas and dealing with constant cash flow strain, but suddenly they find themselves having coffee with top Chinese venture capital firms and investment representatives from internet giants, who come with big checks to hunt down the […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

TikTok announced today the launch of its Jump program, which expands the app’s potential for third-party integrations. TikTok began beta-testing this feature in February with Whisk, a recipe-sharing app, though only select creators could use the feature. Now, Jump will start rolling out to all users with an expanded slate of partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Music licensing marketplace Songtradr this morning announced a $50 million Series D. The oversubscribed round – which features Regal, Aware Super, Perennial, Argo and Greencape – follows a $30 million raise last August, bringing the Los Angeles company’s total funding to north of $100 million. The platform licenses music to high profile names for advertising, […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices