Wednesday, December 28, 2022

What’s around the corner for the EV market in 2023?

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By Henry Pickavet

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Greetings, readers. As Haje and Christine told you last week, this week's Daily Crunch will look a bit different, given they are both taking some time off. But you'll still get some TC tidbits during this typically slow news week. I'll also be sharing some of our favorite stories of the year from TC and TC+, so let's get going! — Neither Christine nor Haje

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The TechCrunch Top 3

  • 2023 will be the year electric vehicles really start to take shape: "Driven by policy initiatives from governments and billions of dollars in investment from automakers, we can safely say the EV industry has begun to take shape," Rebecca writes.
  • No "Next Twitter," he says: Devin writes that it's perfectly okay for there not to be a replacement for the Twitter that some of us have come to know and struggle with: "The illusory choice of rushing to The Next Twitter must be rejected. Twitter was more than a product: it was a moment in time, an unrefined manifestation of digital capability that, like any such raw element, destroyed as often as it created. It was necessary and interesting, but these messy delights have messy ends. To recreate it now, with only superficial lessons learned, would be like rebuilding a fallen castle on the same shifting sands. Watch it sink!"
  • "It's all in the (lack of) details": Zack and Carly, our friendly neighborhood cybersecurity reporters, took a look back at the most badly handled data breaches of the year.

Startups and VC

  • In the wind turbine: Harri writes that robotics startup Aerones, which scrubs and inspects wind turbines, raised $39 million in funding from undisclosed investors.
  • Multifaceted fintech: Jakarta-based Akulaku raised $200 million. The fintech, which operates in the Philippines and Malaysia as well, offers a virtual credit card and installment shopping platform, as well as an investment platform and neobank, Catherine writes.
  • A view of money: Indian fintech Money View raised $75 million in a new round to scale its credit business and build more products, Manish writes.

High-growth startups should start de-risking their path to IPO now

It sounds counterintuitive, but in this chilly fundraising environment, late-stage startups need to consider going public.

“While some companies delay their IPOs, others can play catch-up and prepare for the time when the open market itches to invest again,” writes Carl Niedbala, COO and co-founder of commercial insurance broker Founder Shield.

In a detailed TC+ article, he looks at why “sensible companies are de-risking their public path,” which sectors are best positioned, and perhaps most notable, which benchmarks indicate “that an IPO is in their future.”

Two more and a look back:

  • Six climate tech trends: More investors are looking to get into the climate tech space, and we have some ideas about where they'll put their money, Tim reports.
  • FOMO over due diligence: A few investors talk about how due diligence and investing practices suffered a bit this year and how we can learn from the biggest mistakes. Dominic-Madori and Ron have more.
  • Take a look back: Karan Bhasin covers what 10 investors thought about no-code/low-code startups in the first quarter of this year. We’ll be running a fresh no-code/low-code survey in Q1 2023, so if you're an investor with an interest in the space and want to participate, reach out to us here.

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!

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Big Tech, Inc.

  • Struggling in India: Amazon and Uber were among a number of companies cited by research firm Fairwork India that create unfair working conditions for gig workers. Manish has more.
  • Balance out: If what you're looking for is a report about how you interact with your computer, Balance has your back and might even help you work on some healthy computing habits if that's what you're after in the New Year, Ivan writes.
  • What’s coming for AI: Kyle also put on his prediction hat over the weekend to let us all know what we can expect on the AI front in 2023.

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Saturday, December 24, 2022

Meta to pay $725M settlement in Cambridge Analytica data access case

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By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps

Friday, December 23, 2022

Today we celebrate a bit of oversight over an industry that has been allowed to prey on those less fortunate for way too long — Devin reports that the FCC is taking a more firm hand in overseeing the prison phone system in a simple bill, giving the regulatory body the power "to ensure just and reasonable charges for telephone and advanced communications services in correctional and detention facilities."

In other captivating news, the Daily Crunch will be back next week in a slightly diminished form, as both Christine and Haje disappear for the holidays. The full newsletter will be back soon, and the two of us wish you a very happy Christmas if you celebrate, a very peaceful holiday if you do not, and a magnificently prosperous 2023, in either case. Much love, Christine and Haje

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The TechCrunch Top 4

  • Meta settles: After years of pushing back against a lawsuit, Meta has agreed to a $725 million settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit over Cambridge Analytica harvesting data from Facebook users. Paul has more.
  • Breathe in that fresh air: Mila, the maker of a smart air purifier that came from humble beginnings on Kickstarter, scored $10 million in a round led by Electrolux. This gives it a $52 million valuation and the backing to add some smarts to a new product — a humidifier, Haje writes.
  • Charge it up: It looks like Tesla is #winning in a space that Apple couldn't make work. The automaker unveiled its $300 charging mat that can recharge three devices at once, Matt reports.
  • The results are in: Dominic-Madori surveyed three Black investors about what they are prepping for in 2023. Read the full version on TechCrunch+.

Holiday shipping is easier this year, but the tech is still lagging

Global supply lines are in better shape than they were this time last year, but that doesn’t bode well for the future, writes Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen.

“This year's improvements in shipping largely reflect a pullback in consumption rather than any improvement in the underlying infrastructure,” he says, noting that labor shortages, global instability and high fuel prices have created persistent bottlenecks.

“Fortunately, the data available today is rich beyond measure, and we also have the tools to leverage it in ways that can boost efficiency.”

Three more from the TC+ team:

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!

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Big Tech Inc.

We enjoyed Ingrid's in-depth look at how decentralized social media player Mastodon is scaling as Twitter users decamp to search for other ways to post everything they are thinking. TechCrunch+ subscribers — if you're not one, you can be easily — can also read her Q&A with Mastodon creator Eugen Rochko.

If you are a LastPass user like many of us here at TechCrunch, you might want to check your email if you haven't already. LastPass says hackers stole some customers' password vaults. Zack says it's time to change your passwords.

Google isn't taking India's latest fine lying down. Manish reports the search engine giant is appealing the hundreds of millions of dollars in fines ordered against it over business practices on Android.

And we have four more for you:

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Friday, December 23, 2022

2 former SBF associates plead guilty to fraud and are cooperating with US federal prosecutors

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By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Well, the weather outside is…entirely dependent on where you are, we suppose. For the purposes of this newsletter, let's imagine sunshine, some pristine beaches, a lovely gentle cooling breeze, and some piña coladas, because if we're going to make up some fictional weather, we may as well make it lovely, right? — Christine and Haje

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Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

The TechCrunch Top 3

  • Surprised, but also not surprised: FTX co-founder Gary Wang and Alameda's Caroline Ellison plead guilty to criminal charges, Darrell writes.
  • $eeing i$ believing: Twitter is now sourcing stock and cryptocurrency prices from TradingView and automatically displaying them in search results. Ivan shows you how to get them to appear in your next tweet.
  • Another Okta breach: Okta confirmed that it's responding to another major security incident after a hacker accessed its source code following a breach of its GitHub repositories, Carly reports.

Startups and VC

Text-to-image AI exploded this year as technical advances greatly enhanced the fidelity of art that AI systems could create. As controversial as systems like Stable Diffusion and OpenAI's DALL-E 2 are, platforms such as DeviantArt and Canva have adopted them to power creative tools, personalize branding and even ideate new products, writes Kyle as he takes you on a tour through a brief history of diffusion, the tech at the heart of modern image-generating AI.

Speaking of AI, Amanda reports that Unstable Diffusion, a group trying to monetize AI porn generation, raised more than $56,000 on Kickstarter from 867 backers. Then, as Kickstarter changed its thinking about what kind of AI-based projects it will allow, the crowdfunding platform shut down Unstable Diffusion's campaign.

And in only partially AI news:

Avoid 3 common sales mistakes startups make during a downturn

Analysts estimate that IT spending will increase in 2023, but tell that to SaaS sales teams who are trying to close contracts with customers who’ve been instructed to slash spending.

“What every company needs now is efficient sales,” says Anand Shah, CEO and co-founder of Databook.

In a TC+ guest post, he explains why reactive moves like increasing sales quotas or raising prices are wrongheaded moves that won’t move the needle.

“Make real changes to meet your buyers’ needs. Use the macroeconomic backdrop to make the necessary sales productivity improvements.”

Three more from the TC+ team:

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!

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Big Tech Inc.

Having that ad blocker box pop up when you try to open a new website is annoying, but Zack says we should find the good in it — heck, even the FBI says you should use an ad blocker, he writes. Why? Apparently, "cybercriminals are buying ads to impersonate legitimate brands, like cryptocurrency exchanges" and they are so good that it's hard to tell it's not the real thing. Stay safe, everyone!

What do we want? News! When do we want it? Now!:

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