Latest and Hotest Technology Updates

Fri-yay Crunch!

We are pretty excited about Disrupt 2023 getting a whole stage dedicated to fintech. And while we're talking about events…There's just a few hours left to save $200 on TC Early Stage tickets in Boston in a couple of weeks, so get yer tickets while you can!

On that note, enjoy your weekend! — Christine and Haje

The TechCrunch Top 3

• Italy gives ChatGPT the boot: Italy's government has been on a blocking kick lately. A few days ago, we wrote about a possible ban on cultivated meat, and today Italy wants to block ChatGPT, citing data protection concerns. Natasha L writes that the country's data protection authority is opening an investigation into whether OpenAI is breaching the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation.
• Groupon gets its Czech book: Ingrid reports that Groupon has lost 99.4% of its value since its IPO and now has a new CEO who will run the business from the Czech Republic.
• Jio gets its game on: Manish writes that Mukesh Ambani, CEO of India's streaming giant Jio, sees the Indian Premier League cricket tournament as "the perfect opportunity to revamp Jio's service adoption strategy even as the firm recognizes that cricket streaming will not turn a profit for several years."

Here's why the UK should be known as the 'Unicorn Kingdom'

Sponsored by GREAT Britain & Northern Ireland

Boasting more unicorns than Germany, France and Sweden combined, the UK tech sector is valued at $1 trillion, along with the US and China. Hear from the experts how the UK's ability to scale tech startups has now captured the interest of VCs on the West Coast.

Learn More

Startups and VC

What do you do when you have a very successful and popular product (marijuana) that is legal in some places, but federally has been a Schedule 1 drug since 1970? Well, you can't rely on any national institutions as your business partners, Haje reports. One of the major places that shows up is in payments and payment processing; even after recreational cannabis became legal in 21 states and decriminalized in another dozen or so, cannabis has become largely a cash business. In a world that is increasingly cashless, that's a problem for both consumers and businesses. Smoakland is currently beta-testing a loophole that lets its customers pay by credit card. The secret, it turns out, is crypto.

Need some more to get you through the long bleak gap of “less tech news” known as the weekend? Don’tcha worry fam, we gotchu:

• Down in proverbial flames: Aria reports that Virgin Orbit burns up in uncontrolled descent.
• Teaching an old browser new tricks: Artie sidesteps the app stores by putting high-quality games in your browser, Haje reports.
• Pouring our hearts out: Haje reviewed a fancy-ass $700 coffee maker and concludes that xBloom makes perfect pour-over so you don't have to, before asking if you would want to.
• Not worthless, but worth less: U.S. investors slash Byju's and Swiggy valuation, reports Manish.
• This meeting could have been a summary: Ivan reports that Read's AI-powered summary feature squeezes a meeting into a two-minute clip.

Yeah, of course, YC's winter class is oozing with AI companies

Just over one-third of the fledgling startups in Y Combinator’s latest class say “that they are an AI company or use AI in some kind of way,” reports Rebecca Szkutak.

“You can't blame the YC companies for leaning into AI,” she writes. “If you saw VCs dumping dollars — in a tougher fundraising market, no less — into a technology like AI that you could implement into your own business, why wouldn't you?”

Three more from the TC+ team:

• Okay, here's the game plan: Anna and Alex have the lowdown on European startups looking to raise money in 2023.
• Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead: Investors are unfazed by Q1 crypto funding decline, writes Jacquelyn.
• You're hired! Anastasiia Kuzmenko shares three recruiting metrics that can help startups make more data-driven hiring decisions.

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!

Read More

Big Tech Inc.

Checkout.com has a new president who recently spoke with Mary Ann about being bullish on a U.S. expansion and how she "welcomes" comparisons to Stripe. Céline Dufétel says of the payments industry this year: "Now more than ever amid the uncertain economic landscape, CFOs and heads of payments are narrowing in on the impact of payments on topline growth and profitability. Increasingly, business leaders are recognizing the measurable impact of high-performing payments systems in maximizing acceptance rates, minimizing costly fraud concerns, and reducing operational costs."

And we have five more for you:

• What's going on with the TikTok ban?: We’re so glad you asked. Taylor gives you the play-by-play.
• TV turned on its side: No, you aren't seeing your Hulu interface wrong. The streaming company changed some things around, including a revamped sidebar on the left, Ivan and Lauren write.
• You can't do that on social media: The lower chamber of the French parliament passed an influencer bill cracking down on risky products. Romain has more.
• Going public: Helbiz stock tumbles on reverse split, but it's okay because they are rebranding to Micromobility.com, Rebecca writes.
• Quite taxing: Amanda played an anime dating sim that does your taxes for you and has some notes.

• Information Services Support Specialist at Administration South (Toppenish, WA 98948, USA)
• Lead Software Developer at AWE Learning (Chester, PA, USA)
• IT Support Specialist at Human Rights Watch (New York, NY, USA)
• Head of Engineering at Qblox (Delft, Netherlands)
• Senior Drupal Web Developer at MIT (Cambridge, MA, United States)

See more jobs on CrunchBoard

Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month.

Fri-yay Crunch!

We are pretty excited about Disrupt 2023 getting a whole stage dedicated to fintech. And while we're talking about events…There's just a few hours left to save $200 on TC Early Stage tickets in Boston in a couple of weeks, so get yer tickets while you can!

On that note, enjoy your weekend! — Christine and Haje

The TechCrunch Top 3

• Italy gives ChatGPT the boot: Italy's government has been on a blocking kick lately. A few days ago, we wrote about a possible ban on cultivated meat, and today Italy wants to block ChatGPT, citing data protection concerns. Natasha L writes that the country's data protection authority is opening an investigation into whether OpenAI is breaching the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation.
• Groupon gets its Czech book: Ingrid reports that Groupon has lost 99.4% of its value since its IPO and now has a new CEO who will run the business from the Czech Republic.
• Jio gets its game on: Manish writes that Mukesh Ambani, CEO of India's streaming giant Jio, sees the Indian Premier League cricket tournament as "the perfect opportunity to revamp Jio's service adoption strategy even as the firm recognizes that cricket streaming will not turn a profit for several years."

Here's why the UK should be known as the 'Unicorn Kingdom'

Sponsored by GREAT Britain & Northern Ireland

Boasting more unicorns than Germany, France and Sweden combined, the UK tech sector is valued at $1 trillion, along with the US and China. Hear from the experts how the UK's ability to scale tech startups has now captured the interest of VCs on the West Coast.

Learn More

Startups and VC

What do you do when you have a very successful and popular product (marijuana) that is legal in some places, but federally has been a Schedule 1 drug since 1970? Well, you can't rely on any national institutions as your business partners, Haje reports. One of the major places that shows up is in payments and payment processing; even after recreational cannabis became legal in 21 states and decriminalized in another dozen or so, cannabis has become largely a cash business. In a world that is increasingly cashless, that's a problem for both consumers and businesses. Smoakland is currently beta-testing a loophole that lets its customers pay by credit card. The secret, it turns out, is crypto.

Need some more to get you through the long bleak gap of “less tech news” known as the weekend? Don’tcha worry fam, we gotchu:

• Down in proverbial flames: Aria reports that Virgin Orbit burns up in uncontrolled descent.
• Teaching an old browser new tricks: Artie sidesteps the app stores by putting high-quality games in your browser, Haje reports.
• Pouring our hearts out: Haje reviewed a fancy-ass $700 coffee maker and concludes that xBloom makes perfect pour-over so you don't have to, before asking if you would want to.
• Not worthless, but worth less: U.S. investors slash Byju's and Swiggy valuation, reports Manish.
• This meeting could have been a summary: Ivan reports that Read's AI-powered summary feature squeezes a meeting into a two-minute clip.

Yeah, of course, YC's winter class is oozing with AI companies

Just over one-third of the fledgling startups in Y Combinator’s latest class say “that they are an AI company or use AI in some kind of way,” reports Rebecca Szkutak.

“You can't blame the YC companies for leaning into AI,” she writes. “If you saw VCs dumping dollars — in a tougher fundraising market, no less — into a technology like AI that you could implement into your own business, why wouldn't you?”

Three more from the TC+ team:

• Okay, here's the game plan: Anna and Alex have the lowdown on European startups looking to raise money in 2023.
• Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead: Investors are unfazed by Q1 crypto funding decline, writes Jacquelyn.
• You're hired! Anastasiia Kuzmenko shares three recruiting metrics that can help startups make more data-driven hiring decisions.

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!

Read More

Big Tech Inc.

Checkout.com has a new president who recently spoke with Mary Ann about being bullish on a U.S. expansion and how she "welcomes" comparisons to Stripe. Céline Dufétel says of the payments industry this year: "Now more than ever amid the uncertain economic landscape, CFOs and heads of payments are narrowing in on the impact of payments on topline growth and profitability. Increasingly, business leaders are recognizing the measurable impact of high-performing payments systems in maximizing acceptance rates, minimizing costly fraud concerns, and reducing operational costs."

And we have five more for you:

• What's going on with the TikTok ban?: We’re so glad you asked. Taylor gives you the play-by-play.
• TV turned on its side: No, you aren't seeing your Hulu interface wrong. The streaming company changed some things around, including a revamped sidebar on the left, Ivan and Lauren write.
• You can't do that on social media: The lower chamber of the French parliament passed an influencer bill cracking down on risky products. Romain has more.
• Going public: Helbiz stock tumbles on reverse split, but it's okay because they are rebranding to Micromobility.com, Rebecca writes.
• Quite taxing: Amanda played an anime dating sim that does your taxes for you and has some notes.

• Information Services Support Specialist at Administration South (Toppenish, WA 98948, USA)
• Lead Software Developer at AWE Learning (Chester, PA, USA)
• IT Support Specialist at Human Rights Watch (New York, NY, USA)
• Head of Engineering at Qblox (Delft, Netherlands)
• Senior Drupal Web Developer at MIT (Cambridge, MA, United States)

See more jobs on CrunchBoard

Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month.

Thursdaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! It's one of our favorite days of the week. Definitely in the top 7. — Christine and Haje

The TechCrunch Top 3

• Crypto wallet in disguise: Ledger, a company that designs and manufactures crypto wallets, is now flush with actual cash. Romain writes that after raising over $380 million in 2021, in today's dollars, Ledger brought in $108 million, raising at the same valuation and from a long list of investors.
• Even contact centers need tech: Customers have lots of questions, and to provide the best experience, you need more than just a friendly voice on the other end of the phone. That's where Parloa comes in, raising $21 million to add a little automation to contact centers, Kyle writes.
• Cashing in on the generative AI frenzy: In Kyle's second top story of the day, Fixie, backed by $17 million in venture capital, wants to make it easier for companies to build on top of language models.

Startups and VC

"Our story starts 15 years ago," Frédéric Utzmann, founder and CEO of Effy, told Romain. After 15 years of bootstrapping, the energy renovation company is at a crossroads and just closed a $22 million funding round from Felix Capital to make the most of the opportunities in the energy renovation space.

The layoffs continue: Indian edtech Unacademy slashes another 12% jobs, and online used-car marketplace Shift cuts workforce by 30%.

Another fistful of wisdoms and nuggets:

• Taking on Twitter, too: Twitter alternative T2 launches new verification program and hires a Discord engineering head as CTO, Sarah reports
• Computer says no to fraud: Kyle reports that Oscilar emerges from stealth to fight transactions fraud with AI.
• Computer says no to other computers: DataDome uses AI to protect against bot-based attacks. The company just raised $42 million, Kyle reports.
• A captive audience: Ingrid reports that P97 fills up its tank with $40 million to fuel its gas station mobile commerce services.
• CEOs only: Natasha M writes that Hampton is tech's new membership community for chief executive officers.

How to build a sales development representative strategy that will fill your B2B pipeline

Marketing teams deserve all of the credit for crafting innovative campaigns that break through the noise: Convincing someone to try out a new product or service takes real skill!

In practice, however, sales development representatives (SDRs) do most of the work required to land new customers, “making cold calls, writing email outreach, or sending outbound mail,” says GTM strategist Mike Tong.

Because it takes “about 15 touches for a prospect to want to see a demo,” Tong authored a TC+ guide for early-stage CEOs who need guidance around hiring and incentivizing SDR teams.

“Pipeline generation at early-stage companies is expensive and time consuming, often more so than the sales process itself. That said, getting it right is likely the most important thing you can do for your business.”

Three more from the TC+ team:

• Bork bork bork?: Anna takes a look at Sweden's startup scene as Techstars drops its Stockholm program.
• Let me insure you: Anna talks to six VCs who explain why embedded insurance isn't the only hot opportunity in insurtech.
• Reaching for the sky: Haje is back with his weekly Pitch Deck Teardown, looking at Northspyre's $25 million Series B deck, which comes with a few good surprises. And a few, er, not good surprises.

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!

Read More

Big Tech Inc.

It seems we can't go that many days without more news on a company cutting jobs. This time, Roku is doing a second round of layoffs, this time of 200 employees, or 6% of its workforce, citing "a larger plan to lower its year-over-year operating expense growth and prioritize projects that it believes will have a higher return on investment," Sarah writes. This comes four months after Roku laid off an initial 200 people.

Meanwhile, if you want to book an environmentally friendly ride, you're in luck. Uber expands its Comfort Electric offering to 14 new markets in the U.S. and Canada, Rebecca reports. You can choose from Tesla Models S, 3, X and Y; the Polestar 2; the Ford Mustang Mach-E; the Audi e-tron; the Porsche Taycan; and the Hyundai Ioniq.

And we have five more for you:

• Driving off into the sunset: Waymo retires its self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivan, Kirsten reports.
• Don't answer this call: Security firms say a new supply chain attack is targeting customers of a phone system with 12 million users, Carly writes.
• Not enough: Ivan writes that developers say the new Twitter API tiers still miss the mark.
• Game on: Netflix is working on games for the TV where people can use their iPhone as the video game controller, Lauren reports.
• Changes are coming: Lyft's new CEO has some ideas that might include dropping shared rides, Rebecca reports.

• Information Services Support Specialist at Administration South (Toppenish, WA 98948, USA)
• Lead Software Developer at AWE Learning (Chester, PA, USA)
• IT Support Specialist at Human Rights Watch (New York, NY, USA)
• Head of Engineering at Qblox (Delft, Netherlands)
• Senior Drupal Web Developer at MIT (Cambridge, MA, United States)

See more jobs on CrunchBoard

Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month.