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Facebook introduces cross-app communication between Messenger and Instagram, plus other features Facebook announced today it will begin rolling out new functionality that will allow Instagram and Messenger users to communicate across apps, in addition to bringing a host of Messenger -inspired features to the Instagram inbox. On Instagram, users will be presented with an option to update to a new messaging experience that offers the ability […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook introduces cross-app communication between Messenger and Instagram, plus other features September 30, 2020 at 10:00PM

VTEX raises $225M at a $1.7B valuation for e-commerce solutions aimed at retailers and brands Retailers and consumer brands are focused more than ever in their histories on using e-commerce channels to connect with customers: the global health pandemic has disrupted much of their traditional business in places like physical stores, event venues and restaurants, and vending machines, and accelerated the hunt for newer ways to sell goods and services. […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - VTEX raises $225M at a $1.7B valuation for e-commerce solutions aimed at retailers and brands September 30, 2020 at 10:00PM

Lee Fixel’s Addition leads $35 million investment in India’s Inshorts Inshorts, which operates a popular news aggregator app in India, has raised $35 million in a new financing round led by Lee Fixel’s Addition as the Indian startup looks to scale its adjacent, social network platform. For Fixel, who wrote several high-profile checks to Indian firms while running Tiger Global, InShorts is the first Indian […] Social – TechCrunch - Lee Fixel’s Addition leads $35 million investment in India’s Inshorts September 30, 2020 at 07:00PM

Papaya Global raises $40M for a payroll and HR platform aimed at global workforces Workforces are getting more global, and people who work day in, day out for organizations don’t always sit day in, day out in a single office, in a single country, to get a job done. Today, one of the startups building HR to help companies provision services for and manage those global workers better is […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Papaya Global raises $40M for a payroll and HR platform aimed at global workforces September 30, 2020 at 05:00PM

Salesforce creates for profit platform to help governments distribute COVID vaccine when it’s ready For more than 20 years, Salesforce has been selling cloud business software, but it has also used the same platform to build ways to track other elements besides sales, marketing and service information including Work.com, the platform it created earlier this year to help companies develop and organize a safe way to begin returning to […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Salesforce creates for profit platform to help governments distribute COVID vaccine when it’s ready September 30, 2020 at 05:00PM

Facebook names VP of product growth Alex Schultz as new CMO To fill its empty CMO position, Facebook just promoted to the C-suite a longtime Facebook executive focused on product growth. Former VP of product growth and analytics Alex Schultz, who has been with the company since 2007, announced the move Tuesday in a Facebook post. Schultz will fill the position left open by Antonio Lucio, […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook names VP of product growth Alex Schultz as new CMO September 30, 2020 at 10:00AM

Ringing alarm bells, Biden campaign calls Facebook ‘foremost propagator’ of voting disinformation In a new letter to its chief executive on the eve of the first presidential debate, the Biden campaign slammed Facebook for its failure to act on false claims about voting in the U.S. election. In the scathing letter, published by Axios, Biden Campaign Manager Jen O’Malley Dillon specifically singled out a troubling video post […] Social – TechCrunch - Ringing alarm bells, Biden campaign calls Facebook ‘foremost propagator’ of voting disinformation September 30, 2020 at 08:00AM

How Twilio built its own conference platform Twilio’s annual customer conference was supposed to happen in May, but like everyone else who had live events scheduled for this year, it ran smack-dab into COVID-19 and was forced to cancel. That left the company wondering how to reimagine the event online. It began an RFP process to find a vendor to help, but […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - How Twilio built its own conference platform September 30, 2020 at 05:00AM

Pivoting during a pandemic For me, the last six months has shown that people are resilient, and that when faced with a common threat or the need to suddenly rethink everything they might know, we quickly rise to the occasion. Social – TechCrunch - Pivoting during a pandemic September 30, 2020 at 02:00AM

Facebook introduces Accounts Center, a tool for managing a growing number of cross-app settings Despite being under antitrust investigations in U.S. and E.U., Facebook today is rolling out a new feature that highlights the extent to which its suite of apps now interoperate. The company this morning introduced a consumer-facing tool called “Accounts Center,” which is found in the Settings section of Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. The feature aims […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook introduces Accounts Center, a tool for managing a growing number of cross-app settings September 30, 2020 at 02:00AM

Datasaur snags $3.9M investment to build intelligent machine learning labeling platform As machine learning has grown, one of the major bottlenecks remains labeling things so the machine learning application understands the data it’s working with. Datasaur, a member of the Y Combinator Winter 2020 batch, announced a $3.9 million investment today to help solve that problem with a platform designed for machine learning labeling teams. The […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Datasaur snags $3.9M investment to build intelligent machine learning labeling platform September 30, 2020 at 12:02AM

New program wants to be the Y Combinator for emerging fund managers Rolling funds, the rise of solo capitalists, crowd syndicates, and team-based seed funds all scream one thing in unison: venture capital is growing and getting unbundled at the same time. While the asset class remains largely exclusive and skewed white and male, innovation does have the potential to usher in a new, far more inclusive […] Social – TechCrunch - New program wants to be the Y Combinator for emerging fund managers September 29, 2020 at 11:00PM

Axis Security raises $32M to help companies stay secure while working from home Axis Security launched last year with the idea of helping customers to enable contractors and third parties to remotely access a company’s systems in a safe way, but when the pandemic hit, they saw another use case, one which had been on their road map: helping keep systems secure when employees were working from home. […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Axis Security raises $32M to help companies stay secure while working from home September 29, 2020 at 11:00PM

PayCargo raises $35M from Insight for its cloud-based platform targeting the freight industry Shipping has long been one of the more antiquated, and least technological, segments in the world of commerce, with its physical aspects — rooted in massive cargo tankers, giant fleets of aircraft and trucks, and trains of linked-up containers — underscoring some of the more obvious analogue attributes of the business. That has also made […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - PayCargo raises $35M from Insight for its cloud-based platform targeting the freight industry September 29, 2020 at 09:00PM

Deep Science: Robot perception, acoustic monitoring, using ML to detect arthritis Research papers come out far too rapidly for anyone to read them all, especially in the field of machine learning, which now affects (and produces papers in) practically every industry and company. This column aims to collect the most relevant recent discoveries and papers — particularly in but not limited to artificial intelligence — and […] Social – TechCrunch - Deep Science: Robot perception, acoustic monitoring, using ML to detect arthritis September 29, 2020 at 04:00AM

Adobe beefs up developer tools to make it easer to build apps on Experience Cloud Adobe has had a developer program for years called Adobe.io, but today at the Adobe Developers Live virtual conference, the company announced some new tools with a fresh emphasis on helping developers build custom apps on the Adobe Experience Cloud. Jason Woosley, VP of developer experience and commerce at Adobe says that the pandemic has […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Adobe beefs up developer tools to make it easer to build apps on Experience Cloud September 29, 2020 at 01:00AM

Skydio partners with EagleView for autonomous residential roof inspections via drone Skydio only just recently announced its expansion into the enterprise and commercial market with hardware and software tools for its autonomous drone technology, and now it’s taking the lid off a brand new big partnership with one commercial partner. Skydio will work with EagleView to deploy automated residential roof inspection using Skydio drones, with service […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Skydio partners with EagleView for autonomous residential roof inspections via drone September 28, 2020 at 11:00PM

Privacy data management innovations reduce risk, create new revenue channels Investments in privacy tools and management practices now are almost certain to deliver major business dividends in the future. Enterprise – TechCrunch - Privacy data management innovations reduce risk, create new revenue channels September 26, 2020 at 04:00AM

Apple is (temporarily) waiving its App Store fee for Facebook’s online events Last month, Facebook introduced support for paid online events — and because many of the businesses offering those events have struggled during the coronavirus pandemic, the company also said it would not collect fees for the next year. At the same time, it complained that Apple had “dismissed” its requests to waive the App Store’s […] Social – TechCrunch - Apple is (temporarily) waiving its App Store fee for Facebook’s online events September 26, 2020 at 02:00AM

The highest valued company in Bessemer’s annual cloud report has defied convention by staying private This year’s Bessemer Venture Partners’ annual Cloud 100 Benchmark report was published recently and my colleague Alex Wilhelm looked at some broad trends in the report, but digging into the data, I decided to concentrate on the Top 10 companies by valuation. I found that the top company has defied convention for a couple of […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - The highest valued company in Bessemer’s annual cloud report has defied convention by staying private September 26, 2020 at 12:02AM

LinkedIn launches Stories, plus Zoom, BlueJeans and Teams video integrations as part of wider redesign With the employment market remaining sluggish as the world continues to struggle with Covid-19, a company that has built its popular businesses largely around recruitment is launching a redesign that pushes engagement in other ways as it waits for the job economy to pick up. LinkedIn, the Microsoft-owned site now with 706 million registered users, […] Social – TechCrunch - LinkedIn launches Stories, plus Zoom, BlueJeans and Teams video integrations as part of wider redesign September 25, 2020 at 01:00AM

Facebook gives more details about its efforts against hate speech before Myanmar’s general election About three weeks ago, Facebook announced it will increase its efforts against hate speech and misinformation in Myanmar before the country’s general election on November 8, 2020. Today, it gave some more details about what the company is doing to prevent the spread of hate speech and misinformation. This includes adding Burmese language warning screens […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook gives more details about its efforts against hate speech before Myanmar’s general election September 25, 2020 at 01:00AM

NUVIA raises $240M from Mithril to make climate-ready enterprise chips Climate change is on everyone’s minds these days, what with the outer Bay Area on fire, orange skies above San Francisco, and a hurricane season that is bearing down on the East Coast with alacrity (and that’s just the United States in the past two weeks). A major — and growing — source of those […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - NUVIA raises $240M from Mithril to make climate-ready enterprise chips September 25, 2020 at 12:02AM

Airship acquires SMS commerce company ReplyBuy Airship is announcing that it has acquired mobile commerce startup ReplyBuy. The startup (which was a finalist at TechCrunch’s 1st and Future competition in 2016) works with customers like entertainment venues and professional and college sports teams to send messages and sell tickets to fans via SMS. It raised $4 million in funding from Sand […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Airship acquires SMS commerce company ReplyBuy September 24, 2020 at 11:00PM

India’s ShareChat raises $40 million, says its short-video platform Moj now reaches 80 million users ShareChat, an Indian social network that focuses entirely on serving users in non-English languages, said on Thursday it has raised $40 million from a clutch of investors after the Indian startup added tens of millions of new users in recent months. The five-year-old Bangalore-based startup said Dr. Pawan Munjal, chief executive and chairman of giant […] Social – TechCrunch - India’s ShareChat raises $40 million, says its short-video platform Moj now reaches 80 million users September 24, 2020 at 10:00PM

Ripjar, founded by GCHQ alums, raises $36.8M for AI that detects financial crime Financial crime as a wider category of cybercrime continues to be one of the most potent of online threats, covering nefarious actives as diverse as fraud, money laundering and funding terrorism. Today, one of the startups that has been building data intelligence solutions to help combat that is announcing a fundraise to continue fueling its […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Ripjar, founded by GCHQ alums, raises $36.8M for AI that detects financial crime September 24, 2020 at 06:00PM

Selling a startup can come with an emotional cost Every founder dreams of building a substantial company. For those who make it through the myriad challenges, it typically results in an exit. If it’s through an acquisition, that can mean cashing in your equity, paying back investors and rewarding long-time employees, but it also usually results in a loss of power and a substantially […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Selling a startup can come with an emotional cost September 24, 2020 at 03:00AM

Instagram’s TikTok clone Reels updates to allow longer videos, easier edits Instagram is today rolling out a few changes to its TikTok competitor, Reels, after early reviews of the feature criticized its design and reports indicated it was failing to gain traction. The company says it’s responding to user feedback on a few fronts, by giving Reels users the ability to create longer videos, extend the […] Social – TechCrunch - Instagram’s TikTok clone Reels updates to allow longer videos, easier edits September 24, 2020 at 02:00AM

WhyLabs brings more transparancy to ML ops WhyLabs, a new machine learning startup that was spun out of the Allen Institute, is coming out of stealth today. Founded by a group of former Amazon machine learning engineers, Alessya Visnjic, Sam Gracie and Andy Dang, together with Madrona Venture Group principal Maria Karaivanova, WhyLabs’ focus is on ML operations after models have been […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - WhyLabs brings more transparancy to ML ops September 24, 2020 at 12:02AM

Pinterest officially launches new Story Pins format in beta Pinterest is announcing its spin on the increasingly popular stories format today — Story Pins, which combine multiple pages of images, videos, voiceover and overlaid text. We wrote about Story Pins back in June, and apparently various versions of the format have been in the works since last year. But the company is only officially […] Social – TechCrunch - Pinterest officially launches new Story Pins format in beta September 23, 2020 at 11:00PM

Yext launches Hitchhikers, a self-serve version of its site search tool Yext is making its site search product Yext Answers available to a broader set of customers today with the launch of a new program that it calls Hitchhikers. The company launched Yext Answers in October 2019 with the goal of making a brand’s website — rather than whatever shows up via Google search — the […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Yext launches Hitchhikers, a self-serve version of its site search tool September 23, 2020 at 11:00PM

Five years after creating Traefik application proxy, open source project hits 2B downloads Five years ago, Traefik Labs founder and CEO Emile Vauge was working on a project deploying thousands of microservices and he was lacking a cloud native application proxy that could handle this kind of scale. So like any good developer, he created one himself and Traefik was born. If you go back five years, the […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Five years after creating Traefik application proxy, open source project hits 2B downloads September 23, 2020 at 10:00PM

Facebook denies it will pull service in Europe over data transfer ban Facebook’s head of global policy has denied the tech giant could close its service to Europeans if local regulators order it to suspend data transfers to the US following a landmark Court of Justice ruling in July that has cemented the schism between US surveillance laws and EU privacy rights. Press reports emerged this week […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook denies it will pull service in Europe over data transfer ban September 23, 2020 at 09:00PM

Social networks are doing a voter registration blitz this week With the most uncertain election in modern American history fast approaching, social networks are doing a final big push to get their users registered to vote. The efforts align with National Voter Registration Day, which punctuates ongoing efforts from companies like Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat to get people to the polls, whether IRL or through […] Social – TechCrunch - Social networks are doing a voter registration blitz this week September 23, 2020 at 08:00AM

Chinese propaganda network on Facebook used AI-generated faces Facebook removed two networks of fake accounts spreading government propaganda on the platform Tuesday, one originating in China and one in the Philippines. In its latest report on this kind of coordinated campaign, the company says it took down 155 Facebook accounts, 11 pages, nine groups and seven Instagram accounts connected to the Chinese activity […] Social – TechCrunch - Chinese propaganda network on Facebook used AI-generated faces September 23, 2020 at 08:00AM

Daily Crunch: Microsoft launches Azure Communication Services Microsoft takes on Twilio, Google launches a work-tracking tool and Mirakl raises $300 million. This is your Daily Crunch for September 22, 2020. The big story: Microsoft launches Azure Communication Services Microsoft announced today that it’s ready to compete with Twilio by launching a set of features that allow developers to add voice and video […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Daily Crunch: Microsoft launches Azure Communication Services September 23, 2020 at 08:00AM

Microsoft challenges Twilio with the launch of Azure Communication Services Microsoft today announced the launch of Azure Communication Services, a new set of features in its cloud that enable developers to add voice and video calling, chat and text messages to their apps, as well as old-school telephony. The company describes the new set of services as the “first fully managed communication platform offering from […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Microsoft challenges Twilio with the launch of Azure Communication Services September 23, 2020 at 06:03AM

Microsoft brings new robotic process automation features to its Power Platform Earlier this year, Microsoft acquired Softomotive, a player in the low-code robotic process automation space with a focus on Windows. Today, at its Ignite conference, the company is launching Power Automate Desktop, a new application based on Softomotive’s technology that lets anyone automate desktop workflows without needing to program. “The big idea of Power Platform […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Microsoft brings new robotic process automation features to its Power Platform September 23, 2020 at 04:00AM

Microsoft’s Edge browser is coming to Linux in October Microsoft’s Edge browser is coming to Linux, starting with the Dev channel. The first of these previews will go live in October. When Microsoft announced that it would switch its Edge browser to the Chromium engine, it vowed to bring it to every popular platform. At the time, Linux wasn’t part of that list, but […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Microsoft’s Edge browser is coming to Linux in October September 23, 2020 at 04:00AM

Mirakl raises $300 million for its marketplace platform French startup Mirakl has raised a $300 million funding round at a $1.5 billion valuation — the company is now a unicorn. Mirakl helps you launch and manage a marketplace on your e-commerce website. Many customers also rely on Mirakl-powered marketplaces for B2B transactions. Permira Advisers is leading the round, with existing investors 83North, Bain […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Mirakl raises $300 million for its marketplace platform September 23, 2020 at 03:00AM

HubSpot’s new end-to-end sales hub aims to simplify CRM for mid-market customers HubSpot, the Boston firm that made its name by helping to define the in-bound marketing concept, sees a pandemic landscape that’s changing the way companies sell, forcing more inside sales. Today, the company announced the HubSpot Sales Hub Enterprise at Inbound, their annual conference being held virtually this year. While the company has been offering […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - HubSpot’s new end-to-end sales hub aims to simplify CRM for mid-market customers September 23, 2020 at 02:00AM

Microsoft brings data services to its Arc multi-cloud management service Microsoft today launched a major update to its Arc multi-cloud service that allows Azure customers to run and manage workloads across clouds — including those of Microsoft’s competitors — and their on on-premises data centers. First announced at Microsoft Ignite in 2019, Arc was always meant to not just help users manage their servers but […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Microsoft brings data services to its Arc multi-cloud management service September 23, 2020 at 02:00AM

Microsoft Teams gets breakout rooms, custom layouts and virtual commutes Unsurprisingly, Teams has become a major focus for Microsoft during the COVID-19 pandemic and so it’s no surprise that the company is using its annual Ignite IT conference to announce a number of new features for the services. Today’s announcements follow the launch of features like Together Mode and dynamic view earlier this summer. Together […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Microsoft Teams gets breakout rooms, custom layouts and virtual commutes September 23, 2020 at 02:00AM

Microsoft launches new Cortana features for business users Cortana may have failed as a virtual assistant for consumers, but Microsoft is still betting on it (or at least its brand) for business use cases, now that it has rebranded it as a ‘personal productivity assistant’ as part of Microsoft 365. Today, at its Ignite conference, Microsoft launched and announced a number of new […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Microsoft launches new Cortana features for business users September 23, 2020 at 02:00AM

Microsoft updates its Endpoint Manager with improved macOS support and more At its Ignite conference today, Microsoft announced a number of new features for the Microsoft Endpoint Manager, the company’s unified platform for managing and securing devices in an enterprise environment. The service, which combines the features of the Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager with the cloud-based tools of Intune, launched just under a year ago. […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Microsoft updates its Endpoint Manager with improved macOS support and more September 23, 2020 at 02:00AM

Event discovery network IRL raises $16M Series B after refocusing on virtual events The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the way a number of companies have had to do business. For the event discovery startup, IRL, it meant pivoting into the virtual events space. This April, the startup quickly reacted to government lockdowns and restrictions on in-person gatherings to focus on helping people find their online counterparts and other virtual […] Social – TechCrunch - Event discovery network IRL raises $16M Series B after refocusing on virtual events September 23, 2020 at 01:00AM

EasySend raises $16M from Intel, more for its no-code approach to automating B2C interfaces No-code and low-code software have become increasingly popular ways for companies — especially those that don’t count technology as part of their DNA — to bring in more updated IT processes without the heavy lifting needed to build and integrate services from the ground up. As a mark of that trend, today, a company that […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - EasySend raises $16M from Intel, more for its no-code approach to automating B2C interfaces September 22, 2020 at 11:00PM

Uber for Business introduces a couple of commuting options to get to the office during the pandemic Uber for Business, the business side of the consumer ride sharing service, has typically focused on helping companies track their Uber expenses, but during a pandemic needs have changed. It’s no longer about getting employees to and from the airport or shuttling an important client from the hotel to the office, it’s about getting essential […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Uber for Business introduces a couple of commuting options to get to the office during the pandemic September 22, 2020 at 11:00PM

TikTok says it removed 104M videos in H1 2020, proposes harmful content coalition with other social apps As the future of ByteDance’s TikTok ownership continues to get hammered out between tech and retail leviathans, investors and government officials, the video app today published its latest transparency report. In all, over 104.5 million videos were taken down; it had nearly 1,800 legal requests; and received 10,600 copyright takedown notices for the first half […] Social – TechCrunch - TikTok says it removed 104M videos in H1 2020, proposes harmful content coalition with other social apps September 22, 2020 at 09:00PM

Daily Crunch: This TikTok deal is pretty confusing Companies send out conflicting messages about the TikTok deal, Microsoft acquires a gaming giant and the WeChat ban is temporarily blocked. This is your Daily Crunch for September 21, 2020. The big story: This TikTok deal is pretty confusing This keeps getting more confusing. Apparently TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has reached a deal with Walmart […] Social – TechCrunch - Daily Crunch: This TikTok deal is pretty confusing September 22, 2020 at 08:00AM

TikTok fact checks: US IPO, Chinese ownership, $5B in taxes There is no shortage of speculation and reports around TikTok’s future in the U.S. Amid a swirl of rumors, TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance issued a statement (in Chinese) on Monday morning, bringing clarity to its ongoing deal that has captured global attention over the past few weeks. ByteDance is still the owner China’s ByteDance confirms […] Social – TechCrunch - TikTok fact checks: US IPO, Chinese ownership, $5B in taxes September 22, 2020 at 04:00AM

Facebook’s new Rights Manager tool lets creators protect their photos, including those embedded elsewhere Facebook today is introducing a new tool that will allow rights holders to protect and manage their photos across both Facebook and Instagram. With the newly launched “Rights Manager for Images,” Facebook is offering creators and publishers access to content-matching technology similar to what it introduced in 2016 to combat stolen videos. The new feature, […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook’s new Rights Manager tool lets creators protect their photos, including those embedded elsewhere September 22, 2020 at 03:00AM

SaaS Ventures takes the investment road less traveled Most venture capital firms are based in hubs like Silicon Valley, New York City and Boston. These firms nurture those ecosystems and they’ve done well, but SaaS Ventures decided to go a different route: it went to cities like Chicago, Green Bay, Wisconsin and Lincoln, Nebraska. The firm looks for enterprise-focused entrepreneurs who are trying […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - SaaS Ventures takes the investment road less traveled September 19, 2020 at 07:00AM

Salesforce announces 12,000 new jobs in the next year just weeks after laying off 1,000 In a case of bizarre timing, Salesforce announced it was laying off 1,000 employees at the end of last month just a day after announcing a monster quarter with over $5 billion in revenue, putting the company on a $20 billion revenue run rate for the first time. The juxtaposition was hard to miss. Earlier […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Salesforce announces 12,000 new jobs in the next year just weeks after laying off 1,000 September 19, 2020 at 06:03AM

Instagram CEO, ACLU slam TikTok and WeChat app bans for putting US freedoms into the balance As people begin to process the announcement from the U.S. Department of Commerce detailing how it plans, on grounds of national security, to shut down TikTok and WeChat — starting with app downloads and updates for both, plus all of WeChat’s services, on September 20, with TikTok following with a shut down of servers and […] Social – TechCrunch - Instagram CEO, ACLU slam TikTok and WeChat app bans for putting US freedoms into the balance September 19, 2020 at 03:00AM

Daily Crunch: Twitter tightens security ahead of election Twitter takes preemptive steps to avoid election-related hacks, we check out the new Apple Watches and Facebook launches new business tools. This is your Daily Crunch for September 17, 2020. The big story: Twitter tightens security ahead of election Twitter said today that “high-profile, election-related” accounts in the United States will be receiving notifications telling […] Social – TechCrunch - Daily Crunch: Twitter tightens security ahead of election September 18, 2020 at 08:00AM

Twitter tightens account security for political candidates ahead of US election Twitter is taking steps to tighten account security for a range of users ahead of the US presidential election, including by requiring the use of strong passwords. “We’re taking the additional step of proactively implementing account security measures for a designated group of high-profile, election-related Twitter accounts in the US. Starting today, these accounts will […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter tightens account security for political candidates ahead of US election September 18, 2020 at 05:00AM

Perigee infrastructure security solution from former NSA employee moves into public beta Perigee founder Mollie Breen used to work for NSA where she built a security solution to help protect the agency’s critical infrastructure. She spent the last two years at Harvard Business School talking to Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and fine-tuning that idea she started at NSA into a commercial product. Today, the solution that […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Perigee infrastructure security solution from former NSA employee moves into public beta September 18, 2020 at 04:00AM

Facebook launches Facebook Business Suite, an app for managing business accounts across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger Facebook this morning launched a new app designed to make it easier for businesses to manage their pages and profiles across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger in a single place. The app, Facebook Business Suite, combines access to the business’s key updates and priorities, and offers a way to draft and schedule feed posts for both […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook launches Facebook Business Suite, an app for managing business accounts across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger September 18, 2020 at 12:02AM

APAC cloud infrastructure revenue reaches $9B in Q2 with Amazon leading the way When you look at the Asia-Pacific (APAC) regional cloud infrastructure numbers, it would be easy to think that one of the Chinese cloud giants, particularly Alibaba, would be the leader in that geography, but new numbers from Synergy Research show Amazon leading across the region overall, which generated $9 billion in revenue in Q2. The […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - APAC cloud infrastructure revenue reaches $9B in Q2 with Amazon leading the way September 18, 2020 at 12:02AM

Narrator raises $6.2M for a new approach to data modelling that replaces star schema Snowflake went public this week, and in a mark of the wider ecosystem that is evolving around data warehousing, a startup that has built a completely new concept for modelling warehoused data is announcing funding. Narrator — which uses an 11-column ordering model rather than standard star schema to organise data for modelling and analysis — […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Narrator raises $6.2M for a new approach to data modelling that replaces star schema September 17, 2020 at 06:00PM

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston says the pandemic forced the company to reevaluate what work means Dropbox CEO and co-founder Drew Houston, appearing at TechCrunch Disrupt today, said that COVID has accelerated a shift to distributed work that we have been talking about for some time, and these new ways of working will not simply go away when the pandemic is over. “When you think more broadly about the effects of […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Dropbox CEO Drew Houston says the pandemic forced the company to reevaluate what work means September 16, 2020 at 08:00AM

Twitter flags Indian politician’s years-old tweet for violating its policy Twitter has flagged a post from Indian politician T. Raja Singh for violating its policy days after TechCrunch asked the social giant about the three-year-old questionable tweet. In a video tweet, Singh urged India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and others citizens in the country to move Rohingya Muslim immigrants, including those “who supported terrorism,” out […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter flags Indian politician’s years-old tweet for violating its policy September 16, 2020 at 08:00AM

Fiverr Business helps teams manage freelance projects Freelance marketplace Fiverr launched a new service today designed to help teams at larger companies manage their work with freelancers. CEO Micha Kaufman told me via email that Fiverr had already begun working with larger clients, but that Fiverr Business is better-designed to meet their needs. “Organizations require tools to manage their team accounts, defining […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Fiverr Business helps teams manage freelance projects September 16, 2020 at 08:00AM

In 2020, Warsaw’s startup ecosystem is ‘a place to observe carefully’ If you listed the trends that have captured the attention of 20 Warsaw-focused investors who replied to our recent surveys, automation/AI, enterprise SaaS, cleantech, health, remote work and the sharing economy would top the list. These VCs said they are seeking opportunities in the “digital twin” space, proptech and expanded blockchain tokenization inside industries. Investors […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - In 2020, Warsaw’s startup ecosystem is ‘a place to observe carefully’ September 16, 2020 at 07:00AM

Triller aims for TikTok with additions of influencers like Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae Triller had been poised to benefit from a potential TikTok ban in the U.S. Though that may not happen now, given the apparent Oracle deal, the chaos around TikTok has increased the attention given to alternative apps such as Triller. As TikTok users sought out a new home — or at least hedged their bets […] Social – TechCrunch - Triller aims for TikTok with additions of influencers like Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae September 16, 2020 at 05:00AM

Twitter debuts US election hub to help people navigate voting in 2020 Twitter debuted its election hub on Tuesday, introducing a set of tools to help Americans prepare for the most uncertain election in modern U.S. history. The platform will add a new “US Elections” tab in the Explore menu, where the trending tab and other curated topic lists live. That tab will serve as Twitter’s central […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter debuts US election hub to help people navigate voting in 2020 September 16, 2020 at 05:00AM

Latent AI makes edge AI workloads more efficient Latent AI, a startup that was spun out of SRI International, makes it easier to run AI workloads at the edge by dynamically managing workloads as necessary. Using its proprietary compression and compilation process, Latent AI promises to compress library files by 10x and run them with 5x lower latency than other systems, all while […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Latent AI makes edge AI workloads more efficient September 16, 2020 at 04:00AM

Facebook launches a climate change information center and commits to eliminating ‘scope 3’ emissions by 2030 Even as Facebook, the world’s largest social media platform, admits that climate change “is real” and that “the science is unambiguous and the need to act grows more urgent by the day” the platform appears unwilling to take steps to really stand up to the climate change denialism that circulates on its platform.  The company […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook launches a climate change information center and commits to eliminating ‘scope 3’ emissions by 2030 September 16, 2020 at 01:00AM

Data virtualization service Varada raises $12M Varada, a Tel Aviv-based startup that focuses on making it easier for businesses to query data across services, today announced that it has raised a $12 million Series A round led by Israeli early-stage fund MizMaa Ventures, with participation by Gefen Capital. “If you look at the storage aspect for big data, there’s always innovation, […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Data virtualization service Varada raises $12M September 15, 2020 at 11:00PM

Verkada adds environmental sensors to cloud-based building operations toolkit As we go deeper into the pandemic, many buildings sit empty or have limited capacity. During times like these having visibility into the state of the building can give building operations peace of mind. Today, Verkada, a startup that helps operations manage buildings via the cloud, announced a new set of environmental sensors to give […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Verkada adds environmental sensors to cloud-based building operations toolkit September 15, 2020 at 11:00PM

Facebook announces $4.3 million grant for small businesses in India, introduces support for gift cards More than a third of small and medium-sized businesses on Facebook in India expect cash flow to be a challenge for them as they navigate through the coronavirus pandemic in the next few months, according to a report by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank. Facebook, which reaches nearly every internet […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook announces $4.3 million grant for small businesses in India, introduces support for gift cards September 15, 2020 at 08:00PM

Airtable’s Howie Liu has no interest in exiting, even as the company’s valuation soars In the middle of a pandemic, Airtable, the low-code startup, has actually had an excellent year. Just the other day, the company announced it had raised $185 million on a whopping $2.585 billion valuation. It also announced some new features that take it from the realm of pure no-code, and deeper into low-code territory, which […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Airtable’s Howie Liu has no interest in exiting, even as the company’s valuation soars September 15, 2020 at 08:00AM

Leaked memo excoriates Facebook’s ‘slapdash and haphazard’ response to global political manipulation A former Facebook data scientist dropped a detailed, damning memo on her last day there, calling the social network out for what she describes as an arbitrary, slow, and generally inadequate response to fake accounts and activity affecting politics worldwide. BuzzFeed News acquired the full memo and has published excerpts in this report, which is […] Social – TechCrunch - Leaked memo excoriates Facebook’s ‘slapdash and haphazard’ response to global political manipulation September 15, 2020 at 07:00AM

Quantum startup CEO suggests we are only five years away from a quantum desktop computer Today at TechCrunch Disrupt 2020, leaders from three quantum computing startups joined TechCrunch editor Frederic Lardinois to discuss the future of the technology. IonQ CEO and president Peter Chapman suggested we could be as little as five years away from a desktop quantum computer, but not everyone agreed on that optimistic timeline. “I think within […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Quantum startup CEO suggests we are only five years away from a quantum desktop computer September 15, 2020 at 05:00AM

YouTube launches its TikTok rival, YouTube Shorts, initially in India As TikTok’s fate in the U.S. remains murky, YouTube today announced the launch of a new short-form video experience it’s calling YouTube Shorts. The feature will allow users, initially in India, to upload 15-second or less short-form videos using a new set of creator tools, including a multi-segment camera, similar to TikTok, speed controls and […] Social – TechCrunch - YouTube launches its TikTok rival, YouTube Shorts, initially in India September 15, 2020 at 04:00AM

TikTok hits 100M users in Europe as the clock ticks on its US business TikTok may or may not be making a deal for its US operations, which the US government says it will shut down over national security concerns come September 20th if its Chinese ownership is not resolved. But something that the US narrative has not really addressed is that the company is still growing like a weed […] Social – TechCrunch - TikTok hits 100M users in Europe as the clock ticks on its US business September 14, 2020 at 11:00PM

Airtable raises $185M and launches new low-code and automation features The spreadsheet-centric database and no-code platform Airtable today announced that it has raised a $185 million Series D funding round, putting the company at a $2.585 billion post-money valuation. Thrive Capital led the round, with additional funding by existing investors Benchmark, Coatue, Caffeinated Capital and CRV, as well as new investor D1 Capital. With this, […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Airtable raises $185M and launches new low-code and automation features September 14, 2020 at 11:00PM

Facebook introduces a co-viewing experience in Messenger, ‘Watch Together’ Facebook today is rolling out a new feature that will allow friends and family to watch videos together over Messenger. The feature, called “Watch Together,” works with all Facebook Watch video content, including its original programs, user uploads, creator content, live streams, and soon, music videos. At launch, the co-watching experience can be used by […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook introduces a co-viewing experience in Messenger, ‘Watch Together’ September 14, 2020 at 10:00PM

YouTube hit with UK class action style suit seeking $3BN+ for ‘unlawful’ use of kids’ data Another class action style lawsuit has been lodged against a tech giant in the UK alleging violations of privacy and seeking major damages. The latest representative action, filed against Google-owned YouTube, accuses the platform of routinely breaking UK and European data protection laws by unlawfully targeting up to five million under-13-year-olds with addictive programming and […] Social – TechCrunch - YouTube hit with UK class action style suit seeking $3BN+ for ‘unlawful’ use of kids’ data September 14, 2020 at 10:00PM

China may kill TikTok’s US operations rather than see them sold The controversial push to force Chinese tech unicorn ByteDance to divest part or all of its smash-hit TikTok social media service to a U.S.-based company could be in doubt after a report today indicated that China’s government may oppose the transaction. According to reporting by Reuters, the Chinese government may prefer TikTok to simply shutter […] Social – TechCrunch - China may kill TikTok’s US operations rather than see them sold September 12, 2020 at 10:00AM

As COVID-19 era drags on, VCs look beyond Zoom calls for due diligence and sourcing While the coronavirus has accelerated the dealmaking pace for many early-stage startups, activity has not come without adaptation. Remote investment struggles for investors were clear from the get go: it’s challenging to invest millions in someone you have never met, and there’s not a lot to learn from “off-the-cuff” conversations that are calendared days in […] Social – TechCrunch - As COVID-19 era drags on, VCs look beyond Zoom calls for due diligence and sourcing September 12, 2020 at 09:00AM

Facebook launches poll worker recruitment push in the News Feed With the election looming and a pandemic still raging through the U.S., a shortage of poll workers is just one of many threats to voting this November — but it’s a big one. In a Facebook post Friday, Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company will launch a poll worker recruitment drive on the platform. Beginning […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook launches poll worker recruitment push in the News Feed September 12, 2020 at 04:00AM

Facebook seeks fresh legal delay to block order to suspend its transatlantic data transfers Facebook is firing up its lawyers to try to block EU regulators from forcing it to suspend transatlantic data transfers in the wake of a landmark ruling by Europe’s top court this summer. The tech giant has applied to judges in Ireland to seek a judicial review of a preliminary suspension order, it has emerged. […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook seeks fresh legal delay to block order to suspend its transatlantic data transfers September 12, 2020 at 03:00AM

TikTok fixes Android bugs that could have led to account hijacks TikTok has fixed four security bugs in its Android app that could have led to the hijacking of user accounts. The vulnerabilities, discovered by app security startup Oversecured, could have allowed a malicious app on the same device to steal sensitive files, like session tokens, from inside the TikTok app. Session tokens are small files […] Social – TechCrunch - TikTok fixes Android bugs that could have led to account hijacks September 12, 2020 at 02:00AM

Daily Crunch: Facebook launches a college-only network Facebook returns to its college roots, Alexa gets a printing feature and we take a deep dive into Unity’s business. This is your Daily Crunch for September 10, 2020. The big story: Facebook launches a college-only network If you’re old and decrepit like me, you remember when Facebook was only for college students and required […] Social – TechCrunch - Daily Crunch: Facebook launches a college-only network September 11, 2020 at 08:00AM

Twitter’s rules address worries over ‘peaceful transfer of power’ in US election Twitter announced expanded efforts to fight misinformation ahead of the U.S. election — with at least a few hair-raising lines that throw November’s stakes into sharp relief. The company is making a game plan for what happens if the results of the 2020 election are unclear or contested, with a handful of newly articulated policies […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter’s rules address worries over ‘peaceful transfer of power’ in US election September 11, 2020 at 06:02AM

Facebook returns to its roots with Campus, a college student-only social network Facebook is getting back to its roots as a college-focused social network. The company announced today the launch of a new social networking platform, Facebook Campus, which offers college students a private place to connect with classmates, join groups, discover upcoming campus events, get updates from their school’s administration and chat with other students from […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook returns to its roots with Campus, a college student-only social network September 11, 2020 at 12:02AM

StackRox nabs $26.5M for a platform that secures containers in Kubernetes Containers have become a ubiquitous cornerstone in how companies manage their data, a trend that has only accelerated in the last eight months with the larger shift to cloud services and more frequent remote working due to the coronavirus pandemic. Alongside that, startups building services to enable containers to be used better are also getting […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - StackRox nabs $26.5M for a platform that secures containers in Kubernetes September 10, 2020 at 10:00PM

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B2B marketing company Metadata.io raises $6.5M Metadata.io announced today that it has raised $6.5 million in Series A funding. It’s been more than four years since I wrote about the startup’s $2 million seed funding. At the time, co-founder and CEO Gil Allouche described the product as helping business-to-business marketers target their ads as people who resemble their existing sales leads. Since […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - B2B marketing company Metadata.io raises $6.5M September 10, 2020 at 08:00AM

In a startup reprise, Courtne Smith launches NewNew, a social network based on shared content Since her departure from Drake’s entourage (where she worked as his longtime personal assistant) Courtne Smith has launched a line of hair products; a giveaway game that dropped swag like Yeezy shoes and Kardashian beauty products called Suprize; and now, NewNew, a social network based on the videos its users like and share. Think of […] Social – TechCrunch - In a startup reprise, Courtne Smith launches NewNew, a social network based on shared content September 10, 2020 at 05:00AM

Snapchat’s new Lens celebrates tomorrow’s NFL kickoff Snap and the NFL recently announced a multi-year extension to their content partnership. Now, with the season starting tomorrow, they’re revealing more details about what kinds of content fans can expect to find on Snapchat. For tomorrow night’s kickoff, they’ve created a special augmented reality Lens that takes fans from the Kansas City Chiefs’ locker […] Social – TechCrunch - Snapchat’s new Lens celebrates tomorrow’s NFL kickoff September 10, 2020 at 01:00AM

Xometry raises $75M Series E to expand custom manufacturing marketplace When companies need to find manufacturers to build custom parts, it’s not always an easy process, especially during a pandemic. Xometry, a 7-year old startup based in Maryland has built an online marketplace where companies can find manufacturers across the world with excess capacity to build whatever they need. Today, the company announced a $75 […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Xometry raises $75M Series E to expand custom manufacturing marketplace September 10, 2020 at 12:02AM

Socialbakers acquired by customer engagement company Astute Astute, a customer engagement platform headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, is announcing that it has acquired social media marketing company Socialbakers. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Socialbakers CEO Yuval Ben-Itzhak will become president of Socialbakers for the combined company, and he told me via email that the entire Socialbakers team will be […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Socialbakers acquired by customer engagement company Astute September 10, 2020 at 12:02AM

Snyk bags another $200M at $2.6B valuation 9 months after last raise When we last reported on Snyk in January, eons ago in COVID time, the company announced $150 million investment on a valuation of over $1 billion. Today, barely nine months later, it announced another $200 million and its valuation has expanded to $2.6 billion. The company is obviously drawing some serious investor attention and even […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Snyk bags another $200M at $2.6B valuation 9 months after last raise September 9, 2020 at 10:00PM

Sprinklr raises $200M on $2.7B valuation three years after last investment Sprinklr has been busy the last few years acquiring a dozen companies, then rewriting their code base and incorporating them into the company’s customer experience platform. Today, the late-stage startup went back to the fund raising well for the first time in three years, and it was a doozy, raising $200 million on a $2.7 […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Sprinklr raises $200M on $2.7B valuation three years after last investment September 9, 2020 at 09:00PM

Twitter begins adding headlines and descriptions to some of its ‘trends’ Twitter is working to make its real-time Trending section less confusing. Last week, the company announced it would begin pinning to the trend’s page a representative tweet that gives more insight about a trend and promised more changes would soon be underway. Today, the company says it will begin writing headlines and descriptions for some […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter begins adding headlines and descriptions to some of its ‘trends’ September 9, 2020 at 08:00AM

TikTok is trying to remove a disturbing video showing up on people’s For You pages A graphic video of a man committing suicide spread across TikTok early this week, and the company is still working to remove it. Originating on Facebook Live, the clip was uploaded onto TikTok over the weekend and began to take root in users’ algorithmic recommendations. While the video first made the jump from Facebook in […] Social – TechCrunch - TikTok is trying to remove a disturbing video showing up on people’s For You pages September 9, 2020 at 08:00AM