Others

Acorns acquires family wealth and digital memory platform EarlyBird

May 15, 2025
Savings and investing startup Acorns has acquired EarlyBird, an investment gifting platform for families, the company told TechCrunch exclusively. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. As part of the acquisition, EarlyBird will shut down, and all customer accounts will officially close on June 23. Customers’ funds will be returned to the bank […]

Roblox now lets creators sell physical products within their experiences

May 15, 2025
Roblox announced on Thursday that creators can now sell physical merchandise directly within their experiences and games on the platform with the launch of new Commerce APIs. The offering provides creators with a new way to generate revenue beyond the purchases of virtual goods or one-time fees to access specific experiences. The company first began […]

South Korea delays decision on letting Google move hi-res map data overseas

May 15, 2025
South Korea has once again postponed a decision on whether to approve Google’s request to transfer the high-precision map data it has on the country’s geography to its international servers. In February, Google had requested approval from the Korean National Geographic Information Institute to deploy a 1:5,000 scale map on its app in the country […]

Billionaire founder of Luminar replaced as CEO following ethics inquiry

May 14, 2025
Austin Russell, who became a billionaire after his lidar startup Luminar went public, appears to be out as CEO, according to the company’s board. Luminar’s board announced Wednesday — the same day of its first-quarter earnings report — it had replaced Russell and appointed Paul Ricci to the role. Ricci is the former Chairman and […]

YouTube introduces an interactive product feed for shoppable TV ads

May 14, 2025
YouTube made its pitch to advertisers on Wednesday, accompanied by a flashy performance from Lady Gaga and special appearances from popular YouTubers like Brittany Broski and MrBeast.  During its upfront presentation, YouTube executives introduced new ad formats coming to the platform, including an enhanced shoppable connected TV (CTV) offering that includes a new interactive product […]

YouTube targets TV dollars with NFL deal, bingeable ‘shows’ from creators

May 14, 2025
YouTube announced a range of initiatives designed to attract more TV ad dollars to its platform at Brandcast, its annual Upfront event for advertisers. Notably, the Google-owned video service is expanding its relationship with the NFL and plans to exclusively stream the NFL’s first Friday game of the 2025-2026 season. It’s also preparing to pilot […]