March 28, 2024

Web and Technology News

OpenAI brings the competition to DeepMind’s doorstep with new London office

OpenAI is expanding overseas. To London, specifically. Today, the Microsoft-backed AI startup announced that it plans to open an office in London, its first international outpost. When OpenAI’s London location opens its doors, it’ll focus on advancing “research and engineering capabilities” while balancing collaborating with “local communities and policymakers,” according to CEO Sam Altman. “We […]

OpenAI brings the competition to DeepMind’s doorstep with new London office by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

How the myth of the ‘girlboss’ harms emerging women in tech

On Lafayette Street in SoHo, young, fashionable women lined up around the block to enter a minimalist, millennial oasis, the most perfect Instagram feed brought to life. Staff members glided around the store in pastel pink suits, each embodying the kind of girl that Glossier made us all want to be: beautiful, yet effortless. “We […]

How the myth of the ‘girlboss’ harms emerging women in tech

On Lafayette Street in SoHo, young, fashionable women lined up around the block to enter a minimalist, millennial oasis, the most perfect Instagram feed brought to life. Staff members glided around the store in pastel pink suits, each embodying the kind of girl that Glossier made us all want to be: beautiful, yet effortless. “We […]

Smiler comes up with a different kind of gig economy for event and venue photographers

Traditional venue photography providers like DEI Global, MagicMemories, Picsolve and Sharingbox are reliant on fixed equipment, permanent staffing costs, and on-site printed products. So Amsterdam, Netherlands-based Smiler came up with a different approach. Freelance photographers can simply use the platform to roam around events, selling event photography formally attached to the venue and allowing customers […]

Niantic transcends Discord to build Campfire, an AR social app, and unveils Lightship VPS

Since the launch of Pokémon Go in 2016, players have been coordinating meet-ups in-game raids and battles on platforms like Reddit and Discord. This summer, parent company Niantic is unveiling Campfire, a social app designed to help mobile augmented reality (AR) gamers connect. Niantic’s games incentivize people to use their technology to go outside and […]

Amid crypto’s talent war, Encode Club mints new web3 developers

Crypto-savvy developers are in short supply these days. Blockchain startups and protocols are fighting to onboard and train more engineers — an even tougher undertaking in a world where developing on Ethereum vs. Solana vs. Polkadot vs. another blockchain can require completely different programming skill sets. London, United Kingdom-based startup Encode Club, founded in 2020, […]

Amid crypto’s talent war, Encode Club mints new web3 developers

Crypto-savvy developers are in short supply these days. Blockchain startups and protocols are fighting to onboard and train more engineers — an even tougher undertaking in a world where developing on Ethereum vs. Solana vs. Polkadot vs. another blockchain can require completely different programming skill sets. London, United Kingdom-based startup Encode Club, founded in 2020, […]

Optibus taps $100M at a $1.3B valuation for its AI-based mass transit operations platform

Mass transit has made a rebound with the return of city life post-Covid 19, and today a startup that’s building tech to help it run more smoothly is announcing a big round of funding to meet the rush. Optibus, which uses AI to help public transportation bodies and their mass transit partners plan and operate […]

Interswitch receives $110M investment from LeapFrog and Tana Africa Capital

African payments company Interswitch has secured a $110 million joint investment from LeapFrog Investments and Tana Africa Capital to scale its digital payment services across the continent, the two private investment firms said in a statement Wednesday. Interswitch didn’t confirm the amount it received from the firms. “The exact terms of the transaction haven’t been disclosed. […]

Musk talks Tesla demand, EV startups and scooters in expansive interview

Elon Musk weighed in on Tesla, SpaceX and his multitude of other companies — including that social media business he’s trying to purchase — during a wide-reaching 80-minute interview Tuesday that covered demand for EVs, the need for raw materials, the problem with hydrogen and the most promising EV startups. While much of what Musk […]

Musk talks Tesla demand, EV startups and scooters in expansive interview

Elon Musk weighed in on Tesla, SpaceX and his multitude of other companies — including that social media business he’s trying to purchase — during a wide-reaching 80-minute interview Tuesday that covered demand for EVs, the need for raw materials, the problem with hydrogen and the most promising EV startups. While much of what Musk […]

Paddle, the company that wants to take on Apple in IAP, raises $200M at a $1.4B valuation to supercharge SaaS payments

Software as a service has become the default for how organizations adopt and use apps these days, thanks to advances in cloud computing and networking, and the flexibility of pay-as-you-use models that adapt to the evolving needs of a business. Today, a company called Paddle, which has built a large business out of providing the […]

Egyptian fintech Paymob raises $50M led by PayPal Ventures and Kora Capital

Egyptian fintech Paymob, which enables merchants to accept digital payments online and in-store, announced today it has raised $50 million in Series B funding. PayPal Ventures, the global corporate venture arm of PayPal, New-York-based venture capital Kora Capital, and London-based Clay Point led the round. New participating investors include Helios Digital Ventures, British International Investment […]

Egyptian fintech Paymob raises $50M led by PayPal Ventures and Kora Capital

Egyptian fintech Paymob, which enables merchants to accept digital payments online and in-store, announced today it has raised $50 million in Series B funding. PayPal Ventures, the global corporate venture arm of PayPal, New-York-based venture capital Kora Capital, and London-based Clay Point led the round. New participating investors include Helios Digital Ventures, British International Investment […]

Just Eat Takeaway takes away chairman, investigates COO, weighs Grubhub sale as meal delivery cools down

The food delivery business, and tech companies leading the charge, were hot commodities at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic as people stayed indoors and turned to apps to fill their bellies with pre-made meals. Now with that trend cooling off, those companies are feeling the chill. In the latest development, big changes and drama […]

Ravio is bringing real-time data to the talent fight

UK-based Ravio reckons real-time data is the best way to arm businesses to win the global talent war. Its new-to-market compensation benchmarking tool lets users see how the compensation (wages and benefits) they offer their own staff compares to the market by pooling data across its employer customers (data is anonymized at the platform level) […]

How Pillsorted plans to use personalisation to compete with main-street pharmacies

Since the (relatively speaking) easing of the pandemic, pharmacies have come under increasing strain as people clamor for their drugs. This is particularly an issue in he UK where traditional mom-and-pop pharmacies have started to close and larger chains haven’t kept pace with demand. The problems are even leading to incidences of abuse by customers. […]

Can Mirai Flights make it easier to book a private jet? Its new investors think so

If there’s one thing we found out during the pandemic, it is that private jets were one way for the rich and famous to avoid traveling with the potentially infectious plebian classes. This is perhaps why there is still a market for tech companies to enter into this rarefied industry. But more seriously, there are […]

Anglo-Hungarian anti-fraud platform SEON pulls in a $94M Series B led by IVP

Last year, SEON, which has an anti-fraud platform designed to fight accounts raised a $12 million Series A. It does this by looking at a customer’s ‘digital footprint’ – especially their social media – in order to weed out false accounts and thus prevent fraudulent transactions. Clients included Patreon, AirFrance, Rivalry and Ladbrokes. The London-based […]

Anglo-Hungarian anti-fraud platform SEON pulls in a $94M Series B led by IVP

Last year, SEON, which has an anti-fraud platform designed to fight accounts raised a $12 million Series A. It does this by looking at a customer’s ‘digital footprint’ – especially their social media – in order to weed out false accounts and thus prevent fraudulent transactions. Clients included Patreon, AirFrance, Rivalry and Ladbrokes. The London-based […]

Gravity Sketch draws $33M for a platform to design, collaborate on and produce 3D objects

Platforms like Figma have changed the game when it comes to how creatives and other stakeholders in the production and product team conceive and iterate around two-dimensional designs. Now, a company called Gravity Sketch has taken that concept into 3D, leveraging tools like virtual reality headsets to let designers and others dive into and better […]