Today, Apple confirmed plans to invest in SoftBank’s massive $100 billion Vision Fund, the international tech fund that the telecom giant announced last October. In a statement to TechCrunch, Apple verified its involvement in the fund, a rumor first reported by The Wall Street Journal in mid December: “Apple is planning to invest $1 billion in SoftBank’s Vision Fund.… Read More
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Freskdesk announced today that it has acquired Banglaore-based startup Pipemonk for an undisclosed amount. Pipemonk helps companies move data between cloud platforms, which should come in handy for Freshdesk and its partners. Pipemonk, which was born as ZapStitch, had raised just over 2 million since it launched in 2014, with its primary funding round coming in May, 2015, when it landed $2… Read More
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Bicycle sharing services are primed to be a major focus for China’s startup scene this year. Now today, only the fourth day of 2017, comes the first mega-round for the space after Mobike announced its $215 million Series D funding. Read More
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Platforms like Musical.ly and Vine have helped find the next-generation of internet stars, and Chinese internet giant is aiming to ride that digital media wave to help grow its presence in Southeast Asia. Read More
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BitPagos, a bitcoin and digital payments startup that was a Battlefield finalist at TechCrunch Disrupt New York 2016, has raised $1.9 million Series A funding round to expand its services in its native South America. Read More
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Despite my early skepticism, I’m becoming increasingly convinced that commercial drone delivery will soon become a thing. Enter Israel’s Flytrex, which has just raised $3 million in funding to build out its drone delivery solution. Read More
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Monese, the London-based fintech startup that offers a mobile banking app for immigrants and expats who might otherwise find it difficult to open a bank account outside of their originating country, has raised $10 million in Series A funding. Read More
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French VC firm Alven Capital has been around since 2000 and has become a major player in the VC scene in Paris. The firm recently closed a brand new $261 million fund called Alven V (€250 million), which is a big step up as Alven IV was only a $125 million fund (€120 million). Over the years, the firm has managed to invest in many successful startups led by French entrepreneurs. Alven… Read More
from TechCrunch
Unlike IPOs, 2016 was pretty active for tech M&A. The year resulted in $612.9 billion in global tech deals, according to Dealogic, which made it the second best year for acquisitions. It nearly kept up the pace of record-setting 2015, where we saw $691.4 billion in tech transactions across the world.
A confluence of factors led to consolidation amongst semiconductors and enterprise tech. Read More
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