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Daily Crunch is pleased to welcome you for the October 2021 edition. It's been quite a day with Facebook making a lot of headlines. There have been a lot of IPO updates, some acquisition scuttlebutt, and a large Twitter deal. We have some work ahead of us.
TechCrunch's SaaS event is right around the corner, and our Space-themed Session will take off shortly thereafter. We hope to see you there. Alex
TechCrunch Top 3
Facebook suggested a name change. Remember Alphabet, the holding company that Google established to support its many ambitions? Facebook is said to be considering a similar reset, and possibly renaming itself. Twitter exploded in laughter, but the core news element of Facebook's focus on creating a metaverse company seems serious enough. The company's long-held focus is on VR.
Do you remember when Google created Alphabet as a holding company to support its many ambitions? Facebook is said to be considering a similar reset, and possibly renaming itself. Twitter exploded in laughter, but the core news element of Facebook's focus on creating a metaverse company seems serious enough. The company's focus on VR may be explained by this focus. IPO news galore: Although large technology companies and governments were the main focus of today's news, a lot of noise was made by former startups that are now trying to enter the public markets. Backblaze reported in its IPO filing, for instance, that it was a cash-efficient operation enroute to going public. Udemy also set an initial IPO price range for the company, possibly valuing it at more than $4Billion. Rent the Runway also plans to go public at a valuation of over $1 billion. However, we are still trying to understand the filing.
Although large technology companies and governments were the main news stories today, there was also a lot of noise from former startups that are trying to get on the public markets. Backblaze reported in its IPO filing, for instance, that it was a cash-efficient company en route to becoming public. Udemy also set an initial IPO price range for the company, possibly valuing it at more than $4Billion. Rent the Runway also plans to go public with an IPO, at a valuation of over $1 billion. However, we are still analyzing the filing. PayPal could buy Pinterest: The news that U.S. fintech company PayPal might buy another domestic public company Pinterest raised eyebrows in both technology and financial circles. It is unclear what PayPal will do to Pinterest as an asset. However, there is an irony in PayPal's history, which split from eBay and could have linked up with another nonfinancial business.
Startups/VC
Romain Dillet, our resident journalist, has an excellent piece today about how startups can choose the right technology stack to help them succeed. This might be the piece of writing that you've been looking for if you're in building mode.
Resistant AI, which recently raised $16.6 million, is interested in fraud prevention as a service. Natasha Lomas says the startup uses artificial intelligence for financial services companies to combat fraud and financial crimes. It is possible to create a neobank which completely outsources all aspects of its tech stack.
Resistant AI, which recently raised $16.6 million, appears to be chasing this gig. Natasha Lomas reports that the startup uses artificial intelligence for financial services companies to combat fraud. It is possible to create a neobank which completely outsources all aspects of its tech stack, as Resistant AI just raised $16.6 million. Flock Freight, which is shipping carpooling, is a big business after raising nine figures from SoftBank in a SeriesD. Here's hoping that Flock will be able to address the global supply chain crisis by working in the shared truckload market.
Flock Freight, the latest unicorn, has raised nine figures of cash from SoftBank in Series D. They work in the shared truckload marketplace and here's hoping that Flock will be able to address the global supply chain crisis. DeFi startups remain in the spotlight: Element Finance announced a $32million Series A for its decentralized yield-generating service on the same day that bitcoin hit a new record high in USD terms. The deal was led by Polychain Capital. The deal was led by Polychain Capital.
Element Finance, a decentralized yield-generating service, announced a $32million Series A on the same day that bitcoin's well-known cryptocurrency reached an all-time high in USD terms. The deal was led by Polychain Capital. The deal was led by Polychain Capital. Stripe acquires India's Recko: India's largest fintech company Stripe has bought Recko. Recko, the acquired company, is a platform that allows businesses to track and automate payment reconciliation. This buy may not be exciting, but it shows how ambitious Stripe's ambitions as an entity.
Indian fintech giant Stripe has bought its first company in India. Despite its immense scale, Stripe has not yet gone public. Recko, the acquired company, has built a platform to track and automate payment reconciliation. This buy is a testament to how ambitious Stripe's ambitions as an entity. The lesson learned from Superplastics $20 Million Series A is that new IP is worth a lot. The company has created a group of digital characters who can be partnered with real people for collaborations and the like. This is a far better deal than spending $3 million to digitally sign an image of an ape on one blockchain.
This seems to be the lesson of Superplastics $20 Million Series A. The company has created a group of digital characters who can be partnered with real people for collaborations and the like. This is a far better deal than spending $3 million to digitally sign an image of an ape on one blockchain. TechCrunch keeps technology accessibility in mind. Learn more.
The Automattic TC-1
The latest long-form review of a prominent tech company is Automattic. It is the most commercially viable complement to open source WordPress publishing platform.
The company, which is 16 years old, is rapidly growing to be a major media player. Its acquisition of Tumblr widened its reach into social media and WooCommerce, its open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress, integrates seamlessly with POS systems in real life.
This series is broken into four parts and examines Automattic from many angles.
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