JAY's

Calling all hardware startups! Apply to Hardware Battlefield @ TC Shenzhen Got hardware? Well then, listen up, because our search continues for boundary-pushing, early-stage hardware startups to join us in Shenzhen, China for an epic opportunity; launch your startup on a global stage and compete in Hardware Battlefield at TC Shenzhen on November 11-12. Apply here to compete in TC Hardware Battlefield 2019. Why? It’s your chance […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Calling all hardware startups! Apply to Hardware Battlefield @ TC Shenzhen August 1, 2019 at 02:00PM

Amazon acquires flash-based cloud storage startup E8 Storage Amazon has reportedly acquired Isreali storage tech startup E8 Storage, according to Reuters, CNBC and Globes. The acquisition will bring the team and technology from E8 in to Amazon’s existing Amazon Web Services center in Tel Aviv, per reports. E8 Storage’s particular focus was on building storage hardware that employs flash-based memory to deliver faster […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Amazon acquires flash-based cloud storage startup E8 Storage August 1, 2019 at 08:00AM

Save with group discounts and bring your team to TechCrunch’s first-ever Enterprise event Sept. 5 in SF Get ready to dive into the fiercely competitive waters of enterprise software. Join more than 1,000 attendees for TC Sessions Enterprise 2019 on September 5 to navigate this rapidly evolving category with the industry’s brightest minds, biggest names and exciting startups. Our $249 early-bird ticket price remains in play, which saves you $100. But one […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Save with group discounts and bring your team to TechCrunch’s first-ever Enterprise event Sept. 5 in SF August 1, 2019 at 06:00AM

Prodly announces $3.5M seed to automate low code cloud deployments Low code programming is supposed to make things easier on companies, right? Low code means you can count on trained administrators instead of more expensive software engineers to handle most tasks, but like any issue solved by technology, there are always unintended consequences. While running his former company, Steelbrick, which he sold to Salesforce in […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Prodly announces $3.5M seed to automate low code cloud deployments August 1, 2019 at 03:00AM

Snapchat launches ‘instant’ tool for creating vertical ads Snapchat is hoping to attract new advertisers (and make advertising easier for the ones already on the platform) with the launch of a new tool called Instant Create. Some of these potential advertisers may not be used to creating ads in the smartphone-friendly vertical format that Snapchat has popularized, so Instant Create is to designed […] Social – TechCrunch - Snapchat launches ‘instant’ tool for creating vertical ads August 1, 2019 at 01:00AM

Catalyst raises $15M from Accel to transform data-driven customer success Managing your customers has changed a lot in the past decade. Out are the steak dinners and ballgame tickets to get a sense of a contract’s chance at renewal, and in are churn analysis and a whole bunch of data science to learn whether a customer and their users like or love your product. That […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Catalyst raises $15M from Accel to transform data-driven customer success July 31, 2019 at 01:00AM

Former Cambridge Analytica director, Brittany Kaiser, dumps more evidence of Brexit’s democratic trainwreck A UK parliamentary committee has published new evidence fleshing out how membership data was passed from UKIP, a pro-Brexit political party, to Leave.EU, a Brexit supporting campaign active in the 2016 EU referendum — via the disgraced and now defunct data company, Cambridge Analytica. In evidence sessions last year, during the DCMS committee’s enquiry into […] Social – TechCrunch - Former Cambridge Analytica director, Brittany Kaiser, dumps more evidence of Brexit’s democratic trainwreck July 31, 2019 at 01:00AM

Conflura snags $9M Series A to help stop cyber attacks in real time Just yesterday, we experienced yet another major breach when Capital One announced it had been hacked and years of credit card  application information had been stolen. Another day, another hack, but the question is how can companies protect themselves in the face of an onslaught of attacks. Conflura, a Palo Alto startup wants to help […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Conflura snags $9M Series A to help stop cyber attacks in real time July 31, 2019 at 12:02AM

Monday.com raises $150M more, now at $1.9B valuation, for workplace collaboration tools Workplace collaboration platforms have become a crucial cornerstone of the modern office: workers’ lives are guided by software and what we do on our computers, and collaboration tools provide a way for us to let each other know what we’re working on, and how we’re doing it, in a format that’s (at best) easy to […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Monday.com raises $150M more, now at $1.9B valuation, for workplace collaboration tools July 30, 2019 at 08:00PM

Google teams up with VMware to bring more enterprises to its cloud Google today announced a new partnership with VMware that will make it easier for enterprises to run their VMware workloads on Google Cloud.  Specifically, Google Cloud will now support VMware Cloud Foundation, the company’s system for deploying and running hybrid clouds. The solution was developed by CloudSimple, not VMware or Google, and Google will offer […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Google teams up with VMware to bring more enterprises to its cloud July 30, 2019 at 07:00AM

A guide to Virtual Beings and how they impact our world Money from big tech companies and top VC firms is flowing into the nascent “virtual beings” space. Mixing the opportunities presented by conversational AI, generative adversarial networks, photorealistic graphics, and creative development of fictional characters, “virtual beings” envisions a near-future where characters (with personalities) that look and/or sound exactly like humans are part of our […] Social – TechCrunch - A guide to Virtual Beings and how they impact our world July 30, 2019 at 06:00AM

Facebook and YouTube’s moderation failure is an opportunity to deplatform the platforms Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have failed their task of monitoring and moderating the content that appears on their sites; what’s more, they failed to do so well before they knew it was a problem. But their incidental cultivation of fringe views is an opportunity to recast their role as the services they should be rather […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook and YouTube’s moderation failure is an opportunity to deplatform the platforms July 30, 2019 at 04:00AM

Microsoft acquires data privacy and governance service BlueTalon Microsoft today announced that it has acquired BlueTalon, a data privacy and governance service that helps enterprises set policies for how their employees can access their data. The service then enforces those policies across most popular data environments and provides tools for auditing policies and access, too. Neither Microsoft nor BlueTalon disclosed the financial details […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Microsoft acquires data privacy and governance service BlueTalon July 30, 2019 at 03:00AM

The Exit: The acquisition charting Salesforce’s future Before Tableau was the $15.7 billion key to Salesforce’s problems, it was a couple of founders arguing with a couple of venture capitalists over lunch about why its Series A valuation should be higher than $12 million pre-money. Salesforce has generally been one to signify corporate strategy shifts through their acquisitions, so you can understand […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - The Exit: The acquisition charting Salesforce’s future July 30, 2019 at 02:00AM

Adobe’s latest Customer Experience Platform updates take aim at data scientists Adobe’s Customer Experience Platform provides a place to process all of the data that will eventually drive customer experience applications in the Adobe Experience Cloud. This involves bringing in vast amounts of transactional and interactional data being created across commerce platforms. This process is complex and involves IT, applications developers and data scientists. Last Fall, […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Adobe’s latest Customer Experience Platform updates take aim at data scientists July 30, 2019 at 02:00AM

Bindu Reddy, co-founder and CEO at RealityEngines, is coming to TechCrunch Sessions: Enterprise There is surely no shortage of data in the modern enterprise, and data is the fuel for AI. Yet packaging that data in machine learning models remains a huge challenge for large companies. Without that capability, automating processes with AI underpinnings remains elusive for many companies. RealityEngines wants to change that by creating research-driven cloud […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Bindu Reddy, co-founder and CEO at RealityEngines, is coming to TechCrunch Sessions: Enterprise July 30, 2019 at 02:00AM

Yes, Slack is down Are your co-workers ignoring you? Welcome to my world! In your case, however, that is probably because Slack is currently down (as of about 11AM EST). According to its status page, some workspaces are experiencing issues with messages sending and loading. We're receiving reports about issues with messages sending and loading. Our team is on […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Yes, Slack is down July 30, 2019 at 01:00AM

Europe’s top court sharpens guidance for sites using leaky social plug-ins Europe’s top court has made a ruling that could affect scores of websites that embed the Facebook ‘Like’ button and receive visitors from the region. The ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU states such sites are jointly responsible for the initial data processing — and must either obtain informed consent from site […] Social – TechCrunch - Europe’s top court sharpens guidance for sites using leaky social plug-ins July 29, 2019 at 11:00PM

The Great Hack tells us data corrupts  This week professor David Carroll, whose dogged search for answers to how his personal data was misused plays a focal role in The Great Hack: Netflix’s documentary tackling the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal, quipped that perhaps a follow up would be more punitive for the company than the $5BN FTC fine released the same day. […] Social – TechCrunch - The Great Hack tells us data corrupts  July 28, 2019 at 03:00AM

Emergence’s Jason Green joins TC Sessions: Enterprise this September Picking winners from the herd of early-stage enterprise startups is challenging — so much competition, so many disruptive technologies, including mobile, cloud and AI. One investor who has consistently identified winners is Jason Green, founder and general partner at Emergence, and TechCrunch is very pleased to announce that he will join the investor panel at […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Emergence’s Jason Green joins TC Sessions: Enterprise this September July 27, 2019 at 05:00AM

David and Goliath: Approaching the ‘deal’ Adam Zagaris Contributor Share on Twitter Adam Zagaris is an attorney, partner and founder at Moonshot Legal, specializing in commercial contracts. Adam helps startups close deals and move up and to the right. It is a simple question with a complex answer. How does a startup get from zero to execution when negotiating contracts with […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - David and Goliath: Approaching the ‘deal’ July 27, 2019 at 04:00AM

Twitter Q2 beats on sales of $841M and EPS of $0.20, new metric of mDAUs up to 139M Two days after Facebook reported growing numbers (even amid its regulatory turmoil), its social media counterpart Twitter today announced its Q2 results. The company made $841 million in overall revenues, up 18% on a year ago; with EPS and net income respectively at $1.43 and $1.1 billion, a huge bump due to a “significant income tax benefit” […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter Q2 beats on sales of $841M and EPS of $0.20, new metric of mDAUs up to 139M July 27, 2019 at 02:00AM

Muzmatch adds $7M to swipe right on Muslim majority markets Muzmatch, a matchmaking app for Muslims, has just swiped a $7 million Series A on the back of continued momentum for its community sensitive approach to soulmate searching for people of the Islamic faith. It now has more than 1.5M users of its apps, across 210 countries, swiping, matching and chatting online as they try […] Social – TechCrunch - Muzmatch adds $7M to swipe right on Muslim majority markets July 26, 2019 at 11:00PM

CrunchMatch simplifies networking at TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 Get ready to experience world-class networking TechCrunch-style at TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019. On September 5, more than 1,000 of the top enterprise software minds and makers, movers and shakers will descend on San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. It’s a day-long conference featuring distinguished speakers, panel discussions, demos and workshops. It’s also a […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - CrunchMatch simplifies networking at TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 July 26, 2019 at 06:00AM

Nearly a third of U.S. households don’t have a broadband connection Over the past several years, many have suggested that broadband internet should be regarded as public utility, like water or gas. Staying connected has become an essential part of nearly every facet of of life, but according to a new report, high speed connections may not be as prevalent here in the States as you […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Nearly a third of U.S. households don’t have a broadband connection July 26, 2019 at 02:00AM

Airbud raises $4 million to add a voice interface to your website Amazon’s Alexa ushered in a new dawn of user interfaces, bringing voice into the mix as a viable option. Dozens of companies have sprouted because of this, not least of which being Airbud.io. Airbud allows any company to add a voice interface to its website. The company just closed a $4 million round led by […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Airbud raises $4 million to add a voice interface to your website July 26, 2019 at 12:01AM

Ethyca raises $4.2M to simplify GDPR compliance GDPR, the European data privacy regulations, have been in effect for over a year, but it’s still a challenge for companies to comply. Ethyca, a New York City startup, has created a solution from the ground up to help customers adhere to the regulations, and today it announced a $4.2 million investment led by IA […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Ethyca raises $4.2M to simplify GDPR compliance July 25, 2019 at 11:00PM

Facebook ignored staff warnings about “sketchy” Cambridge Analytica in September 2015 Facebook employees tried to alert the company about the activity of Cambridge Analytica as early as September 2015, per the SEC’s complaint against the company which was published yesterday. This chimes with a court filing that emerged earlier this year — which also suggested Facebook knew of concerns about the controversial data company earlier than […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook ignored staff warnings about “sketchy” Cambridge Analytica in September 2015 July 25, 2019 at 10:00PM

Alibaba to help Salesforce localize and sell in China Salesforce, the 20-year-old leader in customer relationship management (CRM) tools, is making a foray into Asia by working with one of the country’s largest tech firms, Alibaba. Alibaba will be the exclusive provider of Salesforce to enterprise customers in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, and Salesforce will become the exclusive enterprise CRM software […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Alibaba to help Salesforce localize and sell in China July 25, 2019 at 04:00PM

Facebook says it’s under antitrust investigation by the FTC Facebook’s investors were not fazed by the announcement of a $5 billion FTC fine after baking it into share price expectations, but Facebook’s admission that it was now under investigation by the FTC over antitrust issues was a surprise. Facebook detailed in its Q2 earnings release that it has paid the record fine and agreed […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook says it’s under antitrust investigation by the FTC July 25, 2019 at 08:00AM

Following record FTC fine, Facebook stock pops on Q2 earnings beat Hours after receiving a record $5 billion FTC fine on privacy violations, Facebook delivered a Q2 earnings beat with revenue of $16.9 billion with $1.99 adjusted EPS compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.90 EPS on revenue of $16.45 billion. Facebook reported it has 1.59 billion DAUs and 2.1 billion daily active users of […] Social – TechCrunch - Following record FTC fine, Facebook stock pops on Q2 earnings beat July 25, 2019 at 07:00AM

Snap overtakes its IPO debut price Snap may no longer be the laughing stock of the New York Stock Exchange. On the heels of renewed user growth and an earnings beat, Snap closed Wednesday with a share price at $17.60, up 18.68% for the day, giving the company its first close above its $17 IPO debut price since March of last […] Social – TechCrunch - Snap overtakes its IPO debut price July 25, 2019 at 07:00AM

Daily Crunch: Facebook will pay $5B fine The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here. 1. Facebook settles with FTC: $5 billion and new privacy guarantees Although in line with what was reported before the official announcement, […] Social – TechCrunch - Daily Crunch: Facebook will pay $5B fine July 25, 2019 at 04:00AM

Revolut tweaks business accounts with new pricing structure Fintech startup Revolut announced changes to its business accounts this week. The good news is that if you were thinking about trying Revolut for your business needs, it’s now cheaper to get started. But there are some limits. While Revolut is better known for its regular consumer accounts that let you receive, send and spend […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Revolut tweaks business accounts with new pricing structure July 25, 2019 at 03:02AM

Duo’s Wendy Nather to talk security at TC Sessions: Enterprise When it comes to enterprise security, how do you move fast without breaking things? Enter Duo’s Wendy Nather, who will join us at TC Sessions: Enterprise in San Francisco on September 5, where we will get the inside track on how to keep enterprise networks secure without slowing growth. Nather is head of advisory CISOs […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Duo’s Wendy Nather to talk security at TC Sessions: Enterprise July 25, 2019 at 02:00AM

Facebook ends friend data access for Microsoft and Sony, the last 2 of its legacy partners, under FTC deal One more consequence of the FTC’s investigation of Facebook, which culminated in a record $5 billion settlement announced today: it’s finally tightening another string in its privacy policy by cutting off access to friend data for Microsoft and Sony, the company announced today. It described having allowed them access up to now as “our mistake” […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook ends friend data access for Microsoft and Sony, the last 2 of its legacy partners, under FTC deal July 24, 2019 at 11:00PM

‘The Great Hack’: Netflix doc unpacks Cambridge Analytica, Trump, Brexit and democracy’s death There are probably many of us who’d wish quite a lot of the last couple of years could be thrown into that temple fire, but this documentary is the first I’ve seen to expertly unpick what has become the real-world dumpster fire that is social media, dark advertising and global politics which have all become […] Social – TechCrunch - ‘The Great Hack’: Netflix doc unpacks Cambridge Analytica, Trump, Brexit and democracy’s death July 24, 2019 at 12:00PM

Buy a demo table at TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 Early-stage enterprise startup founders listen up. That sound you hear is opportunity knocking. Answer the call, open the door and join us for TC Sessions: Enterprise on September 5 in San Francisco. Our day-long conference not only explores the promises and challenges of this $500 billion market, it also provides an opportunity for unparalleled exposure. How’s […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Buy a demo table at TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 July 24, 2019 at 06:00AM

Facebook fails to keep Messenger Kids’ safety promise Facebook’s messaging app for under 13s, Messenger Kids — which launched two years ago pledging a “private” chat space for kids to talk with contacts specifically approved by their parents — has run into an embarrassing safety issue. The Verge obtained messages sent by Facebook to an unknown number of parents of users of the […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook fails to keep Messenger Kids’ safety promise July 24, 2019 at 02:00AM

Google updates its speech tech for contact centers Last July, Google announced its Contact Center AI product for helping businesses get more value out of their contact centers. Contact Center AI uses a mix of Google’s machine learning-powered tools to help build virtual agents and help human agents as they do their job. Today, the company is launching several updates to this product […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Google updates its speech tech for contact centers July 24, 2019 at 01:00AM

CircleCI closes $56M Series D investment as market for continuous delivery expands CircleCI launched way back in 2011 when the notion of continuous delivery was just a twinkle in most developer’s eyes, but over the years with the rise of agile, containerization and DevOps, we’ve seen the idea of continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) really begin to mainstream with developers. Today, CircleCI was rewarded with a […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - CircleCI closes $56M Series D investment as market for continuous delivery expands July 24, 2019 at 12:01AM

Arrcus snags $30M Series B as it tries to disrupt networking biz Arrcus has a bold notion to try and take on the biggest names in networking by building a better networking management system. Today it was rewarded with a $30 million Series B investment led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Existing investors General Catalyst and Clear Ventures also participated. The company previously raised a seed and Series […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Arrcus snags $30M Series B as it tries to disrupt networking biz July 23, 2019 at 11:00PM

Analytics startup Heap raises $55M Since co-founding Heap, CEO Matin Movassate has been saying that he wants to take on the analytics incumbents. Today, he’s got more money to fund that challenge, with the announcement that Heap has raised $55 million in Series C funding. Movassate (pictured above) previously worked as a product manager at Facebook, and I interviewed him after […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Analytics startup Heap raises $55M July 23, 2019 at 10:00PM

TrustRadius, a customer-generated B2B software review platform, raises $12.5M Customer reviews play a key role in helping people decide what to buy on consumer-focused marketplaces like Amazon or app stores, and the same tendency exists in the B2B world, where nearly half a trillion dollars is spent annually on software and IT purchases. TrustRadius, one of the startups capitalising on the latter trend with […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - TrustRadius, a customer-generated B2B software review platform, raises $12.5M July 23, 2019 at 07:00PM

In spite of slowing growth, Microsoft has been flexing its cloud muscles When Microsoft reported its FY19, Q4 earnings last week, the numbers were mostly positive, but as we pointed out, Azure earnings growth has stalled. Productivity and business, which includes Office 365, has also mostly flattened out. But slowing growth is not always as bad as it may seem. In fact, it’s an inevitability that once you […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - In spite of slowing growth, Microsoft has been flexing its cloud muscles July 23, 2019 at 04:00AM

Google Cloud makes it easier to set up continuous delivery with Spinnaker Google Cloud today announced Spinnaker for Google Cloud Platform, a new solution that makes it easier to install and run the Spinnaker continuous delivery (CD) service on Google’s cloud. Spinnaker was created inside Netflix and is now jointly developed by Netflix and Google. Netflix open-sourced it back in 2015 and over the course of the […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Google Cloud makes it easier to set up continuous delivery with Spinnaker July 23, 2019 at 03:00AM

Announcing the agenda for TC Sessions: Enterprise | San Francisco, September 5 TechCrunch Sessions is back! On September 5, we’re taking on the ferociously competitive field of enterprise software, and thrilled to announce our packed agenda, overflowing with some of the biggest names and most exciting startups in the enterprise industry. And you’re in luck, because $249 early-bird tickets are still on sale — make sure you […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Announcing the agenda for TC Sessions: Enterprise | San Francisco, September 5 July 23, 2019 at 02:00AM

Serverless, Inc expands free Framework to include monitoring and security Serverless development has largely been a lonely pursuit until recently, but Serverless, Inc has been offering a free framework for intrepid programmers since 2015. At first, that involved development, deployment and testing, but today the company announced it is expanding into monitoring and security to make it an end-to-end tool — and it’s available for […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Serverless, Inc expands free Framework to include monitoring and security July 23, 2019 at 01:00AM

Slack speeds up its web and desktop client Slack is launching a major update to its web and desktop today that doesn’t introduce any new features or a new user interface. Instead, it’s almost a complete rebuild of the underlying technology that makes these two experiences work. Over the course of the last year or so, Slack worked on shifting the web and […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Slack speeds up its web and desktop client July 23, 2019 at 01:00AM

TikTok tests an Instagram-style grid and other changes Short-form video app TikTok, the fourth most downloaded app in the world as of last quarter, is working on several new seemingly Instagram-inspired features — including a Discover page, a grid-style layout similar to Instagram Explore, an Account Switcher, and more. The features were uncovered this week by reverse-engineering specialist Jane Manchun Wong, who published […] Social – TechCrunch - TikTok tests an Instagram-style grid and other changes July 20, 2019 at 05:00AM

Twitter tests a new way to label replies Twitter is testing a new way to make conversation threads easier to follow, with the launch of a new test that labels notable replies with special icons. If the original poster replies somewhere in the thread, their tweet will have a small microphone icon next to their profile picture. Other tweets may be labeled, as […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter tests a new way to label replies July 20, 2019 at 12:02AM

Twitter to attempt to address conversation gaps caused by hidden tweets Twitter’s self-service tools when it comes to blocking content you don’t want to see, as well as a growing tendency for users to delete a lot of the content they post, is making some of the conversations on the platform look like Swiss cheese. The company says it will introduce added “context” on content that’s […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter to attempt to address conversation gaps caused by hidden tweets July 20, 2019 at 12:02AM

Hacking with Swift Live 2019 raises $30,000 for charity Thank you to all our speakers, attendees, and volunteers! Swift Developer News - Hacking with Swift - Hacking with Swift Live 2019 raises $30,000 for charity July 19, 2019 at 09:00AM

Instagram will now warn you before your account gets deleted, offer in-app appeals Instagram this morning announced several changes to its moderation policy, the most significant of which is that it will now warn users if their account could become disabled before that actually takes place. This change goes to address a longstanding issue where users would launch Instagram only to find that their account had been shut […] Social – TechCrunch - Instagram will now warn you before your account gets deleted, offer in-app appeals July 19, 2019 at 05:00AM

Investor Jocelyn Goldfein to join us on AI panel at TechCrunch Sessions: Enterprise Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming a foundational technology for enterprise software development and startups have begun addressing a variety of issues around using AI to make software and processes much more efficient. To that end, we are delighted to announce that Jocelyn Goldfein, a Managing Director at Zetta Venture Partners will be joining on us […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Investor Jocelyn Goldfein to join us on AI panel at TechCrunch Sessions: Enterprise July 19, 2019 at 03:01AM

InCountry raises $15M for its cloud-based private data storage-as-a-service solution The rise of data breaches, along with an expanding raft of regulations (now numbering 80 different regional regimes, and growing) have thrust data protection — having legal and compliant ways of handling personal user information — to the top of the list of things that an organization needs to consider when building and operating their […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - InCountry raises $15M for its cloud-based private data storage-as-a-service solution July 19, 2019 at 02:00AM

Facebook accused of contradicting itself on claims about platform policy violations Prepare your best * unsurprised face *: Facebook is being accused of contradicting itself in separate testimonies made on both sides of the Atlantic. The chair of a UK parliamentary committee which spent the lion’s share of last year investigating online disinformation, going on to grill multiple Facebook execs as part of an enquiry that […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook accused of contradicting itself on claims about platform policy violations July 19, 2019 at 01:00AM

VComply raises $2.5 million seed round led by Accel to simplify risk and compliance management Risk and compliance management platform VComply announced today that it has picked up a $2.5 million seed round led by Accel Partners for its international growth plan. The funding will be used to acquire more customers in the United States, open a new office in the United Kingdom to support customers in Europe and expand […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - VComply raises $2.5 million seed round led by Accel to simplify risk and compliance management July 18, 2019 at 11:01PM

Intel announces deep, multi-year partnership with SAP Intel announced a deep partnership with SAP today around using advanced Intel technology to optimize SAP software tools. Specifically the company plans to tune its Intel Xeon Scalable processors and Intel Optane DC persistent memory for SAP’s suite of applications. The multi-year partnership includes giving SAP early access to emerging Intel technologies and building a […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Intel announces deep, multi-year partnership with SAP July 18, 2019 at 10:00PM

Southeast Asian cloud communications platform Wavecell acquired by 8×8 in deal worth $125 million Wavecell, a cloud-communications platform for companies in Southeast Asia, announced today that it has been acquired by 8×8 in a deal worth about $125 million. The acquisition will help San Jose, California-based 8×8 expand in Asia, where Wavecell already has offices in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Hong Kong. Wavecell’s cloud API platform, which […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Southeast Asian cloud communications platform Wavecell acquired by 8×8 in deal worth $125 million July 18, 2019 at 01:00PM

Instagram will now hide likes in 6 more countries Would the internet be a better place if we all paid a little less attention to fake internet points? Instagram is still trying to figure it out. Just a few months back, Instagram started testing a design tweak that would no longer show the total number of “likes” other users’ posts had received. You could […] Social – TechCrunch - Instagram will now hide likes in 6 more countries July 18, 2019 at 07:00AM

Twitter officially launches its ‘Hide Replies’ feature, initially to users in Canada Twitter today is beginning its test of a radical and controversial change to its service with the launch of a new “Hide Replies” feature. Effectively, this option gives users the ability to wrestle back control over a conversation they’ve started by hiding any replies they feel aren’t worthy contributions — for example, replies that are […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter officially launches its ‘Hide Replies’ feature, initially to users in Canada July 18, 2019 at 07:00AM

AT&T signs $2 billion cloud deal with Microsoft While AWS leads the cloud infrastructure market by wide margin, Microsoft isn’t doing too badly, ensconced firmly in second place, the only other company with double-digit share. Today, it announced a big deal with AT&T that encompasses both Azure cloud infrastructure services and Office 365. A person with knowledge of the contract pegged the combined […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - AT&T signs $2 billion cloud deal with Microsoft July 18, 2019 at 02:00AM

ClassPass introduces a corporate wellness program ClassPass has set up yet another revenue stream, signing on partners like Facebook, Glossier, Google, Morgan Stanley, Under Armour, Etsy, Southwest Airlines and Gatorade to a corporate wellness program. The program will give employees at these companies access to the ClassPass network of more than 22,000 studio partners across 2500 cities around the world, which […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - ClassPass introduces a corporate wellness program July 18, 2019 at 12:01AM

Dust Identity secures $10M Series A to identify objects with diamond dust The idea behind Dust Identity was originally born in an MIT lab where students developed a system of uniquely identifying objects using diamond dust. Since then, the startup has been working to create a commercial application for the advanced technology, and today it announced a $10 million Series A round led by Kleiner Perkins, which […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Dust Identity secures $10M Series A to identify objects with diamond dust July 18, 2019 at 12:01AM

Stonly lets you create interactive step-by-step guides to improve support French startup Stonly wants to empower users so that they can solve their issues by themselves. Instead of relying on customer support agents, Stonly wants to surface relevant content so that you can understand and solve issues. “I’m trying to take the opposite stance of chatbots," founder and CEO Alexis Fogel told me. “The issue […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Stonly lets you create interactive step-by-step guides to improve support July 17, 2019 at 09:00PM

AlphaSense, a search engine for analysis and business intel, raises $50M led by Innovation Endeavors Google and its flagship search portal opened the door to the possibilities of how to build a business empire on the back of organising and navigating the world’s information, as found on the internet. Now, a startup that’s built a search engine tailored to the needs of enterprises and their own quests for information has […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - AlphaSense, a search engine for analysis and business intel, raises $50M led by Innovation Endeavors July 17, 2019 at 08:00PM

ContractPodAi scores $55M for its ‘AI-powered’ contract management software ContractPodAi, a London-based startup that has developed what it describes as AI-powered contract lifecycle management software, is disclosing $55 million in Series B funding. The round is led by U.S.-based Insight Partners, with participation from earlier backer Eagle Investment. Founded in 2012, ContractPodAi offers an “end-to-end” solution spanning the three main aspects of contract management: […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - ContractPodAi scores $55M for its ‘AI-powered’ contract management software July 17, 2019 at 07:00PM

Social chat app Capture launches to take a shot at less viral success At first glance launching a new social app may seem as sensible a startup idea as plunging headfirst into shark-infested waters. But with even infamous curtain-ripper Facebook now making grand claims about a ‘pivot to privacy’ it’s clear something is shifting in the commercial shipping channels that contain our digital chatter. Whisper it: Feeds are […] Social – TechCrunch - Social chat app Capture launches to take a shot at less viral success July 17, 2019 at 04:00AM

Daily Crunch: Facebook and Libra go to Washington The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here. 1. Highlights from Facebook’s Libra Senate hearing David Marcus, the head of Facebook’s blockchain subsidiary Calibra, testified before the Senate Banking Committee […] Social – TechCrunch - Daily Crunch: Facebook and Libra go to Washington July 17, 2019 at 04:00AM

Qualtrics’ Julie Larson-Green will talk customer experience at TC Sessions: Enterprise We’re less than two months out from our first TC Sessions: Enterprise event, which is happening in San Francisco on September 5, and did you know our buy 1 get 1 free sale ends today too! Among the many enterprise and startup executives that’ll join us for the event is Qualtrics’ Julie Larson-Green. If that […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Qualtrics’ Julie Larson-Green will talk customer experience at TC Sessions: Enterprise July 17, 2019 at 02:00AM

Highlights from Facebook’s Libra Senate hearing Facebook will only build its own Calibra cryptocurrency wallet into Messenger and Whatsapp, and will refuse to embed competing wallets, the head of Calibra David Marcus told the Senate Banking Committee today. Calibra will be interoperable so users can send money back and forth with other wallets, and Marcus committed to data portability so users […] Social – TechCrunch - Highlights from Facebook’s Libra Senate hearing July 17, 2019 at 01:00AM

Workplace, Facebook’s service for business teams, is raising its prices for the first time since launch Three years into its life with 2 million paying users signed up, Workplace — Facebook’s platform for businesses and and other organizations to build internal communities and communications — is about to make a significant business shift of its own. Come September 2, Workplace is changing its pricing tiers, how it charges its users, and […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Workplace, Facebook’s service for business teams, is raising its prices for the first time since launch July 16, 2019 at 11:00PM

Amazon adds Hindi to the Alexa Skills Kit Users of Amazon’s voice assistant will soon be able to talk to Alexa in Hindi. Amazon announced today that it has added a Hindi voice model to its Alexa Skills Kit for developers. Alexa developers can also update their existing published skills in India for Hindi. Amazon first revealed that it would add fluent Hindi […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Amazon adds Hindi to the Alexa Skills Kit July 16, 2019 at 05:00PM

Snap turns to search giant Baidu to court Chinese advertisers Two years have passed since Snap Inc first struck a deal with Baidu that authorized China’s largest search engine to be a reseller of Snapchat ads for companies in Greater China as well as Japan and South Korea, where Baidu runs a portfolio of mobile apps. This week, the pair announced they have renewed the […] Social – TechCrunch - Snap turns to search giant Baidu to court Chinese advertisers July 16, 2019 at 05:00PM

Facebook snags former Vine GM to run product for its new experimental app division, NPE Team Is Facebook preparing to launch a serious competitor to TikTok? If so, the company just picked up some key talent to make that happen. Last week, Facebook announced plans for a new division, called the NPE Team, which will build experimental consumer-focused apps where it will try different ideas and features, then see how people […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook snags former Vine GM to run product for its new experimental app division, NPE Team July 16, 2019 at 06:00AM

UK-based women’s networking and private club, AllBright, raises $18.8 million as it expands into the US AllBright, the London-based women’s membership club backed by private real estate investment firm Cain International, has raised $18.8 million to expand into the U.S. The company’s new round was led by Cain International and was designed to take AllBright into three U.S. locations — Los Angeles, New York, and Washington. The company said that the […] Social – TechCrunch - UK-based women’s networking and private club, AllBright, raises $18.8 million as it expands into the US July 16, 2019 at 06:00AM

Twitter rolls out its redesigned desktop website with simplified navigation, more features Twitter’s website is getting a major overhaul. The company has been testing a new version of its desktop website since the beginning of the year, and today the final product is rolling out to the public. The upgraded experience simplifies navigation with a new — and fairly large — left-hand sidebar that directs you to […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter rolls out its redesigned desktop website with simplified navigation, more features July 16, 2019 at 03:01AM

‘The Operators’: Understanding your user – The art and science of UI/UX behind Facebook, Google, Mint, and Edmodo The Operators highlights the experts building the products and companies that drive the tech industry. Speaking from experience at companies like AirBnB, Brex, Docsend, Edmodo, Facebook, Google... Social – TechCrunch - ‘The Operators’: Understanding your user – The art and science of UI/UX behind Facebook, Google, Mint, and Edmodo July 16, 2019 at 03:01AM

Facebook’s testimony to congress: Libra will be regulated by Swiss The head of Facebook’s blockchain subsidiary Calibra David Marcus has released his prepared testimony before congress for tomorrow and Wednesday, explaining that the Libra Association will be regulated by the Swiss government since that’s where it’s headquartered. Meanwhile, he says the Libra Association and Facebook’s Calibra wallet intend to comply will all US tax, anti-money […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook’s testimony to congress: Libra will be regulated by Swiss July 16, 2019 at 03:01AM

48-hour, buy-one-get-one free — TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 Every startupper we’ve ever met loves a great deal, and so do we. That’s why we’re celebrating Prime day with a 48-hour flash sale on tickets to TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019, which takes place September 5 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. We’re talking a classic BOGO — buy-one-get-one — […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - 48-hour, buy-one-get-one free — TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 July 16, 2019 at 02:00AM

Facebook reportedly gets a $5 billion slap on the wrist from the FTC The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has reportedly agreed to end its latest probe into Facebook‘s privacy problems with a $5 billion payout. According to The Wall Street Journal, the 3-2, party-line vote by FTC commissioners was carried by the Republican majority and will be moved to the Justice Department’s civil division to be finalized. A $5 […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook reportedly gets a $5 billion slap on the wrist from the FTC July 13, 2019 at 07:00AM

Judge dismisses Oracle lawsuit over $10B Pentagon JEDI cloud contract Oracle has been complaining about the procurement process around the Pentagon’s $10 billion, decade-long JEDI cloud contract, even before the DoD opened requests for proposals last year. It went so far as to file a lawsuit in December, claiming a potential conflict of interest on the part of a procurement team member. Today, that case […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Judge dismisses Oracle lawsuit over $10B Pentagon JEDI cloud contract July 13, 2019 at 04:00AM

With $34B Red Hat deal closed, IBM needs to execute now In a summer surprise this week, IBM announced it had closed its $34 billion blockbuster deal to acquire Red Hat. The deal, which was announced in October, was expected to take a year to clear all of the regulatory hurdles, but U.S. and EU regulators moved surprisingly quickly. For IBM, the future starts now, and […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - With $34B Red Hat deal closed, IBM needs to execute now July 13, 2019 at 04:00AM

Daily Crunch: Twitter will let you hide replies The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here. 1. Twitter will start testing its ‘hide replies’ feature next week, in Canada Before you start complaining about censorship, keep in mind […] Social – TechCrunch - Daily Crunch: Twitter will let you hide replies July 13, 2019 at 02:01AM

Verified Expert Brand Designer: Studio Rodrigo Ritik Dholakia worked as a startup product manager before he co-founded Studio Rodrigo, a branding and product design agency based in NYC. Unlike traditional branding firms, Studio Rodrigo is proud of its product design chops, especially when it comes to helping early-stage startups build version one of their product. It’s not an easy balancing act […] Social – TechCrunch - Verified Expert Brand Designer: Studio Rodrigo July 13, 2019 at 02:01AM

Twitter will start testing its ‘hide replies’ feature next week, in Canada Twitter users are getting more control over which comments are visible in the conversations they start. The company has been testing and talking about this feature since earlier this year, but starting next week, Twitter will actually roll it out to users in Canada. As you can see in the GIF below, when you’re looking […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter will start testing its ‘hide replies’ feature next week, in Canada July 12, 2019 at 07:00AM

Twitter returns after an hour-long outage After an hour of sweet freedom, the world has been returned to the grasp of Twitter. At about 2:50 pm ET, the desktop and mobile site were down, displaying a “Something is technically wrong” error. The app was also not working. The site returned at about 3:45 pm ET, but took a few minutes to […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter returns after an hour-long outage July 12, 2019 at 06:00AM

Attend TC Sessions: Enterprise and score a free pass to Disrupt SF 2019 We can’t wait to dig into the competitive, high-stakes world of enterprise software at TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 on September 5 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. We’re channeling the excitement into creating extra ROI for you. How’s that work? Read on. It starts with the $100 you’ll save when […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Attend TC Sessions: Enterprise and score a free pass to Disrupt SF 2019 July 12, 2019 at 06:00AM

Microsoft says Teams now has 13M daily active users Teams, Microsoft’s two-year-old Slack competitor, is the company’s fastest-growing application in its history. That’s something Microsoft has said in the past, but for the first time, Microsoft today also announced actual user numbers for the service ahead of its Inspire partner conference next week. Teams now has 13 million active daily users, Microsoft said, and […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Microsoft says Teams now has 13M daily active users July 12, 2019 at 05:00AM

New Google Area 120 project Shoelace aims to connect people around shared interests A new project from Google’s in-house incubator, Area 120, aims to help people find things to do and others who share your same interests. Through a new app called Shoelace — a name designed to make you think of tying things together — users can browse through a set of hand-picked activities, or add their […] Social – TechCrunch - New Google Area 120 project Shoelace aims to connect people around shared interests July 12, 2019 at 04:00AM

Facebook tries to make ad targeting explanations more useful Facebook has been adding new tools to provide more transparency about why users are seeing certain ads and content (and what they can do about it), but in a blog post today, Product Manager Sreethu Thulasi wrote, “We heard feedback from people that they can still be hard to understand and difficult to navigate.” To […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook tries to make ad targeting explanations more useful July 12, 2019 at 02:00AM

SEC approves 1st consumer RegA+ token Props for cross-app rewards After cracking down on ICOs, the SEC just okayed the first two RegA+ tokens that offer an alternative way for anyone to gain a financial stake in a company, even unaccredited investors. Blockstack got approved for a $28 million digital token sale to raise money, while influencer live streaming app YouNow’s spin-off Props received a formal […] Social – TechCrunch - SEC approves 1st consumer RegA+ token Props for cross-app rewards July 12, 2019 at 02:00AM

Andrew Ng to talk about how AI will transform business at TC Sessions: Enterprise When it comes to applying AI to the world around us, Andrew Ng has few if any peers. We are delighted to announce that the renowned founder, investor, AI expert and Stanford professor will join us on stage at the TechCrunch Sessions: Enterprise show on Sept. 5 at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco.  […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Andrew Ng to talk about how AI will transform business at TC Sessions: Enterprise July 12, 2019 at 02:00AM

Swit, a collaboration suite that offers “freedom from integrations,” raises $6 million in seed funding A marketplace dominated by Slack and Microsoft Teams, along with a host of other smaller workplace communication apps, might seem to leave little room for a new entrant, but Swit wants to prove that wrong. The app combines messaging with a roster of productivity tools, like task management, calendars and Gantt charts, to give teams […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Swit, a collaboration suite that offers “freedom from integrations,” raises $6 million in seed funding July 11, 2019 at 11:00PM

OneTrust raises $200M at a $1.3B valuation to help organizations navigate online privacy rules GDPR, and the newer California Consumer Privacy Act, have given a legal bite to ongoing developments in online privacy and data protection: it’s always good practice for companies with an online presence to take measures to safeguard people’s data, but now failing to do so can land them in some serious hot water. Now — […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - OneTrust raises $200M at a $1.3B valuation to help organizations navigate online privacy rules July 11, 2019 at 10:00PM

Signavio raises $177M at a $400M valuation for its business process automation solutions Robotic Process Automation has been the name of the game in enterprise software lately — with organizations using advances in machine learning algorithms and other kinds of AI, alongside big-data analytics to speed up everything from performing mundane tasks to more complex business decisions. To underscore the opportunity and growth in the market, today a […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Signavio raises $177M at a $400M valuation for its business process automation solutions July 11, 2019 at 09:00PM

SAP’s CEO Bill McDermott will join us at TC Sessions: Enterprise You can’t talk about enterprise software without talking about SAP, the German software giant that now has a market cap of more than $172 billion, making it Europe’s most valuable tech company. To talk about his company and leadership in a rapidly changing environment for enterprise software, SAP CEO Bill McDermott will join us for […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - SAP’s CEO Bill McDermott will join us at TC Sessions: Enterprise July 11, 2019 at 02:00AM

Snapchat announces new shows from Serena Williams, Arnold Schwarzenegger and others Snapchat just announced that it’s making shows with big names like Serena Williams, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kevin Hart, as well as online stars like Emma Chamberlain, Loren Gray, Rickey Thompson, Baby Ariel and FaZe Banks. Snapchat launched its original content efforts two years ago, and today it’s unveiling a new program called Creator Shows. As […] Social – TechCrunch - Snapchat announces new shows from Serena Williams, Arnold Schwarzenegger and others July 11, 2019 at 01:00AM

Anvyl, looking to help D2C brands manage their supply chain, raises $9.3M Growing D2C brands face an interesting challenge. While they’ve eliminated much of the hassle of a physical storefront, they must still deal with all the complications involved in managing inventory and manufacturing and shipping a physical product to suppliers. Anvyl, with a fresh $9.3 million in Series A funding, is looking to jump in and […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Anvyl, looking to help D2C brands manage their supply chain, raises $9.3M July 10, 2019 at 10:00PM

Visa funds $40M for no-password crypto vault Anchorage Visa and Andreessen Horowitz are betting even bigger on cryptocurrency, funding a big round for fellow Facebook Libra Association member Anchorage’s omnimetric blockchain security system. Instead of using passwords that can be stolen, Anchorage requires cryptocurrency withdrawals to be approved by a client’s other employees. Then the company uses both human and AI review of […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Visa funds $40M for no-password crypto vault Anchorage July 10, 2019 at 10:00PM

Twitter updates hate speech rules to include dehumanizing speech around religion Against a backdrop of rising violence against religious minorities around the world, Twitter today said that it would update its hateful conduct rules to include dehumanizing speech against religious groups. “After months of conversations and feedback from the public, external experts and our own teams, we’re expanding our rules against hateful conduct to include language that dehumanizes others […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter updates hate speech rules to include dehumanizing speech around religion July 10, 2019 at 07:00AM