PayPal-owned Venmo is rolling out a new feature starting today that will allow its users to track and manage multiple expenses among groups — like families or roommates’ household expenses, clubs or sports teams, community organizations and more. With Venmo Groups, users will be able to track, split, manage and settle up these ongoing expenses…
“Sober curious” and “mindful drinking” have become popular terms in recent years, with 47% of the U.S. adult population wanting to cut back on alcohol. Sunnyside, the app promoting healthy drinking habits, secured $11.5 million in Series A funding led by Motley Fool Ventures with major participation from Will Ventures, the company announced today. The funds will help…
Music startup Baton secured $4.2 million in funding, the company announced today. Baton will use the new capital to further develop its product, grow its team and roll out new features. Baton — founded by musician Gabe Warshaw — launched its private beta in 2022, allowing artists, producers, managers, A&Rs (reps responsible for talent scouting)…
TikTok is teaming up with streaming music services, including Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Music on a new feature that will allow users to save directly to their preferred streaming music app the songs they hear in TikTok videos. The addition comes at a time when TikTok’s influence is increasingly a factor in music’s top…
AI technologies will help make startups leaner and more cost-effective, according to a recent report from Battery Ventures. In turn, Battery anticipates that lower-burn startups will be worth more provided that their growth rates remain attractive. The Exchange explores startups, markets and money. Read it every morning on TechCrunch+ or get The Exchange newsletter every…
Airbnb has acquired a secretive new AI startup, GamePlanner.AI, the company announced this morning. CNBC reports that the purchase price was around $200 million, a figure that TechCrunch was unable to confirm at publication time. GamePlanner was co-founded by Adam Cheyer and Siamak Hodjat. Cheyer famously helped co-launch the startup Siri, which Apple acquired and…
E-commerce in Southeast Asia grew rapidly during the pandemic, and that momentum is continuing. A McKinsey report found that between now and 2026, the market is expected to triple at a compound growth rate of 22%, hitting $230 billion in gross merchandise volume. Not surprisingly, global brands are eager to enter Southeast Asia. E-commerce enablement…
Pebble, a startup that took on Twitter and failed, has returned from the dead — as a Mastodon instance, it seems. The company announced last month that it was shutting down its Twitter/X alternative citing the increasingly competitive landscape, X’s ability to retain users and its own failure to gain traction with a wider audience….
Citrix customers urged to patch as ransomware gang takes credit for hacking big-name firms Security researchers say hackers are mass-exploiting a critical-rated vulnerability in Citrix NetScaler systems to launch crippling cyberattacks against big-name organizations worldwide. These cyberattacks have so far included aerospace giant Boeing; the world’s biggest bank, ICBC; one of the world’s largest port…
Good morning! We’ve got a full plate for you today, so let’s get to it. Fast-delivery startup Getir announced last week that it was buying FreshDirect, an online grocery delivery company. FreshDirect was last valued at $300 million in 2020 — down significantly from the $517 million valuation it had years ago. But Getir isn’t…
