Ahead of Snap’s eagerly-awaited IPO, Line, one of the U.S. tech IPO highlights of 2016, has doubled down on sister service and Snapchat clone Snow. Line and Snow both share the same parent company — Naver — but the two firms have increasingly become financially entwined. Line bought up 25 percent of Snow last September for $45 million, and now it is nearly doubling its… Read More
from TechCrunch
SoftBank is being linked with an investment that could value WeWork at more than $20 billion. CNBC reported that the Japanese telco giant is gearing up to make an initial investment of $2 billion into WeWork, with a view to putting nearly $1 billion more into the firm. The publication said the secondary investment could reach $2 billion, which would put SoftBank’s total input at $4… Read More
from TechCrunch
Boston-based Drizly used to be known as the on-demand delivery app for alcohol. More recently, the company evolved into a marketplace that helps brick-and-mortar liquor stores to connect with and sell to customers nearby through web and mobile commerce. The Drizly app shows shoppers different prices on the beer, wine and liquor that they’re looking for at local shops, along with… Read More
from TechCrunch
Entrepreneurs who pitch on ABC’s Shark Tank typically make packaged goods and apparel. Occasionally, the high tech breaks through. XCraft, the company behind the PhoneDrone Ethos, scored a rare investment from all of the judges on the ABC show last spring, for example. And tonight, drones are once again flying “in the Tank” as DARTdrones seeks funding to build… Read More
from TechCrunch
Online finance startup SoFi got its start refinancing student loans but gradually has been adding other services to members. To expand into new regions and move closer to becoming a full-service financial services company, SoFi has confirmed that it raised an additional $500 million in equity financing led by Silver Lake. Read More
from TechCrunch
So much for sticking “nuclear weapons” in carriers’ dumb pipes. Shine, last year’s enfant terrible of mobile ad blocking is pivoting (again!) — in both tone of voice and business model. It’s also rebranding to, er, Rainbow. Read More
from TechCrunch
Zalora, the Rocket Internet-backed online fashion store, is continuing its retreat from Asia. The firm sold off its businesses in Vietnam and Thailand last year, and now it is withdrawing from the Philippines and Indonesia.
Yesterday it transpired that Zalora sold 49 percent of its Philippines-based operations to local real estate firm Ayala, as E27 reported, but it is in the process of… Read More
from TechCrunch
Privacy Labs, a stealth-stage startup that wants to enable internet users to “regain control” of their personal data, has landed a $4 million seed funding round. The company doesn’t have a product right now and is cagey about what it will eventually release, but nonetheless its promise has persuaded Initialized Capital to lead this round. Other investors… Read More
from TechCrunch
Hiatus, a New York-based startup that helps you identify (and potentially cancel) your monthly reoccurring subscriptions, has raised $1.2M in seed funding. Founded in 2015, Hiatus first connects to your bank account and identifies your paid reoccurring subscriptions, some of which you may have forgotten you’re even paying for. Each month it will notify you before an auto-payment happens,… Read More
from TechCrunch
As pollution, extreme weather, and over-population threaten the viability of large, outdoor farms, a startup called Bowery Farming Inc. has raised $6.3 million in venture funding to grow food indoors, even in the middle of a city. The startup’s high-tech approach uses robotics, LED lighting, computer vision, sensors and data analytics to grow leafy greens with no pesticides and very… Read More
from TechCrunch