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Hello and welcome to Daily Crunch for Monday, February 14, 2022! Oh, what we’ve got for you right this moment. If you needed mega-rounds, Apple’s newest hijinks, and even some political-hacker drama, TechChange has your again!
Before we dive in, tickets for our Sessions: Mobility occasion are actually out, and we simply introduced that Mary D’Onofrio from Bessemer is coming to Early Stage to talk ARR. I believe I’m moderating that one? See you there! – Alex
The TechChange Top 3
Hackers leak Ottawa protest donor data: The standoff between North American protesters arguing towards vaccine mandates in Canada took a brand new flip “after fundraising site GiveSendGo was targeted by hackers overnight,” resulting in the obvious disclosure of donor information. This specific breach just isn’t the one that platform GiveSendGo is coping with, TechChange stories.
Texas AG sues Meta over facial recognition tech: Texas’s legal professional basic (himself beneath FBI investigation) is suing Facebook’s mother or father firm, alleging that “the company’s use of facial recognition technology, which it has now discontinued, violated the state’s privacy protections regarding biometric data,” TechChange stories. The swimsuit, per the WSJ, is for lots of of billions of {dollars}.
Apple fined €5M by Netherlands: Speaking of government-versus-technology motion, the Netherlands have put yet one more fantastic on Apple’s tab after the nation’s authorities stated that Apple was making use of “unreasonable” to relationship apps in its App Store. Apple had beforehand been instructed to permit relationship apps to make use of non-Apple funds tech of their cellular functions. (There’s no drug extra addictive than a historical past of profitable rent-seeking!)
Startups/VC
As the share costs of food-delivery firms fade, what’s forward for instant-delivery startups? That’s the query I dug into this morning, sifting via a number of information from European supply firms which have taken blows within the public markets in latest weeks. On the opposite aspect of the coin are a number of big-dollar offers for upstart firms that need to ship items much more shortly than takeout companies. How the maths will shake out goes to be attention-grabbing.
Jio Platforms places $200M into Google-backed Glance: More proof of the rising significance of the Indian tech scene might be discovered within the information that an organization that shows media and different content material to Android lockscreens has simply raised 9 figures from a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Recall that Google invested $4.5 billion into Jio again in 2020, when quite a lot of firms from different nations needed a chunk of the provider’s upside.
Casual video games are massive enterprise: Tripledot simply raised $116 million at a $1.4 billion valuation on the power of its cellular gaming enterprise, which features a solitaire title and one thing involving wooden and sudoku. I used to be behind on this one, not realizing that the London-based firm had additionally raised a $78 million Series A final 12 months.
Remedial Health desires to digitize Nigerian pharmacies: Backed by Y Combinator, Remedial Health desires to “digitize pharmacies and stem the supply of fake and substandard pharmaceutical products” in Nigeria to begin, with the remainder of the African continent to comply with. The firm simply raised $1 million for its efforts.
Digital asset administration is scorching: Keeping digital property protected is “an admittedly unsexy fragment of the booming industry,” TechChange stories, noting a wave of funding rounds within the area within the final six quarters. The bigger cybersecurity market, after all, has been on hearth in recent times.
Startup ‘Schoolytics’ does what it says on the tin: OK what if, as a substitute of simply telling your mother and father that you just had been doing nicely in class, they may examine a digital dashboard of your efficiency? And then these dashboards had been aggregated on the mother or father, trainer and college ranges? That’s Schoolytics. And it’s going to be a nightmare for teenagers hoping to maintain their college life personal. Helicopter mother and father rejoice!
Proxi desires to make maps cool: For people too younger to recall the actual hell of unfolding a map in a automobile whereas your mother and father shouted at you/each other/your siblings about the place to show, navigation right this moment has grow to be a easy operation. But it’s additionally impersonal. Proxi desires to shake that up with private mapping.
An answer for plastic waste? Novoloop desires to show used polyethylenes into plastics that may compete with “plastics made directly from petrochemicals,” TechChange stories. If the startup – which simply raised $11 million – can pull this off, it may actually shake up how we recycle.
Why are cybersecurity asset administration startups so scorching proper now?
Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechChange
The digital transformation sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic has created tangible advantages for the cybersecurity business: In 2021, buyers poured $29.5 billion into cyber startups, a YoY improve of 138%.
“M&A activity skyrocketed by more than 294% to $77.5 billion,” stories Carly Page. “And these targeted on securing a company’s internet-facing property have acquired extra consideration than most.
Big Tech Inc.
India bans extra Chinese apps: The rift between the Chinese and Indian know-how markets turned extra obvious right this moment, with round 50 extra apps from China getting yanked from India’s app shops. The Indian authorities was behind the transfer, which comes after earlier bans. The two nations have endured rising tensions in recent times, together with disputes over border territories.
What’s forward for foldable smartphones? The reply is Samsung, and its enthusiasm for the mannequin, it seems. Given my customary degree of sci-fi consumption, I presume that in time all screens will bend. My query is merely how shortly that future arrives.
Do you need to see the Super Bowl advertisements? Here they’re.
Snapchat to introduce creator income share: After reaching profitability, Snapchat goes to begin sharing the pie. A brand new product that places advertisements in customers’ tales will cut up the revenue. For Snapchat diehards, this can be excellent news, offered they’re on the creator and never the patron aspect of the consumption coin.
Introducing TechChange Experts: Recruiters
Image Credits: SEAN GLADWELL / Getty Images
TechChange is recruiting recruiters for TechChange Experts, an ongoing challenge the place we ask prime professionals about issues and challenges which are widespread in early-stage startups. If that’s you or somebody you recognize, you may tell us right here.