'Copy-from-China' social media app Lemon8 squeezes its way into US top 10

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall Friday, April 07, 2023

Hello, and welcome to your Friday. Did the week drag on, or did it go by quickly for you? Or maybe you had today off. No matter, I'm here to bring you all of today's techy goodness. The lesson for today: "Don't ever leak data." Oh, and support our colleagues over at the Chain Reaction and Found podcasts: They were nominated for a Webby, so please support them with a vote by April 20. — Christine Image Credits: Peter Dazeley / Getty Images

The TechCrunch Top 3 That's one a-spicy application: ByteDance's latest hit, Lemon8, which some describe as a cross between Instagram, Pinterest and Amazon, is now sitting among the top 10 apps in the U.S. However, Rita says Lemon8 is more like another app called Xiaohongshu and discusses why ByteDance may have taken another page from the China playbook. Get your unicorn horn ready: You're going to need a TechCrunch+ subscription to read this next one, but I promise, it's worth it. Alex went unicorn IPO hunting and came back with a list of names, saying, "The first group of upcoming potential unicorn IPOs is shaping up well." In a galaxy far, far away: If you're a Star Wars fan, Disney+ will debut a new series called "The Acolyte" in 2024. Aisha writes that this storyline takes place at the end of the High Republic era before the events of the main Star Wars films.

Startups and VC Everyone needs some good competition to get the creativity flowing. Kyle, Devin and Manish teamed up to look at Anthropic's $5 billion, four-year plan to take on OpenAI. Going through the company's pitch deck, the trio describe the business model that will take Anthropic there and the investors behind it. Wrapping up the week, as mentioned yesterday, there was a group of us watching Y Combinator’s Winter 2023 Demo Day. Artificial intelligence and open source were big buzzwords on Day 1, while Day 2 had us wondering if crypto is back and why accountants are suddenly getting a lot of love.

VCs to recommerce startups: Let's pop some tags Thanks in large part to Gen Z’s interest in sustainable shopping, recommerce is soaring to new heights, and VCs are looking for the come up. Since Etsy went public in 2015, companies like Poshmark, The RealReal and thredUP followed suit, attracting even more investors to the sector. Last year, VCs flowed approximately $6 billion to resale platforms, writes Brian Schwarzbach, an investor with Cathay Innovation. In a post for TC+, he explores three recommerce areas attracting VC funds and shares “some food for thought for founders building startups in this (re)emerging space.” 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: Kinga Krzeminska / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. Sometimes things don't go as planned. In India, its central bank decided to press pause on plans it had for a rival to the nation's dominant payment system, Unified Payments Interface. Manish writes that the project, called New Umbrella Entity, had made some traction, attracting interest from large companies and financial institutions, and inviting bids in 2021 for licenses to operate new retail payment and settlement systems across India. However, the project just failed to have that sizzle and pop that the Reserve Bank of India was looking for. Catch a falling iPod and put it in your pocket…Harri reports on Apple's patent application for what looks to be a teeny, tiny iPod that can do it all: music, videos and books, no smartphone or smartwatch needed. Though not sure how you can read on something that small. I guess we'll see. And we have five more for you: WTF Twitter?: Twitter is censoring Substack links by making the posts impossible to reply to, like or retweet. Amanda has more. Not much Cruise-ing going on: Cruise recalls 300 robotaxis and is issuing a software update after crashing into a city bus, Kirsten reports. No chip off any block right now: Samsung cuts memory chip production, with Kate reporting that the consumer electronics giant hit its worst quarterly profit since 2009. Price wars: That's Tesla's strategy for competing with legacy carmakers, Kirsten writes. Meanwhile, Rita reports on a promotion over at Tesla China, and Kirsten reports that JB Straubel could return to Tesla as a board member. Oops, ChatGPT did it again: Devin asks, "Can AI commit libel?" Well, some new legal challenges are going to try and answer that question.

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New Twitter Blue feature will reportedly squelch 50% of ads for paid members

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall Thursday, April 06, 2023

Well, hello there! Haje is getting a head start on the weekend, so it's going to be me and you for the next two days. I've been among the group of TechCrunchers watching pitch after pitch at Y Combinator's Demo Day. Here is part 1 of our favorites, with the second one coming later on today. On with the news! — Christine

The TechCrunch Top 3 Only half?: Twitter is rolling out some new features for Blue subscribers, including one that will show 50% of the ads in their timeline compared to what nonpaid users see, Ivan reports. Sucking up the competition: The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority is looking more closely at Amazon's $1.7 billion iRobot acquisition to see if there is any threat of less competition, Paul writes. Get your facts straight: That's what the Indian government is saying to Facebook, Twitter and other social media companies about posting any misinformation. That now includes cracking down on online betting games, Manish reports.

Startups and VC Meal replacement startup Yfood did a thing today. Ingrid reports that Nestlé closed on an acquisition of the company in a deal that values Yfood at $469 million. She writes, "Yfood's milestone should give the food tech community something substantial to chew on. The intersection of tech and food has been playing out as a theme in the world of startups for years, with technologists and entrepreneurs bringing a hacking mentality to the field to take new approaches to sourcing, preparing, selling and distributing things to eat and drink." Meanwhile, Canaan closed two new funds — its 12th flagship fund for early-stage tech and healthcare startups and an opportunity fund — that total $850 million. That opportunity fund might be raising some eyebrows, with Connie writing, "Some institutional investors privately grouse that they don't like later-stage funds hosted by early-stage investors, as it complicates their ability to properly diversify their own investments." Connie notes that the market might be slowing, but venture capital firms are continuing to amass big funds, as we also saw S2G Ventures do today. Now here's five more for you: Do you see what we see?: Honeycomb grabs a $50 million investment as the company's observability platform thrives, Ron writes. Fresh catch: Alternative seafood startup Aqua Cultured Foods reeled in $5.5 million to get its long pipeline of products to market, Christine reports. Reducing one bovine burp at a time: Haje writes that cows can't help but burp, and Alga Biosciences wants to fix that with a new feed to reduce the belching, thus reducing the methane gas they produce. Gaining that competitive edge: Mary Ann reports on why SoftBank remains bullish on Latin America. It's more than a feeling: Overall venture capital deal count in the U.S. has fallen more than 25% between the first quarter of last year and this year. Connie tells you why.

Funds offering 'friends and family' checks could bring the change underrepresented founders need America’s long-standing wealth gap between white and Black households contributes to the lack of diversity among startup founders. Median liquid wealth for a Black family in the U.S. is $3,630, but that figure soars to $79,000 for a white family. As a result, “the average Black founder raises less than around $1,000 from family and friends,” reports Dominic-Madori Davis. Since the average friends and family round is $23,000, “they'd need to secure the entire liquid wealth of six Black families," according to a white paper by venture fund Fifth Star. Three more from the TC+ team: "Things are looking grim": Alex writes that if it weren't for the Stripe and OpenAI deals, global VC results would have been even worse in Q1 2023. Pitch Deck Teardown: Haje takes apart Smalls' $19 million Series B deck. "The party might be over": Tim writes that the climate tech venture scene saw a correction in the first quarter. Will the slowdown continue? 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: Overearth / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. No personal data for you! Google is saying it will restrict personal loan apps from accessing user photos and contacts amid increased predatory behavior from some lenders toward borrowers, Jagmeet writes. You all have proven to be car enthusiasts, so here's Patrick's take on everything that stood out at the 2023 New York Auto Show. Oh wait, there's more: Everything's better together: Messenger now has multiplayer games you can play during video calls, Aisha reports. That, my friends, is what you call exposure: Law firm Proskauer is mopping up after exposing clients' confidential M&A data. Carly has more. Hail to the EV: Lyft relaunches its electric vehicle service, starting with business travelers, Rebecca reports. Meanwhile, over at Twitter: Germany could fine Twitter over illegal hate speech, Natasha L reports. Also, in case you missed it, Taylor reports on Twitter labeling NPR a state-backed media.

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Newest Jobs from Crunchboard Information Technology Manager at Alameda County Water District (Fremont, CA, USA) Information Services Support Specialist at Administration South (Toppenish, WA 98948, USA) Lead Software Developer at AWE Learning (Chester, PA, USA) IT Support Specialist at Human Rights Watch (New York, NY, USA) Head of Engineering at Qblox (Delft, Netherlands) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month.

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