QED and Partech back South African payment orchestration platform Revio in $5.2M seed

September 27, 2023
The payment landscape in Africa is still fragmented, with several payment operators providing different payment options to customers as well as businesses. Due to this fragmentation, payment failures are inevitable due to factors such as invalid cards, inactive accounts and high dispute rates. One of the few startups working on payment orchestration to address this […]

New research: Vast majority of VC-backed UK startups do *nothing* on climate emissions

September 27, 2023
Some 76% of the top 500 VC-backed UK startups have done nothing to either measure or offset their carbon emissions, according to new research shared exclusively with TechCrunch. In total, these companies have raised $40 billion in VC funding. Furthermore, of the VCs looked at, the highest only scored 37 out of a possible 100 […]

Google launches earthquake alerts on Android in India

September 27, 2023
Google has announced the launch of its earthquake alert system for Android devices in India. The system uses smartphone sensors such as accelerators, which can act as small seismometers and detect tremors. The company on Wednesday said the system, developed with consultation from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Seismology Center (NSC), […]

The writers strike is over: here’s how AI negotiations shook out

September 27, 2023
After almost five months, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has reached an agreement with Hollywood studios to end the writers strike. Starting Wednesday, writers will be able to resume work under the conditions established by their new contract. During the historic strike, AI emerged as a key point of contention between the writers and […]

What is Amazon’s [redacted] ‘Project Nessie’ algorithm?

September 26, 2023
The FTC’s lawsuit against Amazon alleging anti-competitive practices is largely full of things we already knew in a general sense: price hikes, pressure to use Amazon fulfillment, and so on. But then we get to a sea of redactions and the mysterious “Project Nessie.” What is it, and could it possibly be as alarming as […]

Sources: Palo Alto in advanced talks to buy Talon and Dig in a $1B security sweep

September 26, 2023
Palo Alto Networks’ stock price has been on the rise on the back of strong earnings and growing demand for cybersecurity services, and now the company is using that momentum to do a little shopping. TechCrunch has confirmed with multiple sources that Palo Alto is in advanced negotiations to buy not one, but two, security […]

Talkdesk conducts third round of layoffs in less than 14 months

September 26, 2023
Talkdesk, a company once valued at $10 billion that sells software to help large corporations improve customer service, has laid off more employees — the third round of cuts in less than 14 months. A Talkdesk spokesperson confirmed Tuesday via email that it had made “limited headcount reductions in a few areas.” She declined to […]