Facebook-owned WhatsApp is currently down, with users unable to send or receive messages on the end-to-end encrypted messaging app. Affected users might see that WhatsApp is “connecting” to the service when trying to send a message. The outage started at about 4pm ET. We don’t know much more than that at this stage. A spokesperson […]

The Trump administration has backed down from plans to revoke visas of international students studying in the U.S., whose schools planned to take their classes exclusively online in the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic. The reversal comes as over a dozen universities and colleges threatened legal action against the administration’s order. The multi-faceted effort […]

A few months ago, we declared that “browsers are interesting again,” thanks to increased competition among the major players. Now, as more startups are getting onboard, things are getting downright exciting. A small but growing number of projects are building web browsers with a more specific type of user in mind. Whether that perceived user […]

A handful of Silicon Valley’s notable figures are backing a software startup looking to challenge Google Chrome’s dominance. The startup, called The Browser Company, is led by Joshua Miller, who previously served as the Obama White House’s Director of Product and is currently an investor at Thrive Capital, an investment firm founded by Josh Kushner. […]

It’s not often Silicon Valley gets behind a single cause. Supporting net neutrality was one, reforming government surveillance another. Last week, Big Tech took up its latest: halting any cooperation with Hong Kong police. Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, and even China-headquartered TikTok said last week they would no longer respond to demands for user data […]

Construction is one of the largest industries still resisting the call of the 21st century, its practitioners opting for decades-old but tried and true methods. Ben Huh, of Cheezburger fame, aims to modernize the planning and assembly of buildings with software-generated floorplans and rooms that fit together like LEGO bricks. Huh’s new company, Social Construct, […]

Despite some market chop, the U.S. IPO market is still active, with fresh debut nCino pricing above its elevated price range, and Jamf moving to start its pricing process after filing to go public at the end of June. In addition to the pricing news, yesterday evening saw e-commerce software company BigCommerce commence its own […]

“Helping navigate the elusiveness of product market fit” is how Sanjiv Sanghavi, the co-founder of ClassPass and itinerant startup executive, describes his roles at different companies.  From ClassPass through Knotel, Sanghavi has shepherded several businesses to growth and over a billion dollars in valuations; now he’s looking to bring that branding and marketing savvy to […]

A new gadget called the OpenCV AI Kit, or OAK, looks to replicate the success of Raspberry Pi and other minimal computing solutions, but for the growing fields of computer vision and 3D perception. Its new multi-camera PCBs pack a lot of capability into a small, open-source unit and are now seeking funding on Kickstarter. […]

Nothing is more important for founders than finding their first check or the investor who will lead their round, and yet, finding the right VCs to invest in their startups is an arduous and agonizing prospect. By some counts, there are now tens of thousands of VCs scattered across all corners of the globe, investing […]

Over the past month, we have been asking founders to submit recommendations of VCs for The TechCrunch List, our newly-launched curated directory of investors who are ready to write first checks and lead venture rounds into startups. You can head over to the list itself to see all 391 investors across 22 verticals. Announcing The […]

Developer-centric identity platform Auth0 today announced that it has raised a $120 million Series F round led by Salesforce Ventures. Existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Sapphire Ventures, Meritech Capital, World Innovation Lab, Trinity Ventures, Telstra Ventures and K9 Ventures also participated in this round, as well as new investor DTCP. With this, the company has […]

Google Play Pass, the Android alternative to subscription-based game store Apple Arcade, is expanding. Launched in September 2019 with over 350 apps and games, Play Pass today announced it’s added 150 new titles, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Golf Peaks, and kid-friendly content, like apps from Sesame Workshop, for example. In addition, the service will be […]

Brief, a newly launched news aggregator founded by former Google engineers, aims to tackle a number of problems with today’s news cycle, including information overload, burnout, media bias, and algorithms that prioritize engagement over news accuracy. Today, there are so many places to read the news and many aggregators on the market offer access to […]