Veriti, a startup in security automation, comes out of hiding with $18.5 million
30.Dec.2022Veriti, a platform for integrating cybersecurity infrastructure, has just come out of stealth with a $18.5 million fundraising round led by NFX and Amiti and including $12 million from Insight Partners. The recently announced funding is being used to scale Veriti's business operations and expand its product line, according to CEO Adi Ikan.
To increase software supply chain security, Arnica raises $7 million
30.Dec.2022These days, security teams, developers, and government officials all want to discuss the hazards associated with the software supply chain. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that VCs continue to finance businesses in this industry despite the current state of the economy. Arnica, a startup that aids businesses and adopts a slightly broader perspective on supply chain security than most of its competitors, is one of the newest members of this club. The business revealed today that it has raised a seed round of $7 million.
Salon software Mangomint raises $13M as it booms due to post-COVID labor shortage
30.Dec.2022Ever had to swipe your credit card information over the phone to book a massage? The process is annoying and makes you wonder how safe it is to give personal information to strangers. Based in , Mangomint built a SaaS tool aimed at streamlining the booking experience for every beauty industry, from spas and massage parlors to piercing and tattoo parlors. Mangomint recently surpassed 200,000 monthly bookings across his 1,000+ locations in Canada and the US, spurring user growth during the pandemic. Investors have taken note and funded his $13 million Series A round led by OpenView Venture Partners. OpenView Venture Partners, a Boston-based VC known for backing companies driven by "product-oriented growth," has joined Startup300 and existing Angels. Mangomint's recent growth goes hand in hand with post-COVID labor shortages in developed countries. Businesses that require an in-person presence of employees, such as restaurants and beauty salons, have said that many of their employees have left the company to deal with his COVID-19 and seek higher paying jobs and a better work life. Struggling to retain employees. Balance.
South Korean Financial Super App Toss Closes $405M Series G, Sees Valuation Up 7%
30.Dec.2022Viva Republica, the operator of South Korean financial super-app Toss, has raised $405 million in Series G funding, raising $9.1 trillion from the $8.5 trillion raised $410 in June 2021 (KRW 7 billion). dollar) is reported to have risen. With a valuation of $7.4 billion (8.5 trillion won), he raised $1 million in pre-series G funding. (The Korean currency has fallen against the dollar this year.) The company's recent funding has caught our attention, among other things, as it shows the company is holding up relatively well amid a bleak macroeconomic outlook. Viva Republica has increased its valuation once again, in contrast to global fintech companies such as Klarna, Stripe and Checkout.com, whose valuations have fallen significantly in 2022. Viva Republica was also enthusiastic about hiring him in October. This is in stark contrast to many global tech companies, including fintech startups, which have cut jobs significantly this year. The Seoul-based company has about 1,900 employees as of August. Fintech-focused investor Tonic Private Equity led Series G round alongside repeat investors including Korea Development Bank (KDB), Altos Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Greyhound Capital, Aspex Management, Bond Capital and DUMAC . Korea Investment & Securities also participated in the recent fundraising. The fintech will make series G deals worth about $226 million (295.8 billion won) and $175.8 million (229.3 billion won) respectively in the third quarter of 2022. said it had completed the closing of a new loan. November.
User interviews that assist businesses recruit survey respondents carry in $27.5 million.
30.Dec.2022Most companies agree that user experience is important. In his UserZoom report for 2019, he said 70% of company CEOs see user and customer experience as a competitive differentiator. But knowing exactly what users want and what frustrates them can be difficult. Customer satisfaction surveys and market research have a minimum response rate of around 10%, and many user experience researchers say they don't have enough time to analyze the results. Demand for solutions has led to sources for software-based user research tools such as UserLeap, Airkit, and UserZoom. Platforms like Great Question and Ribbon seek to simplify the process of asking customers about their product ideas and strategies, while services like Sprig and Maze help product teams understand how users interact with their products. to be able to observe and generate reports. Another player in the competitive market is user interviews, which focus on user research recruitment issues. Co-founded by Dennis Meng, Bob Saris, and Basel Fakhoury, the idea for User Interviews came from an under-the-radar mobile travel app.
Jakarta-based fintech Akulaku raises $200 million from Japan's largest bank
30.Dec.2022Jakarta-based fintech company Akulaku has raised $200 million from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Japan's largest bank. This is part of a strategic investment the startup and its MUFG plans to expand into new markets and products together in his 2023. Earlier this year, Akulaku raised his $100 million funding from Siam Commercial Bank as part of another strategic investment. Other backers include Ant Group (Akulaku launched his BNPL partnership with Alipay+ earlier this year). With offices in the Philippines and Malaysia alongside India, Akulaku offers a virtual credit card and installment buying platform, an investment platform and a neobank. Founded in 2016, the company aims to serve 50 million users by 2025. As part of MUFG's strategic investment, Akulaku has agreed to collaborate with his MUFG companies in the Southeast Asia region on technology, product development, financing and sales. Aiming to expand its presence in the region, MUFG this year acquired Home Credit BV's operations in the Philippines and Indonesia for €596 million. The focus is on Southeast Asia as domestic banks such as Singapore's DBS Group Holdings and Indonesia's Bank Central Asia are gaining market cap against his MUFG. “Southeast Asia is an important and secondary market for MUFG,” said Kenichi Yamato, Managing Executive Officer and Chief Executive of the Global Commercial Banking Business Unit at MUFG Bank, in a statement. The investment in Akulaku further strengthens our commitment to the region to meet the growing financial needs of underserved customers. "
Indian social network Koo gains popularity in Brazil but faces moderation issues
30.Dec.2022Elon Musk, who hijacked Twitter, sent people looking for alternatives like Mastodon and Hive. In Brazil, many people have an affinity for the Indian social network Koo. indicate. But just a week into his launch in the South American market, Koo is already facing moderation and security issues. The Bangalore-based startup claims he has been downloaded over a million times in Brazil. Analytics firm Sensor Tower backs up this claim, with the app saying he went offline from Sept. 11 to Sept. 19. November 14th and 20th. Sensor Tower's App Store and Play Store charts both show that Koo was the top app in the country during this period. However, many users are able to join the platform and make jokes: Koo sounds like the Portuguese word for asshole. This is why there are so many backward-looking jokes on both Twitter and Koo, with gaming company Razer and other brands on board. Ku also confirmed the joke, explaining that it meant "the sound of that pretty yellow bird."
Venmo has delivered in-app donations to charities and a redesigned cash switch screen.
30.Dec.2022PayPal-owned Venmo today made two changes to its peer-to-peer payment app. These include the ability to donate to charity through Venmo and a redesigned money transfer experience. The latter aims to improve the ability to pay or request multiple payments at once, while also making it easier to see who and how much money is being sent. The update will roll out to all his Venmo users on iOS and Android starting today, the company says, but the donation feature will be adding new features over time. First, Venmo users can browse verified charities in their local community or by charity category, including animals and pets, disaster relief, education, and more. Users can donate to a charity of their choice using their Venmo balance, debit or credit card, or linked bank account. In the coming weeks, Venmo users will also be able to share their donations with friends and encourage others to contribute company memos.
Spotify launches audiobooks in more English-speaking markets outside the US
30.Dec.2022Spotify today announced that it is expanding its newly launched audiobook service outside the United States. The service will also be available in other English-speaking markets, including the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, allowing users to access Spotify's catalog of audiobook titles through the streaming app. The company first launched support for audiobooks in the US in his September of this year, giving users access to over 300,000 of his audiobook titles. Find them in our new audiobook hub and curated recommendations in the Spotify app. First, Spotify editors select tracks to recommend to users of the streaming app. But over time, Spotify plans to use algorithmic recommendations to suggest tracks to users, similar to what's happening now with other supported audio formats like music and podcasts. I am doing.
Amie made $7 million with a bossy calendar and to-do app
30.Dec.2022Amie has raised $7 million in a seed round led by Spark Capital. The round he will close in June 2022, the startup will announce today. The company builds productivity apps that are pinned to the calendar. It helps you keep track of your schedule, connect with your team, and manage upcoming tasks. Other investors in this round are Creandum, Guillermo Rauch, Hanno Renner and Quick Coffee Ventures. Amie competes with a new wave of calendar startups such as Vimcal, Magical, Fantastical, Cron and Rise. Crowded space, but I believe Amie can provide a better user experience. As I wrote about Amie in the first article, this app combines calendar and todo. By default, unscheduled tasks are displayed in the left column of the calendar. You can drag tasks from the sidebar and drop them onto your calendar at a specific date and time. This way you can see both events and tasks on a weekly basis. Many people already use their calendar as a kind of to-do app to remember what they have done. Amie natively supports this use his case and recommends working this way. That's a dogmatic interpretation of the calendar. But if you're developing an app that competes with Microsoft Outlook or Google Calendar, this is the correct approach.
Pearpop raises $18 million at $300 million valuation to expand social collaboration marketplace
30.Dec.2022Social collaboration marketplace Pearpop today announced it has requested an extension to its Series A funding round for 2021. The company raised a Series A in which he raised $18 million, valuing him at $300 million. Since launching in October 2020, Pearpop has raised his $34 million in funding. New investments include funding from Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary's Sound Ventures and Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six. Blockchange Ventures, Avalanches Blizzard Fund and C2 Ventures also participated in the round. Pearpop allows creators and brands to win collaborations with celebrities like Madonna and creators like Sommer Ray. These celebrities and influencers can pitch opportunities to collaborate on TikTok. Alternatively, you can run a "challenge". In this case, you'll be asked to post on her TikTok or Instagram with a specific prompt or tone for a chance at cash rewards determined by engagement milestones. Pearpop has attracted brands such as Amazon, Netflix, Chipotle, Rakuten, Universal Pictures, Sonos, Beyond Meat and many other celebrities such as Doja Cat, The Weeknd, Madonna, Shawn Mendez and Post Malone.
Bumble Introduces New Pre-Game Message “Kudos”
30.Dec.2022Bumble has experimented with many ways to allow users to connect with each other beyond just tapping and swiping through different profiles. Today, Bumble rolled out a pre-match messaging feature called Tributes. This allows users to send notes before deciding to connect. Users can send one compliment per day, with a limit of 150 characters per compliment, a spokesperson told TechCrunch.Compliments can appear on the user's dating main page and Beeline. . This is advantageous for Premium Her members. Users will also receive notifications of unread compliment messages when they open the app. The purpose of this new feature is to help users stand out and “focus more on starting conversations in a positive way.” In the ever-growing online dating pool, complimenting potential matches can be a nice bonus for users. "Compliments answer the purpose and reason of dating. What is it about a person that fascinates you? Why would you want to know someone better?" With that in mind, there really is no better way to connect.
Zenly used to be the best social app, but (unfortunately) it will be retired on February 3
30.Dec.2022Zenly, the popular social mapping app that Snap acquired five years ago, will be discontinued on February 3, 2023. It's going to be a sad day because there's nothing quite like Zenly. The Paris-based team has created an app that sits at the intersection of utility and social apps. More importantly, opening Zenly and using it every day has been a great experience. This app should be considered one of the most sophisticated and innovative social apps ever and is a great example for other social app developers.
Proton Drive End-to-End Encrypted Cloud Storage Comes to Mobile Devices
30.Dec.2022Proton, a Swiss company that offers a range of privacy-focused online services, has officially launched an end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) cloud storage service on mobile devices. Founded in 2014, Proton got its start as an encrypted Gmail alternative called Proton Mail, but in recent years the company has launched its own VPN, Calendar released on the web in 2020, and more. I've tried replicating various Google services with a twist on privacy. before bringing it to mobile this year. Proton also launched a cloud storage service for mixes on the web in September after a long beta period. It is currently rolling out on Android and iOS.
Magazine app Flipboard adds support for original content with new note-taking feature
30.Dec.2022Magazine reading app Flipboard has emerged as the latest contender in the battle to move some of the online conversations that take place on Twitter onto its own platform. The company announced today that Flipboard curators will be able to publish original content in the magazine to engage with readers. The company believes this feature will allow curators to create small communities around specific topics and interests. This would create a different vibe than posting on her Twitter for a more general audience. This Social His Magazine His app was his first in 2012 to allow users to find articles, create their own magazines, and "flip" them into magazines for other users to follow in their feeds. introduced. With the introduction of the new Notes feature, curators can now not only share articles and other information, but also post text notes with uploaded images and links, and reach out to external @mention users. rice field. their own community. Flipboard co-founder and CEO Mike McCue said: "So it's like contributing to a micro-community...and having people who care about something, following this magazine, or contributing to this magazine talking and communicating with each other. , allows us to build a stronger sense of community,” he says. Notes stand out with a colorful blue background and can be liked, commented, shared or flipped to other journals.
