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All my friends,
Greg is back for the Daily Crunch edition on Thursday, September 9, 2021. Alex Wilhelm is on vacation for a few days more, even though he's still tweeting quite a bit. This leads me to believe that he either hates Twitter less or is bad at vacation. No matter what, I'll continue to provide daily recaps to give you an insight into the most important stories that have crossed our front page.
TechCrunch Top 3
Facebook's smart Ray-Bans: Facebook is taking a shot at the concept five years after Snap sold its Spectacle sunglasses. These items won't have the Facebook logo, presumably because no one on the planet wants it on their faces. They were created in partnership with Ray-Bans parent company. They look like a pair of Wayfarers, but with a bit more weight and cameras. When you are shooting videos or photos, a white LED will light up and the near-ear speakers can play your music and make phone calls. They can't be wet which is great as no one wants to wear sunglasses near water sources like beaches or pools. They were reviewed by Lucas Matney here.
Five years after Snap launched its Spectacle sunglasses in the market, Facebook has taken a new approach to the concept. These items won't have the Facebook logo, presumably because no one wants to wear the Facebook logo. They were created in partnership with Ray-Bans parent company. They look like a pair of Wayfarers, but with a bit more weight and cameras. When you are shooting videos or photos, a white LED will light up and the near-ear speakers can play your music and make phone calls. They can't be wet which is great as no one wants to wear sunglasses near water sources like beaches or pools. They were reviewed by Lucas Matney here. Roomba is smarter: Roomba has a new feature! What's the big feature? It will detect any poop that your pet might have left behind and prevent it from getting in its way. The past models were able to blast through the mess and drag it around, making owners quite the horror scene to return to.
Roomba new features incoming What's the big feature? It will detect any poop that your pet might have left behind and prevent it from getting in its way. The past models were able to blast through the mess and drag it about, making owners quite the horror scene to return to. Notion buys Automate.io. Automate.io is a startup from India that allows you to easily connect into services such as Mailchimp, Gmail, Salesforce (or Notion!) Automate.io is a tool that allows you to create complicated automated workflows. Notions COO stated that it was a significant acquisition but did not disclose how much.
Startups/VC
Skydweller Aero raises 8M for solar-powered aircrafts: All types of drones and planes face the same limitation, writes Aria Alamalhodaei. Skydweller Aero is a U.S.-Spanish aerospace company that wants to free itself from this constraint.
Today's drones and planes, no matter their size or fuel type are subject to the same limitation: landing. Skydweller Aero is a U.S.-Spanish startup in aerospace. The $510M SeriesE: Varo Bank won't stop funding money. It raised $241 million in June 2020. In February 2021, it will add $63 million. It has now raised $510 million in a Series E round, which values the company at $2.5B. This amount of money was not what we set out to raise. It came in quick and furious, and we were at $510 million. I finally said OK, enough. You are right? Who?
Varo Bank will continue to raise money. It raised $241 million in June 2020. In February 2021, it added $63 million. It has now raised $510 million in a Series E round, which values the company at $2.5B. This amount of money was not what we set out to raise. It came in quick and furious, and we were at $510 million. I finally said OK, enough. You are right? Who? Affinity raises $80M for machine learning to close deals. Who in your company is most qualified to close the deal? Machine learning algorithms can read through the data of your company (past emails, calendar availability, etc.) and make recommendations. Recommend the right person. Affinity has raised $80 million more to continue their growth and move forward. Affinity currently employs 125 people, but plans to increase that number to more than 200 over the next year.
Anatomy of a SPAC: Inside Better.com's ambitious plans
Better.com, an online mortgage company, is not waiting for its SPAC merger to make big moves. Ryan Lawler reported today that Property Partners, a U.K-based startup offering fractional property ownership, was purchased by Better.com.
Better has also bought Trussle, a digital mortgage brokerage, in July.
Vishal Garg, CEO of Better, told Ryan that we are not easily classified. He also stated that the company plans on expanding into traditional financial services such as auto loans and insurance.
Kevin Ryan, CFO, stated that while many people may have their own niches, we believe we are on the right path to full stack, where everything is integrated in the same flow.
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Big Tech Inc.
Twitter communities: Twitter is constantly trying new things to make Twitter more accessible for those who don't have 10,000 followers. One of the latest innovations is Communities. These are social hubs that allow you to interact with other people who share a common interest. Twitter has limited the topics to dogs, weather, shoes, and astrology at this time. They presumably want to keep politics out of their lives for as long as they can.
Twitter is constantly trying to improve the accessibility of Twitter for those who don't have 10,000 followers. One of the latest innovations is Communities. These are social hubs that allow you to interact with other people who share a common interest. Twitter has decided to limit the topics to dogs, weather, skin, and astrology for now. They also hope to keep politics out of their lives for as long as they can. Microsoft has purchased Clipchamp: Have you ever wished that Microsoft's 365 tool suite had a video editor as well? It seems that it is on its way. Microsoft has announced it is buying Clipchamp, a web-based video editing tool. When will it be integrated into Microsoft 365? TBD.
Have you ever wished that Microsoft's 365 tool suite had a video editor? It seems that it is on the horizon. Microsoft has announced it is buying Clipchamp, a web-based video editing tool. When will it be integrated into Microsoft 365? TBD. Quicken is sold again: Quicken will be sold to another private equity company just a few years after it was acquired by a private capital firm. Eric Dunn, CEO of Quicken, shared his views on the deal with TCs Mary Ann Azevedo.
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