Twilio Segment introduces new portable customer records with reverse ETL

Gathering customer information in a CDP is about understanding your customers better and delivering more tailored experiences, but getting that information where it needs to be to make that happen has proven challenging. Perhaps Twilio Segment, the CDP Twilio bought in 2020 for $3.2 billion, can help with some new features designed to make it … Read more

After chargeback fraud debacle, Union54 CEO says fintech in Africa ‘isn’t child’s play’

Last July, TechCrunch reported that customers of several fintech apps couldn’t access the virtual dollar card service that these platforms provided. In addition, customers couldn’t create new cards, fund existing ones, or make online and in-store payments and purchases with them. At the heart of this issue was chargeback fraud that Zambian startup Union54, whose … Read more

Hygraph raises $30M to scale out a new, federated approach to managing digital content

Digital content and how we consume it continue to endlessly evolve, and with that, so too does the tech that helps manage all of it behind the scenes. In the latest development, Hygraph, a startup out of Berlin that has built a platform around a new, “federated” approach to content management — think: many sources … Read more

Hygraph raises $30M to scale out a new, federated approach to managing digital content

Digital content and how we consume it continue to endlessly evolve, and with that, so too does the tech that helps manage all of it behind the scenes. In the latest development, Hygraph, a startup out of Berlin that has built a platform around a new, “federated” approach to content management — think: many sources … Read more

1,100+ notable signatories just signed an open letter asking “all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months”

As of this writing, more than 1,100 signatories, including Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, and Tristan Harris of the Center for Humane Technology, have signed an open letter that calls on “all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4.” Says the letter: Contemporary AI … Read more

Amazon now lets T-mobile customers make and receive calls via an Alexa-enabled device

Amazon now allows T-mobile customers to link their mobile numbers and make or receive hands-free Wi-Fi calls through Alexa-enabled devices like Echo Dot or Echo Show. This comes more than two years after the ecommerce giant partnered up with AT&T for a similar feature. Customers will need to enable the T-Mobile with Alexa skill from … Read more

The market has changed, but super-voting shares are here to stay, says Mr. IPO

Yesterday, the ride-sharing company Lyft said its two co-founders, John Zimmer and Logan Green, are stepping down from managing the company’s day-to-day operations, though they are retaining their board seats. According to a related regulatory filing, they actually need to hang around as “service providers” to receive their original equity award agreements. (If Lyft is sold … Read more

The market has changed, but super-voting shares are here to stay, says Mr. IPO

Yesterday, the ride-sharing company Lyft said its two co-founders, John Zimmer and Logan Green, are stepping down from managing the company’s day-to-day operations, though they are retaining their board seats. According to a related regulatory filing, they actually need to hang around as “service providers” to receive their original equity award agreements. (If Lyft is sold … Read more

The market has changed, but super-voting shares are here to stay, says Mr. IPO

Yesterday, the ride-sharing company Lyft said its two co-founders, John Zimmer and Logan Green, are stepping down from managing the company’s day-to-day operations, though they are retaining their board seats. According to a related regulatory filing, they actually need to hang around as “service providers” to receive their original equity award agreements. (If Lyft is sold … Read more

The market has changed, but super-voting shares are here to stay, says Mr. IPO

Yesterday, the ride-sharing company Lyft said its two co-founders, John Zimmer and Logan Green, are stepping down from managing the company’s day-to-day operations, though they are retaining their board seats. According to a related regulatory filing, they actually need to hang around as “service providers” to receive their original equity award agreements. (If Lyft is sold … Read more

The market has changed, but super-voting shares are here to stay, says Mr. IPO

Yesterday, the ride-sharing company Lyft said its two co-founders, John Zimmer and Logan Green, are stepping down from managing the company’s day-to-day operations, though they are retaining their board seats. According to a related regulatory filing, they actually need to hang around as “service providers” to receive their original equity award agreements. (If Lyft is sold … Read more

The market has changed, but super-voting shares are here to stay, says Mr. IPO

Yesterday, the ride-sharing company Lyft said its two co-founders, John Zimmer and Logan Green, are stepping down from managing the company’s day-to-day operations, though they are retaining their board seats. According to a related regulatory filing, they actually need to hang around as “service providers” to receive their original equity award agreements. (If Lyft is sold … Read more

Italy’s ban on cultivated meat could set the industry back

Just when the U.S. government was getting more comfortable with the concept of cultivated meat, the Italian government put forth a bill banning the use of lab-grown food. The process of making cultivated meat includes a method, like precision fermentation in a laboratory, that uses animal cells without slaughtering the animals. Reuters reported that the … Read more

Italy’s ban on cultivated meat could set the industry back

Just when the U.S. government was getting more comfortable with the concept of cultivated meat, the Italian government put forth a bill banning the use of lab-grown food. The process of making cultivated meat includes a method, like precision fermentation in a laboratory, that uses animal cells without slaughtering the animals. Reuters reported that the … Read more

Apple tvOS 16.4 update gives light-sensitive users a ‘Dim Flashing Lights’ feature

Apple released the tvOS 16.4 update to the public yesterday, bringing various improvements to the system, including a new “Dim Flashing Light” feature. The new accessibility option can detect flashes of light or strobe effects and then automatically dim the display of a video. The “Dim Flashing Light” feature is notable as it will likely … Read more

Microsoft lets generative AI loose on cybersecurity

As a part of its continued quest to inject generative AI into all its products, Microsoft today introduced Security Copilot, a new tool that aims to “summarize” and “make sense” of threat intelligence. In a light-on-the-details announcement, Microsoft pitched Security Copilot as a way to correlate data on attacks while prioritizing security incidents. Countless tools … Read more

Google gets antitrust attention in Spain over news licensing

Google can add another antitrust investigation to its stack. This one has been opened by Spain’s competition authority, the CNMC, which said today it’s concerned about possible anti-competitive practices related to the licensing of news content by local publishers. In a press release it said it is investigating “a series of practices that could involve … Read more

Laid off? Snag a free Expo+ pass to TC Disrupt 2023

If you’re one of the many people caught in all the recent tech layoffs, listen up. We have a free Expo+ pass to TechCrunch Disrupt (September 19–21 in San Francisco) with your name on it. Laid off? Free admission to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 Downsizing, layoffs, reducing redundancy — however you phrase it — losing your … Read more

For deep due diligence, minimize disruption to maximize success

Denis Shafranik Contributor Denis Shafranik is the co-founder of Concentric, an early-stage venture firm. Most founders are so laser-focused on convincing investors to invest that they don’t fully consider the due diligence process that comes after. But as the funding landscape becomes tougher, it pays to know what kind of investor you’re dealing with, and … Read more

Cabify, the Madrid-based Uber rival, says it’s raised $110M in new funding

It’s 2023, and we’re years past the peak of monster fundraising for on-demand transportation and delivery startups locked in highly competitive races with each other to dominate urban consumer mobility. But with many of the biggest and most tenacious players still in the market, those rounds have not disappeared altogether. Today, Cabify — the Madrid-based platform … Read more