Back in June, the WSJ reported that Airbnb had raised a massive $1.5 billion round of funding. Today, the company confirmed those reports by way of SEC filing. The total offering and sold amount is $1,499,937,904.00 for those keeping score. Airbnb’s valuation is now at or above $25 billion, which is just staggering. It sounds like Airbnb is going to focus on strengthening itself… Read More
from TechCrunch
Everyone can shoot video but few can record or afford a legal soundtrack. Until now. With Jukedeck’s new artificial intelligence music composition technology, creators can get a cheap, royalty free soundtrack custom-made for their video. Jukedeck users don’t even need musical talent. They just select the mood, style, tempo and length, and Jukedeck returns a unique song to match… Read More
from TechCrunch
Vevo, the world’s largest music video platform, has today announced its first acquisition: Showyou, a subscription-based video streaming platform that helps users find video content that might appeal to them. Vevo is a joint venture of Universal Music Group, Google, Sony Music Entertainment and Abu Dhabi Media, and offers music videos from major record labels, which are then… Read More
from TechCrunch
Klarna co-founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski took the stage at Disrupt London today to discuss his payment startup and the wider financial tech ecosystem in Europe and in the U.S. Klarna isn’t a household name outside of Europe yet. The company only launched there in September, thanks to a partnership with Overstock.com. Still, Siemiatkowski, who met his co-founder when they worked… Read More
from TechCrunch
Send Gigster your app idea and it sends you back that app. No coding. No hiring. No wrangling freelancers. Just a fundamental shift in how software gets built. That’s why Andreessen Horowitz has led a new $10 million Series A for Gigster just 18 weeks after its launch. The lauded venture firm was impressed with Gigster’s artificial intelligence engine. It converts a… Read More
from TechCrunch
Today at TechCrunch Disrupt London, our own Connie Loizos sat down with a cadre of Silicon Valley investors to dig into what is going down on the American side of the pond, and how the group viewed the European startup scene. The group agreed that things in the States might be just a bit too warm. Andy McLoughlin of SoftTech noted that many companies are having a difficult time raising at… Read More
from TechCrunch
APUS Group, a Beijing-based company that makes utility apps for Android smartphones, has launched a $45 million investment fund to invest in Indian startups. Several of APUS Group’s own investors—Northern Light Venture Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Chengwei Ventures, SIG Global, and Qiming Venture Partners—will also participate in the fund. Read More
from TechCrunch
Paytm, which claims to be India’s leading mobile payment platform, has acquired local services startup Near.in for $2 million to strengthen its online-to-offline commerce strategy. Founded in December 2014, Near.in’s website and app connects users in four cities (Delhi, Gurgaon, Bengaluru, and Mumbai) with a wide array of verified businesses ranging from home repair to fortunetellers. Read More
from TechCrunch
Having all your content on TV is a bit like having all your money in oil: it’s still popular, but the next thing is coming and you better diversify. That’s why it’s so smart that talk show host Ellen DeGeneres set up her own Ellen Digital Ventures firm to bring her content and capital to new mediums beyond television.
Today, Ellen Digital Ventures announced that musician… Read More
from TechCrunch
Vanitee, a six-month-old Singapore-based startup that provides a marketplace to connect beauty practitioners with customers, has raised $3.5 million as it prepares to expand its service across Asia. Read More
from TechCrunch