Tencent, Asia’s second highest valued tech firm, has bought a five percent share in Tesla. According to a filing, the Chinese firm scooped up 8,167,544 shares for around $1.7 billion to become one of Tesla’s largest shareholders. The news itself sent Tesla’s share price up three percent in pre-market trading. The purchase was arranged on March 17, and those… Read More
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A Seattle startup called Wrench has raised $4 million in Series A funding for an app that sends certified auto mechanics to the customer’s door. The round was led by Madrona Venture Group, according to Wrench CEO and co-founder Ed Petersen. In general, people dread cars repairs. According to a AAA survey, 2 out of 3 people in the U.S. don’t trust auto repair shops and more… Read More
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Canon Europe seems to be developing a penchant for buying up London-based startups in the photo or printing space. Following the acquisition of parental photo-sharing app Lifecake in 2015, the company is on a shopping spree again, this time acquiring Kite, a print tech startup that lets developers add on-demand printing features to their apps. Read More
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Arable has raised $4.25 million for solar-powered sensors and software to help farmers produce more food with fewer resources, and more accurately predict their yields. Middleland Capital and S2G Ventures led the Series A investment in Arable joined by Chasefield, Spark Labs and Cantos VC. Believe it or not, farmers in the US have faced a labor shortage for years. US citizens aren’t drawn… Read More
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Spotify this morning announced it has acquired content recommendation service MightyTV, in an effort to further enhance the company’s advertising products and its marketing technology platforms. The deal will also see MightyTV’s founder and CEO Brian Adams joining, where he will become Spotify’s VP of Technology, focused on both of these initiatives. The company declined… Read More
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Snapcart, a startup helping to bring transparency to the world of offline commerce in Southeast Asia, has raised $3 million in pre-Series A funding. We first wrote about the company when it launched in September 2015 with the aim of providing data on the largely uncharted world of offline commerce in Southeast Asia, a region of over 600 million consumers and a growing middle class.… Read More
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Alteryx, the data analytics company, went public on the New York Stock Exchange today, marking the third IPO of the year. The company priced its IPO yesterday at $14 per share, and closed Friday at $15.50, or 10.7% higher. Alteryx works with clients like Amazon, Ford and Coca-Cola to help them better assess what products are selling and where there are market inefficiencies. CEO Dean… Read More
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Welcome to the second episode of TechCrunch’s newest podcast, Equity, our venture capital-focused show focused on the numbers, people and companies driving the technology industry. This week, TechCrunch’s Katie Roof, Matthew Lynley, and myself were joined by special guest Elizabeth “Beezer” Clarkson from Sapphire Ventures. We discussed the potential for rising… Read More
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The wheels on America’s tech IPO train continue to turn. Enterprise data analytics firm Alteryx, the next tech firm in line to go public, has priced its shares at $14 ahead of its listing on the New York Stock Exchange tomorrow (Friday). That pricing — which comes in at the top of the firm’s range — will see Alteryx, which is listing under AYX symbol, raise $126… Read More
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Zenreach is announcing that it has raised $30 million in Series C funding. Founder and CEO Jack Abraham said that Zenreach is “bringing the online and offline world together.” Specifically, businesses that use Zenreach can offer their customers free Wi-Fi. All the customer needs to do is register using their email address, phone number or Facebook account. Read More
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