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Hello and welcome to Daily Crunch on January 10, 2022! For those of you who are sad that it’s winter, right? I’m disappointed that Bitcoin took hits todaytake a heart We have a lot of nice news for you today, including the development of lab-grown meat, a mega-acquisition in gaming, and even some good news for startups hoping for an accelerator spot! Do not frown; That will be ok! – Alex
The TechCrunch Top 3
- Y Combinator improves investment conditions: Gone are the days when start-ups raised $ 37 in the seed phase and stocked up on ramen. As big tech salaries soar into the stratosphere, the startup game is a different type of bet than it used to be as there are more avenues to tech richness than there have been in decades. Y Combinator is keeping up with the times, reinforcing its traditional check for startups in its accelerator by investing $ 375,000 in a SAFE. Other accelerators, it’s your train.
- Take-Two buys Zynga: Perhaps the biggest non-startup business news in the tech world today was the 11-digit deal that saw gaming company Take-Two buy Zynga. The latter company saw its share price skyrocket on the news, which will cause it to be absorbed for a mix of stocks and cash. In contrast, Take-Two’s stock fell around 13% after the announcement.
- Career karma ends up being $ 40M: You may know Career Karma as a startup that helped people find the right programming school for them. But the startup, which is now equipped with a giant B-series, aims to become the “largest HR company in the world,” its CEO told TechCrunch. Our own Natasha Mascarenhas has the story.
Startups / VC
Before we get into another series of startup funding rounds, I would like to would like to note a little bit of dissonance in the market. In short, we see the public markets selling tech stocks, leading to falling multiples and a perhaps less attractive exit environment. On the other hand, the private market seems to be content with driving startup prices higher and higher. Forcing the private and public markets to align in a timely manner could be a painful task for startups that are missing their growth targets.
- Who is watching the observer? Our own Haje Jan Kamps wrote a fascinating insight into the world of corporate spyware. Your employer is likely watching what you are doing and Haje has tips. Hell, Yahoo is probably watching me type this. Hello, bosses of the company!
- Gameto is entering menopause: Far from the world of enterprise SaaS, there is a universe of startups working in the health sector. But not everyone works on nootropics or anything like that. Gameto aims to “solve the problem of ‘accelerated’ ovarian aging in order to change the development of health and equality for women,” reports Connie Loizos. The startup is still quite young, but it is conquering a market that makes up half of humanity. One to watch out for.
- Parrot wants to help Mexico’s restaurants thrive in the delivery time age: Moving to a world with more delivery and collection services has forced restaurants around the world to adapt. But not every market has the same tool options or local requirements. Parrot has just raised $ 9.5 million for its work helping restaurateurs in Mexico leverage its point of sale software to “digitize and leverage the home delivery boom to grow accelerate ”, we write.
- Arive is raising $ 20 million for immediate electronics delivery: Imagine what is called the instant grocery delivery market, but swap the groceries for larger, more expensive items like headphones and beauty products. This is what Arive wants to build and has just raised $ 20 million for his work.
- ThankUCash raises $ 5.3 million to bring loyalty programs to Africa: The African startup market continues its impressive series of funding events this week, during which ThankUCash – a great startup name – raises new capital to help businesses across the continent offer loyalty programs and payment services. The startup could prove to be a blessing for the many offline stores in Africa.
- Ankorstore raises an epic $ 283 million for Series C: The French startup Ankorstore is a unicorn after its recent major fundraising campaign. The startup “operates a wholesale marketplace for independent retailers across Europe,” as we discovered today, which is proving to be a rapidly scalable company.
Is cell-cultured meat ready for prime time?
Credit: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch /
If you’ve ever seen a lagoon filled with pork droppings or driven past the cattle pastures in Coalinga, California on I-5, it’s easy to see why there is so much interest in laboratory meat.
Conventional factory farming practices cause widespread environmental damage, but industry and consumers have learned to live with them in exchange for affordability and convenience. With ever increasing consumption and population growth, one could even say that meat eats the world.
In a thoroughly researched report for TechCrunch +, reporter Christine Hall examines the state of the cell culture meat industry and identifies many of the startups that are innovating in the industry, as well as the related production, cost and consumer interest challenges.
(TechCrunch + is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams move forward. Here you can sign up.)
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