News Headline: India's leading telecom will bundle Netflix subscription with prepaid plans for ~400M customers

Friday, August 18, 2023

In today's top story, Netflix takes a unique approach to expanding its presence in India by inking a deal with Reliance's Jio Platforms. Find out more about this "first-of-its-kind" deal.

Meanwhile, in our most popular TechCrunch+ story today, it's official — the LK-99 isn't a room-temperature superconductor. Get the scoop.

And a computer reading our thoughts is here. Unbabel, a language translation startup, has connected a wearable to generative AI to give us superhuman capabilities. Read more.

Image Credits: Tumisu / PixaBay

More top reads

Yet another game of "What's Elon going to say now?": Today, Elon Musk says X's "block" feature is going away. Block vs. Mute, the ultimate showdown.

Go forth and share: No web version yet, but a latest update of the Threads app gives more prominence to reposts. Read more.

Bathroom humor ahead: When I covered health tech in a previous role, I loved writing stories about poop. It's a universal connector, don't you think? Because everybody poops. Anyway, our illustrious editor in chief Matthew Panzer didn't hold back while reporting: I've never seen so many crap startups.

Better off alone: As it turns out, Peak XV is doing well since its split with Sequoia. Get the scoop.

Funding and a retail deal: Speaking of the gut, microbiome startup Viome raises $86.5 million and inks a distribution deal with CVS. Read more.

Inflation celebration: For climate tech startups, the Inflation Reduction Act is starting to pay off. Find out how.

How to quit the House that Mouse Built: Tired of another streaming service hiking its prices? Here's how to cancel Disney+.

Change is hard: Searching for a TweetDeck alternative is a frustrating task. We give you some options.

Pitch Deck Teardown: Haje Jan Kamps wrote about DeckMatch, and now he digs into its $1 million seed deck. See if Haje was naughty or nice. (TC+)

What's in the box?: After filing for bankruptcy in April, online wholesaler Boxed has been acquired. Learn about its new parent company.

We're out: Checkout.com cuts ties with Binance, which is now mulling legal action in response. Read more.

If the price is right: Amazon tries to boost its TikTok-like shopping feed by asking influencers to submit videos — for $25 each. Find out why some creators are mocking this.

It's Friday, and you deserve more:

Cruise robotaxi involved in a crash with fire truck, one passenger injured

SUSE goes private again

As net retention plummets, AI could be the savior software companies need (TC+)

SpaceX's new Bandwagon program is a big threat to small launch providers

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

From the "pod" files

In today's Equity podcast, Alex Wilhelm, Mary Ann Azevedo and Kirsten Korosec let loose and discuss Sam Bankman-Fried going to jail and some SPACs on the horizon, including Better.com and VinFast. We discuss Monday.com's most recent quarterly results which show the company is cutting its losses and generating lots of cash. We also talk about how the Inflation Reduction Act's impact on American manufacturing is big, and growing.

Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify or your favorite pod platform to keep up with the action.

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

6 fintech investors sound off on AI, down rounds and what's ahead

Fintech fundraising and valuations are down and the industry is crowded, which means many companies are looking for AI-powered solutions that will save money and help them differentiate their products in the marketplace.

Mary Ann Azevedo asked six investors about how their portfolio companies are adding AI to the mix, what they’re looking for at the moment, and whether more down rounds are on the horizon:

Mark Goldberg, partner, Index Ventures
Aditi Maliwal, partner, Upfront Ventures
Hans Tung, managing partner, GGV Capital
Lizzie Guynn, partner, TTV Capital
Ed Yip, partner, Norwest Venture Partners
Lauren Kolodny, co-founder and partner, Acrew Capital

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.

6 fintech investors sound off on AI, down rounds and what's ahead image

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

Get your TechCrunch fix IRL. Join us at Disrupt 2023 in San Francisco this September to immerse yourself in all things startup. From headline interviews to intimate roundtables to a jam-packed startup expo floor, there's something for everyone at Disrupt. Save up to $400 when you buy your pass now through September 18, and save 15% on top of that with promo code DC. Learn more.