For Your Information Blog: 12/12/23

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

This venture firm is backing out of India

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

In today's top story, Manish exclusively learned that Omidyar Network, an impact venture firm backed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, decided to pull out of the India market. The details are still fuzzy, but from what is known, expect to see some Omidyar alums reunite and start their own fund. Read more.

Next, WeRide is eager to get its autonomous vehicles in use outside of China. Rita writes that the company is testing its buses in Singapore. Get on board.

Meanwhile, Mike reports on Spore.Bio, a company leveraging generative AI in a spectral device to detect bad microbes in food factories in real time. Take a bite.

And for those of you headed to Las Vegas for CES 2024, the TechCrunch team wants to meet your startup.

Image Credits: Getty Images

More top reads

Lego + Fortnite: Who would have thought Fortnite's crowd would embrace Legos? Clearly Epic. Lego Fortnite's debut builds momentum with 2.4 million people playing at once. Read more. Speaking of Epic, the games maker wins its antitrust fight against Google.

Such an original name: Adobe launches Spectrum 2, a new design system for all of its apps. Here's what's new.

You've got to BeReal: BeReal wants to be your social media app for everything, so it's starting to look more like them. See the new features.

Treat yo'self: Temu was the most-downloaded free iPhone app in the U.S. in 2023. Here's why.

AI in everyday life: Durable cements $14 million to build AI-powered tools for small businesses in service industries. Read more.

I've got the power: Here are three renewable energy breakthroughs that earned Fourth Power its $19 million Series A. Go inside. (TC+)

Put a pin in it: Want to save that important message, image, location, etc.? WhatsApp now has a feature for that. Learn how it works.

An AI bear hug: For developers embracing artificial intelligence, Laredo wants to use generative AI to automate developers' work. Read more.

Curtain call: E3 has entertained its last electronic expo. Get the scoop.

That + will get you perks: It pays to pay for services. Snapchat+ subscribers can now create and send AI-generated images. Read more. And get ready for Snapchat's end-of-year "Recap" to roll out beginning December 13.

Even more for your Tuesday:

Ukraine's largest mobile operator Kyivstar downed by 'powerful' cyberattack

Microsoft's climate fund backs sustainable jet fuel company Dimensional Energy

Bitcoin ATM company Coin Cloud got hacked. Even its new owners don't know how

Deadmau5-founded startup Korus taps into AI for music creation

Gig marketplace Jitjatjo raises $30M to grow into new markets

Image Credits: Epic Games

On the pods

This week’s episode of Found centers on James Wagoner, the co-founder and CEO of Joule Case, a startup that is creating a cleaner alternative to diesel generators. Wagoner talked about his journey to launching the company after the first company he, and his co-founder, started didn’t survive the 2008 financial crisis. He also talked about:

Why they chose to raise money through equity crowdfunding and how that’s worked out for them.
What it has been like building in this new environment for clean tech.
How he and his co-founder have successfully worked together since meeting their freshman year of college. Listen here.

Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders. New episodes drop every Tuesday.