As Spotify continues to inch towards a public listing, Apple is making a move of its own to step up its game in music services. Sources tell us that the company is close to acquiring Shazam, the popular app that lets people identify any song, TV show, film or advert in seconds, by listening to an audio clip or (in the case of, say, an ad) a visual fragment, and then takes you to content… Read More
from TechCrunch
“We plan on making Bitmoji obsolete” says Akash Nigam, CEO of Genies. Bragging about beating one of the world’s top apps before his has even launched is emblematic of Nigam’s and Genies‘ brash style. But with $15 million in funding at a valuation over $100 million, top investors like NEA and Hollywood royalty like CAA are buying into the avatar startup. It already… Read More
from TechCrunch
Bitcoin’s price has risen stratospherically, a fact that leaves many minor players in the market with massive gains and many bigger players millionaires. But is this a bubble? Are the gains real? And are the bitcoin whales in for a sad Christmas? First we must understand what drives bitcoin price and, in particular, this boom. The common understanding for current growth leads us back… Read More
from TechCrunch
Uber has struck a major deal in Southeast Asia after ComfortDelGro, Singapore’s largest taxi operator, announced [PDF] it has agreed to buy a majority share of the ride-hailing giant’s Singapore-based business. The deal will see a joint venture valued at SG$642 million (US$474 million) established to run Uber Singapore. Comfort will contribute SG$295 million in what is the… Read More
from TechCrunch
MishiPay, a London startup that has built mobile self-checkout technology that promises to put an end to queuing to pay, has raised £1.65 million in seed funding. The round is led by European VC Nauta Capital and will be used to further grow the burgeoning company as it persuades high street retailers to adopts its wares. Read More
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Naspers, a South African-based global investor and media conglomerate, has joined the private equity firm Innova Capital to funnel another $82 million into Movile — primarily to increase Movile’s stake in iFood, a Latin American food delivery vendor. Read More
from TechCrunch
On-demand labor marketplaces have been around for decades on the internet. Paying someone to identify a cat using Amazon Mechanical Turk or hiring someone to program a quick website on Upwork is easy — post a job, select someone, pay a few bucks and you’re done. While hiring individuals is reasonably straightforward, building teams to accomplish specialized projects is a far… Read More
from TechCrunch
PullRequest, a Y Combinator Summer 17 graduate, announced a $2.3 million seed round today led by Google’s new AI fund, Gradient Ventures. The Slack Fund, Fika Ventures, Defy Ventures, Lynett Capital, FundersClub and Joe Montana’s Liquid2 Ventures also participated. The company has been concentrating on providing code review as a service, a task that often gets lost in… Read More
from TechCrunch
Chattermill, a London-based startup that uses ‘deep learning’ to help companies make better sense of customer feedback, has raised £600,000 in seed funding. Backing comes from Entrepreneur First — Chattermill is an alumni of the company builder — and Avonmore Developments, along with a number of angel investors, including Jeff Kelisky, CEO of Seedrs. Read More
from TechCrunch
B Capital, the investment firm from Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin that is backed by BCG, has stepped into India after it backed smart point-of-sale company Mswipe in its first deal in the country. The U.S.-Asia fund is investing $10 million into Bangalore-based Mswipe alongside DSG Consumer Partners in what is an extension to a Series D round announced this summer. Originally pegged at… Read More
from TechCrunch