What is that we hear? Is that the Friday, May 20, 2022, on the calendar and the soft, alluring siren's song of a weekend that's right around the corner? Why, yes, that must be it!
Our events team is busy putting together an awesome TechCrunch Disrupt, and we are psyched about Startup Battlefield, where the winner will walk away with a $100,000 check to continue building the future it is envisioning. Here's how to be in the running. — Haje and Christine
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The TechCrunch Top 3
UST UGH: Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon has some 'splaining to do with South Korea's special financial crimes unit, which has launched an investigation into the collapse of Terraform's stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and its sister token Luna earlier this month. Prosecutors might be first in line, but the line is growing, with investors filing a lawsuit against Kwon and his co-founder Daniel Shin over alleged charges of fraud and other financial regulation violations. Also joining are Luna Foundation Guard advisors who tell Jacquie that they have not heard from Kwon in weeks.
Standoff: We enjoyed reading Carly's piece outlining what happened with Costa Rica's ransomware attacks — the Conti gang is attempting to overthrow the government — and who could be next. As of our newsletter time, the ransom part was still going on. The deadline given was May 23.
Klarna konundrum: The payments company is reportedly the latest to be fine with lowering its valuation, and in its case, there is some capital attached. We think Alex sums it up well saying, "No one likes a down round. They are dilutive, messy and demoralizing. But they are also miles better than not raising money and dying, so companies raise them when required." He goes into why Klarna taking an insider round with a cut valuation is worth it or not.
Also, Brian and Haje tag-teamed on a pair of articles about Sony's new earbuds. Brian covers the buds themselves ("As someone who tests a lot of earbuds over the course of a year, the LinkBuds S are among the best sounding and most comfortable I've had in my ears"), and Haje double-clicked on the Endel soundscape-creating app.
Strap on your dancing shoes, there's a veritable dance party of more news coming your way:
Covid has us feline fine: Tell you who isn't upset by COVID: The litany of apps offering pet insurance. Mike reports that "Some seven in 10 pet parents take their pet's physical and mental health more seriously than their own."
Three things to remember when diversifying your startup's cap table
Just as a sales team builds and refines its funnel, early stage founders in fundraising mode can create an investor funnel that will help sustain their company for years to come.
Oriana Papin-Zoghbi, CEO and co-founder of women's health startup AOA Dx, shared her investor breakdown with TC+:
35% private investors
34% women (female investors or female-headed funds)
26% venture capitalists
23% family and friends
18% international investors
15% angel groups
"When building an investor funnel, vocalizing what you want is crucial to finding the right investors," says Papin-Zoghbi.
"Finding the right investors is like finding the right team members — you need to be upfront about your expectations and address what you want them to bring to the table."
(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)
Image Credits: redmal / Getty Images
Big Tech Inc.
Deposit 25 cents: If you're a gamer, we presume you have some thoughts on God of War: Ragnarök. Devin's take is that this game "may be the most accessible title yet, and that's saying something." It's good to see Microsoft create a game that offers features that are customizable for people with certain specific disabilities, like a visual or hearing impairment.
The family that Snaps together stays together: For every parent dying to know who their teen is interacting with on Snapchat, the social media giant is close to launching its parental control feature, "Family Center." For those of you not on Snapchat, or don't have children, Sarah tells us this is important because it is one of the few social networks where you can't see someone's friend list.
Dating update: It looks like Match Group, the parent company of dating apps Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid, is on good terms with Google again. Crisis averted?
It's the final day of the SEA Games MLBB! Philippines will face Indonesia at the Grand Finals. Which team will clinch the gold medal? Make sure not to miss out!
Ito na ang huling araw ng SEA Games MLBB! Makakaharap ng Philippines ang Indonesia sa Grand Finals. Aling kopononan ang makakakuha ng gintong medalya? Siguraduhing hindi papalampasin!
Hari ini merupakan hari terakhir dari SEA Games MLBB! Filipina akan menghadapi Indonesia di Grand Final. Manakah tim yang akan memperoleh medali emas? Jangan lupa untuk menyaksikan pertandingannya!
World champion: Magnificent Amy Broadhurst wins gold for Ireland in Istanbul: The Dundalk woman joins Katie Taylor, Michael Conlan and Kellie Harrington as a World Championship gold medal winner. IT WAS THE greatest half an hour of Irish boxing since Wayne McCullough and Michael Carruth claimed silver and gold respectively at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.
On this occasion, however, both Irish protagonists took top honours: Amy Broadhurst and Lisa O’Rourke penned their names into this country’s short list of World Boxing Championship gold medal winners — which until this week included only Katie Taylor, Michael Conlan and Kellie Harrington.
Three became five in Istanbul.
Just minutes after Dundalk woman Broadhurst, 25, fairly handily beat Algerian opponent Imane Khelif on a 5-0 unanimous decision in their light-welterweight (63kg) decider, Roscommon’s O’Rourke earned a hard-fought 4-1 split over Mozambique’s Alcinda Panguane in the light-middleweight (70kg) showpiece.
As well as gold medals, each fighter will take home with them €86,000 in prize money. Both Broadhurst and O’Rourke will also be granted funding of €40,000 from Sport Ireland next year, reward for a World Championship podium finish of any kind.
The supremely talented southpaw Broadhurst counts in her personal trophy cabinet 19 Irish titles and five continental medals, including bronze at the 2019 Europeans as a fully fledged Elite. However, she has in recent years operated in the shadows of the world-ruling Harrington, who has Boradhurst’s preferred weight division of lightweight — 60kg, an Olympic category — locked down. Or at least, she had.
With Olympic champ Harrington having been entered into these World Championships until an injury ruled her out days before the tournament, Broadhurst competed again up at light-welter, just as she did when she was controversially denied a medal at the 2018 Worlds. That quarter-final robbery in New Delhi is but a distant memory, now.
