Facebook announces an augmented reality platform, PetSmart makes a huge acquisition and half-priced Spotify goes global. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for April 19, 2017. Also, Mark Zuckerberg talks about Facebook's "misunderstood" strategy of copying Snapchat.

1. Facebook launches augmented reality Camera Effects developer platform

Outside developers will get a chance to create filters and interactive experiences for Facebook's Camera. This new Camera Effects platform will start out on smartphones, but the plan is to support future augmented reality devices like eyeglasses. These filters could include selfie masks, informational tools, art or even games.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg told TechCrunch that this is what Facebook has been laying the foundation for with all those features that were basically copies of Snapchat. As for monetization, Facebook will want to introduce advertising into the Camera Effects platform eventually, but the company says it's focused on making this a great product first.

2. Everything Facebook launched at F8 and why

Facebook actually made a whole bunch of announcements yesterday as part of its F8 developer conference — including a new social virtual reality platform and a new offline mode for Instagram — so we rounded them up for your reading pleasure.

3. A low-flying pet supplies company just sold to PetSmart in the biggest e-commerce sale ever

The company in question is Chewy, which PetSmart is acquiring for a stunning $3.35 billion. By the end of last year, five-year-old Chewy had more than 3,000 employees and more than $880 million in annual revenue.

4. Spotify's half-priced student pricing expands worldwide

Spotify is looking to convince younger listeners to (gasp!) actually pay for music by rolling out discounted student pricing to 33 new countries. The news comes right after Pandora launched its competing on-demand music service, Pandora Premium.

5. Oracle acquires ad measurement company Moat

Moat helps advertisers and publishers measure whether people see and interact with online ads, which could be increasingly important given advertiser concerns around viewability and fraud. This deal will also further Oracle strategy of buying its way into digital advertising and marketing.

6. The next iPhone could feature a Touch ID sensor on the rear

Reliable iPhone leaker Sonny Dickson just shared new design schematics for the upcoming iPhone. The most interesting thing is that the leak clearly shows a spot on the rear of the device for the Touch ID sensor.

7. In 2017, only 17% of startups have a female founder

It's been two years since Crunchbase's inaugural study on female founders in U.S.-based startups, so the team looked at how those numbers have changed, and also expanded the data to include the global startup ecosystem.