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AWS hits $10B for the quarter putting it on a $40B run rate AWS, the cloud arm of Amazon would be a pretty successful business on its own. Today, the company announced it has passed $10 billion for the quarter, putting the cloud business on an impressive run rate of more than $40 billion. It was a bright spot for the company in an earnings report that saw […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - AWS hits $10B for the quarter putting it on a $40B run rate May 1, 2020 at 07:00AM

New Red Hat CEO Paul Cormier faces a slew of challenges in the midst of pandemic When former Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst moved on to become president at parent company IBM earlier this month, the logical person to take his place was long-time executive Paul Cormier. As he takes over in the most turbulent of times, he still sees a company that is in the right place to help customers […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - New Red Hat CEO Paul Cormier faces a slew of challenges in the midst of pandemic May 1, 2020 at 06:00AM

How this startup built and exited to Twitter in 1,219 days By the summer of 2016, Marie Outtier had spent eight years as a consultant advising media agencies and martech companies on marketing growth strategy. Pierre-Jean “PJ” Camillieri started as a music software engineer before joining one of Apple’s consumer electronics divisions. Inspired by Siri, he left to start Timista, a smart lifestyle assistant. When the […] Social – TechCrunch - How this startup built and exited to Twitter in 1,219 days May 1, 2020 at 05:00AM

Figma raises $50 million Series D led by Andreessen Horowitz Figma, the design platform that lets folks work collaboratively and in the cloud, has today announced the close of a $50 million Series D financing. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with partner Peter Levine and cofounding partner Marc Andreessen managing the deal for the firm. New angel investors, including Henry Ellenbogen from Durable […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Figma raises $50 million Series D led by Andreessen Horowitz May 1, 2020 at 03:00AM

Material Bank, a logistics platform for sourcing architectural and design samples, raises $28M Material Bank, a logistics platform for the architectural and design industry, has announced the close of a $28 million Series B financing today, led by Bain Capital Ventures. Bain’s Merritt Hummer led the round on behalf of the firm and will join the board of directors at Material Bank, along with Jeff Sine, cofounder and […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Material Bank, a logistics platform for sourcing architectural and design samples, raises $28M May 1, 2020 at 12:01AM

Facebook now allows users in the U.S. & Canada to export photos and videos to Google Photos Facebook is today rolling out a tool that will allow users in the U.S. and Canada to export their Facebook photos and videos to Google Photos. This data portability tool was first introduced in Ireland in December, and has since been made available to other international markets. To use the feature, Facebook users will need […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook now allows users in the U.S. & Canada to export photos and videos to Google Photos May 1, 2020 at 12:01AM

Microsoft makes it easier to get started with Windows Virtual Desktops Microsoft today announced a slew of updates to various parts of its Microsoft 365 ecosystem. A lot of these aren’t all that exciting (though that obviously depends on your level of enthusiasm for products like Microsoft Endpoint Manager), but the overall thrust behind this update is to make life easier for the IT admins that […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Microsoft makes it easier to get started with Windows Virtual Desktops April 30, 2020 at 11:00PM

Okta COVID-19 app usage report finds it’s not just collaboration seeing a huge uptick Okta released a special COVID-19 edition of its app usage report today, and you don’t need a Ph. D. in statistics to guess what they found. Indeed, Zoom surged 110% on the Okta network, leading the way in usage growth just as you would expect, but another whole class of tools besides collaboration also saw […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Okta COVID-19 app usage report finds it’s not just collaboration seeing a huge uptick April 30, 2020 at 11:00PM

Twitter Q1: sales up 3% to $808M as it swigs to a loss on COVID-19, mDAUS hit record 166M Despite traffic for many online properties being at an all-time high, advertising has fallen off a cliff because of the downturn in consumer activity outside the home and the wider economic pressures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. And today, Twitter reported quarterly earnings that bore this trend out. The ad-based social networking and media company said that […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter Q1: sales up 3% to $808M as it swigs to a loss on COVID-19, mDAUS hit record 166M April 30, 2020 at 11:00PM

Instagram ‘pods’ game the algorithm by coordinating likes and comments on millions of posts Researchers at NYU have identified hundreds of groups of Instagram users, some with thousands of members, that systematically exchange likes and comments in order to game the service’s algorithms and boost visibility. In the process, they also trained machine learning agents to identify whether a post has been juiced in this way. “Pods,” as they’ve […] Social – TechCrunch - Instagram ‘pods’ game the algorithm by coordinating likes and comments on millions of posts April 30, 2020 at 08:00AM

The lockdown is driving people to Facebook The quarantine lockdown is driving a record number of users to Facebook’s products. On a conference call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg disclosed a number of new metrics highlighting a significant bump in Facebook usage during the broader quarantine lockdown. In the past month, more than 3 billion internet users logged onto a Facebook service, including its […] Social – TechCrunch - The lockdown is driving people to Facebook April 30, 2020 at 08:00AM

TikTok tops 2 billion downloads TikTok, the widely popular video sharing app developed by one of the world’s most valued startups (ByteDance), continues to grow rapidly despite suspicion from the U.S. as more people look for ways to keep themselves entertained amid the coronavirus pandemic. The global app and its Chinese version, called Douyin, have amassed over 2 billion downloads […] Social – TechCrunch - TikTok tops 2 billion downloads April 30, 2020 at 07:00AM

Facebook stock spikes despite ‘significant reduction’ in demand for ads The coronavirus pandemic is significantly slowing the growth of Facebook’s ads business, but investors seem pleased with the company’s performance in Q1 after Facebook released its earnings report Wednesday. The company beat Wall Street expectations on revenues, sharing that they had made $17.74 billion while falling short on earnings per share at $1.71. The company […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook stock spikes despite ‘significant reduction’ in demand for ads April 30, 2020 at 07:00AM

The Complete Guide to NavigationView in SwiftUI Programmatic navigation, customization, and more Swift Developer News - Hacking with Swift - The Complete Guide to NavigationView in SwiftUI April 30, 2020 at 03:00AM

Twitter launches a COVID-19 data set of tweets for approved developers and researchers Twitter is making it possible for developers and researchers to study the public conversation around COVID-19 in real time with an update to its API platform. The company is introducing a new COVID-19 stream endpoint to those participating in Twitter Developer Labs — a program that offers access to new API endpoints and other features […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter launches a COVID-19 data set of tweets for approved developers and researchers April 30, 2020 at 03:00AM

Atlassian cofounder and co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes is coming to Disrupt SF 2020 Atlassian is about as ubiquitous to software engineers as Google is to the rest of us. The Sydney-based company, which launched in 2002, develops tools and services for enterprise collaboration and marched efficiently to a public offering in 2015. So it goes without saying that we’re thrilled to have Atlassian cofounder and co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Atlassian cofounder and co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes is coming to Disrupt SF 2020 April 30, 2020 at 01:00AM

Twitter says Elon Musk’s tweets advocating against expert COVID-19 guidance don’t violate its rules Twitter has said that tweets posted early Tuesday morning by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk that irresponsibly call for restrictions put in place to defend against the spread of COVID-19 don’t violate its guidelines around inaccurate or disputed information about the coronavirus that could cause harm. Musk tweeted a series of things on Tuesday, […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter says Elon Musk’s tweets advocating against expert COVID-19 guidance don’t violate its rules April 30, 2020 at 12:02AM

Puppet names former Cloud Foundry Foundation executive director Abbey Kearns as CTO Puppet, the Portland-based infrastructure automation company, today announced that it has named former Cloud Foundry Foundation executive director Abby Kearns as its new CTO. She’s replacing Deepak Giridharagopal, who became CTO in 2016. Kearns stepped down from her role at the Cloud Foundry Foundation earlier this month after holding that position since 2016. At the […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Puppet names former Cloud Foundry Foundation executive director Abbey Kearns as CTO April 29, 2020 at 11:00PM

Video app Marco Polo adds a subscription option amid coronavirus-led boost in usage The coronavirus pandemic has sent record numbers of new users to video chat apps. Now, video messaging app Marco Polo aims to capitalize on the increases it’s also seeing to launch its new subscription business, Marco Polo Plus. The service delivers a handful of new features — including support for HD video, voice-only messaging options, […] Social – TechCrunch - Video app Marco Polo adds a subscription option amid coronavirus-led boost in usage April 29, 2020 at 11:00PM

Google is making Meet free for everyone Google today announced that it is making Meet, its video meeting tool for businesses that directly competes with the likes of Zoom, available for free to everyone. Until now, you could participate in a Meet call without being a paying user, but you needed a paid G Suite account to start calls. You won’t be […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Google is making Meet free for everyone April 29, 2020 at 09:00PM

Rapid7 is acquiring DivvyCloud for $145M to beef up cloud security Rapid7 announced today after the closing bell that it will be acquiring DivvyCloud, a cloud security and governance startup for $145 million in cash and stock. With Divvy, the company moves more deeply into the cloud, something that Lee Weiner, chief innovation officer says the company has been working towards, even before the pandemic pushed […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Rapid7 is acquiring DivvyCloud for $145M to beef up cloud security April 29, 2020 at 06:00AM

Daily Crunch: Facebook organizes a virtual graduation ceremony Graduation goes virtual, more details emerge about the U.K.’s contact tracing app and Shopify launches a mobile commerce app. Here’s your Daily Crunch for April 28, 2020. 1. Facebook will stream a virtual graduation ceremony featuring Oprah and Miley Cyrus Here’s some consolation for the Class of 2020: a virtual graduation ceremony, which kicks off […] Social – TechCrunch - Daily Crunch: Facebook organizes a virtual graduation ceremony April 29, 2020 at 02:00AM

Spark fast follows with a $25M Series B round into customer success platform Catalyst The world has been turned upside down the past few weeks, but one lesson of business remains as important as ever: treating your customers well is the best avenue to future business strength, particularly at a moment of extreme stress. As businesses come to terms with the economic crisis underway, executives are moving resources from […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Spark fast follows with a $25M Series B round into customer success platform Catalyst April 29, 2020 at 01:00AM

In surprise choice, Zoom hitches wagon to Oracle for growing infrastructure needs With the company growing in leaps and bounds, Zoom went shopping for a cloud infrastructure vendor to help it with its growing scale problem. In a surprising choice, the company went with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Zoom has become the go-to video conferencing service as much of the world has shut down due to the pandemic, […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - In surprise choice, Zoom hitches wagon to Oracle for growing infrastructure needs April 29, 2020 at 01:00AM

Celonis pushes beyond process mining into automated workflow tooling Celonis has made its name as a process discovery company, helping companies understand the way work flows through its systems to expose inefficiencies, but up until now the company has left it to others to solve those problems. Today it announced the first products that help companies improve those workflows automatically. Alexander Rinke, founder and […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Celonis pushes beyond process mining into automated workflow tooling April 29, 2020 at 12:02AM

Tecton.ai emerges from stealth with $20M Series A to build machine learning platform Three former Uber engineers, who helped build the company’s Michelangelo machine learning platform, left the company last year to form Tecton.ai and build an operational machine learning platform for everyone else. Today the company announced a $20 million Series A from a couple of high-profile investors. Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital co-led the round with […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Tecton.ai emerges from stealth with $20M Series A to build machine learning platform April 29, 2020 at 12:02AM

5 top gaming investors explain how the pandemic is reshaping MMOs and social games Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions into isolation, video games are seeing a surge in usage as people seek entertainment and social interaction. When we surveyed gaming-focused VCs in October, Andreessen Horowitz partner Jonathan Lai predicted that “next-generation games will be bigger than anything we’ve seen yet,” eventually reaching “Facebook scale.” This month, […] Social – TechCrunch - 5 top gaming investors explain how the pandemic is reshaping MMOs and social games April 28, 2020 at 11:00PM

Checkly raises $2.25M seed round for its monitoring and testing platform Checkly, a Berlin-based startup that is developing a monitoring and testing platform for DevOps teams, today announced that it has raised a $2.25 million seed round led by Accel. A number of angel investors, including Instana CEO Mirko Novakovic, Zeit CEO Guillermo Rauch and former Twilio CTO Ott Kaukver, also participated in this round. The […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Checkly raises $2.25M seed round for its monitoring and testing platform April 28, 2020 at 10:00PM

SkyCell raises $62M for smart containers and analytics to transport pharmaceuticals While human travel has become severely restricted in recent months, the movement of goods has remained a constant priority — and in some cases, has become even more urgent. Today, a startup out of Switzerland that builds hardware and operates a logistics network designed to transport one item in particular — pharmaceuticals — is announcing […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - SkyCell raises $62M for smart containers and analytics to transport pharmaceuticals April 28, 2020 at 09:00PM

Josh Constine leaves TechCrunch for VC fund SignalFire How do you leave the place that made you? You figure out what it made you for. TechCrunch made me a part of the startup ecosystem I love. Now it’s time to put that love into action to help a new generation of entrepreneurs build their dreams and tell their stories. So it’s “TC to […] Social – TechCrunch - Josh Constine leaves TechCrunch for VC fund SignalFire April 28, 2020 at 04:00AM

Factorial raises $16M to take on the HR world with a platform for SMBs A startup that’s hoping to be a contender in the very large and fragmented market of human resources software has captured the eye of a big investor out of the US and become its first investment in Spain. Barcelona-based Factorial, which is building an all-in-one HR automation platform aimed at small and medium businesses that manages […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Factorial raises $16M to take on the HR world with a platform for SMBs April 28, 2020 at 01:00AM

Seed investors take long view on promising enterprise startups If a seed-stage investor believes in the founders and their vision, and the company can ride out today’s economic upset, there’s still money in the till — at least for now. Enterprise – TechCrunch - Seed investors take long view on promising enterprise startups April 28, 2020 at 01:00AM

TikTok launches Donation Stickers, allowing creators to fundraise for coronavirus relief efforts TikTok is making it easier for creators and their fans to donate to favorite charities amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company today announced the launch of a new, interactive feature, Donation Stickers, that creators can use on their videos and live streams in order to raise funds for favorite charities directly in the TikTok app. […] Social – TechCrunch - TikTok launches Donation Stickers, allowing creators to fundraise for coronavirus relief efforts April 28, 2020 at 01:00AM

WhatsApp’s new limit cuts virality of ‘highly forwarded’ messages by 70% WhatsApp’s bid on cutting virality of messages circulating on its platform by introducing an additional limit earlier this month has already started to pay off. The Facebook -owned service said on Monday that spread of “highly forwarded” messages sent on WhatsApp had dropped by 70% globally in weeks after introducing a new restriction earlier this […] Social – TechCrunch - WhatsApp’s new limit cuts virality of ‘highly forwarded’ messages by 70% April 27, 2020 at 05:00PM

Facebook to launch ‘virtual dating’ over Messenger for Facebook Dating users Facebook will soon allow users to go on “virtual dates,” the company announced today. The social network is planning to introduce a new video calling feature that will allow users of its Facebook Dating service to connect and video call over Messenger, as an alternative to going on a real-world date. This sort of feature […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook to launch ‘virtual dating’ over Messenger for Facebook Dating users April 25, 2020 at 04:00AM

Facebook launches drop-in video chat Rooms to rival Houseparty Facebook is co-opting some of the top video chat innovations like Zoom’s gallery view for large groups and Houseparty’s spontaneous hangouts for a new feature called Rooms. It could usher in a new era of unplanned togetherness via video. Launching today on mobile and desktop in English speaking countries, you can start a video chat […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook launches drop-in video chat Rooms to rival Houseparty April 25, 2020 at 04:00AM

Coronavirus could push consumers away from influencers and toward streaming TV While still being leveraged, social media influencers are facing reduced marketing budgets as brands transition to advanced TV advertising options. Social – TechCrunch - Coronavirus could push consumers away from influencers and toward streaming TV April 25, 2020 at 03:00AM

Telegram hits 400 million monthly active users Instant messaging service Telegram has amassed 400 million monthly active users, it said today, up from 300 million active users the seven-year-old service disclosed to the SEC last October. The service — founded by Pavel Durov, who also created Russian social networking site VK — said it adds about 1.5 million users each day and […] Social – TechCrunch - Telegram hits 400 million monthly active users April 24, 2020 at 09:00PM

Facebook pulls ‘pseudoscience’ from its list of targeted ad categories Even as Mark Zuckerberg touted the “hundreds of thousands of pieces of misinformation related to COVID-19” that the site had pulled in recent months, Facebook continued to offer targeted ads classified as “pseudoscience.” It was an odd choice from a social network so publicly declaring its own campaigns to remove junk science amid a global […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook pulls ‘pseudoscience’ from its list of targeted ad categories April 24, 2020 at 04:00AM

Stripe adds card issuing, localized card networks and expanded approvals tool At a time when more transactions than ever are happening online, payments behemoth Stripe is announcing three new features to continue expanding its reach. The company today announced that it will now offer card issuing services directly to businesses to let them in turn make credit cards for customers tailored to specific purposes. Alongside that, it’s going […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Stripe adds card issuing, localized card networks and expanded approvals tool April 24, 2020 at 02:00AM

Miro lands $50M Series B for digital whiteboard as demand surges Miro is a company in the right place at the right time. The makers of a digital whiteboard are seeing usage surge right now as businesses move from the workplace and physical whiteboards. Today, the company announced a hefty $50 million Series B. Iconiq Capital led the round with help from Accel and a slew […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Miro lands $50M Series B for digital whiteboard as demand surges April 24, 2020 at 12:02AM

AWS launches Amazon AppFlow, its new SaaS integration service AWS today launched Amazon AppFlow, a new integration service that makes it easier for developers to transfer data between AWS and SaaS applications like Google Analytics, Marketo, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Slack, Snowflake and Zendesk. Like similar services, including Microsoft Azure’s Power Automate, for example, developers can trigger these flows based on specific events, at pre-set times […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - AWS launches Amazon AppFlow, its new SaaS integration service April 23, 2020 at 09:00AM

Twitter will remove dubious 5G tweets ‘that could potentially cause harm’ Ever since it first started rolling out, 5G skeptics have attempted to link the next-gen cellular technology to all manner of health issues. Most recently, it’s become an easy scapegoat for the global COVID-19 pandemic, given the rapid rise of both. Conspiracy theories have gained such a foothold that vigilantes have taken matters into their […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter will remove dubious 5G tweets ‘that could potentially cause harm’ April 23, 2020 at 06:00AM

Facebook’s $5.7 billion bet on Indian giant Jio spells trouble for Amazon and Flipkart Facebook’s major bet on Jio Platforms could create a headache for mobile payments services that have amassed tens of millions of users while struggling to find a business model in the world’s second-largest internet market. The $5.7 billion investment, Facebook’s second-largest to date, could also further its dominance in India — its biggest market by […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook’s $5.7 billion bet on Indian giant Jio spells trouble for Amazon and Flipkart April 23, 2020 at 05:00AM

Facebook and Instagram will now show location of posts from high-reach accounts targeting US audiences Facebook today is introducing another feature aimed at making it easier to see who’s behind the posts published across Facebook and Instagram. The company says it will now display the location of the Facebook Page or Instagram account with a large audience on every post it shares, so end users have a better understanding of […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook and Instagram will now show location of posts from high-reach accounts targeting US audiences April 23, 2020 at 04:00AM

Google Cloud’s fully-managed Anthos is now generally available for AWS A year ago, back in the days of in-person conferences, Google officially announced the launch of its Anthos multi-cloud application modernization platform at its Cloud Next conference. The promise of Anthos was always that it would allow enterprises to write their applications once, package them into containers and then manage their multi-cloud deployments across GCP, […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Google Cloud’s fully-managed Anthos is now generally available for AWS April 23, 2020 at 02:00AM

Human Capital is an engineering talent agency and a VC fund all in one Michael Ovitz didn’t invent the idea of a talent agency, but one might argue that he perfected it. He founded the CAA in 1975, and grew it into the world’s leading talent agency, serving as chairman for 20 years. Now, Ovitz is investing in a brand new type of talent agency called Human Capital. Human […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Human Capital is an engineering talent agency and a VC fund all in one April 23, 2020 at 02:00AM

Google Meet launches improved Zoom-like tiled layout, low-light mode and more Google Meet, like all video chat products, is seeing rapid growth in user numbers right now, so it’s no surprise that Google is trying to capitalize on this and is quickly iterating on its product. Today, it is officially launching a set of new features that include a more Zoom-like tiled layout, a low-light mode […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Google Meet launches improved Zoom-like tiled layout, low-light mode and more April 23, 2020 at 02:00AM

Granulate announces $12M Series A to optimize infrastructure performance As companies increasingly look to find ways to cut costs, Granulate, an early-stage Israeli startup, has come up with a clever way to optimize infrastructure usage. Today it was rewarded with a tidy $12 million Series A investment. Insight Partners led the round with participation from TLV Partners and Hetz Ventures. Lonne Jaffe, managing director […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Granulate announces $12M Series A to optimize infrastructure performance April 23, 2020 at 02:00AM

Medallia acquires voice-to-text specialist Voci Technologies for $59M M&A has largely slowed down in the current market, but there remain pockets of activity when the timing and price are right. Today, Medallia — a customer experience platform that scans online reviews, social media, and other sources to provide better insights into what a company is doing right and wrong and what needs to […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Medallia acquires voice-to-text specialist Voci Technologies for $59M April 22, 2020 at 11:01PM

Comet.ml nabs $4.5M for more efficient machine learning model management As we get further along in the new way of working, the new normal if you will, finding more efficient ways to do just about everything is becoming paramount for companies looking at buying new software services. To that end, Comet.ml announced a $4.5 million investment today as it tries to build a more efficient […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Comet.ml nabs $4.5M for more efficient machine learning model management April 22, 2020 at 11:01PM

Fishtown Analytics raises $12.9M Series A for its open-source analytics engineering tool Philadelphia-based Fishtown Analytics, the company behind the popular open-source data engineering tool dbt, today announced that it has raised a $12.9 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with the firm’s general partner Martin Casada joining the company’s board. “I wrote this blog post in early 2016, essentially saying that analysts needed to work […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Fishtown Analytics raises $12.9M Series A for its open-source analytics engineering tool April 22, 2020 at 10:00PM

Facebook agrees to restrict anti-government content in Vietnam after months of throttling Facebook has agreed to block access to certain anti-government content to users in Vietnam, following months of having its services throttled there, reportedly by state-owned telecoms. Reuters, citing sources within the company, reported that Vietnam requested earlier in the year that Facebook restrict a variety of content it deemed illegal, such as posts critical of […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook agrees to restrict anti-government content in Vietnam after months of throttling April 22, 2020 at 01:00PM

Facebook invests $5.7B in India’s Reliance Jio Facebook has enjoyed unparalleled reach in India for more than a decade. But as China’s fast-growing ByteDance emerges as a formidable competitor in what has become the world’s second largest internet market, the American social media giant has found the horse it wants to bet on in the new decade. Facebook announced today it has […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook invests $5.7B in India’s Reliance Jio April 22, 2020 at 11:00AM

Will China’s coronavirus-related trends shape the future for American VCs? There may be dark horses waiting to break out when this pandemic is over. Paraphrasing "A Tale of Two Cities," this is the worst time, but also maybe the best time. Enterprise – TechCrunch - Will China’s coronavirus-related trends shape the future for American VCs? April 22, 2020 at 09:00AM

Snap surges on earnings revenue beat and Q1 user gains The coronavirus pandemic has presented plenty of challenges for ad-reliant social networks, but Snap made clear it was not yet feeling significant negative effects with its Q1 earnings release today. Snap surged 17% after-hours on news of its Q1 results after dropping nearly 4% during trading today. The company reported revenue of $462 million in […] Social – TechCrunch - Snap surges on earnings revenue beat and Q1 user gains April 22, 2020 at 08:00AM

Pulumi brings support for more languages to its infrastructure-as-code platform Seattle-based Pulumi has quickly made a name for itself as a modern platform that lets developers specify their infrastructure through writing code in their preferred programming language — and not YAML. With the launch of Pulumi 2.0, those languages now include JavaScript, TypeScript, Go and .NET, in addition to its original support for Python. It’s […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Pulumi brings support for more languages to its infrastructure-as-code platform April 22, 2020 at 05:00AM

Coronavirus-related Facebook support groups reach 4.5M in US as misinformation and conspiracies spread Facebook has already come under fire for hosting groups organizing anti-quarantine protests in response to government lockdowns amid the coronavirus outbreak, and those promoting fake coronavirus cures and misinformation. Now it’s trying to figure out what to do with the growing number of COVID-19 community groups on its platform worldwide. In hopes of better educating […] Social – TechCrunch - Coronavirus-related Facebook support groups reach 4.5M in US as misinformation and conspiracies spread April 22, 2020 at 04:00AM

AWS and Facebook launch an open-source model server for PyTorch AWS and Facebook today announced two new open-source projects around PyTorch, the popular open-source machine learning framework. The first of these is TorchServe, a model serving framework for PyTorch that will make it easier for developers to put their models into production. The other is TorchElastic, a library that makes it easier for developers to […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - AWS and Facebook launch an open-source model server for PyTorch April 22, 2020 at 02:00AM

And then there was one: Co-CEO Jennifer Morgan to depart SAP In a surprising move, SAP ended its co-CEO experiment yesterday when the company announced Jennifer Morgan will be exiting stage left on April 30th, leaving Christian Klein as the lone CEO. The pair took over at the end of last year when Bill McDermott left the company to become CEO at ServiceNow, and it looked […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - And then there was one: Co-CEO Jennifer Morgan to depart SAP April 22, 2020 at 02:00AM

Confluent lands another big round with $250M Series E on $4.5B valuation The pandemic may feel all-encompassing at the moment, but Confluent announced a $250 million Series E today, showing that major investment continues in spite of the dire economic situation at the moment. Today’s round follows last year’s $125 million Series D. At that point the company was valued a mere $4.5 billion. Investors obviously see […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Confluent lands another big round with $250M Series E on $4.5B valuation April 22, 2020 at 01:00AM

Env0 announces $3.3M seed to bring more control to Infrastructure as Code Env0, a startup that wants to help companies bring some order to delivery of Infrastructure as Code, announced a $3.3 million seed investment today and the release of the Beta of the company’s first product. Boldstart Ventures and Grove Ventures co-led the round with participation from several angel investors including Guy Podjarny of Snyk. Company […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Env0 announces $3.3M seed to bring more control to Infrastructure as Code April 21, 2020 at 11:01PM

WhatsApp and WHO launch stickers to help people get through these tough times WhatsApp is deepening its collaboration with the World Health Organization as people across the globe grapple with the coronavirus pandemic. The Facebook -owned service said today it is attempting to appeal to users in a language that they speak “billions” of times a day on its platform: Stickers. The service, with more than 2 billion […] Social – TechCrunch - WhatsApp and WHO launch stickers to help people get through these tough times April 21, 2020 at 11:01PM

ForgeRock nabs $93.5M for its ID management platform, gears up next for an IPO For better or worse, digital identity management services — the process of identifying and authenticating users on networks to access services — has become a ubiquitous part of interacting on the internet, all the more so in the recent weeks as we have been asked to carry out increasingly more of our lives online. Used […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - ForgeRock nabs $93.5M for its ID management platform, gears up next for an IPO April 21, 2020 at 09:00PM

Facebook Avatars, a Bitmoji competitor, launches in Europe Facebook Avatars, which lets users customize a virtual lookalike of themselves for use as stickers in chat and comments, is now available across Europe, the company said today. The social giant’s Avatars, a clone of Snapchat’s popular Bitmoji, was first unveiled last year and introduced to users in Australia. The feature is aimed at making […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook Avatars, a Bitmoji competitor, launches in Europe April 21, 2020 at 09:00PM

Levi’s partnered with TikTok on social commerce and doubled its product views Levi’s is leveraging its advertising partnership with TikTok to connect online shoppers with the denim brand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced retailers to close their doors — including most of Levi’s own stores. The company announced today its success as one of the first retailers to use TikTok’s “Shop Now” buttons that allow consumers […] Social – TechCrunch - Levi’s partnered with TikTok on social commerce and doubled its product views April 21, 2020 at 07:00AM

Facebook is pulling some protest events over stay-at-home violations Facebook confirmed this week that it will be pulling down a number of posts promoting stay-at-home protests. CNN was the first to report the news, which finds the social media giant pulling down events in a variety of different states, including California, Nebraska and New Jersey. The news follows a spike in events across the […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook is pulling some protest events over stay-at-home violations April 21, 2020 at 05:00AM

Verizon’s BlueJeans acquisition is about more than the work-from-home trend It would be easy to assume that Verizon’s purchase last week of video-conferencing tool BlueJeans was an opportunistic move to capitalize on the sudden shift to remote work, but the ball began rolling last June and has implications far beyond current work-from-home requirements. The video-chat darling of the moment is Zoom, but BlueJeans is considered […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Verizon’s BlueJeans acquisition is about more than the work-from-home trend April 21, 2020 at 03:00AM

Facebook launches COVID-19 data maps for the US, will take its symptom tracking efforts global Many, many symptom trackers have launched during the coronavirus pandemic, but few have the potential to reach even a bucketful of Facebook’s vast ocean of users. Facebook launched a symptom tracking partnership with Carnegie Mellon University’s Delphi epidemiological research center early this month, and now the company plans to expand the project outside of the […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook launches COVID-19 data maps for the US, will take its symptom tracking efforts global April 21, 2020 at 02:00AM

Facebook’s new Gaming app launches on Android, with iOS version coming soon Facebook’s dedicated Gaming app is now live on Android, months before its planned June release. The social media giant pushed the app out two months prior to its scheduled unveiling amid a global pandemic that’s left people all over the world isolated at home, rapidly burning through entertainment options. The New York Times announced the […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook’s new Gaming app launches on Android, with iOS version coming soon April 21, 2020 at 12:02AM

Facebook launches Fundraisers in India, expands partnerships with state governments for WhatsApp and Messenger helplines Facebook has expanded Fundraisers to India and is working with several additional state governments to provide authoritative information about the coronavirus to more people in the country, it said today. Fundraisers, which was available in the U.S., Europe and dozens of other markets prior to Monday’s announcement, allows people to collectively contribute towards the community. […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook launches Fundraisers in India, expands partnerships with state governments for WhatsApp and Messenger helplines April 20, 2020 at 10:00PM

Leverice is a team messenger app that’s taking aim at information overload Meet Leverice: A team messenger and collaboration platform that’s aiming to compete with b2b giants like Slack by tackling an issue that continues to plague real-time messaging — namely, ‘always-on’ information overload. This means these tools can feel like they’re eating into productivity as much as aiding it. Or else leave users stressed and overwhelmed […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Leverice is a team messenger app that’s taking aim at information overload April 20, 2020 at 09:00PM

Clubhouse voice chat leads a wave of spontaneous social apps Forget the calendar invite. Just jump into a conversation. That’s the idea powering a fresh batch of social startups poised to take advantage of our cleared schedules amidst quarantine. But they could also change the way we work and socialize long after COVID-19 by bringing the free-flowing, ad-hoc communication of parties and open office plans […] Social – TechCrunch - Clubhouse voice chat leads a wave of spontaneous social apps April 19, 2020 at 10:00AM

Sales startup People.ai lays off 18% of staff, raises debt round amid COVID-19 uncertainty Another startup has turned to downsizing and fund raising to help weather the uncertainty around the economy amid the global coronavirus health pandemic. People.ai, a predictive sales startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Iconic, Lightspeed and other investors and last year valued at around $500 million, has laid off around 30 people, working out to about […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Sales startup People.ai lays off 18% of staff, raises debt round amid COVID-19 uncertainty April 18, 2020 at 07:00AM

Trump’s hype for state lockdown protests puts Twitter and Facebook’s new COVID-19 policies to the test A new flurry of tweets from President Trump is pushing the limits of social platform policies designed explicitly to keep users safe from the spread of the novel coronavirus, both online and off. In a series of rapid-fire messages on Friday morning, Trump issued a call to “LIBERATE” Virginia, Minnesota, and Michigan, all states led […] Social – TechCrunch - Trump’s hype for state lockdown protests puts Twitter and Facebook’s new COVID-19 policies to the test April 18, 2020 at 04:00AM

Facebook adds new ‘care’ emoji reactions on its main app and in Messenger As a lot of us continue to stay indoors, Facebook has become a go-to platform for many people to check in with their friends, family and neighbours during the current coronavirus pandemic. Today, to give us another way of showing support and presence in its apps, the company said it would add a new reaction […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook adds new ‘care’ emoji reactions on its main app and in Messenger April 17, 2020 at 08:00PM

Facebook wants content reviewers back ASAP, slows return plan for most employees On his personal Facebook account, Mark Zuckerberg offered an update on the company’s roadmap for bringing employees back to work in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. In the post, he acknowledged that while it might be possible for a small portion of “critical employees” unable to do their work remotely to return sooner, the […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook wants content reviewers back ASAP, slows return plan for most employees April 17, 2020 at 04:00AM

Daily Crunch: Verizon buys videoconferencing company BlueJeans Verizon makes a move into videoconferencing, Jeff Bezos discusses a plan to test Amazon employees for COVID-19 and Apple is reportedly working on new over-ear headphones. Here’s your Daily Crunch for April 16, 2020. 1. Verizon is buying b2b videoconferencing firm BlueJeans TechCrunch’s parent company is buying veteran videoconferencing platform BlueJeans Network — shelling out less […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Daily Crunch: Verizon buys videoconferencing company BlueJeans April 17, 2020 at 03:00AM

TikTok to launch parental controls globally, disable direct messaging for users under 16 TikTok is introducing a new set of parental controls to its platform to users worldwide, including in the U.S. The features, collectively referred to as “Family Pairing,” will allow parents to set controls on Screen Time Management, Restricted Mode and Direct Messages for their teen users. It also will now disable direct messaging for users […] Social – TechCrunch - TikTok to launch parental controls globally, disable direct messaging for users under 16 April 17, 2020 at 02:00AM

Bridgecrew announces $14M Series A to automate cloud security In today’s grim economic climate, companies are looking for ways to automate wherever they can. Bridgecrew, an early-stage startup that makes automated cloud security tooling aimed at engineers, announced a $14 million Series A today. Battery Ventures led the round with participation from NFX, the company’s $4 million seed investor. Sorensen Ventures, DNX Ventures, Tectonic […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Bridgecrew announces $14M Series A to automate cloud security April 17, 2020 at 01:00AM

Verizon is buying B2B videoconferencing firm BlueJeans US carrier Verizon* has splashed out to buy veteran B2B videoconferencing platform, BlueJeans Network — shelling out less than $500 million on the acquisition, according to the Wall Street Journal which first reported the news. A Verizon spokeswoman confirmed to TechCrunch that the price-tag is sub-$500M but did not provide a more exact figure. Videoconferencing […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Verizon is buying B2B videoconferencing firm BlueJeans April 17, 2020 at 01:00AM

Anodot grabs $35M Series C to help monitor business operations Anodot, a startup that helps customers monitor business operations against a set of KPIs, announced a $35 million Series C investment today. Intel Capital led this round with a lot of help. New investors SoftBank Ventures Asia, Samsung NEXT and La Maison also participated along with existing investors Disruptive Technologies L.P., Aleph Venture Capital and […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Anodot grabs $35M Series C to help monitor business operations April 17, 2020 at 12:02AM

Facebook will start alerting users who have interacted with ‘harmful misinformation’ about COVID-19 Facebook this morning announced its latest step in effort to combat the spread of misinformation around the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. Chief among them is a new message targeting users who have commented on, reacted to or liked false content about the virus. The social network will pop up a message from the World Health Organization […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook will start alerting users who have interacted with ‘harmful misinformation’ about COVID-19 April 17, 2020 at 12:02AM

Investors explain COVID-19’s impact on consumer startups Home fitness and games as gathering places are a few of the startup verticals propelled by unprecedented shifts in behavior due to shelter-in-place orders. We surveyed the top investors in consumer and social apps to learn about 2020’s startup trends, the M&A climate, the threat of incumbents copying new entrants, underserved demographics and which features […] Social – TechCrunch - Investors explain COVID-19’s impact on consumer startups April 17, 2020 at 12:02AM

VAST Data lands $100M Series C on $1.2B valuation to turn storage on its head VAST Data, a startup that has come up with a cost-effective way to deliver flash storage, announced a $100 million Series C investment today on a $1.2 billion valuation, both unusually big numbers for an enterprise startup in Series C territory. Next47, the investment arm of Siemens, led the round with participation from existing investors […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - VAST Data lands $100M Series C on $1.2B valuation to turn storage on its head April 16, 2020 at 11:00PM

Houseparty reports 50M sign-ups in past month amid COVID-19 lockdowns Houseparty, the popular video chat application acquired by Fortnite maker Epic Games in 2019, has seen massive growth due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With government lockdowns keeping people from being able to visit friends and other loved ones in person, consumer demand for video chat apps has skyrocketed. This has resulted in the video conferencing […] Social – TechCrunch - Houseparty reports 50M sign-ups in past month amid COVID-19 lockdowns April 16, 2020 at 07:00AM

ServiceNow pledges no layoffs in 2020 You don’t need your Ph.D. in economics to know the economy is in rough shape right now due to the impact of COVID-19, but ServiceNow today pledged that it would not lay off a single employee in 2020 — and in fact, it’s hiring. While Salesforce’s Marc Benioff, pledged no significant layoffs for 90 days […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - ServiceNow pledges no layoffs in 2020 April 16, 2020 at 04:00AM

Pileus helps businesses cut their cloud spend Israel-based Pileus, which is officially launching today, aims to help businesses keep their cloud spend under control. The company also today announced that it has raised a $1 million seed round from a private angel investor. Using machine learning, the company’s platform continuously learns about how a user typically uses a given cloud and then […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Pileus helps businesses cut their cloud spend April 16, 2020 at 04:00AM

DoD Inspector General report finds everything was basically hunky-dory with JEDI cloud contract bid While controversy has dogged the $10 billion, decade-long JEDI contract since its earliest days, a report by the DoD’s Inspector General’s Office concluded today that, while there were some funky bits and potential conflicts, overall the contract procurement process was fair and legal and  the president did not unduly influence the process in spite of […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - DoD Inspector General report finds everything was basically hunky-dory with JEDI cloud contract bid April 16, 2020 at 02:00AM

Pinpoint releases dashboard to bring visibility to software engineering operations As companies look for better ways to understand how different departments work at a granular level, engineering has traditionally been a black box of siloed data. Pinpoint, an Austin-based startup, has been working on a platform to bring this information into a single view, and today it released a dashboard to help companies understand what’s […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Pinpoint releases dashboard to bring visibility to software engineering operations April 16, 2020 at 12:02AM

Frame AI raises $6.3M Series A to help understand customers across channels Frame AI, a New York City startup that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to help companies understand their customers better across multiple channels, announced a $6.3 million Series A investment today. G20 Ventures and Greycroft led the round together. Bill Wiberg, co-founder and partner at G20, will join Frame’s board under the terms of […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Frame AI raises $6.3M Series A to help understand customers across channels April 15, 2020 at 11:01PM

Adriel brings automation to small business advertising Adriel is a South Korean startup bringing automated ad tools to small businesses — and in recent months, it’s been expanding into the United States and the United Kingdom. This might seem like exactly the wrong time to be growing an ad-buying platform, since we’re at the beginning of what’s likely to be a tremendous […] Social – TechCrunch - Adriel brings automation to small business advertising April 15, 2020 at 08:00AM

Replace non-stop Zoom with remote office avatars app Pragli Could avatars that show what co-workers are up to save work-from-home teams from constant distraction and loneliness? That’s the idea behind Pragli, the Bitmoji for the enterprise. It’s a virtual office app that makes you actually feel like you’re in the same building. Pragli uses avatars to signal whether co-workers are at their desk, away, […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Replace non-stop Zoom with remote office avatars app Pragli April 15, 2020 at 03:00AM

Replace non-stop Zoom with remote office avatars app Pragli Could avatars that show what co-workers are up to save work-from-home teams from constant distraction and loneliness? That’s the idea behind Pragli, the Bitmoji for the enterprise. It’s a virtual office app that makes you actually feel like you’re in the same building. Pragli uses avatars to signal whether co-workers are at their desk, away, […] Social – TechCrunch - Replace non-stop Zoom with remote office avatars app Pragli April 15, 2020 at 03:00AM

Facebook launches an experimental app for messaging close friends over Apple Watch Facebook’s internal R&D group has today launched a new app that lets you keep up with your close friends via your Apple Watch. The app is called Kit, or Keep in Touch, and works using a combination of QR codes and Facebook’s existing Messenger service. According to Kit’s App Store description, you get started with […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook launches an experimental app for messaging close friends over Apple Watch April 15, 2020 at 12:02AM

Stackery releases slew of updates to simplify serverless app deployment Stackery, a 4-year old Portland startup, wants to help development teams deliver serverless resources on AWS more easily, and today it announced several enhancements to the platform. With serverless applications, the development team outlines a set of trigger events and the cloud infrastructure vendor — in this case AWS — provides the exact amount of […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Stackery releases slew of updates to simplify serverless app deployment April 14, 2020 at 11:01PM

How Adobe shifted a Las Vegas conference to executives’ living rooms in less than 30 days Adobe was scheduled to hold its annual conference in Las Vegas two weeks ago, but the coronavirus pandemic forced the company to make alternate plans. In less than a month, its events team shifted venues for the massive conference, not once, but twice as the severity of the situation became clear. This year didn’t just […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - How Adobe shifted a Las Vegas conference to executives’ living rooms in less than 30 days April 14, 2020 at 08:00AM

Hallway creates a ‘virtual break room’ for remote workers using scheduled video chats The coronavirus outbreak has forced millions of U.S. employees to work from home — many for the first time. But remote work can be lonely and isolating, as people feel disconnected from their team and co-workers due to the lack of face-to-face conversations. That’s where the new startup, Hallway, aims to help. The service re-creates […] Social – TechCrunch - Hallway creates a ‘virtual break room’ for remote workers using scheduled video chats April 14, 2020 at 05:00AM

Incoming IBM CEO Arvind Krishna faces monumental challenges on multiple fronts Arvind Krishna is not the only CEO to step into a new job this week, but he is the only one charged with helping turn around one of the world’s most iconic companies. Adding to the degree of difficulty, he took the role in the midst of a global pandemic and economic crisis. No pressure […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Incoming IBM CEO Arvind Krishna faces monumental challenges on multiple fronts April 11, 2020 at 05:00AM