What do we hear? Is it Friday, May 20, 2022 on the calendar and a gentle, alluring siren song about the weekend just around the corner? Why, yes, it must be so!
Our Events team is busy building the amazing TechCrunch Disrupt and we are excited about the Startup Battlefield where the winner will receive a $100,000 check to continue building the future they envision. That’s how to be on the run. — Hadje and Christine
TechCrunch Top 3
- UST UGH: Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon has some connection to South Korea’s special financial crime unit, which launched an investigation into the collapse of the TerraUSD (UST) stablecoin Terraform and its child token Luna earlier this month. Prosecutors may be first in line, but the line is growing with investors filing lawsuits against Kwon and his co-founder Daniel Sheen on alleged fraud and other financial regulatory violation charges. They are also joined by Luna Foundation Guard consultants who talk about Jackie that they hadn’t heard from Kwon in weeks.
- Confrontation: We enjoyed reading CarlyThe article tells what happened to the ransomware attacks in Costa Rica – the Conti gang is trying to overthrow the government – and who could be next. At the time of our newsletter, the redemption portion was still ongoing. The deadline was May 23rd.
- klarna conundrum: The payment company is reportedly the latest to agree to a reduction in its valuation, and in its case, it has some capital attached. We are thinking Alex sums up: “No one likes failure. They dilute, confuse and demoralize. But they’re also a lot better than not collecting money and dying, so companies raise them when needed.” He explains why Klarna is holding an undervalued insider round, worth it or not.
Startups and VK
Today we are a little agitated by the somewhat swearing rantings of Haje about New Coca-Cola bottle caps that don’t come off the bottle, against the backdrop of greenwashing.
We also loved BrianArticle about the love of Eric Migikowski, the founder of Pebble, for small phones. “If no one else does it, I guess I’ll be forced to do it myself– Migikovsky laments.
Also, Brian and Hadje joined a couple of articles about the new Sony headphones. Brian covers the buds themselves (“As someone who tests many headphones over the course of a year, the LinkBuds S are some of the best-sounding and most comfortable I have ever had in my ears.”) and Hayje double-clicked on Endel soundscape app.
Put on your dancing shoes, a real dance party is waiting for you with new news:
- Not half baked: Galley Solutions, a food data company providing food processors with technology to make better decisions about your culinary operationsraised $14.2 million in Series A funding, Christine reports.
- Covid we have a cat fine: Tell who is not upset by COVID: List of apps offering pet insurance. Mike reports that “about seven in ten pet owners take their pet’s physical and mental health more seriously than their own.”
- Summing up what’s next: Not satisfied only with cryptocurrency trading, FTX launches stock trading feature also, Anita reports.
- Bleeding the brakes: Brian there’s a backstage at what happens to startup slowdown.
- Putting ships on alert: Delivery is a dirty business, and Harry reports about Seabound, a startup that is gearing up to help decarbonize big boats who bring us our goods.
We also have a roundup of some of the amazing stories that came out of our mobility event:
- Pitch Winners: Swyft Cities Wins TechCrunch Sessions: Mobility 2022 Presentations!
- Lidar ftv: Luminar’s Austin Russell: “Probably shouldn’t have existed,” but lidar will keep the next generation safe anyway.
- Arrival of the prototype: Arrival presents a prototype of a special car for trips to TC Sessions: Mobility
- What We Learned From Nuro: Three main takeaways from Nuro’s TC Sessions: Mobility
- Strategic Acquisition: Joby Aviation acquires Avionyx to accelerate aerospace software certification
- Continue trucking, now with fewer truckers: Aurora Expands Autonomous Freight Pilot with FedEx in Texas
- More drones in Phoenix: Waymo expands its self-driving car program in Phoenix
Three Things to Remember When Diversifying Your Startup Capitalization Table
Image credits: reddish (Opens in a new window) / Getty Images
In the same way that a sales team builds and refines its funnel, aspiring founders in fundraising mode can create an investor funnel that will help sustain their company for years to come.
Oriana Papin-Zohbi, CEO and co-founder of women’s health startup AOA Dx, shared her take on investors with TC+:
- 35% private investors
- 34% women (female investors or funds led by women)
- 26% venture capitalists
- 23% family and friends
- 18% international investors
- 15% group of angels
“When building an investor funnel, voicing what you want is critical to finding the right investors,” says Papin-Zohbi.
“Finding the right investors is like finding the right team members – you have to be direct about your expectations and decide what you want them to bring to the table.”
(TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can register here.)
Big Tech Inc.
- Deposit 25 cents: If you are a gamer, we assume that you have some thoughts about God of War: Ragnarok. According to Devin, this game “may be the most accessible, and that’s saying something.” It’s great to see that Microsoft is building a game that offers features that are customizable for people with certain disabilities, such as visual or hearing impairments.
- A family that comes together stays together: For every parent who’s itching to know who their child is chatting with on Snapchat, the social media giant is close to launching its Family Center parental control feature. For those of you who don’t use Snapchat or don’t have kids, Sarah tells us it’s important because it’s one of the few social networks where you can’t see someone’s friends list.
- Holy pokeballs!: There is now a Poké Ball reward for being both a Pokémon GO player and an Amazon Prime member.
- Dating Update: Looks like Match Group, the parent company of dating apps Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid, is back on good terms with Google. Crisis averted?
Credit: techcrunch.com /