For Your Information Blog: 28/01/22

Friday, January 28, 2022

Google will offer G Suite legacy edition users a 'no-cost option'

Friday, January 28, 2022 • By Alex Wilhelm

Hello and welcome to Daily Crunch for January 28, 2022! It's nearly blizzard o'clock where I am, so please enjoy the following newsletter as my final missive before hunkering down. In happier and better news, TechCrunch Early Stage is coming up in just a few months and not only am I hype about it, I'll hopefully be there IRL. See you soon! – Alex

Image Credits: S3studio / Getty Images

The TechCrunch Top 3

Google invests up to $1B in Airtel: With a $700 million investment and $300 million in "multi-year commercial agreements" with Airtel, and Indian telco, Google has made its second major bet on Indian infra. Recall that Google also put money into Jio, another Indian telco. The deal underscores the importance of the country in the future of technology revenues.
What's ahead for Europe: On the heels of news that European startups had an outsized 2021 when it came to fundraising, TechCrunch explored what's ahead for the continent. Some expect a slowdown from peak activity, while others anticipate further acceleration. Regardless of which perspective you favor, European venture investment is expected to remain elevated for some time to come.
Zapp raises $200M: And speaking of European startups, Zapp, the U.K.-based quick-convenience delivery startup, just raised a massive Series B. The company previously raised $100 million, meaning that this round was big in absolute and comparative terms. As we see some consolidation in the fast-delivery space, this deal caught our eye.

How 100+ SaaS companies onboard customer data

European, North American edtech startups see funding triple in 2021

Pre-pandemic, VCs were notoriously reluctant to invest in education-related companies. Today, edtech startups are seeing higher average deal sizes, more seed and pre-seed funding from non-VC investors, and an influx of generalists.

According to Rhys Spence, head of research at Brighteye Ventures, funding for edtech startups based in Europe and North America trebled over the last year.

“Exciting companies are spawning across geographies and verticals, and even generalist investors are building conviction that the sector is capable of producing the same kind of outsized returns generated in fintech, healthtech and other sectors,” writes Spence.

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)

European, North American edtech startups see funding triple in 2021 image

Image Credits: Bet_Noire / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc.

Northern Light Venture Capital's He Huang says the Chinese robotics market is overheated: Per the investor, robotics in China is "riddled with speculation and overvalued companies," calling the situation a bubble. It's worth noting that China's central government is working to retool where its tech investment dollars flow.
Robinhood goes down, back up: This morning, in the wake of the company's lackluster earnings report, TechCrunch dug through why Robinhood's stock sold off in after-hours, pre-market, and early trading sessions yesterday and today. And then Robinhood turned around and gained ample ground during the rest of the day. It's a weird market moment, but good news for the U.S. fintech all the same.
Google to allow legacy G Suite users to move to free accounts: After angering techies still using the "G Suite legacy free edition" by announcing that it was ending the program and requiring payment, the search giant has decided to "offer more options to existing users," TechCrunch reports. Somewhere inside of Google, a business decision just met the market and was flipped on its head. Makes you wonder who is calling the shots over there, and if they previously worked for McKinsey.

TechCrunch Experts

TechCrunch wants you to recommend growth marketers who have expertise in SEO, social, content writing and more! If you're a growth marketer, pass this survey along to your clients; we'd like to hear about why they loved working with you.