Zoom has built a $102bn equity value by becoming the go-to video conferencing app for people trying to stay connected during the pandemic. The San Francisco-based start-up now bets its future will be in phone calls as workers begin to return to the office. It is buying Five9, a call centre technology provider, for $14.7bn…
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Few companies have deeper insights into the day-by-day state of venture capital than AngelList. According to the company’s data, over 51% of the “top tier U.S. VC deals” involve their platform and tools, giving them a remarkably expansive view of everything going on. AngelList Venture CEO Avlok Kohli joined us at TechCrunch Early Stage to…
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The White House has accused the Chinese government of teaming up with criminal gangs to commit widespread cyber attacks, including one on Microsoft this year that affected tens of thousands of organisations. The accusation came as the US Justice department unsealed an indictment alleging that four Chinese nationals affiliated with the Ministry of State Security…
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The universe of Indian firms attempting to replicate Thrasio’s success in the world’s second largest internet market just got bigger. Three-month-old GlobalBees said on Monday it has raised $150 million in a Series A financing round led by FirstCry. Lightspeed Venture Partners also invested in the new financing round, which is $75 million in equity…
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Tencent has struck a £919m deal to buy the UK games developer Sumo Group as the Chinese tech company continues its years-long international gaming acquisition spree. Sumo, which was founded in Yorkshire in 2003, has developed games for Sony, Microsoft and Sega including instalments of the Forza, Hitman, Sonic and LittleBigPlanet franchises. Consolidation has been…
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In the financial world, 2021 will likely be remembered for two things. First, it was the year that Bitcoin began to gain traction, with a growing number of major financial institutions, huge technology corporations, and even a government signing on. Second, it’s the year DeFi’s value exploded, rising from less than $1 billion to $88…
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Zoom is taking advantage of the impressive rise in its stock price in the past year to make its first major acquisition. The popular video conferencing firm, which was valued at about $9 billion at its IPO two years ago, said Sunday evening it has agreed a deal to buy cloud call centre service provider…
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Since Google launched its self-driving car project in 2009, the biggest challenge has been one of technology: can it be safe enough to deploy at scale? That dispute is over. Google’s project, now branded Waymo, has experienced only minor incidents — about once every 210,000 miles — since 2019 when it began operating a driverless…
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[embedded content] As the pandemic dwindled enough to get in our car with dogs, SiriusXM, and our children in the rear view mirror, we drove to South Carolina. Tina had endured the last year and almost another half while her mother languished with aging pets, her husband in a facility, and eventually his death. As…
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China’s capabilities in artificial intelligence are “much closer than I thought” to catching up to the US, former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt told Nikkei Asia, stressing that America would not succeed without a “very strong partnership with our Asian friends”. In an online interview, Schmidt, now chair of the National Security Commission on Artificial…
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