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| |  Image Credits: Co-founders Juan Pablo Ortega and Julian Nunez / Yuno |
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The TechCrunch Top 3 - The latest tech response to Russiaâs Ukraine invasion: Todayâs headlines are much the same as they have been, with major tech companies making moves to isolate the Russian government and economy. This time âround itâs Amazon, Microsoft, and Google suspending cloud sales in Russia, Google adding air raid alerts to Android devices in Ukraine, and Google Play and YouTube pausing payments in Russia.
- What NFT downturn? Today TechCrunch took a look at a number of data points that appear to indicate at least a near-term slowdown in NFT trading activity. On the other hand, two major investors are backing a $30 million fund that wants to invest in NFT art. So, a little Column A, a little Column B.
- Colombian payment startup Yuno raises $10M: Reader demand for this piece was super strong, so weâre highlighting it today. Mary Ann Azevedo reports that as the Latin American startup market matures, more folks are cycling out of unicorns to build new companies. Yuno is one such company, founded by former Rappi denizens.
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Startups and VC Much is going on as always, but letâs flip the script and start with some venture news before we delve into startups, yeah? TechCrunch wrote about Antler East Africa, which just put together a $13.5 million fund for early-stage startups. The company is a blend of venture fund and accelerator, we report. Moving on, letâs knock out the dayâs huge rounds: Up first is Lunar, a Nordic neobank. It just raised a $77 million round at a $2 billion valuation. As part of the news, Lunar also released crypto trading and a B2B payments service. And people said that neobank fundraising was dead! Also out today was news from Stilt, which raised $114 million in equity and debt for its credit API. Furthermore, Typeform raised nine figures. The company reached $70 million ARR last year. Now, the rest of the news: - Zeta raises for surgical imaging tech: Boston-based with the requisite Harvard pedigree, Zeta Surgical came out of stealth this week with $5.2 million in funding and a goal of âdelivering precise surgical imaging guidance for non-invasive surgeries performed outside the operating room,â we write.
- Curacel wants to help tech companies offer insurance: Speaking of startup niches that you might have thought were done raising capital for a bit, insurtech, like neobanks, is also not dead! Curacel offers an API that allows other firms â fintech, e-commerce, etc. â to offer insurance products.
- Sure, Mobileye is going public, but Autobrains is like bring it: Israel-based Autobrains has raised a $19 million round at a $120 million valuation to keep working in making self-driving cars work. Sure, Mobileye could be worth $50 billion. That isnât stopping smaller firms from claiming their bite on the apple.
- Donât reinvent Excel, just amend it? That appears to be the pitch that DataRails is making to finance types who live in the well-known Microsoft spreadsheeting app. Many startups are building stuff to get folks out of spreadsheets. Itâs neat to see a company not take that approach.
And to close us out, Instacart is building out features for its in-store shoppers. Our growth questions about the company remain. |
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| For many first-time founders, calculating the size of the market in which they hope to compete is one of their biggest challenges. Calculating TAM, SAM and SOM sounds like an existential exercise, but there’s no need to dread it “if you approach market sizing methodically,” says Marjorie Radlo-Zandi, a veteran investor and entrepreneur. In a comprehensive article for TechCrunch+, she breaks down the steps required to capture these key metrics that “show prospective investors how they stand to gain from investing in your company, and put yourself in the best possible position to achieve your goals.” (TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.) Read More |
|  Image Credits: A. Martin UW Photography / Getty Images |
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Big Tech Inc. - Twitter makes it easy to swap modes: One thing I love about Twitter is the fact that I can get my tweets in time-series format. Itâs the only way that I want to interact with the service. But some folks prefer to have Twitterâs overlord robot (read: algorithm) do the sorting for them. Now you can swap between the two more easily in its app.
- Hey Google, pay for my parking: Sadly, Google wonât lend you its debit card, but the companyâs mobile OS will now work with ParkMobile to let users pay for parking more easily. If this works, let it spread.
- DoorDash wants to help you return packages: The market for food delivery is not infinite. And with multiple competitors in nearly every market you can name, itâs competitive to boot. And with public-market growth expectations thrown in, you canât be shocked that DoorDash is looking for TAM boosters.
- Google to work on data portability: Major platforms donât want your data to leave their domain. After all, data is power and companies want more power, not less. But Google is working on the matter after tech has scuffled with the EU over data issues in recent years, we report.
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