December 20, 2024

Pairing live support with accurate AI outputs

A live agent spends hours each week manually documenting routine interactions. Another combs through multiple knowledge bases to find the right solution, scrambling to piece it together while the customer waits on hold. A third types out the same response they’ve written dozens of times before. These repetitive tasks can be draining, leaving less time…

May 2023

Entro raises $6M to for its end-to-end secrets security solution

May 17, 2023

Entro, a Tel Aviv-based startup that is building a security platform that helps enterprises manage and protect their secrets like account credentials, certificates and API keys, today announced that it has raised a $6 million seed round led by StageOne Ventures and Hyperwise Ventures.  A number of angel investors, including Trusteer and Transmit Security founders […]

Entro raises $6M to for its end-to-end secrets security solution by Frederic Lardinois originally published on TechCrunch

Inside Tencent’s weirdly secretive customer service center

May 17, 2023
China Report is MIT Technology Review’s newsletter about technology developments in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. It’s been a while. I just got back from several weeks in China. It was my first visit since the pandemic, and I noticed some changes: half the cars running on the streets of Shanghai…

Eagle Eye Networks and Brivo raise $192M in a joint round to boost cloud security business

May 17, 2023

Eagle Eye Networks and Brivo, two players in the world of physical cloud security — respectively video surveillance and access control systems to secure buildings and other physical spaces — are doubling down on their businesses… quite literally. The pair of U.S. companies — majority owned by the same individual, security entrepreneur Dean Drako — […]

Eagle Eye Networks and Brivo raise $192M in a joint round to boost cloud security business by Ingrid Lunden originally published on TechCrunch

Google pushes ahead with in-app billing policy in India, insists watchdog compliance

May 17, 2023

Google said on Wednesday that its Google Play’s payments policy is compliant with the Indian watchdog’s order and it is moving ahead with plans to enforce the policy in the South Asian market, weeks after some developers sought to suspend Google’s in-app billing fee system alleging it was not compliant with the watchdog’s directive. “In […]

Google pushes ahead with in-app billing policy in India, insists watchdog compliance by Manish Singh originally published on TechCrunch

Tiger Global-backed Axis launches digital payments platform for Egyptian SMEs months after its $8.25M seed 

May 17, 2023

Egyptian fintech Axis has launched its digital payments platform to the North African market after securing a license from the apex bank, Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), for its open-loop mobile wallet, axisPay, which offers a digital banking alternative for small businesses and their employees.  This is coming almost 18 months after the startup received […]

Tiger Global-backed Axis launches digital payments platform for Egyptian SMEs months after its $8.25M seed  by Tage Kene-Okafor originally published on TechCrunch

Jia, a blockchain-based lender of small businesses in emerging markets, raises $4.3 million seed

May 17, 2023

Jia, a blockchain-based fintech providing loans to micro and small businesses in emerging markets, has raised $4.3 million seed funding, and an additional $1 million commitment for on-chain liquidity, in a round led by early-stage backer TCG Crypto, with participation from a number of funds including BlockTower, Hashed Emergent, Saison Capital, and Global Coin Research. […]

Jia, a blockchain-based lender of small businesses in emerging markets, raises $4.3 million seed by Annie Njanja originally published on TechCrunch

Finnish VC firm Lifeline Ventures closes $163M fund for early-stage startups

May 17, 2023

Venture capital (VC) firm Lifeline Ventures today announced a fresh €150 million ($163 million) fund aimed at early-stage startups across Finland. Founded in 2009, Helsinki-based Lifeline Ventures has invested in around 115 companies to date, with more than a dozen exits to its name including activity-tracking app Moves, which Facebook acquired back in 2014; food […]

Finnish VC firm Lifeline Ventures closes $163M fund for early-stage startups by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch

Meta’s paid verification program is now available in the UK

May 17, 2023

Meta has launched its paid verification program, Meta Verified, in the UK at £9.99 per month each for Instagram and Facebook. The subscription is aimed at creators and comes with perks like proactive impersonation protection and access to customer support along with a blue badge for verification. The company first launched the subscription plan for […]

Meta’s paid verification program is now available in the UK by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch

Wefox secures new funding at $4.5 billion valuation as it aims for profitability

May 17, 2023

Wefox, the German insurtech startup, has closed a new funding round from existing investors. The funding amount isn’t going to impress anyone as the company managed to secure $55 million. This could be considered as an extension of the $400 million Series D round as Wefox managed to maintain the same valuation of $4.5 billion. […]

Wefox secures new funding at $4.5 billion valuation as it aims for profitability by Romain Dillet originally published on TechCrunch

Singapore’s Ora takes a vertically-integrated approach to telehealth

May 17, 2023

According to the founder of Singapore-based telehealth platform Ora, 90% of its patients are less than 39 years old and have not been treated for their conditions offline. That puts the onus on Ora to make sure its patients, mostly millennials who live in cities, have a good experience. Ora wants to perform with verticals […]

Singapore’s Ora takes a vertically-integrated approach to telehealth by Catherine Shu originally published on TechCrunch