To get TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3pm PDT; Register here.
As Twitter continues its mesmerizing journey toward its own demise, we’re holding the popcorn to watch the flames burn. In other news: Happy Monday folks! – Christine And came
TechCrunch’s Top 3
- Well, look at the blues.: Twitter users with more than 1 million followers get their blue badge even if they don’t pay for Twitter Blue. Ivan Reports. It is interesting to note that many account holders are quick to disassociate themselves from being subscribers. Maybe it has something to do with Twitter giving the fake Disney account a gold sign. Ivan It has more on that.
- There is no th-AI-nks.: That’s what Snapchat users are saying about its “My AI” feature, which launched last week. Sarah The social media giant wrote that it was seeing a spike in one-star reviews, which included calls for the man to be removed.
- To be near youAmid skepticism about cryptocurrencies, Cosmos, a company that uses AI analytics to track in-store foot traffic and engage with shoppers online, is getting into the digital currency. Rita Cosmos, which recently closed on an undisclosed funding round valued at $500 million, is now reportedly working with Near’s crypto solution. Even ditching Stripe to do it. It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for them.
Startups and VCs
Super.com, formerly Snapcommerce, launched its cash-back card last October as a way for card users to build credit and has grown to 5 million customers worldwide, who have accumulated more than $150 million to date, according to CEO Hussain Fazal. It now sets its sights on helping “everyday Americans” find deals and savings through the Super App on travel and shopping across multiple categories. Christine Reports.
Silicon Valley’s quest to automate everything is relentless, which explains its latest obsession: auto-GPT. Essentially, Auto-GPT leverages the versatility of OpenAI’s latest AI models to interact with software and services online to “autonomously” perform tasks such as “X and Y.” As wide as an ocean but as deep as a pond Kyle Reports.
Go ahead, another handful for you.
- They just want to stay involved: Frederick Volvo Cars Tech Fund to invest in driver tracking startup CorrActions, reports
- I will give you a little ring: Brian Best Buy reports a major partnership win for Ora, bringing its smart ring to 850 stores across the US.
- You build, you get paidWhile more construction projects are being initiated, payments to contractors and their sub-contractors are hampering the normal process of project completion. Constrafor will raise new capital to make that even better. Christine Reports.
- Strong competitionWood is creating materials made of wood made of carbon, reports Roman.
- Final impressions are important.On TC+, came For your pitch deck, final impressions count as much as first impressions.
- IP ownershipAlso for TC+, came He took a closer look at Aventurine, which helps early-stage founders monetize their IP portfolios, backed by intellectual property licensing that the accelerator expects to be a sustainable fund.
10 years of fintech failure: 3 more ideas that failed to live up to the initial hype
Image Credits: Tomell (Opens in a new window) / Getty Images
Remember P2P lending and on-demand insurance? If not, there’s a good reason: Despite the hype, they’re just two of the fintech innovations of the past decade.
For his latest TC+ column, fintech consultant Grant Easterbrook examines three more ideas that “seem promising at first, but have largely failed to transform the financial services industry.”
According to Easterbrook, these misfires offer important lessons for today’s founders and investors: “Fintech entrepreneurs need to remember the basic principle that the average consumer doesn’t like to think about money and often wants someone else to take care of it.”
Three more from the TC+ team:
TechCrunch+ Our membership program helps founders and startup teams stay ahead of the pack. You can register here.. Use code “DC” for 15% off annual subscription!
Big Tech Inc.
Merchants have a lot to deal with when running their businesses, but Shopify wants to take something off their plate. Shopify is working directly with B2B payments provider Melio to enable invoice payments to be consolidated and invoices paid more automatically through the Shopify platform. Mary Ann He writes that this e-commerce platform is “a bid to become a one-stop fintech for merchants.”
Call, call… guess who’s calling? It’s PhonePe, and the company is going to challenge Google with its own app store in India. The Walmart-backed company is offering a “superior experience to millions of users with high-quality ads and custom targeting, support for 12 languages and 24×7 live chat.” Manish Reports.
And we have five more for you:
