UK-based open banking fintech platform Volt raises $60M Series B

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Hello, and welcome to your Daily Crunch for Wednesday. It's been a busy day, so let's dig in. Today, Microsoft peeled back some layers of its roadmap for building its own quantum supercomputer, which is expected to take at least 10 years. Using topological qubits the company has been working on for years now, the company expects its supercomputer to be able to perform a reliable 1 million quantum operations per second. Then, Elon Musk continues his world tour with a visit to India. Find out more about what was discussed. Next, U.K.-based open banking fintech company Volt is now valued at over $350 million following a $60 million raise. Meanwhile, I only get dogs and babies on my Instagram Reels, but the social media entity is now making it possible for me — and all of you — to download public Reels. And, TechCrunch spoke with e-commerce reporter Jason Del Rey about his new book, which focuses on Walmart's battle with Amazon and who could be the next company to beat Amazon. Speaking of Amazon, the Federal Trade Commission is suing the company over "deceptive" tactics used to sign up customers for Prime. Image Credits: Getty Images under a Sezeryadigar license.

More top stories New venture funds: Dropbox launched Dropbox Ventures, a new $50 million venture fund focused on startups in the AI space. And 20SALES closes its inaugural fund with $5 million in capital commitments to invest in early-stage B2B SaaS startups. On the rise: BetterBrand, known as the maker of "The Better Bagel," saw its valuation rise to over $170 million following a new investment. Keys to the Apple castle: Users with iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma will now have their Apple ID passkeys automatically assigned by Apple. Mouth, insert foot: Elon Musk's recent tweet "triples down on making Twitter terrible for trans people." Growing up: Roblox seeks content for more mature audiences. Shop till you drop: Amazon will hold its Prime Day shopping event on July 11–12. Meow: Check out all the things that DeepMind's RoboCat learned to perform. Buzz buzz: Beehiiv, a newsletter platform that wants to disrupt Substack, raised $12.5 million. Now there's Proof: Online notary network Notarize has a company called Proof that aims to ensure safe online transactions. Don't forget about these: We've officially entered a new era of 'cultivated' meat production Launcher's Orbiter glitches in orbit, forcing emergency deployment of space startups' payloads Quick commerce startup Getir plans to exit France amid regulatory issues Dyson's Gen5outsize is an excellent home vacuum Harness releases generative AI assistant to help increase developer efficiency Image Credits: Thomas Trutschel / Getty Images

Ask Sophie: Do I need 2 visas to work at 2 different startups? Dear Sophie, I'm in the U.S. on an H-1B visa, but I want to leave my current job and pursue a couple of startup ideas: One with a few friends, and the other on my own. Do I need to get two separate visas to work at both companies at the same time? Can I transfer my H-1B to one or both companies? — Energetic Entrepreneur Three more from the TC+ team: There's a growing desire in the UK for more Black specialty venture funds Databricks is proof that strong unicorns can grow their way out of a market correction SEC director says 'nothing has changed' for enforcement even as the crypto industry rumbles 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: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

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TechCrunch hardware review: 'The dock is what makes the Pixel Tablet interesting'

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall Tuesday, June 20, 2023

I'm baaaack to deliver your Daily Crunch for Tuesday! If you haven't gotten your tickets to join us at TC Disrupt 2023, perhaps knowing Shaquille O'Neal will be there might sweeten the pot for ya. Today, TechCrunch reviewed the Google Pixel Tablet and found that it is all about the dock, 'bout that dock, no swivel. After what happened Sunday, OceanGate is probably a familiar name right now. Here are some red flags that were raised about the missing Titanic-seeking submersible. Meanwhile, if you're getting a lot of WhatsApp calls from unknown numbers, Meta is now giving users an option to automatically silence those calls. And Vimeo has a trio of AI-powered editing features that make it even easier to create and share videos. Image Credits: Brian Heater

More top stories for ya Plugged in: Find out who's the latest automaker to adopt Tesla's North American Charging Standard. And the duck said, "Put it on my bill!": Hyperline's approach to helping SaaS companies handle pricing and billing earned it a cool $4.4 million in new funding. You heard right: Learn how Gladia is turning any audio into text in near real time, while ElevenLabs just raised $19 million to create synthetic voices. Meanwhile, Parrot raises $11 million for its transcription platform that turns speech into text. Live from Oracle, it's the sovereign cloud!: Oracle launched its "sovereign cloud" for customers in the European Union. Spot the new features: Spotify released a new feature today, a revamped desktop app, and we heard that the company will reportedly launch hi-fi audio through a costlier premium subscription. Big rounds across the ocean: Abu Dhabi gives China's Tesla challenger Nio a $738.5 million boost, while Go-Ventures closes $240 million for its second fund and rebrands as Argor Capital. On cloud nine: Find out who is taking the helm of Alibaba after CEO Daniel Zhang decided to focus on the cloud. From winner to even bigger winner: After taking the top prize in the 2019 Startup Battlefield competition, cloud platform company Render raised $50 million. Monitor this: Cloudflare is taking on the web observability competitors with the launch of Observatory, a tool to beef up web monitoring. More concern for AI: The European Union's largest consumer group is calling on the government to urgently investigate "the risks of generative AI.” Gadgets and gizmos aplenty: In hardware news, check out the first Denon-branded Nura headphones. And be delighted to learn that iPhone 14 and M2 Macs are now part of Apple's Self Service Repair program. Image Credits: SAUL LOEB/AFP / Getty Images

Upgrading AI-powered travel products to first class When it comes to AI travel tools, what are investors looking for right now? “At this early stage, our firm and other investors in the space we work with don't have an expectation of perfection,” write Eric Crowley and Adam Segall of global investment bank GP Bullhound. “We're more focused on how companies are shaping and augmenting this technology for travelers, and the market segments within the travel industry they are positioned to capture." Two more from the TC+ team: Volkswagen's breakthrough could spark a battery manufacturing gold rush. Tiger Global's search for liquidity illustrates how busted the late-stage market is. 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: Westend61 / Getty Images

Get your TechCrunch fix IRL. Join us at Disrupt 2023 in San Francisco this September to immerse yourself in all things startup. From headline interviews to intimate roundtables to a jam-packed startup expo floor, there's something for everyone at Disrupt. Save up to $600 when you buy your pass now through August 11, and save 15% on top of that with promo code DC. Read More

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