Remote workspace platform Gable raises $12M Series A

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Tuesday, February 28, 2023

TikTok just can't dodge the watchful eyes of the watchmen: Earlier this year, Taylor reported that a string of universities banned TikTok from devices. Last week, Paul reported that the European Commission threw the kibosh on having TikTok on work devices, and today, Amanda reported that Canada followed suit for its government devices. The bans are coming down over concerns that China-based TikTok can be used to spy on its users. — Christine and Haje Image Credits: Images by Tang Ming Tung / Getty Images

The TechCrunch Top 3 Raise the roof: Continuing to work remotely in 2023 remains a hotly contested issue in today's workplaces. What if we told you that Gable can give your company better remote working options? Still with us? Okay, Haje writes about how Gable raised $12 million to not only show your remote employees a nearby workplace, but also show them if any of their colleagues are there so they can connect. The world in the palm of your hand: Reporting from Mobile World Congress, Brian sat down with OnePlus' COO Kinder Liu to discuss the company's first foldable phone. Closing the feedback loop: Engaged customers are where your company can get some of its best ideas for new products. Cycle snagged $6 million to help companies collect all of that customer feedback for a more streamlined product management process, Romain writes.

Startups and VC Bain Capital Ventures is doubling down on what works, literally, Natasha M reports. The venture firm, one of Bain's 11 financial divisions, has raised $1.9 billion across two funds, one for seed for growth-stage startups that hovers around $1.4 billion, and one for later-stage opportunities that closed around a third of that, at $493 million. Devin reports that the FTC, fresh off announcing a whole new division taking on "snake oil" in tech, has sent another shot across the bows of the overeager industry with a sassy warning to "keep your AI claims in check." And we have five more for you: A job well done, Kyle: Bonusly is a startup aiming to help employees get recognized for quality work, and it just told TechCrunch it raised $18.9 million, writes Kyle. He deserves a bonus for an article well written. DTCtR: Christine asks, Want to go from direct-to-consumer to retail? This startup has a platform for that. Yeah, you can do that: Entitle raises $15 million seed round to modernize permissions management, Frederic reports. Who markets the marketeers: Emily Kramer and Kathleen Estreich started a VC firm to scale what “founders are starving for,” Natasha M reports. A high-flying startup: Astroscale closes new funding to grow in-orbit servicing and orbital debris cleanup tech, Aria reports.

Active learning is the future of generative AI: Here's how to leverage it The generative AI models that have made headlines and memes in recent months weren’t cooked up in someone’s garage or basement. “Only well-funded institutions with access to a massive amount of GPU power are capable of building these models,” says Encord co-founder Eric Landau, who recommends using the iterative process of active learning to “leapfrog the AI production gap and build models capable of running in the wild more quickly.” In a TC+ post aimed at ML team managers, he shares tactics for leveraging active learning and addresses the perennial buy-versus-build dilemma. Three more from the TC+ team: A show of force: With 5 activists in the mix, Salesforce will report earnings Wednesday, reports Ron. Buy now, profit later: How much progress is Klarna making toward profitability? wonders Alex. A legal influence: Nicholas Saady explores key legal issues for influencers and brands (and how to deal with them). 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: Andriy Onufriyenko / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. As you can see from our stories today, Brian has been writing a lot about new phones lately. In this particular article, he spoke with Nothing's Carl Pei about the company's expansion strategy and its upcoming Phone (2) and how it will run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 series. Meanwhile, Microsoft is really going all in on this artificial intelligence thing for Bing. Frederic reports that the software giant brings the new Bing to Windows 11 while also launching Phone Link for iOS. And we have five more for you: Give me fiverr: Fiverr now has a white-glove offering to help businesses hire project managers, Kyle writes. Give me your best interconnected web: Flipboard now has a Mastodon integration among other Fediverse offerings, Sarah reports. Give me a game fix: Lorenzo entered the world of gamers trying to fix a video game "taken over" by hackers, and what results is a delightful read. Give me a spot south of the border: Mexico's president confirms that Tesla's next factory will be in that country. Kirsten has more. Give me a hot minute: Mike writes that 6G is coming, just not yet.

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Mobile World Congress 2023 kicks off with new features for Android, Chromebook and Wear OS

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Monday, February 27, 2023

There's another episode out of Inside Startup Battlefield, the podcast mini-documentary getting a behind-the-scenes look at the TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield. Maggie just dropped the new EP: Getting to know the Battlefield 200. Oh, and if you want to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt, you can apply now to speak! — Christine and Haje Image Credits: Denny Müller / Unsplash

The TechCrunch Top 3 Don't you just love a new feature?: We have a team over in Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress, and one of the top stories coming out of there is the slew of new features Google has announced for Android, Chromebook and Wear OS. We'll let Aisha give you the scoop, but it involves productivity, connectivity and accessibility. You know, the equivalent of the three educational "Rs," but instead for mobile. A reason to wear sunglasses at night: Speaking of Mobile World Congress, Xiaomi unveiled its lightweight AR glasses with a "retina-level" display, Ivan writes. Also, check out Ivan's other Xiaomi story on its 13 Pro flagship. This phone is cool, literally: OnePlus has been on a roll this month with new products, and now today, Brian reports on its gaming concept phone with a glowing liquid cooling feature.

Startups and VC Card collectors often dispute how much their cards are worth. New Jersey–based CollX raises $5.5 million to provide a free iOS and Android app to card enthusiasts that enables them to scan their trading cards and get value in return, Ivan reports. Anthropic, a buzzy AI startup co-founded by ex-OpenAI employees, has begun offering partners access to its AI text-generating models, Kyle reports. The first commercial venture to announce that it's integrating Anthropic models is Robin AI, a legal tech startup that's raised over $13 million. Quora's experimental chatbot app for iOS and Android, Poe, uses Anthropic models, but it's not currently monetized. And we have five more for you: Gotta keep 'em separated: Devin explores how SepPure's nanofilters massively reduce energy cost of industrial separation processes. Evernote layoffs: Bending Spoons recently acquired Evernote, and now it lays off 129 Evernote staffers, Kyle reports. Pahk the Cah, etc.: Ron takes a look at how Boston offers a world of advantages for startup founders. Valuable clouds: Kyle reports how cloud security startup Wiz, now valued at $10 billion, raises $300 million. What are we even paying for?: Spade turns credit card transaction gibberish into clear, actionable data, Christine reports.

Using predictive LTV to juice up marketing campaigns Last fall, Voyantis CEO Ido Wiesenberg shared a TC+ post with several tactics for reducing customer acquisition costs via predictive modeling. In a follow-up, he explains how to use predictive lifetime value (LTV) to create “more targeted, effective acquisition strategies that focus on acquiring and retaining customers.” Adding predictive LTV to decision flows helps identify lucrative customers early in the sales cycle, but it can also shorten underperforming ad campaigns, set performance targets and help teams adjust budgets midstream. Three more from the TC+ team: Making more: Why so many gigafactories? It's not just EVs driving demand, by Tim. Acquiring more: Going private: A guide to PE tech acquisitions writes, by Jeff Laborde. Raising more: Biotech proved a surprisingly bright spot in 2022's startup correction, by Becca. 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: ChrisBaynham / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. The hubbub over the weekend was that a new round of Twitter layoffs included Esther Crawford, the chief executive of Twitter payments who oversaw the company's Twitter Blue verification subscription. She had been one of Elon Musk's most public cheerleaders following his acquisition of the social media giant. Rebecca reports that some 50 people were part of the layoffs. And, just when you thought we might get a break from AI chatbots, Aisha writes that Snapchat now has one that is powered by OpenAI's GPT technology. That's right, folks, it's called "My AI" and for $3.99 per month, you too can give it a whirl. Go ahead, ask it for birthday gift ideas for your BFF. And we have five more for you: Thank you for your patience: Dish subscribers are not having a good day. The U.S. satellite television provider was hit by a multiday outage after a reported cyberattack, Carly writes. Losing all self-driving control: Following a recall, Tesla pauses its rollout of Full Self-Driving beta software. Kirsten has more. Don't go breakin' my heart: Lauren reports that Spotify is doing away with the heart button and will instead implement a "plus" sign. Two Pokémon walk into a bar: Amanda writes on a few new Pokémon features, including Pokémon Go's integration with Scarlet and Violet, an update on Pokémon Sleep, and Pokémon’s partnership with Netflix to launch the stop-motion series "Pokémon Concierge." Paired up: Mobile carriers, including AT&T and Verizon Wireless, teamed up with AWS and Microsoft to launch Open Gateway, which Ingrid writes is a set of Twilio-like APIs that will enable these carriers to tap into network services for more development.

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Newest Jobs from Crunchboard Information Technology and Services Director at City of Beaverton (Beaverton, OR, USA) Sales Account Executive at Makai HR (Hawaii, USA) Lead Exhibition Technical Engineer at Meow Wolf (Grapevine, TX, USA) Chief Operating Officer at Chamber of Digital Commerce (Washington D. C., DC, USA) Vice President of Marketing at Chamber of Digital Commerce (Anywhere) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month.

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Falling short of analysts' estimates, Warner Bros. Discovery posts $2.1B net loss for Q4 2022

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Friday, February 24, 2023

Folks, we've got some really sad news for you. The weekend is here, which means that you have to stop working for a couple days. We know, it's a tragedy. But don't worry, Monday is only two short weekend days away, and then you can get back to the grindstone. Black History Month continues! Originally published in 1975, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf is a magnificent, passionate, and fearless story of what it meant to be a woman of color in the 20th century.  Well worth a read — or seek it out onstage! Much love and hugs and such, Christine and Haje Image Credits: PM Images / Getty Images

​​The TechCrunch Top 3 Money, money, money…must be funny: Warner Bros. Discovery revealed that it lost another $2.1 billion in the fourth quarter. This is despite the success of shows like "The Last of Us" on HBO and games like "Hogwarts Legacy." Lauren explains more. Fashion layoffs: Secondhand apparel marketplace Poshmark is now laying off employees just two months after being acquired by Naver, Kate reports. Another brick in the wall: Ron explains why a possible U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit over competition could derail the pending $20 billion Adobe-Figma deal.

Startups and VC The truth of the matter is that Mobile World Congress (MWC) was never a consumer tech show, per se, but the participation of various smartphone makers transformed it into a handy launching pad. Brian explores in What we expect from MWC 2021. In the face of conscripted co-founders and blacked-out bunkers, Ukraine’s tech industry marches on. Mike explores how, a year on from Russia's invasion, Ukrainian startups show astounding resilience. And we have five more for you: Pay, pay pay: Telecom giant Airtel eyes a stake in Paytm, by Manish. Buy, buy, buy: Rebuy is out to change the customer buying experience, one personalization at a time, Christine reports. Deb, dev, dev: Alchemy launches a tool that enables devs to start building dApps within 4 minutes, Jacquelyn reports. Ai, ai, AI:  Natasha L reports how Voicemod tools up with $14.5 million to ride the generative AI (sonic)boom. Pic, pic, pic: South Africa's Envisionit Deep AI gets $1.65 million to expand access to medical imaging, reports Annie.

5 questions emerging managers should ask before selecting LPs Before an emerging manager can start backing startups, they’ll first need to earn the trust of limited partners who are willing to bet on their investment thesis. “Each step up the decision-making ladder increases the risk of dismissal, lost information or miscommunication, which can be mitigated if you can get in front of the decision-makers early on,” says Linda Greub, co-founder and managing partner of Avestria Ventures. Drawing from her own experience, Greub shares five questions emerging managers can use “to find the investors most likely to believe in you.” Three more from the TC+ team: Pass the chips: Kate asks, How are global chipmakers preparing for the US-China chip war? RIP, unicorns: Alex wonders, When do we reach the unicorn death cliff? Moar chains: Jacquelyn explores how Coinbase's layer-2 blockchain may help expand scaling on Ethereum. 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: Constantin Johnny / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. A new hacker group going by the name CH01 defaced Russian websites to have them display a video of the Kremlin on fire. Lorenzo has more. Google One subscribers can rejoice over this news that they now have access to Google Photos' new AI-powered "Magic Eraser" that will remove unwanted content from images, Sarah reports. We have a treat for you: six stories instead of five: Break on through to the other side…of the world: Get ready, Australia and New Zealand, Meta Verified is coming your way, Ivan reports. Here comes the sun…tech: Kirsten writes that Sono Motors shut down its Sion EV and will instead focus on its solar tech business. Or I will attack, and you don't want that…in your AI: Can AI really be protected from text-based attacks? That's what Kyle wants to find out. Xiaomi killed the video star: Xiaomi, creator of the short-video app Zili, announced it was shutting down in March "due to an operational adjustment," Jagmeet reports. Come together, right now…over e-commerce: Amazon joined an India-backed e-commerce initiative that interestingly enough was challenging the retail giant's seeming monopoly in the market, Manish writes. You can't do that: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission wrote a letter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York stating that Elon Musk still needs a lawyer to approve his tweets. Rebecca has more.

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Newest Jobs from Crunchboard Information Technology and Services Director at City of Beaverton (Beaverton, OR, USA) Sales Account Executive at Makai HR (Hawaii, USA) Lead Exhibition Technical Engineer at Meow Wolf (Grapevine, TX, USA) Chief Operating Officer at Chamber of Digital Commerce (Washington D. C., DC, USA) Vice President of Marketing at Chamber of Digital Commerce (Anywhere) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month.

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