Spotify quietly lets all podcasters upload videos, surpasses 250K shows
Non-hosted podcasters can now upload videos to Spotify. Over 250K video podcasts are on the platform.
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Puzzle Corner
Ready for a fresh set of puzzles? Click here for the January/February Puzzle Corner, brought to you with a special Mystery Hunt twist by guest editor Dan Katz ’03. This column includes solutions to three September/October 24 problems. Find solutions to the other three problems here.
Cadana, an emerging markets payroll services provider for global hiring platforms, banks $7.1M seed
The global freelancer market, a $1.3 trillion industry fueled by over 200 million knowledge workers, drives demand for solutions that automate payroll and streamline employment and tax regulations worldwide. However, most existing products fail to address the legal landscape of emerging markets, such as differences in employment laws. This oversight means global hiring platforms, which […]
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Amazon extends generative AI-powered product listings to Europe
Amazon is bringing its generative AI listing smarts to more sellers, revealing today that those in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. can now access tools designed to improve product listings by generating product descriptions, titles, and associated details. Additionally, sellers can also “enrich” existing product listings by automatically adding missing information. The announcement […]
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Kenya closes its probe of Worldcoin, opening the door to a relaunch of its orbs after a year-long suspension
Worldcoin — the crypto startup co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman — has been given the green light to resume iris-scanning and other operations in Kenya after a year-long government probe over privacy concerns was dropped. Kenya was one of the Worldcoin’s launch countries for its iris-scanning scheme — which the startup was building out as […]
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How generative AI could reinvent what it means to play
First, a confession. I only got into playing video games a little over a year ago (I know, I know). A Christmas gift of an Xbox Series S “for the kids” dragged me—pretty easily, it turns out—into the world of late-night gaming sessions. I was immediately attracted to open-world games, in which you’re free to…
Paris-based VC Breega hits first close of $75M Africa fund to back pre-seed and seed startups
Paris-based VC firm Breega is launching a $75 million fund to invest in early-stage startups in Africa, with 70% of the capital already committed at the first close, the firm revealed to TechCrunch. Since entering the VC scene in 2015, Breega has fully raised four funds: a first seed fund (€45 million), a second seed […]
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PQShield secures $37M more for ‘quantum resistant’ cryptography
Malicious hacking is getting increasingly sophisticated, and that’s leading to a very clear trend in security technology. To keep people and organizations safe, security also has to continue advancing its own complexity. Security startup PQShield has gotten an early start on that concept with a focus on “post-quantum” cryptography: software and hardware solutions that, in […]
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Hero wants to save the day for companies facing a working capital crunch
Hero, a new fintech startup based in Paris, is announcing an €11.3 million all-equity funding round led by Valar Ventures ($12.2 million at today’s exchange rate). For the past couple of years, the company has been quietly building an ambitious banking product for small companies that can essentially replace everything you’d expect from a traditional […]
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‘Lawyer-in-the-loop’ startup Wordsmith wants to bring AI paralegals to all employees
Wordsmith, a fledgling Scottish legal tech startup, has somehow managed to attract the backing of two well-known venture capital firms. The startup targets in-house legal teams and law firms with an AI platform that they can configure to help other workers in the company. This way, anyone in the company can solicit help with legal […]
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General Catalyst makes India push with Venture Highway merger
General Catalyst, a Silicon Valley venture capital group, is expanding its presence in India by joining forces with a local venture firm and earmarking more than $500 million for investments in the world’s most populous nation. The U.S. venture capital group is merging with Venture Highway, an India-based firm whose investments include social commerce startup […]
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