HomeAway, the NASDAQ-listed rival to Airbnb, has fully acquired Travelmob, the Asia-focused rental and listings site that it bought a majority stake in back two years ago, in an undisclosed deal that sharpens its focus on the Asia Pacific region. Read More
from TechCrunch
Another month, another billion for Uber… The ride-hailing business is reportedly raising yet again — planning to raise close to $1 billion in new investment according to the NYT citing “people close to the matter”, with investors looking at a valuation of between $60 billion and $70 billion for the six-year-old startup. Read More
from TechCrunch
We’ve heard a lot about software eating the world; now a company that has built its business around food is now eating up a software startup. Restaurant Brands International, owner of Burger King and Horton’s, is acqui-hiring the team from Brewster — the service that lets you unify address books from disparate apps into a cohesive whole. Founder Steve Greenwood and his team… Read More
from TechCrunch
Often, off-grid rural villages in places like Africa have their electricity generated by energy devices, like solar panels and batteries, donated by non-profit organizations and charities. The problem, however is that model is not sustainable and relies of yet more charitable hand-outs. What’s required is to make clean energy scale in self-supporting way. Luckily the rise of the mobile… Read More
from TechCrunch
Yota Devices, the Russian company that sells two-screened Android smartphones, has a new owner after shareholder Telconet Capital sold its majority 64.9 percent holding to Hong Kong-listed REX Global Entertainment for $100 million, according to a regulatory filing. Read More
from TechCrunch
Vistaprint has been around for twenty years, so if you live in the U.S. or Europe, ordering printed material online might not seem like a big deal. In Nigeria, however, getting business card and flyers are still a pain that requires multiple visits to a brick-and-mortar shop, says Printivo founder Oluyomi Ojo. Read More
from TechCrunch
Naspers, the South Africa conglomerate that invested in China’s Tencent among others, is upping its stake in Russia-based Avito, the third largest classifieds site in the world, by way of a $1.2 billion investment. Read More
from TechCrunch
Earlier this week I took a call with Hussein Kanji, who, along with Rob Kniaz, is founding partner of London-based VC Hoxton Ventures, a relatively new fund that already has a growing reputation as one of the more ambitious new kids on the VC block. Read More
from TechCrunch
Nasdaq has agreed to buy SecondMarket Solutions to combine forces with the Nasdaq Private Market. The group will facilitate the exchange of shares for private companies including DocuSign, Pinterest, Shazam and Tango. Bill Siegel, present CEO of SecondMarket, will lead the expanded Nasdaq Private Market business, which will be headquartered in both San Francisco and New York. The businesses… Read More
from TechCrunch
As data scientists continue to become an ever-prominent part of the IT team in any business (not just tech businesses), we’re seeing the emergence of more products and services that are built to cater specifically to them. Periscope Data is a startup that has built a platform for data scientists to create fast but highly detailed and customised visualisations — think Tableau, but… Read More
from TechCrunch