Apple announces its 2022 App Store Award winners

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Oh hey! While we have you here, grab your calendar — we've got some things for you to add. For the stargazers among us, we’ll be in Los Angeles doing TC Sessions: Space on December 6. And on April 20, 2023, we're heading to Boston for our TC Early Stage festival. Come to either. Come to both. Come to neither. We love you all just the same. But we'd prefer to see your faces in person if we can! Oh, and did you know it's “Giving Tuesday”? That means it's time to think about which of your favorite causes deserve some of your time or dollars, if you have some of either to spare. — Christine and Haje Image Credits: TechCrunch

The TechCrunch Top 3 And the winner is…: Okay, all you fans of taking photos of yourself "in the now," no matter where you are. Ivan writes that BeReal won "app of the year" for 2022 in Apple's annual App Store Awards. Order up!: Nigerian restaurant tech company Orda gobbled up $3.4 million and is now perfecting its recipe for a cloud-based operating system that helps digitize Africa's small restaurants. Tage has more. M&A action: Manish reports that India-based fintech CRED is acquiring CreditVidya, a SaaS startup specializing in underwriting first-time borrowers. He reports that this is CRED's latest move to expand its infrastructure and product offerings.

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Startups and VC The venture market is in the middle of a downturn, but there are still plenty of emerging fund managers. Seedstars announced today it has launched a platform called Seedstars Capital with Swiss-based investment holding company xMultiplied to help new fund managers around the world launch funds and develop their investment firms. The folks behind the initiative told Catherine that "Seedstars' mission is to impact people's lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship." Earlier today, renowned VC Bill Gurley put together a list of the many "red flags" that VCs should have paid closer attention to when funding FTX, suggesting in a tweet that this summary of warning signs might help keep VCs "out of the investor hurt locker" going forward. All good and well, but in her great piece today, Connie wonders if publishing them now is a little like shouting "Fire!" after everyone is already outside the theater, watching its smoldering remains dissolve into the parking lot. Most of the behaviors that Gurley identified today came to a grinding halt when the market abruptly shifted in spring, and by then, the damage was already done. And we have five more for you. Can you spot the theme of these puns? Send an @Haje on Twitter if you think you know the answer! Botloose: Locus raises another $117 million for its warehouse robots, Brian reports. Elephant Green: Haje reviews Abby, a sleek one-plant weed farm for your apartment. Planes, Trains, and EV Taxis: Annie reports that Kenya's first EV taxi service NopeaRide shuts down. Post/a16z: Amanda reports that Twitter alternative Post News gets funding from a16z. Should they have left?: As Pipe's founding team departs, tensions rise over allegations, Mary Ann reports.

Early-stage founders still have currency: Fundraising in times of greater VC scrutiny According to a pre-seed report by DocSend, founders took an average of 52 meetings with investors in 2022, compared to 39 last year. At the same time, they are submitting 30% more pitch decks, but VC engagement has fallen 23%. “Founders may be discouraged in this environment, but they need to remember that they have ‘currency,’ too,” said Russ Heddleston, co-founder and former CEO of DocSend at Dropbox. DocSend’s report recommends using no more than 50 words per slide. The sections of the deck that address purpose, product and business model are the meat in the sandwich, so founders should spend the most time polishing those points. “Investors spent the third-highest amount of time reviewing the company purpose slide in pre-seed pitch decks, behind only the business model and product slides,” said Heddleston. Three more from the TC+ team: The chain of fools: As BlockFi files for bankruptcy, Jacquelyn wonders, How contagious will FTX's downfall become? Don't be gentle — it's a rental: If EVs can work in rental car fleets, writes Tim, they can work anywhere. Hitting the brakes: As tech companies seek to limit losses, TC+ boss Alex has a reminder in the Exchange of how far some have to go. 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! Read More Image Credits: Boris Zhitkov / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. A group of our fine folks are covering Amazon's AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas this week and have already posted a number of AWS announcements and updates. If you're looking for recommendations, let us steer you toward: Frederic's story on Amazon DataZone, a new data management service that "can help enterprises catalog, discover, share and — most importantly — govern their data." If you have "Danger Zone" stuck in your head now, you're welcome. Ron's item on AWS Supply Chain, Amazon's answer to "supply chain chaos." Paul's look at the AWS natural language updates to QuickSight Q. Brian's story on the new AWS SimSpace Weaver, which "allows developers to run city-sized simulations at scale in the cloud." Here's a bit of non-AWS news for ya: It's like your own little Coachella: Ivan's story on the Instafest app went viral into the wee hours of this morning. The app lets you create your own music festival lineup from your Spotify faves. Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water…: India wants to keep its citizens protected from cryptocurrency, but at the same time is poised to introduce a retail digital currency, called e-rupee, starting in December. It's intended to lessen the country's dependency on cash, Manish reports. It's not about the money, money, money: People be shoppin' after Thanksgiving, and Ingrid writes that Cyber Monday online sales hit a record of $11.3 billion, and not just because prices have gone up with inflation — deep discounts and demand for certain products helped. Letting the bird out of the cage: Be careful where you get your COVID-19 news. Natasha L reports that Twitter is no longer enforcing its COVID misleading information policy when it comes to virus posts. What about your friends?: Moving over to Mastodon? Don't worry, Sarah has a look at Movetodon, a new tool that helps you find your Twitter friends over there.

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WhatsApp rolls out new 'Message Yourself' feature globally

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Monday, November 28, 2022

We’re joining the Cyber Monday fun with 25% off annual subscriptions to TechCrunch+ content and analysis starting today until Wednesday, November 30. Plus, today only, get 50% off tickets to discover the vast unknown and attend TechCrunch Sessions: Space in Los Angeles! Okay, we haven't done a newsletter since Wednesday, and while the U.S. team was chillin’ like villains, the rest of the team was hard at work, so here's some of the highlights from the last half-week of TechCrunchy goodness! — Christine and Haje Image Credits: WhatsApp

The TechCrunch Top 3 Talking to yourself just went digital: Instead of having that internal monologue stay in your head, now you can play out all of your thoughts to yourself in WhatsApp, Jagmeet writes. The messaging platform began rolling out an easier way to talk to yourself today after completing beta testing. "Great Wall of porn": That's how Rita and Catherine describe the bot surge in China that is making it difficult to get any legitimate Twitter search results when trying to find out something about Chinese cities. Why, you ask? Rita writes that "the surge in such bot content coincides with an unprecedented wave of (COVID) protests that have swept across major Chinese cities and universities over the weekend." Your calendar, only more productive: Get ready for your calendar to be more than just a place to record things you have to do that day. Romain writes about Amie, a startup that grabbed $7 million to link your unscheduled to-do list with your calendar. The app also enables users to be social with coworkers.

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Startups and VC Dubai-based mass transit and shared mobility services provider SWVL has carried out its second round of layoffs, affecting 50% of its remaining headcount, Tage reports. The news is coming six months after SWVL laid off 32% (over 400 employees) of its workforce in a "portfolio optimization program" effort geared toward achieving positive cash flow next year. There's a couple of new funds in town, too! Harri reports that Early Light Ventures plots a second, $15 million fund for software 'underdogs,' while Mike writes that BackingMinds raises a new €50 million fund to fund normally overlooked entrepreneurs. He also writes about Pact, an all-women led VC for mission-driven startups, backed by Anne Hathaway. And we have five more for you: AI just wanna take a closer look: Ingrid reports that V7 snapped up $33 million to automate training data for computer vision AI models. Special delivery!: Brian explores Bionaut Labs and the $43 million round it raised for its tiny drug-delivery robots. Let's get touchy-feely: This startup is bringing precision control for gamers to the humble keyboard, Haje writes. Sticking it to the card processors: Catherine reports that Atoa helps U.K. merchants cut down on card processing fees and raised $2.2 million in pre-seed funding. Dat Money for Dat Bike: Catherine reports that Dat Bike gets another $8 million to put more e-bikes on Vietnam's roads.

Lessons for raising $10M without giving up a board seat Over the last two years, intelligent calendar platform Reclaim.ai raised $10 million “using a more incremental approach,” writes co-founder Henry Shapiro. “We've done all this without giving up a single board seat, and Reclaim employees continue to own over two-thirds of the company's equity,” rejecting conventional wisdom that founders should “raise as much as you can as fast as you can.” In a TC+ post, Shapiro reviews the process they used to identify follow-on investors, shares the email template used to pitch the SAFE, and explains why “a larger cap table means more founder control.” Three more from the TC+ team: A different valuation: Interim rate of return: A better approach to valuing early-stage startups, by Andrew Ritter. Mistakes not to make: 3 mistakes to avoid as an emerging manager, by Champ Suthipongchai. Growing with great efficiency: Anna writes that growing efficiently is no problem at all, at least if you're bootstrapped. 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! Read More Image Credits: Ihor Reshetniak / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. Amazon's recent cost-cutting measures seem to be affecting more than just its delivery business. Manish writes that the company is shutting down its wholesale distribution business, called Amazon Distribution, in India. Amazon had started this unit to help neighborhood stores secure inventory. The company didn't say why it was closing this particular business down, but Manish notes that this is the third such Amazon unit to be shuttered in India. Meanwhile, Natasha L reports that Meta has gotten itself into trouble again with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (aka, the agency that regulates data protection). Facebook's parent company is being hit with $275 million in penalties for what the agency said was breaches in data protection that resulted in some 530 million users' personal information being leaked. Now enjoy six more: UnBlocked: After weeks of reports claiming this would happen, BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and it might be FTX's fault. Jacquelyn writes that FTX was going to buy BlockFi, and then, well, you know what happened to them. Based on the bankruptcy filing, BlockFi owes some significant cash to creditors and is unfortunately now another high-valued, heavily backed crypto company that was unable to make it work in this environment. Into the sea, you and me: Haje managed to talk Apple into giving him early access to the Oceanic+ app and took the Apple Watch Ultra into the deep blue sea for our world-exclusive review. He also got all excited about the pricing model the app uses. I spy: The U.S. government is banning telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from several Chinese brands, like Huawei and ZTE, citing protection of the nation's communications network. Carly has more. Yahoola takes this company in holy partnership?: Yahoo invests a 25% stake in Taboola, an advertising network, in a deal that will marry the two companies for the next 30 years, Romain writes. Safety concerns: The U.K. government expands its Online Safety Bill to criminalize those who take to the internet to encourage self-harm, Natasha L reports. An Apple a day: For his newest trick, Musk is picking a fight with Apple, reports Taylor.

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Newest Jobs from Crunchboard Senior Software Architect at Vali Cyber (Anywhere) Sr. Net Analyst Web Developer at Akron Children's Hospital (Akron, OH, USA) Senior Software Engineer at Skiptown (Atlanta, GA, USA) Solutions Architect at Knowing Technologies (Redwood City, CA, USA) Database Engineer at New Mexico State University Foundation (Las Cruces, NM, USA) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month.

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