Latest and Hotest Technology Updates

With Y Combinator Demo Day right around the corner, today's top story might come as a surprise. We learned that YC booted one India-based startup over some "irregularities." Find out what happened. Speaking of YC, are you an investor with a strong opinion about YC Demo Day? We want to hear from you: Take our short survey.

Meanwhile, Garena is relaunching the Free Fire mobile game in India. This comes after the popular mobile title was banned in the South Asian market over national security concerns nearly two years ago. See what’s new.

And we give you the scoop on how telehealth startup Babylon's run ended in bankruptcy. This startup was once valued at nearly $2 billion.

More top reads

For the traveler who has everything: Anker introduces some clever new travel chargers. Time to pack.

Starfield review: Guns and ships and stars, oh my! Also a vacuum of wonder. Game on.

If you "like" it, you should probably own it: However, if you think people might judge you, X, formerly Twitter, is now letting paid users hide their likes. Smash that button.

As if you needed another reason to shop: In a surprise tie-up, Shopify merchants will be able to offer Amazon's "Buy with Prime" option. Pop the champagne.

What did you say?: OpenAI-backed language learning app Speak raises $16 million to expand to the U.S. You heard right.

Network of networks: Meet Ivy, a company that just raised $20 million to take open-banking payments international. Bank on it.

Crypto could be making a comeback: Grayscale's legal head says bitcoin spot ETF approval is a "matter of when, not if." (TC+) Check out more in this week's Chain Reaction.

More layoffs: Malwarebytes is splitting its business in two. Ahead of that, the company laid off 100 employees. Reportedly some higher-ups were involved.

Sometimes you have to split: Microsoft unbundled Teams from Microsoft Office in Europe to appease regulators. See who complained.

It got physical: Fitbit was targeted with a trio of data transfer complaints in Europe. Find out why.

Now we can truly be ourselves: AI-powered BeFake is a real app, not a BeReal parody, and it now has $3 million in funding. Finally an app that will just let us Be. Oh, and if you're wondering how all that AI-generated data will affect startups, we looked into that. (TC+)

More for your Thursday:

Veterinary software company TeleVet rebrands as Otto amid $43M in fresh funding

iPhone camera app Obscura releases a new version with iPad support

Martian Lawyers Club raises $2.2M for AI-based game personalization tech

VanMoof makes a move: Lavoie acquires the e-bike startup out of bankruptcy for ‘tens of millions’ of euros

LogicMonitor customers hit by hackers, because of default passwords

From today's "pod" files

For this week's new episode of Chain Reaction, Jacquelyn interviewed Craig Salm, chief legal officer at Grayscale Investments. Grayscale is a digital asset investment firm that aims to provide products and services, like its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), to institutional and individual investors.

The company was founded in 2014 and is one of the world's largest digital asset currency managers. It currently owns 3.4% of outstanding bitcoin, "worth tens of billions of dollars," according to a recent legal filing.

The firm was making headlines this week after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Grayscale in a lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the matter of a bitcoin ETF. This ruling is in response to the SEC denying Grayscale's application to convert its GBTC product into a bitcoin spot ETF in June 2022.

Read More

That 30-slide deck won't cut it anymore

Despite the downturn, a recent report from DocSend shows a 16% year-over-year increase in the number of pitch decks founders are sharing with investors.

“Pre-seed founders have responded to the investor pullback by creating shorter decks,” says Justin Izzo, the company’s research lead. “They are rearranging the opening slides in ways I hadn't seen before.”

The average length of a pitch deck has shrunk by nearly 16% over the last year, which “means you have to be very intentional about what to include,” writes Haje Jan Kamps.

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

• Mobile/Web Developer (.Net) at Air Line Pilots Association (McLean, VA, USA)
• Blockchain Engineer at OpenTensor (Anywhere)
• Technical Writer at OpenTensor (Anywhere)
• Data Scientist at OpenTensor (Anywhere)
• Epic Application Analyst/Coordinator at Administration South (Toppenish, WA, USA)

See more jobs on CrunchBoard

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

With Y Combinator Demo Day right around the corner, today's top story might come as a surprise. We learned that YC booted one India-based startup over some "irregularities." Find out what happened. Speaking of YC, are you an investor with a strong opinion about YC Demo Day? We want to hear from you: Take our short survey.

Meanwhile, Garena is relaunching the Free Fire mobile game in India. This comes after the popular mobile title was banned in the South Asian market over national security concerns nearly two years ago. See what’s new.

And we give you the scoop on how telehealth startup Babylon's run ended in bankruptcy. This startup was once valued at nearly $2 billion.

More top reads

For the traveler who has everything: Anker introduces some clever new travel chargers. Time to pack.

Starfield review: Guns and ships and stars, oh my! Also a vacuum of wonder. Game on.

If you "like" it, you should probably own it: However, if you think people might judge you, X, formerly Twitter, is now letting paid users hide their likes. Smash that button.

As if you needed another reason to shop: In a surprise tie-up, Shopify merchants will be able to offer Amazon's "Buy with Prime" option. Pop the champagne.

What did you say?: OpenAI-backed language learning app Speak raises $16 million to expand to the U.S. You heard right.

Network of networks: Meet Ivy, a company that just raised $20 million to take open-banking payments international. Bank on it.

Crypto could be making a comeback: Grayscale's legal head says bitcoin spot ETF approval is a "matter of when, not if." (TC+) Check out more in this week's Chain Reaction.

More layoffs: Malwarebytes is splitting its business in two. Ahead of that, the company laid off 100 employees. Reportedly some higher-ups were involved.

Sometimes you have to split: Microsoft unbundled Teams from Microsoft Office in Europe to appease regulators. See who complained.

It got physical: Fitbit was targeted with a trio of data transfer complaints in Europe. Find out why.

Now we can truly be ourselves: AI-powered BeFake is a real app, not a BeReal parody, and it now has $3 million in funding. Finally an app that will just let us Be. Oh, and if you're wondering how all that AI-generated data will affect startups, we looked into that. (TC+)

More for your Thursday:

Veterinary software company TeleVet rebrands as Otto amid $43M in fresh funding

iPhone camera app Obscura releases a new version with iPad support

Martian Lawyers Club raises $2.2M for AI-based game personalization tech

VanMoof makes a move: Lavoie acquires the e-bike startup out of bankruptcy for ‘tens of millions’ of euros

LogicMonitor customers hit by hackers, because of default passwords

From today's "pod" files

For this week's new episode of Chain Reaction, Jacquelyn interviewed Craig Salm, chief legal officer at Grayscale Investments. Grayscale is a digital asset investment firm that aims to provide products and services, like its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), to institutional and individual investors.

The company was founded in 2014 and is one of the world's largest digital asset currency managers. It currently owns 3.4% of outstanding bitcoin, "worth tens of billions of dollars," according to a recent legal filing.

The firm was making headlines this week after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Grayscale in a lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the matter of a bitcoin ETF. This ruling is in response to the SEC denying Grayscale's application to convert its GBTC product into a bitcoin spot ETF in June 2022.

Read More

That 30-slide deck won't cut it anymore

Despite the downturn, a recent report from DocSend shows a 16% year-over-year increase in the number of pitch decks founders are sharing with investors.

“Pre-seed founders have responded to the investor pullback by creating shorter decks,” says Justin Izzo, the company’s research lead. “They are rearranging the opening slides in ways I hadn't seen before.”

The average length of a pitch deck has shrunk by nearly 16% over the last year, which “means you have to be very intentional about what to include,” writes Haje Jan Kamps.

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

• Mobile/Web Developer (.Net) at Air Line Pilots Association (McLean, VA, USA)
• Blockchain Engineer at OpenTensor (Anywhere)
• Technical Writer at OpenTensor (Anywhere)
• Data Scientist at OpenTensor (Anywhere)
• Epic Application Analyst/Coordinator at Administration South (Toppenish, WA, USA)

See more jobs on CrunchBoard

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

Two of today's top stories come out of our continued coverage of the Google Cloud Next 2023 event happening this week. After not getting along, dare I say "fighting," Google Assistant and Alexa finally start playing nice. Learn what got them to a cease-fire . . . for now.

Meanwhile, Gmail's new AI companion, Duet AI, can now write emails for you. See how.

And find out what Hyperproof does and why its valuation doubled. Read more.

More top reads

We've got even more Google news for you: First, the Pixel Pass subscription service goes "bye-bye," and mark your calendars for the debut of Pixel 8.

Feelin' hot, hot, hot: Get Steve Blank's take on why AI will revolutionize the "lean startup." It's all in how you look at it.  (TC+)

Bon appétit: Brazil-based Praso bags $9.3 million in new funding and acquires Floki's IP to simplify food purchasing for bars and restaurants in the region. Find out how.

We've got our computer eye on you: Voxel uses computer vision to increase workplace safety. Eyes up.

So much to say: Accel-backed Agave aims to connect construction software after finding out the programs couldn't talk to one another. Read more.

New endeavors: India's PhonePe is now offering a way to invest in stocks and mutual funds. Cha-ching.

"Undelivered": That's what India-based delivery startup Dunzo is saying about meeting the deadline for employee salaries. Here’s why they are delayed . . . again.

Thanks, I guess?: Starz confirmed that its annual subscription price will be lower on the next bill cycle. Meanwhile, it raised its monthly price.

How to make sense of LLMs: Do you know how well your large language model is performing? Context.ai can help with that.

"When you care enough to send the very best": Venmo lets you gift money to your loved ones with special Hallmark greeting cards. Get the scoop on Venmo's new move.

More for your Wednesday:

In Threads' dwindling engagement, social media's flawed hypothesis is laid bare

Samsung launches a meal planning and recipe discovery platform called Samsung Food

Longevity-loving Fairphone 5 unwrapped, with pledge of 8+ years software support

QuantHealth brings its AI-informed clinical drug trials to the US with $15M round

X to allow paid political ads, lifting Twitter's earlier ban

Grab your pass to TC Disrupt 2023

Join 10,000 startup leaders in San Francisco at TechCrunch Disrupt, taking place September 19–21. Last-minute passes are still available. Save 15% with code DC. Register now!

From today's "pod" files

Today on Equity, we’re digging into how “great” founders are successfully guiding their companies toward cash flow positivity. Alex spoke to Anu Hariharan, who's previously worked with a16z, sits on Brex's board, and more recently has been investing in later-stage companies at Y Combinator.

Speaking of Y Combinator, we have a little ask of you regarding investor sentiment about the upcoming YC Demo Day: Take our short survey.

Read More

Ask Sophie: What's the wait time for EB-2 and EB-1 green card categories for those born in India?

Ask Sophie: What's the wait time for EB-2 and EB-1 green card categories for those born in India?

Dear Sophie,

Back in 2018, the Cato Institute estimated it would take 151 years for a person born in India to get a green card in the EB-2 category.

How has that changed in the wake of the pandemic, the Great Resignation, and the tech layoffs? How has the EB-1 category changed?

— Living in Limbo

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

• Blockchain Engineer at OpenTensor (Anywhere)
• Technical Writer at OpenTensor (Anywhere)
• Data Scientist at OpenTensor (Anywhere)
• Epic Application Analyst/Coordinator at Administration South (Toppenish, WA, USA)
• Product Manager, App Experience at Kisi (Stockholm, Sweden)

See more jobs on CrunchBoard

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