Every day at 3 p.m., you'll get a rundown of the biggest and most important stories from the site. Don't forget to subscribe here.
There is a lot of news to get into today, and my head is reeling from some of that January 6 testimony, so let's get into it. There is a sale going on at TechCrunch+. You can save 50% on an annual subscription. If you need it, you can find it on the website. You can read the story about your pitch deck needing an operating plan if you subscribe.
Get 50% off a year’s subscription to TechCrunch+ to mark Independence Day
The TechCrunch Top 3
- Kid ’n Play would not be amused: Airbnb has spoken and is putting an end to party houses with a permanent ban, Ivan reports. This is something the company initially started 2 years ago, and it seems to have worked — the company reports 44% fewer complaints of parties year over year.
- On target: Though crypto exchange FTX’s CEO Sam Bankman-Fried denied he was interested in buying Robinhood, Alex gets into why FTX would be interested at all.
- The headline speaks for itself: Mike scored a home run with his headline for a story about four European founders turned angel investors who are giving some of their venture capital firm competitors — many they say have not operated a company before — a run for their money.
Startups and VC
Speechmatics raised $62 million for its approach to speech-to-text artificial intelligence. If you have an accent or speak in a certain way, it will still be picked up and translated correctly.
It can be difficult to find the best app for your business, since there are so many. Shop Circle came out of the shadows with $65 million. The company is buying all of the apps so you don't have to.
It would be great if we could defer a portion of the monthly payment. Tenet raised $18 million for a loan that could cut an average of $200 off the bill.
There is a short version of other stories.
- Powering job boards: While the tech sector is seeing layoffs, Kyle reports that Gloat grabs $90 million to build better internal job boards.
- Rising tides and all: Sustainable Ocean Alliance, an ocean-focused, early-stage startup incubator, got itself $18 million in new funding from sources, most notably Marc and Lynne Benioff, Devin writes.
- You got a friend in me: Finding friends is hard, and as Catherine points out, it gets even harder as you get older. That’s why it’s heartwarming to read about apps like Hank, which grabbed $7 million in seed funding and connects older adults to something fun they like to do.
- Vice no more?: It wasn’t that long ago that venture capital firms were skittish on the idea of investing in one of the “vices,” you know, like alcohol and cannabis. Haje reports that JourneyOne has a fresh $10 million fund that is ready to be put to work in cannabis tech.
Use chronological scenario planning to help your startup get through a potential recession
People who burn wood to keep warm know how to calculate the number of cords they need to chop and stack. The process of creating a winterization strategy for a startup is a little more difficult.
In this environment, entrepreneurs should build decision trees that can help them manage the runway.
Use chronological scenario planning to help your startup get through a potential recession
Techcrunch+ is a membership program that helps startup teams. You can join here.
Big Tech Inc.
Today is the beginning of a new generation as we start our Big Tech news. In what was viewed by analysts as a clear illustration of a leadership transition in one of Asia's wealthiest families, Akash Ambani took the reins from his father.
RansomHouse is said to be behind the extortion of some data from a US chipmaker. The company is looking into the matter.
Ron came out with a story about the new platform for businesses at the summit that he attended.
For your viewing pleasure, there's more to see.
- Oh, yes, we got trouble, trouble, trouble: When you buy an electric vehicle, you want it to run with the same reliability as your old combustion engine car, but as Jaclyn reports, a J.D. Power survey found that was not the case.
- Get the band back together: Spotify’s new Supergrouper in-app feature will create a mixed tape of sorts for up to five of your favorite artists, Aisha writes.
- Convoy: Rebecca reported on an open letter sent to California governor Gavin Newsom from a group of autonomous truck developers urging the state to reconsider an earlier ruling that prohibits those kinds of vehicles in the state.
- Listen up: If you are looking for some new earbuds, Brian provides a review of Nura’s prototype.
- Developer delight: Frederic writes about Hasura’s new GraphQL Data Connector that “allows developers to bring virtually any data source into Hasura in order to expose it as a GraphQL API.”
