Author: Thomas Crown

 TrueLayer, a London startup that’s built a developer platform to make it easy for fintech companies to access bank APIs — and ride the PSD2 gravy train — has raised $3 million in Series A funding. Read More

from TechCrunch

 Madrid, Spain-based (and U.S. incorporated) edtech startup Lingokids is on a mission to get young kids learning a second language. The company, previously known as Monkimun, offers language lessons in the form of interactive games for children aged 2-6 and delivered via an online subscription and parental portal. It currently provides English and simplified Chinese, with Spanish to be… Read More

from TechCrunch

 Soldo, the London-based fintech startup that offers a multi-user spending account, first launched for consumers and since tailored to businesses too, has raised $11 million in Series A funding. Read More

from TechCrunch

 Animated GIF capture and social network Phhhoto is shutting down its app due to server costs becoming unsustainable once Instagram stole its users with copycat Boomerang. Phhhoto will pivot to focus on its parent company HYPNO’s physical photobooths for events service. “We watched Systrom and his product team quietly using PHHHOTO almost a year before Boomerang was released. So… Read More

from TechCrunch

 Real estate is one of those industries that has been rather slow on the uptake of technology, which makes a lot of sense. Buying and selling a home is one of the biggest, most personal decisions in a person’s life, and the shift to online browsing, transactions, etc. was bound to take longer than other sectors. Brokers, too, have grown accustomed to their ways and are usually hesitant to… Read More

from TechCrunch

 AimBrain, a London startup that offers “biometric identity” as a service to help fintech companies and other financial institutions fight fraud, has raised £4 million in Series A funding. Read More

from TechCrunch

 Hugsy, a Dutch startup that’s developing a ‘smart’ blanket designed to help the care of newborns and premature babies, has raised €200k (~$220k) in seed funding via the Leapfunder European angel investor network. Read More

from TechCrunch

 Meltwater, the self-described ‘media intelligence’ company, continues on an acquisition spree. Following the purchase of Oxford Uni spin-out Wrapidity in February, it has acquired Hong Kong-Based startup Klarity to enhance its social media monitoring and analytics capabilities in Asia. Read More

from TechCrunch

 In the U.S., childcare presents a nerve-wracking quagmire for parents. It’s expensive—almost a fifth of American families spend more than a quarter of their income on childcare—but that doesn’t mean it’s a lucrative business. In fact, many caregivers make so little that they can’t afford childcare for their own kids and drop out of the workforce.… Read More

from TechCrunch

 Vice Media has raised $450M in new funding from private-equity firm TPG, with a deal valuing the media company around $5.7 billion post-money. Shane Smith, co-founder and CEO of Vice was just on CNBC answering questions about the funding and Vice’s plans to eventually become a public company. While remaining cryptic, Smith did note that this raise is “what we would do if we were… Read More

from TechCrunch