Latest and Hotest Technology Updates

Greetings, and happy Wednesday! I had to check the calendar before I said the day because does anyone really know what day it is anymore? Amanda had me cracking up with her story on waiting for a new release of Nintendo Switch, only to have the news be something else. I also enjoyed the latest Equity podcast where Natasha and Alex discussed why everyone is copying off each other. Anyway, big tech and crypto news dominated our homepage today, so I have a lot of that for you. Let's get started! — Christine

The TechCrunch Top 3

• When one falls, another falls: Manish is on a roll this week, writing another top story, this time about Voyager Digital, a crypto broker, filing for bankruptcy. It seemed to be a domino effect for the company, which cited Three Arrows Capital's bankruptcy announcement from last week as one of the factors. Seems Three Arrows owed Voyager Digital some $650 million. Not chump change for sure.
• Scraping by: Meta is suing Octopus Data, the U.S. subsidiary of a Chinese company alleging this company offered data-scraping services for Facebook and Instagram, Paul reports. So you don't have to look that up, data scraping is a means of using automated tools to gather data from websites "en masse." Paul says this is particularly timely as a U.S. court "reaffirmed an earlier ruling that web scraping is legal" less than 3 months ago. Back to the drawing board they go.
• Biting into food delivery: Amazon is trying a new approach to not only get a foot into restaurant delivery, but also attract more Prime members. The marketplace giant is partnering with Grubhub to offer free membership to Grubhub+ (everyone has a "plus," huh?) for 1 year, Ingrid writes.

Startups and VC

It seems that Bolt and Authentic Brands Group, Forever 21's parent company, have kissed and made up. Authentic was initially suing Bolt with claims that Bolt had not delivered the one-click checkout technology that was promised, which resulted in the company missing out on some $150 million in sales. Mary Ann reports that the suit was settled "amicably," and Authentic is now even a shareholder. That was some negotiation.

Crypto gaming startup Cauldron closed on $6.6 million toward the goal of becoming the "Pixar of web3," Jacquelyn writes. The company told her it wants to do more storytelling and create a legacy with its Project Nightshade game à la how Pixar did with "Toy Story." To infinity and beyond!

Celus wants to automate the way circuit boards are designed and picked up $25.6 million in new capital to leverage its artificial intelligence technology so that a printed circuit board could be redesigned in a matter of minutes, Paul writes.

What else have we got? Here's some more:

• This fund is on fire: Rita writes about Bonfire Union, Mask Network's venture arm, and its first fund of $42 million to "invest in web3 like Tencent does in web2." Oh, and she also wrote about Nothing and its Black Dot NFT.
• Everyone deserves digital: I wrote about Finli, a startup that raised $6 million in new funds to continue developing its payment management app for service-based businesses.
• An apple for the teacher: Online testing software startup Azota took in $2.4 million to assist Vietnam's teachers in creating and grading tests, Catherine writes.
• At it again: Kate reported that Korean telecom company KT definitely liked what it saw in Rebellions, an AI chipmaker. The startup got another $22.8 million funding from KT just a month after KT poured $50 million into it.
• Blop, blop, fizz, fizz: Jordan spoke with Wonderbelly founders Noah Kraft and Lucas Kraft, the Doppler Labs founder, to discuss the antacid startup's new $3.3 million funding and its mission to take on Tums.

Dear Sophie: How can we transfer a candidate's H-1B and green card?

Dear Sophie,

My startup needs to hire an AI expert, and our top candidate has a complicated immigration situation. She's from India and has been on an H-1B for more than 6 years. Her current employer applied for an EB-2 green card on her behalf about 4 years ago through the PERM process. She's been waiting for a green card number since she was approved and says it may take several more years before she receives it.

She is asking us to transfer her H-1B and green card to our company. Can we do it? Do we have additional options to retain her?

— Advancing AI

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)

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Big Tech Inc.

More crypto to see here! Jacquelyn does a deep dive into the second quarter's cryptocurrency company losses, which are down 52% from the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Kyle writes that IBM acquired Databand for its observability capabilities in helping "customers better identify and fix data issues including errors, pipeline failures and poor quality."

In cybersecurity news, hotel giant Marriott found itself on the wrong side of another data breach, Carly writes. She also laid out a claim by the U.S. government that North Korean hackers are targeting some of the country's healthcare organizations with their ransomware. Meanwhile, Zack reports that Apple's new lockdown mode "will switch off certain features aimed at helping targeted individuals combat government-grade spyware."

• Do you want a ride? In automobile news, Jaclyn reported on Rivian's goal of delivering 25,000 vehicles this year and whether Polestar can pull off a SPAC where other electric vehicles have failed. She also covered a lawsuit brought against Tesla by some former workers who say they shouldn't have to sign a release in exchange for lower severance than federal law provides. Then Harri discussed the highs and lows of Tesla's solar trailer.
• Activision's blizzard ahead: The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority has launched an antitrust investigation into Microsoft's $69 billion proposal to acquire Activision to see if it will reduce competition with any U.K. goods or services, Ingrid reports.
• Here's your delivery: Amazon isn't alone in its food delivery efforts. Aisha writes that Walmart is making its InHome grocery delivery service part of Walmart+ (see? Told you.) as an optional add-on. Meanwhile, the European Union is looking at Delivery Hero and Glovo with regard to antitrust inspections, Natasha reports.
• Speaking of inspections: Ivan writes that India's anti–money laundering agency raided Vivo's offices.
• Time to drool: Brian tempts us with pictures of the new M2 MacBook Air.

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Guess who's back? Back again? Well, me after a long weekend, but also Elon Musk is tweeting again, and he has lots of thoughts about socks. My partner in crime, Haje, remains in an undesirable newsletter time zone but will be back later this week. I want to call out some things going on with TechCrunch. One is that TechCrunch Live's weekly event series is new and improved, so learn more and register. Most of us here at TechCrunch spend our days on WordPress, and the Found team spoke to Matt Mullenweg, CEO of its parent company Automattic, for the latest podcast. — Christine

The TechCrunch Top 3

• Just a Glance: Manish wrote two of our top stories. The first is a scoop he got related to Glance, which is reportedly launching its lock screen content platform for Android in the U.S. in the next couple of months. He also dug into Twitter's lawsuit against the Indian government that was prompted by content takedown orders. This is just another in a long line of troubles the company has had in this country.
• No slowdown in climate tech: Paul reports on Climentum Capital's philosophy behind its new $157 million fund that will go into European startups helping reduce CO2 emissions.
• We gotta figure out our 'exit scratgety': You'll have to go way back into the SNL archives to find that reference, but this is the first of two Haje public announcements for our founder friends. He says you really don't need that “exit plan” slide in your pitch deck — there are a lot of assumptions and predictions on a founder's part, and it is hard to know who wants to buy your company, so just get rid of it.

Startups and VC

There are a number of very good TechCrunch+ stories today. I recommend starting with Alex's item on raising sweet capital in a sour market, where essentially he says venture capital firms should put their money to use when they can get more out of it. Then follow with his story from yesterday that does a bit more diving into 2021 company valuations.

Speaking of putting capital to use in easier ways, some VC firms continue to raise funds, and Sequoia Capital has been very busy. Rita reports that Sequoia's China unit took in $9 billion, coming at a time when, she writes, "global investors are reevaluating risks in China amid a COVID-hit economy and an ongoing regulatory crackdown on the country's internet upstarts." This complements a quick hit I did last week about Sequoia raising two funds stateside.

Meanwhile, Haje's other public service announcement for today is a reminder that not all of us comprehend at the same level, so startup founders should work to attract more bees with simple honey sentences rather than big, complicated fly ones.

Here's what else you might like today:

• Show me the money: Kyle reports on Tesorio, which closed on a $17 million Series B to continue developing tools to help businesses automate their payment collection process.
• The opposite of McHard is McEasy: In this case, McEasy is digitizing Indonesia's logistics, transportation and supply chain industries, and Catherine writes about the company's plans now that it has $6.5 million in new funding.
• Drink up: I reported on Maolac, an Israeli food tech company that is putting $3.2 million of new capital to work in its protein technology that is taking bovine colostrum and making a superfood for adults.
• If you like it, then you should have put a ring on it: Natasha takes us on a delightful journey looking at Ultrahuman's new smart ring aimed at "decoding metabolic health."
• A "Quantum Leap" indeed: Ingrid writes about the U.K.'s Oxford Quantum Circuits, which raised $47 million for its quantum-computing-as-a-service that runs a 3D processor architecture called Coaxmon.
• Drive time: Rebecca interviews Veo's Candice Xie about the e-scooter company's steady journey toward profitability.

Without a clear ask, your pitch deck is useless

Fundraising is difficult because most people don't have any experience asking strangers for money.

The "ask" slide where founders explain how they'll spend investors' money is particularly challenging. To break through the mental barrier, Haje recommends starting out with metrics and milestones.

How much will you increase MAU or lower CAC? What are your target dates for expanding in new markets?

"The more specific your goals are, the easier it is to know whether you're trending toward them," writes Haje.

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)

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Big Tech Inc.

Some big news from yesterday was that Meta decided not to move forward with its crypto payments wallet, Novi, Natasha writes. The company isn't getting rid of it completely, so stay tuned as to how it might be repurposed.

Meanwhile, Google is doing a little postponing of its own — with KakaoTalk updates on its Play Store. Kate reports this has something to do with the messaging app refusing to remove its own payment links. You might remember, but Google doesn't like that.

Over in Europe, we have a trio of regulation stories. First is Natasha's about the European Parliament giving its approval to a set of regulations regarding digital businesses. Then Paul writes about the U.K. pushing to make "foreign interference," particularly Russian information, an offense under its proposed Online Safety Bill. Finally, Ingrid reports on the U.K. signing its first data-sharing deal since Brexit with South Korea.

Take a peek at some others:

• Those are some big lenses you have: If you like smartphones with giant camera lenses, then you will love Haje's report on Xiaomi's new phone. 
• A marriage made in drone heaven: Brian writes about American Robotics' owner acquiring Airobotics and why it's a good fit.
• Talk about your front desk fail: WeWork India was found to have exposed the personal information and selfies of visitors, Zack writes.
• Fire up those engines: Rebecca listened in on Tata Motors' shareholder meeting and found that the Indian automaker aims to sell 50,000 electric vehicles by March 31, 2023. 
• Live commerce no more: TikTok is reportedly pulling the plug on plans to expand its live e-commerce unit, TikTok Shop, in the U.S. and some parts of Europe, Aisha writes. It will be interesting to see if live commerce ever does become a thing over in this part of the world.

• Senior Manager, Consulting and Training at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN, USA)
• Product Engineer at Dizzion (Anywhere)
• Senior Java Developer at Dizzion (United States)
• Network Administrator at City of Commerce City (Commerce City, CO, USA)
• System Administrator at City of Commerce City (Commerce City, CO, USA)

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