Japanese marketing tech firm Geniee acquires Zelto for $70M

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Friday, March 03, 2023

Hello, you crunchy Crunchers! If you've been slacking and not bought yourself a Disrupt ticket yet, that's cool, we still love you. But here's a hot tip: This is your last chance for super-early-bird tickets, so maybe get on that sooner rather than later!  — Christine and Haje Image Credits: Varijanta / Getty Images

The TechCrunch Top 3 All roads lead to acquisition: Manish writes that after Japan's Geniee acquired AdPushup-operator Zelto for $70 million. He called the deal "a remarkable turnaround" for Zelto, a company that has stared down a few near-death experiences, including cash flow and product market fit problems, during its 10-year-old life. Sweet (South) Carolina, bup, bup, bup: VW-backed Scout Motors has plans to build a $2 billion factory in South Carolina to produce its all-electric vehicles. Tim Stevens has more. Fined: Manish also writes about India's central bank, which fined Amazon's payments unit over $370,000, claiming the company was noncompliant with certain know-your-customer guidelines.

Startups and VC While most established automotive players call the shots from sprawling, corporate palaces, Scout bases much of its operations — at least for now — out of a WeWork near Washington, D.C., Tim Stevens reports. Scout Motors' base of operations will eventually "anchor" near the $2 billion factory in South Carolina that was announced Friday, and the company plans to bring rugged, retro cred to the EV era. And we have five more for you: Oh no, madam!: Jagmeet reports that Indian startup Yes Madam exposed sensitive data of customers and gig workers. Looking beyond the Matrix: Prog.ai wants to help recruiters find technical talent by inferring skills from GitHub code, Paul reports. Hydrogen takes to the skies: Mark reports that Universal Hydrogen takes to the air with the largest hydrogen fuel cell ever to fly. I like what you did here: Indent raises $8.1 million of funding for its AI-powered customer video review tool, Kate reports. Better update those security protocols: BetterHelp owes customers $7.8 million after FTC alleges data mishandling, Amanda writes.

To fix the climate, these 10 investors are betting the house on the ocean Tapping the ocean for energy led to disasters like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which released nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Today, wind power and wave action are just two technologies leading investors to take a closer look at ocean conservation technology, reports Tim De Chant. To learn more about the opportunities they’re chasing and to discover how climate change is shaping their investment thesis, he surveyed: Daniela V. Fernandez, founder and CEO of Sustainable Ocean Alliance, managing partner at Seabird Ventures Tim Agnew, general partner, Bold Ocean Ventures Peter Bryant, program director (oceans), Builders Initiative Kate Danaher, managing director (oceans and seafood), S2G Ventures Francis O'Sullivan, managing director (oceans and seafood), S2G Ventures Stephan Feilhauer, managing director (clean energy), S2G Ventures Sanjeev Krishnan, senior managing director and chief investment officer, S2G Ventures Rita Sousa, partner, Faber Ventures Christian Lim, managing director, SWEN Blue Ocean Partners Reece Pacheco, partner, Propeller Three more from the TC+ team: AI front and center: At Upfront Summit 2023, AI is the omnipresent celebrity, Natasha M discovers. (Sub)stacks o' cash: Alex wonders if perhaps Substack can grow just fine without venture dollars. AI for PR: Camilla Tenn argues that startup PR professionals should be jumping on the AI bandwagon. TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription! Read More Image Credits: Liang Wendong/VCG / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. It was only a matter of time before another company would try to mimic what Instacart has going for it. Today that is Uber. Rebecca writes that Uber is coming for Instacart with some updates to its one-year-old Shop and Pay feature that lets delivery workers opt in to receiving trips to do grocery or other retail shopping for customers before dropping off orders at the customer's door. "Basically, it's Uber's attempt to follow the Instacart model, which is working well for the incumbent grocery delivery company," she reports. Autonomous trucking company Embark Trucks, which went public in 2021, is now laying off about 230 workers as it explores liquidating its self-driving truck assets, Kirsten reports. And now here's six more for your Friday: Can you hear me now?: While at Mobile World Congress, Brian reports that "pretty much everyone I engaged with this week echoed the sentiment that smartphones are in a rut. For the first time, however, it's not a foregone conclusion that there's a way of getting out." Blast off: SpaceX's acquisition of Swarm is paying off with new Starlink thrusters, Aria writes. Choo choo: Natasha L has an additional morsel from Mobile World Congress, writing that the "metaverse hype was hanging like a multicolored fog." Sound the alarm: The U.S. government is warning that Royal ransomware is targeting critical infrastructure, Carly reports. Social (media) scene: Ivan reports that Twitter Blue is now available in over 20 countries while Aisha reports that Meta has new Facebook Reels features, including expanding video length to 90 seconds. Oops: A government watchdog found that Secret Service and ICE conducted warrantless stingray surveillance. Zack has more.

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Stealth startup Figure releases first photos of its all-purpose humanoid robot

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Thursday, March 02, 2023

G'day, friends! Good to spend some time with you again. Come spend some time with our finely crafted words and god-awful puns. It's a service we provide. — Christine and Haje Image Credits: Figure

The TechCrunch Top 3 My friends call me Murphy; you call me Figure: It's "iRobot" come to life: Figure emerges from stealth with the first images of its humanoid robot, Brian reports. The robots are being tested right now on manual labor tasks such as those being done in warehouses, manufacturing and retail. Can I help you?: Customer relationships got kind of dicey there for a moment during the global pandemic when customers, who could no longer go to a physical store, also didn't want to sit on a phone or spend hours with a chatbot. Now flush with $23.5 million in new funding, Attio offers customer relationship management software with a no-code feel. Kyle has more. Noodling around: Naomi Osaka, Usher and Apolo Ohno are the latest celebrities to back instant ramen startup Immi, which wants to put its warm bowl of comfort food in every household across the country, Christine writes.

Startups and VC Former Facebook exec turned VC Chamath Palihapitiya has long been a controversial figure in the investing world. The investor says it could take three years for the market to "accurately" reprice late-stage companies, Connie reports. Meanwhile, Connie also reports that Felicis today announced it has closed its ninth flagship fund with $825 million, compared with the $600 million core fund that it announced in the summer of 2021. The vehicle brings the firm's total assets under management to $3 billion. The fund closed 50% more deals last year than in 2021, some as prices were still rising — and it says it regrets nothing. And another smattering of stories to soothe the savage beast: Adding an extra D: That's D for Dimension, you pervs: Hexa raises $20.5 million to turn images into 3D objects for VR, AR and more, Kyle reports. Bzzzzzz, that's the sound of the police: Brinc's Lemur 2 drone straps on blue strobes and is ready for action, Haje reports. All the shingle ladies: Brian reports that Renovate is building robots to install roof shingles. Heal the world: Mary Ann reports that 8VC raises $880 million in a new fund that aims "to fix a broken world." One foot out of the door: Catherine writes that HR Signal helps companies figure out who is most likely to quit and why.

How to turn an open source project into a profitable business Many devs rely on donations and crowdfunding to monetize open source projects, but with the proper planning, teams can leverage their work for commercial clients who’ll put them in a higher tax bracket. Offering users customer support or consulting services are common revenue streams, according to product development consultant Victoria Melnikova, who also says devs should form partnerships and use platforms like Reddit and Hacker News to reach potential paying customers. “To find your path, talk to your clients and understand their goals and pains.” Three more from the TC+ team: IPOcart: Instacart's Q4 results impressed. Are they good enough to push it toward an IPO? wonders Alex. Next slide, please: Haje's Pitch Deck Teardown this week is of Gable's $12 million Series A deck. To da moon: As tensions build, Silicon Valley's Chinese affiliates invest in sensitive space tech, reports Aria. TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription! Read More Image Credits: Juanmonino / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. The photo of Marc Benioff reminds us of the movie "Gladiator" where Russell Crowe's character yells, "Are you not entertained?" Well, we hope you are entertained by the latest in what we are calling "The Salesforce Saga." Ron and Alex report that despite all the activist investor, executive departure and layoff woes, Salesforce strikes back with better-than-expected earnings. Meanwhile, Kirsten, Rebecca and Harri listened in on Tesla Investor Day and shared with you everything Elon Musk and execs shared (and skipped). Now here's the short-short version of six more: Googling Google's next step: Brian sat down with Google's Sameer Samat at Mobile World Congress to discuss ecosystems, regulation and competition. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?: Elon Musk–backed Neuralink is facing some rejection as its human testing reportedly received one FDA rejection already, Devin reports. Get your kids off my metaverse lawn!: Amanda reports that senators are urging Mark Zuckerberg to keep teens out of the metaverse. Shoooooot: In security news today, Lorenzo writes that hackers stole gun owners’ data from a firearm auction website. Meanwhile, Hatch Bank said hackers stole 140,000 customer Social Security numbers. Carly has more. The end of an era: Lauren writes that HBO's "Succession" released the official trailer for its final season and that "it appears the series is ending with an epic mic drop." Something else you can do from your car: Now Target will let you drive up and return items from your car, starting this spring, Sarah writes.

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Newest Jobs from Crunchboard NetSuite Administrator at Food Trends (New York, NY, USA) Information Technology Director (CHHS & URBN) at University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte, NC, USA) Information Technology Director (COED) at University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte, NC, USA) Partnerships Manager (USA) at Flipcause (Anywhere) Java Developer at GitKraken (Alicante, Spain) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month.

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