In a post-NDA world, does transparency help founders identify conflicts of interest?

Once upon a time, fintech founders could pitch 10 investors before closing a round in a relatively hushed way. Entrepreneurs could even ask VCs to sign nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) to keep their information confidential. Today, everyone is a fintech investor and no one signs NDAs. This changed dynamic puts founders in a difficult position. Nabeel […]
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Facebook partially documents its content recommendation system

Algorithmic recommendation systems on social media sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have shouldered much of the blame for the spread of misinformation, propaganda, hate speech, conspiracy theories and other harmful content. Facebook, in particular, has come under fire in recent days for allowing QAnon conspiracy groups to thrive on its platform and for helping […]
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YC startup SockSoho is using data science in a bid to become the “Uniqlo of India”

SockSoho is a direct-to-consumer brand that aspires to become the “Uniqlo of India.” The company launched sales ten months ago, starting with men’s socks, and recently completed Y Combinator’s Summer 2020 program. Founded by Pritika Mehta, a data scientist who has worked at companies including TripAdvisor, and growth marketer Simarpreet Singh, SockSoho now has more […]
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Twitter flags Republican leader’s video as ‘manipulated’ for altering disabled activist’s words

Twitter flagged an inflammatory video by House Republican Whip Steve Scalise on Sunday for altering footage of a conversation between progressive activist Ady Barkan and Joe Biden. The video is now labeled as “manipulated media” in a tweet from Scalise, though remains online. The inflammatory video pulls in out-of-context quotes from a number of Democrats […]
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10 Berlin-based VCs discuss how COVID-19 has changed the landscape

A breeding ground for European entrepreneurs, Berlin has a knack for producing a lot of new startups: the city attracts top international, diverse talent, and it is packed with investors, events and accelerators. Also important: it’s a more affordable place to live and work when compared to many other cities in the region. Berlin ranked […]
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Reliable Robotics is bringing remote piloting to small cargo planes

Nearly one year ago, a Cessna 172 Skyhawk stealthily made aviation history when it landed at a small airport in Northern California marking the completion of the first successful remote-piloted flight of a passenger airplane in the United States. The company behind this milestone in commercial aviation history is Reliable Robotics, a startup founded in […]
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This Week in Apps: Unreal Engine saved, Fortnite banned and TikTok talks to everyone

This week, two big stories dominated the news: Apple's fight with Fortnite maker Epic Games and TikTok's negotiations with top U.S. tech firms over a sale.
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Original Content podcast: Netflix’s ‘High Score’ is a selective tour through video game history

“High Score” is a new Netflix documentary series that looks back at the early years of the video game industry. Across six episodes, key developers, artists, executives and even players discuss the initial arcade and home console boom, the emergence of Nintendo, the rise of adventure and role-playing games, the battle between Sega and Nintendo, […]
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Banks aren’t as stupid as enterprise AI and fintech entrepreneurs think

The right question is almost never whether to buy software or build it internally. Instead, banks have often worked to walk the difficult but smarter path right down the middle.
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Android security bug let malicious apps siphon off private user data

A security vulnerability in Android could have allowed malicious apps to siphon off sensitive data from other apps on the same device. App security startup Oversecured found the flaw in Google’s widely used Play Core library, which lets developers push in-app updates and new feature modules to their Android apps, like language packs or game […]
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Undermyfork scores $400K seed for its diabetes tracking app and US launch

Undermyfork, a diabetes tracking app designed to help people with the disease improve “time-in-range” and better manage their condition, has raised $400,000 in seed funding. Investment comes from AltaIR Capital, AltaClub, and Runa Capital . Undermyfork co-founder Mike Ushakov’s previous company, Metabar (the maker of the browser add-on Sovetnik), was also backed by Runa, before […]
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A faster, easier, cheaper way of going public

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast (now on Twitter!), where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This is the fourth episode of the week, pushing our production calendar to the test. Happily, we’ve managed to hold it together amidst the news deluge that the last few days have brought. It was […]
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Register for our last pitch-off next week on September 2

It’s time again to start warming up your pitching arm. Our next Pitchers & Pitches session takes place next week on September 2. Register today! Pitchers & Pitches sessions combine critique and competition with a focus on helping early-stage startup founders create an iron-clad, 60-second pitch. Here’s how it works. Everyone is welcome to attend, […]
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TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigns after 100 days

Kevin Mayer, the chief executive of TikTok, announced on Wednesday that he is resigning, just over 100 days after the former Disney executive joined the world’s largest short video app in mid-May. The news came on the heels of TikTok’s move to sue the U.S. government over its forthcoming ban. The app, owned by Chinese internet upstart […]
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The bullish case for Palantir’s direct listing

The Palantir S-1 finally dropped yesterday after TechCrunch spilled a bunch of its guts last Friday. You can read the filing here, if you are so inclined. Today, however, instead of our usual overview, I have a different goal: We’re going to be a bit more specific. It’s fun and easy to clown on Palantir’s […]
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Bingie is an app for all your streaming recommendations and debates

If you’re overwhelmed trying to choose the next movie or TV show to watch on Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max or any other streaming service, Bingie could be the app for you. You may recall a previous wave of TV recommendation apps from a decade ago, like Viggle and GetGlue. Those apps have largely disappeared, with […]
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BlackBerry makes China push as the OS for Xpeng smart cars

The once-pioneering BlackBerry is pretty much out of the smartphone manufacturing game, but the Canadian company has been busy transitioning to providing software for connected devices, including smart cars. Now it’s brought that section of its business to China. This week, BlackBerry announced that it will be powering the Level 3 driving domain controller of […]
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Porsche experiments with subscription pricing, expands to Los Angeles

Porsche is rolling out a less expensive subscription plan in four U.S. cities as the German automaker experiments with different pricing and products in an effort to expand its customer base. Porsche now has three plans, or tiers, that are all housed under its newly rebranded Porsche Drive vehicle subscription program. This new plan, called […]
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Google Chrome update brings better tab management, QR codes, plus performance improvements

Google today will begin rolling out several updates to its Chrome web browser, with the goal of increasing user productivity and making the browsing experience faster. Specifically, Google is making Chrome’s tabs and its newer tab groups easier and quicker to use. Under the hood, it promises improvements that will deliver up to 10% faster […]
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MIT wireless system can monitor what care facility residents are doing while preserving privacy

Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) have developed a way for a fully wireless system to monitor not only movement and vital signs contact-free, but also to track activities – in a more privacy-preserving way without using video. The system has the potential to be used at long-term care and assisted […]
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Unity’s IPO numbers look pretty … unreal?

Unity, the company founded in a Copenhagen apartment in 2004, is poised for an initial public offering with numbers that look pretty strong. Even as its main competitor, Epic Games, is in the throes of a very public fight with Apple over the fees the computer giant charges developers who sell applications (including games) on […]
https://tcrn.ch/2YvE9FA

Lidar startup Luminar to go public via $3.4 billion SPAC merger

Luminar, the lidar startup that burst onto the autonomous vehicle scene in April 2017 after operating for years in secrecy, is merging with special-purpose acquisition company Gores Metropoulos Inc., with a post-deal market valuation of $3.4 billion. Gores Metropoulos, which is listed on the Nasdaq exchange, is a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC sponsored by […]
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Pinduoduo’s latest aim: sell $145 billion farm produce in 2025

Still working to turn a profit and shake off its fake-goods reputation, China’s e-commerce upstart Pinduoduo set itself another ambitious goal for 2025: surpass 1 trillion yuan or $145 billion annual gross merchandise volume of agricultural products. The announcement arrived with the company’s Q2 results last Friday. For some context, online sales of agricultural goods […]
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Twitter hides Trump tweet behind notice for potentially dissuading people from voting

Twitter flagged one of President Donald Trump’s tweets on Monday, placing it behind a notice that warns users it violates the platform’s rules against dissuading people from voting. In the tweet, posted on Monday, Trump claimed mail drop boxes are a “voter security disaster” and also said they are “not COVID sanitized.” Twitter’s notice says […]
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Osmind pitches clinical management and data analysis for mental health practices using psychedelics

Jimmy Qian and Lucia Huang, the co-founders of a new clinical practice management and data analysis platform for mental health providers focusing on cutting edge psychedelic treatments, met at Stanford University.  The two both come from healthcare backgrounds. Huang, whose mother was a biomedical engineer, worked as an associate at Warburg Pincus focused on healthcare […]
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This Week in Apps: Apple’s antitrust war, TikTok ban, alt app ecosystems

We missed some Epic news while This Week in Apps was on vacation, but this week the backlash against the App Store continues.
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Original Content podcast: On Netflix’s ‘Selling Sunset’, everyone’s a villain

“Selling Sunset” is the kind reality TV show that doesn’t bother with things like sympathetic or relatable characters. The Netflix series recently released its third season — which, like the seasons before it, follows the efforts of the largely female staff at a Los Angeles brokerage to sell high-end real estate. As we explain on […]
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Five VCs discuss how no-code is going horizontal across the world’s industries

Few topics garner cheers and groans quite as quickly as the no-code software explosion. While investors seem uniformly bullish on toolsets that streamline and automate processes that once required a decent amount of technical know-how, not everyone seems to think that the product class is much of a new phenomenon. On one hand, basic tools […]
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OpenUnit aims to be Shopify for self-storage facilities

So you’re looking for a storage unit to put some stuff in for a few months. Maybe you’re moving and your new place isn’t ready yet — or maybe you’re just looking to declutter and want to tuck some stuff away for a while and see if you’re really ready to part with it. As […]
https://tcrn.ch/3l6JBIJ

China is building a GitHub alternative called Gitee

The technological decoupling between the U.S. and China has been a boon to Chinese firms from chipmakers for smartphones and electric vehicles through to software that are the backbones of millions of businesses’ daily operations. Chinese companies might have established a firm grip on internet services for consumers, but many fundamental technologies undergirding hardware and […]
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India’s logistics SaaS startup FarEye bags $13 million

More than 150 e-commerce and delivery companies globally use an Indian logistics startup’s service to work out the optimum way to ship items to their customers. That startup, Noida-based FarEye, said today it has raised an additional $13 million to close its Series D financing round at $37.5 million. FarEye first unveiled its Series D […]
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There’s no frontrunner to be found among the TikTok alternatives

The U.S. market has no real frontrunner poised to claim TikTok’s throne if the app is banned in the country. According to Trump’s executive order, TikTok’s owner ByteDance has to divest of TikTok’s U.S. operations or the app will be banned from the U.S. market on November 12. A number of companies have considered the […]
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China’s Waterdrop nabs $230M for its crowdfunded, mutual aid insurance platform

When people in the US or Europe think of crowdfunding and medical expenses, sites like GoFundMe, where people fundraise around specific predicaments, come to mind. But today comes news of how another approach — a platform based around crowdfunding and mutual aid that pays out when its members fall into medical dire straits — is […]
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Gmail, Google Drive hit by outage

Having trouble accessing your Gmail, Google Drive, or Google Meet? You’re not alone. Thousands of users, mostly in India, parts of the U.S., Australia, Japan, and Malaysia are reporting that they are unable to access the aforementioned Google services. Some users have reported that they are unable to log-in into their Gmail accounts, while others […]
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BlackBerry’s smartphone brand switches hands again, set to return as a 5G Android handset

A good brand is hard to kill. Over the past several years, the smartphone space has seen a resurgence of once-mighty mobile brands making a comeback with various degrees of success. HMD’s Nokia phones are probably the best and most successful example, but even Palm had a brief moment in the sun. And then there’s […]
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iKala, an AI-based customer engagement platform, raises $17 million to expand in Southeast Asia

iKala, a Taiwanese startup that offers an artificial intelligence-based customer acquisition and engagement platform, will expand into new Southeast Asian markets after raising a $17 million Series B. The round was led by Wistron Digital Technology Holding Company, the investment arm of the electronics manufacturer, with participation from returning investors Hotung Investment Holdings Limited and […]
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Omio takes $100M to shuttle through the coronavirus crisis

Multimodal travel platform Omio (formerly GoEuro) has raised $100M in late stage funding to help see its business through the coronavirus crisis. It also says it’s eyeing potential M&A opportunities within the hard-hit sector. New and existing investors in the Berlin -based startup participated in the late stage convertible note, although omio isn’t disclosing any […]
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Netflix test puts a ‘Shuffle Play’ button right on your home screen

Don’t know what you’re in the mood to watch? Netflix’s new “Shuffle” feature could help. The company confirms it’s currently testing a feature that puts a big button labeled “Shuffle Play” right on the Netflix home screen, beneath your user profile icon. When pressed, Netflix will randomly play content it thinks you’ll like. This could […]
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EU websites’ use of Google Analytics and Facebook Connect targeted by post-Schrems II privacy complaints

A month after Europe’s top court struck down a flagship data transfer arrangement between the EU and the US as unsafe, European privacy campaign group, noyb, has filed complaints against 101 websites with regional operators which it’s identified as still sending data to the US via Google Analytics and/or Facebook Connect integrations. Among the entities […]
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India’s OneCard credit card-maker FPL Technologies lands $10 million

A 20-month-old startup in India founded by a group of banking veterans that has built a mobile-first credit card and is improving the experience users have with credit cards has secured $10 million in a new financing round. Pune-based FPL Technologies’ $10 million Series A financing round was funded by Matrix Partners India, Sequoia Capital […]
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Epic files motion for injunction against Apple over threat to revoke all developer access

After taking a stand against Apple’s hefty cut of the money developers make through the App Store, Fortnite maker Epic Games shows no signs of backing down. The company filed a motion for an injunction against Apple in the U.S. District Court for California’s Northern District on Monday after it received a letter notifying Epic […]
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Indian lawmakers accuse Facebook of political bias

Facebook is facing heat in India, its biggest market by users, over a report that claimed the company compromised its hate speech policy to favor the ruling party. Politicians from both Bharatiya Janata Party, which rules the government in India, and opposition Indian National Congress lambasted Facebook for its supposed favoritism to the other and […]
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AutoX launches its RoboTaxi service in Shanghai, competing with Didi’s pilot program

Autonomous vehicle startup AutoX announced the public launch of of its self-driving taxi service in Shanghai today. Called simply RoboTaxi, AutoX’s offering already faces competition from Didi, China’s largest ride-hailing platform, which launched its own robo-taxi pilot program in Shanghai at the end of June. AutoX’s RoboTaxis will first be available in Jiading District, starting […]
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As it adds Jeremy Milken to the partnership, Watertower Ventures nears $50 million close for its new fund

Derek Norton and Jeremy Milken have known each other for twenty years. Over their longtime personal and professional relationship, the two Los Angeles-based serial entrepreneurs have invested in each other’s companies and investment firms, but never worked together until now. Milken is taking the plunge into institutional investing, joining Norton as a partner in Watertower […]
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Liquid unicorns, accelerating transitions, and Gen Z’s venture impact

Welcome back to The TechCrunch Exchange, a weekly startups-and-markets newsletter for your weekend enjoyment.
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Decrypted: Hackers show off their exploits as Black Hat goes virtual

Every year hackers descend on Las Vegas in the sweltering August heat to break ground on security research and the most innovative hacks. This year was no different, even if it was virtual. To name a few: Hackers tricked an ATM to spit out cash. A duo of security researchers figured out a way to […]
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Thoughts on ‘self-driving money,’ day trading and product development from Wealthfront’s Andy Rachleff

Andy Rachleff founded Wealthfront a decade ago to give investors a better and smarter way to manage their wealth, building on core academic research showing that a carefully balanced portfolio of low-fee ETFs outperformed more aggressive strategies. Since then, the company has taken in billions of dollars of invested capital under management and expanded into […]
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NASA and SpaceX target October 23 for first operational astronaut launch

NASA and SpaceX have set a specific target date for Crew-1, the first operational crewed mission for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Crew-1 will carry astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Oliver, Mike Hopkins and Soichi Noguchi to the International Space Station, and will mark the first regular service mission of the Dragon spacecraft following its certification at […]
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The Polestar 2 bests the Tesla Model 3 in drivability and enjoyment

I enjoy driving the Polestar 2 more than the Tesla Model 3. The Polestar 2 is more comfortable, seemingly better built and has a better infotainment system. In all the traditional automotive metrics, it’s a better car, and yet I find it hard to recommend it over the Tesla Model 3. The Polestar 2 often […]
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Uber and Lyft lose bid to delay worker reclassification order in California

Uber and Lyft have lost their bid to delay a preliminary injunction that will force the two ride-hailing app companies to reclassify drivers as employees. A California superior court judge denied Thursday the companies request to delay the order from going into effect August 20. The decision sets the stage for a legal fight and […]
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Digital imaging pioneer Russell Kirsch dies at 91

Russell Kirsch, whose research going back to the ’50s underlies the entire field of digital imaging, died earlier this week at the age of 91. It’s hard to overstate the impact of his work, which led to the first digitally scanned photo and the creation of what we now think of as pixels. Born to […]
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