Daily Crunch - Google swears off ad-tracking

TechCrunch Newsletter

Wednesday, March 03, 2021 • By Anthony Ha

Google says it’s focusing on privacy-friendly approaches to ad targeting, Okta acquires Auth0 and a flying taxi startup raises $241 million. This is your Daily Crunch for March 3, 2021.

The big story: Google swears off ad-tracking While Google had already announced it would be phasing out support for third-party cookies in Chrome, it went further today by declaring that “once third-party cookies are phased out, we will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web, nor will we use them in our products." In fact, Google’s David Temkin argued in a blog post that attempts to build alternative approaches to ad-tracking will not “meet rising consumer expectations for privacy, nor will they stand up to rapidly evolving regulatory restrictions, and therefore aren't a sustainable long term investment.” Instead, he pointed to Google technologies like its interest-based Federated Learning of Cohorts. Read more Image Credits: Thomas Northcut / Getty Images

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The tech giants Okta acquires cloud identity startup Auth0 for $6.5B — With Auth0, Okta gets a cloud identity company that helps developers embed identity management into applications. Netflix launches 'Fast Laughs,' a TikTok-like feed of funny videos — This feature (now rolling out on iOS) allows users to watch, react to or share the short clips as well as add the show or movie to a Netflix watchlist. Facebook's Oversight Board already 'a bit frustrated,’ and it hasn't made a call on Trump ban yet — Board member and former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger implied that the binary choices the board has at its disposal aren't as nuanced as he'd like. Image Credits: Ron Miller/TechCrunch /

Startups, funding and venture capital ‘Flying taxi' startup Volocopter picks up another $241M, says service is now two years out — Alongside its vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, Volocopter has also been building a business case in which its vessels will be used in a taxi-style fleet in urban areas. Identiq, a privacy-friendly fraud prevention startup, secures $47M at Series A — Identiq takes a different, more privacy-friendly approach to fraud prevention, without having to share a customer's data with a third party. After 200% ARR growth in 2020, CourseKey raises $9M to digitize trade schools — CourseKey's B2B platform is designed to work with organizations that teach some of our most essential workers. Image Credits: Volocopter

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch Eleven words and phrases to cut from your VC pitch deck — Weeks or even months of working on your pitch deck could come down to the 170 seconds (on average) that investors spend looking at it. Create a handbook and integrate AI to onboard remote employees — Professionals have adapted to remote working, but the systems they use are still playing catch-up. First impressions of AppLovin's IPO filing — AppLovin's filing tells the story of a rapidly growing company that has managed to scale adjusted profit as it has grown. (Extra Crunch is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.) Image Credits: Getty Images under a Getty Imaes license.

Everything else Cables could help soft robots transform into harder structures — The sub-category of soft robotics has transformed the way many think about the field. Dear Sophie: Can you demystify the H-1B process and E-3 premium processing? — The latest edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies. Image Credits: MIT CSAIL

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Daily Crunch - Microsoft unveils Mesh for AR/VR meetings

TechCrunch Newsletter

Tuesday, March 02, 2021 • By Anthony Ha

Microsoft shows off a new AR/VR meeting platform, Uber spins out a robotics startup and Compass files to go public. This is your Daily Crunch for March 2, 2021.

The big story: Microsoft unveils Mesh for AR/VR meetings Mesh is a platform that allows for shared meetings between Microsoft’s HoloLens (augmented reality) and Windows Mixed Reality (virtual reality). Lucas Matney describes it as “pretty standard faire” for spatial computing, but noted that this will also serve as a platform for developers to build their own applications. This is just one of a long list of announcements that Microsoft made as part of its virtual Ignite conference this week. It’s also updating Teams with new presentation features; introducing a new open-source, low-code language; launching a new NoSQL database offering called Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra; announcing a hardware and software platform called Azure Precept and more. Read more

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The tech giants Uber spins out delivery robot startup as Serve Robotics — Postmates X, the robotics division of the on-demand delivery startup that Uber acquired last year, has officially spun out as an independent company called Serve Robotics. Amazon issues rare apology in India over drama series — The series, called "Tandav," has faced criticism over its depiction of Hindu gods and goddesses. Apple releases results from hearing health study — Hearing loss is an issue Apple has looked to tackle, due in no small part to its growing involvement in the headphone category. Image Credits: Serve Robotics

Startups, funding and venture capital Compass files S-1, reveals $3.7B in revenue on net loss of $270M — Compass is not profitable, but it did see a massive surge in revenue over the past few years. Vestiaire Collective raises $216M for its second-hand fashion platform — It's a complicated industry, since you don't want to buy a damaged item or a cheap knockoff. Instacart raises $265M at a $39B valuation — What's behind the massive increase in the value investors are willing to ascribe to the business? Put simply, the pandemic. Image Credits: Smith Collection/Gado / Getty Images

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch Six tips for SaaS founders who don't want VC money — JotForm’s Aytekin Tank argues that bootstrapping is a saner, more sustainable way to build and scale a business. Oscar Health raises IPO price as Coupang releases bullish debut valuation — IPO season is hot and investors are bothered. Kaltura files to go public on the back of accelerating revenue growth, rising losses — The company's revenue growth has accelerated yearly since at least 2018, and its final quarter of 2020 placed the company at a new growth rate maximum. (Extra Crunch is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.) Image Credits: Prostock Studio / Getty Images

Everything else MIT's insect-sized drones are built to survive collisions — If you're going to build something this small, you need to ensure that it doesn't break down the first time it comes into contact with something. Volvo to sell only all-electric vehicles by 2030 — This is part of a broader transformation of the automaker that will include shifting sales online. Attend TechCrunch's free virtual Miami meetup on March 11 — Even though we can't be there physically right now, it'll sure feel like we are. Image Credits: MIT

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Daily Crunch - Klarna valued at $31B

TechCrunch Newsletter

Monday, March 01, 2021 • By Anthony Ha

A challenger bank raises funding at a massive valuation, Instagram adds Live Rooms and Google updates Workspace. This is your Daily Crunch for March 1, 2021.

The big story: Klarna valued at $31B The Swedish challenger bank and buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) service has raised $1 billion at a post-money valuation of $31 billion. Klarna says it will commit 1% of the capital to “key sustainability challenges around the world,” with the initiative formally launching on April 22 (Earth Day). For its BNPL business, Klarna both integrates with a variety of retailers and has created its own shopping app, where users can browse all the stores that support payment through Klarna. The company is active in more than 17 countries and has more than 250,000 retail partners. Read more Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

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The tech giants Instagram launches 'Live Rooms' for live broadcasts with up to four creators — Previously, the app only allowed users to livestream with one other person, similar to Facebook Live. Twitter rolls out vaccine misinformation warning labels and a strike-based system for violations — The company says that when necessary, it will attach notices warning users that the content "may be misleading" and linking out to vetted public health information. Google updates Workspace — The highlight here is probably that you can now use Assistant in combination with Google Workspace. Image Credits: Instagram

Startups, funding and venture capital Autonomous drone maker Skydio raises $170M led by Andreessen Horowitz — Skydio's fresh capital comes on the heels of its expansion last year into the enterprise market. Clue gets FDA clearance to launch a digital contraceptive — The digital contraceptive will offer users a statistical prediction of ovulation as a birth control tool. Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck explains why the company needs a bigger rocket, and why it's going public to build it — Rocket Lab packed a ton of news into Monday: It's going public via a SPAC merger, and it's also building a new, larger launch vehicle called Neutron. Image Credits: Rocket Lab

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch Why your organization needs product principles — VP of Design Ethan Eismann writes that at Slack, every process and feature has been designed with the primary goal of making Slack a workplace tool that feels human. Justworks' Series B pitch deck may be the most wonderfully simple deck I've ever seen — On Extra Crunch Live, Bain Capital Ventures’ Matt Harris and Justworks CEO Isaac Oates sat down to talk through how they resolve disagreements and more. As Coinbase looks to list, Robinhood rides the crypto boom — Coinbase is hardly the only company enjoying a crypto bounce. (Extra Crunch is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.) Image Credits: Thomas Trutschel / Getty Images

Everything else EU to propose a 'digital pass' for COVID-19 vaccination/test status to help safer travel — President Ursula von der Leyen said today that the planned digital tool will aim to provide proof that a person has been vaccinated. Walmart drops the $35 order minimum on its 2-hour 'Express' delivery service — The move seems designed to directly challenge Amazon. Hear from Uber, Facebook and Netflix about diversity, equity and inclusion at TC Sessions: Justice — We'll dive into the myth of the pipeline problem, as well as the idea of imposter syndrome and much more. Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

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