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Why, hello there, and welcome to another episode of The Daily Crunch! It’s great to have you here with me. Also, listen to Freelance Wells. I met the band when I went to play a different (also very good) song for a friend of mine to freelance. You’ve got to love a lucky break. This is also, coincidentally, how I found the band Queensarche – I wanted Freddie Mercury, but ended up with a new heavy metal band to like. What is your favorite accidental discovery?
Oh! And did you know — our Found podcast has launched its new series of mini-sodies, which check in with past guests to see how a founder’s life is going. In the first episode, Maggie Stamets talks with our first guest: Iman Abuzeid from Incredible Health, which helps nurses connect with better jobs and career advancement opportunities.
Okay, enough with that, we have some serious tech auction news to share. Let’s gooooand – came
TechCrunch’s Top 3
Startups and VCs
According to Kurt McKee, founder and CEO of Fly.io, developers don’t really understand the term “edge computing.” Ron Reports. Today, the company announced a $25 million Series B round that closed in June.
Evabot founder Rabi Gupta argues that there is “a lot of clutter” in the corporate gifting space. Many vendors, he argues, do little more than send out brand-name swag like T-shirts and thermoses that don’t really build loyalty. Kyle Reports. The company announced that it has raised just under $11 million to make corporate giving less stressful.
We are now at a tipping point where we are seeing many commercial applications of natural language processing hit the market. A gold rush has begun for startups trying to build on this technology, with an arms race growing among the largest language modeling vendors. Mike Reports.
Then go ahead, some more:
Pitch Deck Teardown: Alto Pharma’s $200 Million Series E Pitch
Image Credits: Alto Pharmacy (Opens in a new window)
If your company raises a $200 million Series E, it’s worth debating whether you can still call it a startup.
Still, convincing investors to pony up enough money to make your own “Grey Man” sequel is a daunting task, which is why we’re excited to review the deck that helped Alto Pharma close such a big round.
(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can register here..)
Big Tech Inc.
Instagram announced today that it will begin engaging a random sample of people in the United States in a poll about race and ethnicity. Aisha Reports. The company said the survey will help it better understand the different experiences people have on Instagram to ensure the platform is fair and inclusive for all users.
According to the report, developers in the west side of London, UK may be prevented from working on large multi-tenant properties due to the state of the electricity grid and tensions with nearby data centers. Paul Reports. Bad news for those who hoped London would hit its growth spurt of 65,000 new homes a year.
Yesterday, Ford reported $40+ billion in revenue, a 50% increase over the same period last year. The company also announced that it is building 14,000 electric vehicles per month. Wall Street was surprised, sending stocks up as much as 6% in after-hours trading. Rebecca Reports.
Grab some more, why not:
- Google Pixel Bud reviewIt is not difficult to imagine that Google Pixel Buds Pro is very impressive Brian He writes, but laments that after a few years they seem to be behind the curve.
- We are very far from finishing this nowWe’re psyched to see what interactive gaming company Immersive Gamebox does with its plans to build a Squid gaming experience on Netflix. Lauren Reports.
- Sing me the money: Aisha Snap reports that it has launched a creator fund that will award independent musicians up to $100,000 a month.
- Skipping Generations: Reports indicate that smartphone sales in China have dropped significantly. Brian. Compared to last year, all the major players have achieved huge success. Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi and Huawei all saw double-digit drops from Q2 2021.
- You also lick the paintGmail offers the latest design and updates to all users. Ivan He wrote.
- If Meta also faces it, you’re addicted to advertising: Meta posted its first quarterly revenue decline in its history. Amanda Reports.
- Pass the gapple soup; Apple has hired 20-year-old supercar maker Lamborghini to work on the tech company’s not-so-secret electric vehicle program. Kirsten He wrote.
