Why aren’t we seeing more aggressive SaaS M&A?

Heading into 2022, it seemed like we were poised for a big year in M&A. This was especially true for enterprise SaaS companies that saw their values begin to fall in late 2021, a trend that extended into this year. Why are we not seeing more aggressive M&A activity and some good old-fashioned bargain hunting … Read more

The Trevor Project cuts ties with student surveillance software after online backlash

Gaggle monitors students’ work on school-owned accounts for potentially “harmful” keywords. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The Trevor Project, a nonprofit that provides crisis support to LGBTQ-plus youth, will cut ties with student-focused monitoring software company Gaggle after the partnership sparked backlash from activists. The organization began listing Gaggle as a … Read more

YouTube is asking some users to purchase a Premium subscription to watch in 4K

YouTube’s Premium paid subscription includes benefits like ad-free viewing, video and song downloads for offline consumption, and background plays. Now, it might also be shifting video streaming in 4K resolution (currently free for all users) to the premium tier. Over the weekend, users across Reddit and Twitter noted that YouTube had been asking them to … Read more

Firefly’s Alpha rocket has reached orbit for the first time

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket has successfully reached orbit, achieving its objectives and deploying three satellite payloads on board. | Image: Everyday Astronaut Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket successfully reached orbit following its launch from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday. The launch was announced as a “100% Mission success” while deploying three satellite payloads on … Read more

Beats: Italian antitrust fine for Apple and Amazon cancelled on appeal

An antitrust win for Amazon and Apple in Italy where an appeals court has cancelled a multimillion dollar penalty the pair were hit with last year for alleged collusion following an investigation into the reselling of Apple and (Apple-owned) Beats kit on Amazon’s Italian e-commerce marketplace. The original €203M (total) penalty had already been reduced … Read more

Rape kit DNA protected under a new California law

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge In California, DNA collected from sexual assault victims during an investigation can no longer be used for other purposes, including investigating other crimes. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law Friday. The bill was introduced in California after the district attorney’s office discovered that the San … Read more

Kahani wants to turn your e-commerce website into an interactive experience

Jesse Pujji believes the future of mobile e-commerce will look more like TikTok, Instagram and Snap, and started Kahani, a SaaS company for merchants, to lead the charge. Prior to Kahani, the serial entrepreneur was a founder in several companies, including Gateway X, Ampush and GrowthAssistant. After moving into the executive chairman role at Ampush … Read more

Wisk Aero reveals its market-ready, self-flying air taxi

Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle company Wisk Aero has unveiled its go-to-market aircraft: a four-passenger autonomous air taxi that the startup will put forward for U.S. Federal Aviation Administration type certification. Type certification, one of the three certifications an aviation company needs to secure before launching a commercial service, means the aircraft has … Read more

Fandom acquires Metacritic, GameSpot, TV Guide and other entertainment brands in deal worth around $55M

Entertainment platform Fandom announced today its acquisition of seven entertainment and gaming brands from media company Red Ventures, including online publications Comic Vine, Cord Cutters News, GameFAQs, GameSpot, Giant Bomb, Metacritic, and TV Guide. While the financials of the deal were not disclosed in the official announcement, Fandom told TechCrunch that the deal cost somewhere … Read more