In uncertain times, B2B sales teams must put value front and center

Ketan Karkhanis Contributor Share on Twitter Ketan Karkhanis is the executive vice president and general manager of Sales Cloud at Salesforce. As uncertainty pervades the economy, maintaining profitability ratios and increasing revenue has never been more important. This decade is showing signs of becoming one of the most challenging landscapes to grow a business as … Read more

Starbucks opens up its blockchain-based loyalty program and NFT community to first beta testers

Starbucks today is launching its blockchain-based loyalty program and NFT community, Starbucks Odyssey, to its first group of U.S. beta testers. The new initiative, which includes coffee-themed NFTs that translate to real-world experiences, is an extension of Starbucks’ existing loyalty program, Starbucks Rewards, but leverages web3 technology like the polygon blockchain and NFTs. Announced to … Read more

Komi, a landing page tool for content creators, raises $5M seed round

Komi, a personalized website page builder tool for influencers and celebrities to create and customize a landing page to promote their projects, today closed a $5 million seed round led by Contour Venture Partners. Launched in October 2021, Komi is designed to provide content creators, musicians, athletes, celebrities and other creative talent and personalities alike … Read more

Cinder’s content moderation software is custom-built for trust and safety teams

A startup from former Meta employees aims to streamline the content moderation process for companies grappling with some of the internet’s most complex, dangerous challenges. Cinder, which likes to describe itself as an “operating system for trust and safety,” boasts years of combined experience in security and content policy work. That includes CEO and co-founder … Read more

NFT-focused startup Metagood raises $5 million to grow ‘social good’ impact

Metagood, a for-profit social impact NFT startup, has raised $5 million in its pre-seed round, the team exclusively told TechCrunch. “We launched the company on the concept of using NFTs as an expression where everyone does good things for each other and the good stuff is tokenized and exchangeable,” Bill Tai, co-founder and chairman of … Read more

TripActions secures $400M in credit facilities from Goldman Sachs, SVB

Less than two months after announcing a new $9.2 billion valuation, TripActions said today it has secured $400 million in credit facilities from Goldman Sachs and Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).  Specifically, TripActions has secured a warehouse debt facility from Goldman Sachs with a $200 million commitment and the potential to “flex up” to $300 million … Read more

To prepare for a downturn, build a three-case model

Matt Barbieri Contributor Share on Twitter Matt Barbieri is partner-in-charge, Media, Technology and Life Sciences at Wiss & Co. Many founders are reactive when business doesn’t go as planned. They may make knee-jerk reactions like: “If I lose 10% of revenue then I’ll just lay off five people.” The problem with such approaches is that … Read more

Reddit’s 2022 recap transforms users into trading cards

You’ve activated my… Reddit trading card! | Card images: Reddit It’s app recap season once again, and Reddit is getting in on the moment with its second annual personalized recap. This year, your recap will include an autogenerated trading card that represents you and your Reddit experience in 2022. Like other recaps, Reddit’s features a … Read more

Zeraki, a Kenyan edtech providing digital solutions for school admin, raises $1.8M

Zeraki, a Kenyan edtech that has built digital learning and school data analytics platforms, has raised $1.8 million seed funding in a round led by Acumen Fund, for product catalog growth and regional expansion. Save the Children Impact Investment Fund, Verdant Frontiers Fintech, Logos Ventures participated in the round, as did the Nairobi Business Angels … Read more