Fintech startup StudentFinance — which allows educational institutions to offer success-based financing for students — has raised a $5.3 million (€4.5 million) seed round co-led by Giant Ventures and Armilar Venture Partners. It’s now raised $6.6 million total, to date. StudentFinance launched in Spain first, followed by Germany and Finland, with the U.K. planned this […]
Google is making it easier to bring Android apps to your car
By the end of the year, more than 10 car models from Volvo, GM, Renault and Polestar will be powered by the Android Automotive operating system — and all of the built-in Google apps and services that come with it. Now, the company is making it easier for third-party developers to bring their navigation, EV […]
Roofr just nailed down a second seed round to make new roofing sales a cinch to close
Roofer Pro. Roof Snap. Acculynx. There’s suddenly no shortage of companies offering software to make the lives of roofers and their customers easier. Among these is Roofr, a five-year-old, San Francisco-based, 31-person sales platform for roofing contractors that just raised $4.25 million in post-seed funding led by Bullpen Capital, with participation from Avidbank and previous […]
Daily Crunch: How Expensify maintained its early-stage startup culture after 13 years
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here. As summer kicks into gear, the IPO market is mimicking the season by cranking up its temperature. Today, TechCrunch explored the IPO filings from venture-backed Marqeta and software startup WalkMe. Squarespace direct […]
Conti ‘ransomware as a service’ may be behind DHB attack
Paul Brislen, Editor. 19 May 2021, 9:52 am The cyber-attack on the Waikato District Health Board is being linked to a relatively new group of ransomware attacks known as Conti. Conti appears to be a “Ransomware as a Service” package that is rapidly being adopted by cyber-criminals around the world. A successor to the Ryuk […]
Everything Google announced at I/O today
This year’s I/O event from Google was heavy on the “we’re building something cool” and light on the “here’s something you can use or buy tomorrow.” But there were also some interesting surprises from the semi-live event held in and around the company’s Mountain View campus. Read on for all the interesting bits. Android 12 […]
Android TV OS reaches 80M monthly active devices, adds new features
Google offered an update on its TV platform, Android OS, at its Google I/O developer event on Tuesday. The company said its Android TV OS now reaches over 80 million monthly active devices, including through its new experience Google TV for Chromecast, as well as other platforms like smart TVs. The company also previewed a […]
Dabbel gets $4.4M to cut CO2 by automating HVAC for commercial buildings
Düsseldorf-based proptech startup Dabbel is using AI to drive energy efficiency savings in commercial buildings. It’s developed cloud-based self-learning building management software that plugs into the existing building management systems (BMS) — taking over control of heating and cooling systems in a way that’s more dynamic than legacy systems based on fixed set-point resets. Dabbel […]
TechCrunch’s Equity podcast wins a Webby Award
Today, the fine folks at the Webbys announced that TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, Equity, is the best of its kind in the technology category. We’re stoked! Alex Wilhelm, Natasha Mascarenhas and Danny Crichton sit down in front of their mics multiple times each week to regale dedicated listeners with news and analysis from the money part […]
A new book aims to blow up some widely held assumptions about the best founding teams
There’s a lot of how-to guidance out there when it comes to starting a company, and much of it has reinforced certain beliefs, including that solo founders don’t get very far on their own, that the most successful founders attend a small circle of top schools, and that the best companies are created by people […]