Daily Crunch - Amazon makes PR push ahead of union vote

TechCrunch Newsletter

Friday, March 26, 2021 • By Anthony Ha

Amazon pushes back against unionization, WeWork eyes the SPAC route and there’s new spyware on Android. This is your Daily Crunch for March 26, 2021.

The big story: Amazon makes PR push ahead of union vote Workers at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama (a suburb of Birmingham) will vote next week on whether to unionize. In the meantime, Amazon is waging an aggressive PR campaign against the effort and the politicians who support it. For example, in a response to news that Senator Bernie Sanders would be visiting Amazon workers, executive Dave Clark tweeted, “I welcome @SenSanders to Birmingham and appreciate his push for a progressive workplace. I often say we are the Bernie Sanders of employers, but that's not quite right because we actually deliver a progressive workplace.” Meanwhile, the Amazon News account scoffed at Representative Mark Pocan for repeating accounts of Amazon workers peeing in water bottles: “If that were true, nobody would work for us.” In response, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (which the Amazon workers would be joining if the unionization effort succeeds) put out a statement asking, “How arrogant and tone deaf can Amazon be?” Read more Image Credits: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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The tech giants A new Android spyware masquerades as a 'system update' — The malware can take complete control of a victim’s device. What Silicon Valley could learn from China's Q&A platform Zhihu — China's largest question and answer platform, Zhihu, began trading at the lower end of its IPO range. Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

Startups, funding and venture capital Crypto boom continues as Chainalysis raises $100M, doubles valuation to over $2B — The round comes just four months after the company secured a $100 million Series C round at a $1 billion valuation. Benitago Group raises $55M in combined debt and equity to buy and grow Amazon brands — Most of the funding takes the form of credit lines to fund acquisitions, but there’s also an equity investment. 'Link-in-bio' company Linktree raises $45M Series B for its social commerce features —  Linktree is one of the most popular "link in bio" services, with more than 12 million users. Image Credits: Westend61 / Getty Images

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch WeWork lines up for a second run at the public markets — If all you have is a blank-check company, every erstwhile startup looks like a public company in waiting. Five mistakes creators make building new games on Roblox — Game developers, brands and investors alike are wondering what factors cause the most successful games on this $47 billion platform to break out. UiPath's IPO filing suggests robotic process automation is booming — Five takeaways from the company’s S-1. (Extra Crunch is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.) Image Credits: SOPA Images / Getty Images

Everything else These House hearings on tech are a waste of time and everyone knows it — Devin Coldewey says the hearings need to change if lawmakers really want to put Big Tech on the spot. Computer vision software has the potential to reinvent the way cities move — Tech provides new means of addressing the challenges of crowding, pollution and parking enforcement on dense city streets. You can only invest if you promise not to read the fine print, OK? — Wrap up the week with an episode of Equity. Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

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Daily Crunch - Zuckerberg defends Facebook over role in Capitol attack

TechCrunch Newsletter

Thursday, March 25, 2021 • By Anthony Ha

Tech executives face Congress, Spotify gets a redesign and Snapchat is developing a new Remix feature. This is your Daily Crunch for March 25, 2021.

The big story: Zuckerberg defends Facebook over role in Capitol attack Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and Google’s Sundar Pichai appeared at a hearing today with the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the theme of misinformation, particularly the role that their platforms may have played in the Capitol attack by allowing lies and extremism to spread. In his opening statement, Zuckerberg advocated for reforms to Section 230 and said that Facebook “did our part” to protect last year’s presidential election, putting the blame for the Capitol riots squarely on former President Donald Trump. Pressed by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) on whether Facebook bears some responsibility, Zuckerberg replied, “I think the responsibility lies with the people who took the actions to break the law and do the insurrection. Secondarily, also with the people who spread that content, including the president but others as well, with repeated rhetoric over time, saying that the election was rigged and encouraging people to organize, I think that those people bear the primary responsibility as well." Read more

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The tech giants Spotify rolls out redesigned desktop and web apps — Overall, the update gives the Spotify app a more streamlined, less cluttered look and feel. Snapchat is developing its own take on TikTok Duets with a new 'Remix' feature — This feature will allow users to create new content using their friends' Snaps. Image Credits: Spotify

Startups, funding and venture capital PPRO extends latest round to $270M, adding JPMorgan and Eldridge to grow its localized payments platform — PPRO's core product is a set of APIs that e-commerce companies can integrate into their check-outs to accept payments in whatever local methods and currencies consumers prefer. Notarize raises $130M, tripling valuation on the back of 600% YoY revenue growth — When the world shifted toward virtual a year ago, one service in particular saw heated demand: remote online notarization. Everlywell acquires two healthcare companies and forms parent Everly Health — The new parent entity will now offer services including at-home lab testing kits and education, population-scale testing through a U.S.-wide clinician network, telehealth and a payer-supported/enterprise self-collected lab test. Image Credits: Andrew_Rybalko / Getty Images

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch Automakers, suppliers and startups see growing market for in-vehicle AR/VR applications — A new battle for market share is emerging inside vehicles. How VC and private equity funds can launch portfolio-acceleration platforms — Almost every private equity and venture capital investor now advertises that they have a platform to support their portfolio companies. Will fading YOLO sentiment impact Robinhood, Coinbase and other trading platforms? — What happens to hot fintech startups that have benefited from a rise in consumer trading activity if regular folks lose interest in financial wagers? (Extra Crunch is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.) Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

Everything else FatFace tells customers to keep its data breach 'strictly private' — Clothing giant FatFace had a data breach, but it doesn't want you to tell anyone about it. EV makers oppose delay to automotive emissions penalty increase — Electric vehicle manufacturers are pushing back against a decision to delay penalty increases for automakers who fail to meet fuel efficiency standards. New York moves to legalize recreational marijuana — New York State officials struck a deal with Gov. Andrew Cuomo to allow recreational use of cannabis. Image Credits: SOPA Images / Getty Images

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Daily Crunch - Don't panic about Slack's new Connect feature

TechCrunch Newsletter

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 • By Anthony Ha

Slack launches a new direct messaging feature, Amazon Web Services gets a new leader and we round up our favorite Y Combinator startups. This is your Daily Crunch for March 24, 2021.

The big story: Don't panic about Slack's new Connect feature Slack recently launched the new direct messaging feature Connect, which is supposed to enable employees “at more than 74,000 organizations and counting” to message anyone “inside or outside their company.” I don’t know about you, but that sounds like the exact opposite of what I’d want to see in Slack. However, we’ve confirmed that the feature is opt-in, rather than opt-out, at least on the organizational level. “[A]n organization's IT admins can control who has access to this feature, disable this feature for their teams, and monitor all external connections, including Slack Connect DMs,” a spokesperson said. “Once this feature is enabled, DMs can be initiated without the need for additional admin approval.” Read more Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

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The tech giants Why Adam Selipsky was the logical choice to run AWS — Current CEO Andy Jassy announced in an email to employees yesterday that Tableau CEO Adam Selipsky is returning to run Amazon Web Services. Facebook caught Chinese hackers using fake personas to target Uyghurs abroad — Facebook has announced new actions to disrupt a network of China-based hackers leveraging the platform to compromise targets in the Uyghur community. Twitter is exploring the use of Facebook-style emoji reactions — The company has been surveying users throughout the month to get input on how they feel about a broader set of emoji-style reactions. Image Credits: TechCrunch

Startups, funding and venture capital Hopper raises $170M and partners with Capital One on a new cardholder travel booking portal — This is Hopper's second raise in a year that has been marked by turmoil for the travel industry. Crypto wallet and exchange company Blockchain.com raises $300M at $5.2B valuation — The company offers a noncustodial wallet, which means that you're in control of your private keys. Ketch raises $23M to automate privacy and data compliance — The startup was founded by CEO Tom Chavez and CTO Vivek Vaidya, who previously founded Krux. Image Credits: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch Our favorite companies from Y Combinator's W21 Demo Day: Part 1 — Our favorites from the companies that launched in the first half of the day. Our favorite companies from Y Combinator's W21 Demo Day: Part 2 — Everything from a marketplace to help you resell formalwear to a startup that offers self-driving street cleaners. Ten proptech investors see better era for residential and retail after pandemic — As lockdowns start to lift, real estate investors discuss what long-term effects the pandemic will leave. (Extra Crunch is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)

Everything else Announcing the TC Early Stage Pitch-Off startups — The pitch-off takes place on April 2 and will be hosted by yours truly. TechCrunch, still not dead — Important corporate updates!

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