Monday, April 22, 2024

Good morning, and welcome to TechCrunch AM! Today, we have lots of news about venture capital, important reporting on the state of the U.S.’ surveillance landscape, and how United Airlines is using AI. There’s also an interview with Hans Tung, a cool piece about North Korean animators, and a reminder that TC Early Stage kicks off this week in Boston. — Alex

TechCrunch Top 3

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1. U.S. reups surveillance law: Over the weekend, the United States Senate reauthorized Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the government to collect the communications of foreign persons. Critics say that U.S. citizens’ data is collected, too, and so the powers granted by the act should be tempered by more stringent legal requirements. The President signed the bill shortly after. Read More

2. VCs just want some space: U.K.-based Seraphim Space's second fund has reached its first fundraising milestone. The VC firm told TechCrunch this fund should be larger than its first $90 million vehicle, and that it is looking for 30 startups to invest in at the seed and Series A levels. Space is heating up as a venture capital theme these days. Read More

3. Africa’s venture scene continues to recover: TLcom Capital has now wrapped its second fund, worth some $154 million. The firm is based in Lagos and Nairobi, and invests in early-stage startups across Africa. This fundraise follows a slate of new fundraises by firms like Algebra Ventures, Al Mada, and other funds on the continent. Read More

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Why down rounds aren’t the end of the world: Notable Capital’s Hans Tung tells TechCrunch’s Mary Ann Azevedo that a down round along the path to an IPO is far from lethal. Given how many down rounds we have seen lately, that’s good news for founders.Read More

Peak XV partner to start own fund: Piyush Gupta, a long-time operating partner at Peak XV Partners, is heading out on his own to build and launch a secondary-focused fund. TechCrunch reports that secondary transactions in India have been heating up, which helps explain the move. Read More

Ecosia gets into browsers: There’s a new browser in town from Ecosia, the search engine that backs tree planting efforts with its revenues. The goal is to expand Ecosia’s reach, and the new browser is built on Chromium, the same core that’s used by Chrome and many other browsers. Read More

United Airlines is using AI: As a long-time United customer, this intrigues me. TechCrunch recently spoke with the airline’s CIO, who discussed its cloud transition and how it uses AI. Turns out, United already had an AI practice before ChatGPT arrived, but the release of the popular tool caused artificial intelligence to become a topic of boardroom conversations. Read More

Harvard’s Peter Gladstone teaches how to validate consumer demand at TechCrunch Early Stage: This is happening later this week, so you’ll get to listen to Gladstone drop gems of wisdom, along with a host of other speakers at TechCrunch Early Stage. Come hang! Read More

Around the Web

Embracer splits up: Video game giant Embracer is splitting into three companies, Bloomberg reports. The move comes in a difficult time for the video game industry, which has seen growth slow and a slew of layoffs. Read More

North Korea’s behind all the cool animation you like: Have you ever wondered who animates all the fancy shows you enjoy on streaming services and TV channels? Well, it’s not all art grads from RISD, or tiny studios from Japan. Indeed, in some cases it might actually be folks from North Korea, Wired reports. Read More

The EV price war burgeons: Price cuts at Tesla and its rivals are dinging their share prices as investors worry about margins and competition, CNBC reports. The global EV market today has a host of competing companies, which means lower prices for customers, and heart burn for these companies’ investors. Read More

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Before You Go

Image Credits: Tinder

Share your date: If you use Tinder and want to keep your friends in the loop about an upcoming date, good news! That feature now exists. Instead of having to screenshot profiles and date plans, you will now be able to send links containing that information to friends, even those who are not Tinder users. Read More