Searching … searching: Meta is experimenting with putting Meta AI in the Instagram search bar for both chat with AI and content discovery. Read More
Turning cardboard boxes into insulation: Spring Lane Capital leads a $28 million Series B round into CleanFiber, a company working to remove corrugated cardboard out of landfills by turning it into cellulose insulation. Read More
When improv comedians pretend to be wizards … : It turns into a hit. Dropout’s Dungeons & Dragons play show, Dimension 20, is getting pretty close to selling out Madison Square Garden. Read More
How Ukraine’s cyber police fight back against Russia’s hackers: Reporter Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai sat down with Yevhenii Panchenko, the head of operational analysis in the Cyberpolice Department of the National Police of Ukraine, to discuss crypto, ransomware and documenting war crimes after Russia's invasion. Read More
Security engineer gets jail time for crypto hack: Shakeeb Ahmed, a cybersecurity engineer convicted of stealing around $12 million in crypto, was sentenced to three years in prison. Read More
Pitch Deck Teardown: Haje Jan Kamps said “Xpanceo is betting big on turning us all into cyborgs with smart contact lenses.” But did he like the company’s $40 million seed deck? Read More
It’s all about the remix: Tech veteran and app researcher Chris Messina found some code showing that Spotify is working on mixing tools that would allow users to remix songs on the streaming service. Read More
On the pods: To close out the week, Equity is discussing Automattic buying Beeper for $125 million in a rising theme of startup acquisitions, PayJoy’s massive new run rate, and the Proxima Fusion round that could help bring the next energy revolution a little bit closer to reality. We also looked at Y Combinator’s evaporating number of participating startups from Latin America, which we posit could have something to do with fintech falling out of favor with investors. Listen here
