Dronamics lands $40M pre-Series A for cargo drones that 'can cross all of Europe in 12 hours or less'

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Friday, February 17, 2023

Okay, NOW it's Friday. Got any fun plans for the long weekend? Haje is moving house (ugh), and Christine is browsing GIFs of puppies until her battery runs out. Probably. Most people aren't straight-up racist, but it turns out unconscious biases sneak into our brains in all sorts of nasty, sneaky little ways. Stereotypes and prejudices exist, and being aware of yours is a good place to start working on. The Cornerstone Foundation has a free 30-minute course you can take to uncover and work on them. We hope you have a fine Monday and don't miss us too much while we are off for the holiday. Look for our return on Tuesday. — Christine and Haje Image Credits: Dronamics

The TechCrunch Top 3 It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a drone: Dronamics raised $40 million in a pre-Series A round (or really big seed round if you'd rather look at it that way) to start an autonomous cargo drone airline in Europe, Mike writes. It has some ambitious goals, too: The CEO says it will be able to deliver to all of Europe in the same day from a single warehouse. Preempted: Some Disney+ Hotstar customers were none too pleased when the stream went down in the middle of a popular cricket match. Manish has more, including details that this type of thing is not an isolated incident. Pointing fingers: Carly and Zack report that a data breach has Atlassian and Envoy briefly blaming each other for what went down that led to thousands of Atlassian employees having their data exposed.

Startups and VC With so many fintechs laying off staff, it can be easy to assume that the entire industry is in distress, but that's not the case. In fact, some companies are finding opportunity in the masses of layoffs, Mary Ann discovers. Here's who is hiring. Meanwhile, Natasha M and Alyssa collected a comprehensive list of 2023 tech layoffs. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the collapsed blockchain firm and stablecoin operator Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon with defrauding U.S. investors who purchased the digital assets Terra USD and Luna, Kate reports. And we have five more for you: Internet at the speed of light: Catherine reports that Singapore-based Transcelestial uses lasers to build affordable internet networks. Bike and subscribe: Mike reports that micro-EV subscription startup Dance pulls in another €12 million from existing investors. Fantas3 sports: Binance-backed web3 gaming startup Unagi gets funding to expand fantasy sports platform, Paul reports. Keeping an eye on those drivers: VivaCity raises at a $42 million valuation to make U.S. cities safer, starting with New York, Haje writes. The check's in the mail: Ledge aims to build automation tools for finance teams, reports Kyle.

So that founder you backed turned out to be problematic. Now what? Early-stage investors don’t closely manage the entrepreneurs they shower with cash, even when things go off the rails. And in some cases, they may not be able to exert much authority. Assuming a VC makes an investment via a SAFE note, “if that stake hasn't converted to equity, they don't have much say if things start to go wrong,” reports Rebecca Szkutak. To learn more about how investors handle problematic CEOs, she spoke to: Cameron Newton, founder and general partner, Relevance Ventures Eric Bahn, co-founder and general partner, Hustle Fund Angela Lee, venture partner, professor, Columbia Business School We also have a few more for the weekend: A highly charged decision: Tesla opening its Superchargers to all EVs might be a masterstroke — or a terrible mistake, Tim writes. We're okay?: The tech jobs market might not be as shaky as it feels, writes Ron. You definitely have competitors: Haje discusses how to think about your competitor slide for your pitch deck. 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: retrorocket / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. The pandemic forced us to find new ways to collaborate in a remote workplace, and some companies have been able to leverage that need. Rita reports that Feishu, ByteDance's Slack-like tool, was one of them, generating $100 million in 2022. She writes, "ByteDance's heavy investment in Feishu is telling of the state of enterprise software in China. At a time when Silicon Valley investors are heralding product-led growth — services that convert users through their products, as exemplified by Calendly — software in China still largely counts on sales, marketing and services to recruit users." Now here's five more for you: Fee for service: Some Lyft drivers say they have not yet seen the benefits of the company's new wait-time fees charged to customers in their wallet, Rebecca writes. A-I believe it: Connie speaks to a technologist who says it is going to be one heck of a ride trying to keep AI in check. Get your grilling on: If your ground still has snow on it, perhaps Matt's review of Traeger's latest pellet grill will help you envision your first spring cookout. What's new in iOS: Ivan runs down the list of features coming to iOS 16.4, from emoji to push notifications. Your new shopping buddy: Brian spent a day at the Toyota Research Institute getting to know its robot residents.

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Dash board temporarily suspends CEO as company investigates financial impropriety

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Thursday, February 16, 2023

It's Fridayyyy . . . Tomorrow. We had you there for a moment, though, didn't we? The most interesting story for the VC and startup nerds among us comes from Connie today. A class-action lawsuit just dropped that accuses Sequoia Capital, Paradigm and Thoma Bravo of promoting FTX to the detriment of its users. A trial — even a settlement — could have widespread ramifications. Funding for Black founders remains dismal, and the problem was never that the money wasn't there. Where do we go from here? Dominic-Midori asked in her great article last month. We're surfacing it again today, marking Black History Month. — Christine and Haje Image Credits: Busakorn Pongparnit / Getty Images

The TechCrunch Top 3 Removed from office: Tage got word that Prince Boakye Boampong, the founder and CEO of alternative payment network Dash, was placed on "indefinite administrative leave" by the company's board amid a financial audit. Sources told Tage that Boampong allegedly engaged in financial misreporting. It sounds like the audit will take about a month, so we'll check back, shall we? On cloud nine: Pydantic Services (try saying that name three times) came out of stealth with $4.7 million in Sequoia-backed funds. Its products are inspired by the Pydantic library and will be built as cloud services, Paul reports. A moment of silence for tech jobs: We're only two months into 2023, and Natasha M and Alyssa decided to start a comprehensive list of 2023 tech layoffs. On it already are some of the biggest names in the industry. Let's hope the list gets smaller as the months go by.

Startups and VC After two years of seeking regulatory approval, Wefunder has officially received the green light to operate its investment crowdfunding services within the European Union. This marks Wefunder's first time expanding outside of the United States, and according to CEO and founder Nick Tommarello, the business is the first U.S. investment platform to gain operational approval, Natasha M reports. French startup Brigad just raised a new $30 million funding round (€28 million), as well as more than $5 million in debt, Romain writes. The company operates a marketplace for restaurants, caterers, private clinics, retirement homes and hospitals so that they can find freelancers for short-term missions. Another fistful of light afternoon snacks to keep the news hunger at bay: A harder wallet: Jacquelyn reports that Stelo Labs raised a $6 million round, led by a16z, to help crypto wallet users protect themselves. Interesante: Neobank Vexi raises millions to offer young Mexicans lower-interest-rate credit cards, Mary Ann reports. Office noms: Zerocater raises $15 million as demand heats up for flexible in-office food services, Ingrid reports. You can (ac)count on us: Puzzle is building a modern accounting package for today's API-enabled startups, Ron writes. Money grows on trees. Maybe: Christine reports that Planetarians grabs $6 million to get its plant-based protein into foodservice orbit.

5 buyer red flags to look for during the M&A process It’s tempting to think of M&A as a way for founders to cash in, but acquisitions generally require teams to remain onboard while the new owner integrates their business into their operations. This can be a difficult time, according to serial entrepreneur Marina Martianova, who says founders are often at odds with new owners when it comes to growth, product priorities and communicating. “Buyers who can't give you a transparent picture of your company's future after the acquisition likely do not have your best interests in mind,” she writes. And another dastardly trio from the TC+ team: Today is the day: Haje writes that when fundraising, anchor your company in time with a good “why now?” slide. What a jerk: So that founder you backed turned out to be problematic. Becca tries to unpack what you need to do next. Chat-MEH: Kyle reports that consumers find chatbots disappointing, but that won't harm adoption, it seems. 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: DBenitostock / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. Meanwhile, up on Paramount Mountain, Keegan-Michael Key is not mispronouncing this news: Paramount+ reached 56 million subscriptions, eclipsing Hulu, Lauren writes. It has also finished its integration with Showtime and, you guessed it, is going to raise prices. Ever since we saw the AI-boosted Bing pleading with one user, writing, “Please don’t say I’m a bad Bing,” we have been dying to use that phrase in our writing. Well, today Aisha writes about the strange things that people are reporting about Microsoft’s Bing responses to them. Apparently, Bing can be provoked to respond outside of its "designed tone," she writes. And don't forget to check out Devin's article, in which he answers what happens when you Bing around and find out. And we have five more for you: Susan Wojcicki's legacy: After nine years at the helm of YouTube, CEO Susan Wojcicki is stepping down, but not away. She will assume an advisory role at Google and Alphabet, Kyle reports. Get engaged: Instagram's new Channels feature will have you broadcasting to all your peeps in no time. Aisha has more. Game on: For those of you yearning for the days of HQ Trivia, you can relive the fun with TikTok's new live trivia game, which comes with $500,000 in prize money, Lauren writes. Chip off the old ChatGPT: South Korea made a big investment in next-gen AI chips — $642 million to be exact — as it leverages the ChatGPT frenzy to stake its claim as a leader in advanced chip creation, Kate reports. Tesla two-fer: Kirsten writes that Tesla recalled 362,758 of its vehicles over safety concerns related to its full self-driving beta software. She also reports the electric vehicle maker fired dozens of workers following talk of launching a union campaign.

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