Google launches a limited beta of Google Play Games, which brings Android games to Windows 10 and Windows 11, in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan
You'll need a relatively powerful computer for now. And for once, the US isn't getting a Google thing first
This summer the IRS will require users to log in via ID.me, which uses facial recognition in its authentication process, to file taxes, make payments, and more
Users will have to submit sensitive government documents, their social security number, credit history, and a facial scan to third-party company ID.me.
Instagram Subscriptions launches as an alpha, initially letting 10 US creators offer their followers paid access to exclusive Instagram Live videos and Stories
Instagram is giving creators more ways to make money with today's launch of Instagram Subscriptions.
Sources: Meta is working on plans to let users create and sell NFTs on Facebook and Instagram, show NFTs on user profiles, and is considering an NFT marketplace
Facebook's parent draws up plans to allow users to create and sell non-fungible tokens, seeking to enter hype-fuelled $40bn market
Red Cross says a cyberattack on a vendor for over 60 Red Cross and Red Crescent societies compromised the personal data of 515,000+ “highly vulnerable people”
(CNN)A cyberattack on a contractor used by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has compromised …
Russian's central bank proposes banning the trading, use, and mining of cryptocurrencies on Russian territory, citing threats to financial stability
Russia's central bank on Thursday proposed banning the use and mining of cryptocurrencies on Russian territory, citing threats to financial stability …
Amazon will launch Amazon Style, its first physical fashion store, in Los Angeles later this year; customers can use an app to send items to the fitting room
Move over books and groceries, Amazon's latest foray into physical retail is focused on fashion.
Sources: in recent weeks, CEO Bobby Kotick suggested Activision Blizzard make an acquisition, including of trade publications like Kotaku and PC Gamer
After a lawsuit and a Journal report, the company's stock was falling, board members were getting anxious—and the tech giant was ready to take a gamble
AT&T begins its 5G C-band rollout in eight US metro areas, including Austin and Chicago, after delaying rollouts around airports due to safety concerns
The company is lighting up towers in just eight locations amidst pushback from airlines — AT&T is lighting up its expanded 5G service …
Crypto.com confirms it suffered a cybersecurity breach, says it reimbursed the ~400 affected customer accounts, and plans to share more in the coming days
Crypto.com has not received any “outreach” from regulators following a cybersecurity breach earlier this week of about 400 customer accounts …
Google says it will transition organizations using G Suite legacy free edition to an upgraded Google Workspace paid subscription starting on July 1
In 2020, G Suite became Google Workspace as part of a mass reorganization of the company's apps for the “future of work.”
Crypto.com says its breach affected 483 users, resulting in unauthorized withdrawals of ~$33.84M in cryptocurrencies and cash but says users were reimbursed
Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has lost roughly $34 million in a recent security incident, according to a post-mortem released on Thursday.
Research finds the base of global music subscribers grew to 523.9M by the end of Q2 2021, up 26.4% YoY; Spotify's market share dropped from 33% to 31%
MIDiA's annual music subscriber market shares report is now available here (see below for more details of the report). Here are some of the key findings.
Internal email: Google is creating a unit under its Labs division for blockchain and other distributed tech, led by engineering VP Shivakumar Venkataraman
Google is forming a group dedicated to the blockchain and related technologies under a newly appointed executive who has spent …
Apple countersues Ericsson, seeks a US import ban on mobile base stations and proposes that both parties withdraw all patent infringement actions
The flurry of Ericsson-Apple filings with the United States International Trade Commission (USITC, or just ITC), a U.S. trade agency …
Sources: a16z plans to raise $3.5B for its latest cryptocurrency fund and up to $1B for a fund focused on seed investments in digital asset startups
Planned fundraising illustrates how Silicon Valley firms are fuelling boom in cryptocurrency start-ups — Andreessen Horowitz plans …
TikTok says it is testing allowing creators to charge subscriptions for their content
TikTok is testing the idea of allowing its creators to charge subscriptions for their content, a spokesperson told The Information. Earlier Wednesday, rival Instagram announced it was offering paid s...
Meta launches gamified activities on Messenger Kids to help kids learn how to safely use the internet, developed with guidance from online safety experts
Meta (formerly Facebook) knows it has to attract younger users — Facebook parent company Meta has launched new activities …
Sources: Google's AR headset will be powered by a custom processor, resemble ski goggles, and won't require a tethered connection to an external power source
Alex Heath / The Verge :
Autograph, an agency co-founded by Tom Brady that helps celebrities get involved with NFTs, raises a $170M Series B co-led by a16z and Kleiner Perkins
Autograph, an NFT agency co-founded by athlete Tom Brady with a particularly deep bench of star power, has banked new funding …
Profile of Hemant Taneja, who became the sole managing partner of General Catalyst in 2021, as the firm raises a seed, venture, and growth fund totaling $4.6B
General Catalyst's idealist investor Hemant Taneja is quietly running the firm — Hemant Taneja somehow finds time to be an idealist and an operator. Tweets: @ericnewcomer and @ericnewcomer Tweets: E...
Biden signs a memorandum expanding the NSA's role in protecting sensitive government networks, and mandating cybersecurity practices at DoD and spy agencies
Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal :
Vienna-based PlanRadar, which digitizes construction and real estate documents and communication, raises a $70M Series B
Back in March Vienna-based PlanRadar snapped up a €30 million Series A to digitize construction and real estate. The Austrian startup - a platform for documentation …
Atom Computing, which aims to build a quantum computer based on neutral atom tech that uses lasers to manipulate individual qubits, raises a $60M Series B
Investors keep throwing money at the quantum computing market, and this time around it's Atom Computing Inc.'s turn.
Sources: ByteDance revenue grew 70% YoY to around $58B in 2021, slower than a year earlier when its revenue grew by 100%+ to $34.3B
TikTok owner ByteDance saw its total revenue grow by 70% year on year to around $58 billion in 2021, according to two people familiar with the matter …
SaaS Labs, which offers business automation tools for sales and support teams at SMBs, raises a $42M Series B, and acquires CallPage and Atolia
SaaS Labs has raised $42 million in a new financing round, less than three months after closing its previous funding, and acquired two startups …
South Korea's Greenlabs, which wants to digitize the entire value chain of agriculture space from crop production to distribution, raises a $140M Series C
Greenlabs, a South Korean agtech startup, announced this week it has closed a $140 million Series C led by BlueRun Ventures …
South Africa-based mobile games publisher Carry1st raises a $20M Series A extension led by a16z, the firm's first investment in an Africa-headquartered startup
Montreal-based Shakepay, which lets Canadians buy and sell bitcoin, raises a ~$35M Series A at a $313M valuation led by Virginia VC firm QED Investors
Josh Scott / BetaKit :
Swiss startup Terra Quantum, which offers cloud-based quantum computing as a service, raises a $60M Series A led by Lakestar
Maija Palmer / Sifted :
6sense, which offers AI-based sales prediction and marketing tools, raises $200M co-led by Blue Owl and MSD Partners at a $5.2B valuation
Katie Roof / Bloomberg :
Berlin-based EMnify, which offers a cloud-based platform for cellular connectivity in the IoT stack, raises €50M from One Peak, bringing total funding to €70M
Patricia Allen / EU-Startups :
Virtru, which offers encryption for data shared over email, SaaS apps, and more, raises a $60M Series C, bringing its total funding to $136.8M
Data security and privacy firm Virtru, which today announced raising a $60 million series C funding round, said that usage of its encryption platform …
CB Insights: global fintech funding in 2021 jumped to a record $131.5B across 4,969 deals, up from $49B raised across 3,491 deals in 2020
TechCrunch :
Handshake, a diversity-focused recruitment network aimed at college students, raises a $200M Series F at a $3.5B valuation, up from $1.5B in May 2021
Chicago-based BlockFills, which helps institutions develop digital asset trading businesses, raises a $37M Series A
Jamie Crawley / CoinDesk :
Filmhub, which lets filmmakers distribute their work to over 100 streaming channels, including Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV, raises a $6.8M seed led by a16z
POAP, or Proof Of Attendance Protocol, which issues NFTs as “mementos” to attendees of real-world events, raises a $10M seed led by Archetype and Sapphire Sport
Lucas Matney / TechCrunch : Tweets: @quinnypig and @fwiles Tweets: Corey Quinn / @quinnypig : “We're going to do NFTs to mark attendance!” claims POAP as they take two buses and a train to avoid the ...
Clari, which helps companies generate more predictable revenue through big data insights, raises a $225M Series F led by Blackstone at a $2.6B valuation
Lyra Health, a mental health service used by employees at companies like Uber and Morgan Stanley, raises a $235M Series F led by Dragoneer at a $5.85B valuation
Rebecca Torrence / FierceHealthcare :
Australian user research software startup Dovetail raises a $63M Series A led by Accel at a $700M+ valuation, bringing its total funding to $70M+
Chennai-based M2P Fintech, which provides payment APIs to legacy banks and fintech startups in India, raises a $56M Series C at a $605M valuation
Manish Singh / TechCrunch :
Investing app Acorns cancels its proposed $2.2B SPAC merger announced in May 2021, and says it will instead pivot to a private capital raise
Saudi Arabia-based Lean Technologies, which enables companies to access bank data and make payments, raises $33M led by Sequoia Capital
Farah Elbahrawy / Bloomberg :
Spekit, which helps companies train remote employees by adapting and integrating their training manuals within apps that employees use, raises a $45M Series B
Alexandra Wilson / Forbes :
Mantra Health, which provides virtual mental health care services to college and university students in the US, raises a $22M Series A led by VMG Partners
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch :
File sharing service WeTransfer is seeking to raise €125M, less than the €160M initially targeted, in an Amsterdam IPO at a valuation of up to €716M
Swetha Gopinath / Bloomberg :
Big Health, which makes cognitive behavioral therapy apps Sleepio and Daylight to help users improve sleep, raises a $75M Series C led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2
Dave Muoio / FierceHealthcare :
Shopify's new AI commerce stack
Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI.
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control
Picture this: It's Monday morning. You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data
Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.