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We are pleased to welcome you to Daily Crunch, August 24, 2021. We have a lot to cover today's news cycle, which was especially dense. You should be especially interested in the latest news from Spotify, Waymo, and other large tech companies.
But, Disrupt, which is less than a months away, will feature Stewart Butterfield, Bret Taylor, the two heirs-apparents of Salesforce. Get excited! Alex
TechCrunch Top 3
Airbnb to host 20,000 Afghan refugees Airbnb promises the exact opposite. The company uses its business network to provide housing for thousands of Afghan refugees. What are other wealthy tech companies doing?
Corporate gimmicks can be hollow gestures at best. Airbnb promises the exact opposite. The company uses its business network to provide housing for thousands of Afghan refugees. What are other wealthy tech companies doing? Ramp raises $300M with a $3.9B valuation. The startup battle to control the growing corporate spending market is heating up. Ramp raised new funds. After Divvy, an ex-competitor, was sold to Bill.com, Brex and Ramp are locked in a multiparty duel. Ramp announced its first acquisition.
Ramp's new funding has intensified the startup battle for control of the expanding corporate spend market. After Divvy, an ex-competitor, was sold to Bill.com, Brex and Ramp are now locked in a multiparty duel. It also announced that Ramp had made its first acquisition. You can read more about the Ramp-Brex rivalry and their acquisitions regarding their diverging strategies by clicking here.
Boom times in Beantown. The global startup scene is growing rapidly, but Boston is the only market that has stepped up its game. This venerable hub for startups is raising record amounts of venture capital across more rounds than ever before. Local investors don't see any signs of slowing down in the coming quarters.
Startups/VC
There was so much happening in the last 24 hour that we had to break it down into sections. Follow TechCrunch Twitter to stay informed throughout the day
We begin in India
Bankers are on the hunt for Byjus: It's an IPO. According to Manish Singh, banks are pitching the edtech startup in an attempt to get a piece of future IPO action. The numbers are staggering: While most banks have offered Byjus a valuation between $40 billion and $45 billion, Morgan Stanley has proposed a valuation of $50 billion if the startup is listed next year.
It's an IPO. According to Manish Singh, banks are pitching the edtech startup in an attempt to get a piece of future IPO action. The numbers are staggering: While most banks have offered Byjus a valuation between $40 billion and $45 billion, Morgan Stanley has suggested a valuation of $50 billion if the startup is listed next year. Khatabook raises $100M More: At around $600million, Khatabook's business of digitizing Indias many SMBs appears to be doing well. The new Series C will power the company's 10 million monthly active users and help to expand its 200-person staff.
Natasha Mascarenhas, our writer, published today an article about NoRedInks $50 million Series B. The goal of the article is to teach students how to write better. I asked her why she chose the round she wanted to cover and she replied:
Usually, I don't see edtech companies focusing on subjects that have one correct answer or can be sorted into one category, like STEM and coding. NoRedInk caught me attention because it aims to bring technology to writing, which is a subjective and emotional subject. It's a difficult task, but it's refreshing to see educators invest in ambitious projects other than teaching students how to code.
Next, we have a few bulletins for startups:
Substack purchases Cocoon's team: Substack has been having quite a week. The startup hired a general counsel and announced it had acquired Cocoon's team. TechCrunch called Cocoon a subscription social media app that was built for close friends.
Substack has had a great week. Substack announced the acquisition of Cocoon's team. TechCrunch called it a subscription social media platform that was built for close friends. Investors believe they will, investing $207 million in ICON after the company's 3D-printed homes business experienced a 400% increase in revenue. Realistically, there is a national housing crisis. This will lead to more and cheaper homes. It is hard to resist.
Investors believe they will, investing $207 million in ICON after the company's 3D-printed homes saw a 400% increase in revenue. Realistically, there is a national housing crisis. This will lead to more affordable homes. It is hard to resist. Sora raises 14M for HR operations automation: Sora returns this year with a capital raise after increasing its customer base by 7x and its revenues by 8x since the 2020 seed round. The startup now has Series A cash and big plans to expand its team. They also plan to double their efforts in making the HR tech stack work together, cutting down on busywork.
After increasing its customer base by 7x, and its revenues by 8x since 2020's seed round, Sora is back with a capital raise. The startup now has Series A cash and plans to expand its team. It also wants to double down on the HR tech stack, making it more efficient, which will reduce the amount of work. Tango also announced that it raised $5.7million to expand its process documentation service. The startup monitors employees' performance and creates a guide to help others follow their example. It could be an excellent service for new employees, especially if they live in remote areas.
. The startup records employees' performance and creates a guide that helps others follow their lead. It could be an excellent service for new employees, especially if they live in remote areas. From startupland, Sara Mauskopf (CEO, co-founder of Winnie), and Elana Berkowitz, founding partner at Springbank Collective, wrote an essay for TechCrunch pointing out that childcare is a huge industry, but not attracting venture capital.
Rewind to the suture: Healthcare is coming home.
Doctors used to make house calls to patients with serious illnesses. In fact, in 1930, 40% of all visits were made at home. In 1980, this figure was lower than 1%.
Today, urgent care centers are located in Main Street stores. 33% of all medical expenditures take place in hospitals. According to Sumi Das, Nina Gerson, Capital G's healthcare investment managers, this results in higher prices but not necessarily better outcomes.
They write that we can improve outcomes and reduce costs by moving care from hospitals back to where it began at home.
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Big Tech Inc.
Ron Miller, our Big Tech reporter, gives us a fascinating look at how Cisco acquires companies. This dotcom boom company ranks among the most acquisitive in the world. Its approach to securing startup talent and products is worth understanding.
Now, it's all about the Big Tech news.
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