TechCrunch
Saudi’s BRKZ closes $17M Series A for its construction tech platform | TechCrunch
Construction procurement is highly fragmented, manual, and opaque, forcing contractors to juggle multiple suppliers, endure lengthy negotiations, and deal with delayed payments. In Saudi Arabia, where trillion-dollar infrastructure and real estate projects are underway, these inefficiencies are even more pronounced. To address this, BRKZ, a Riyadh-based construction tech startup, offers a tech-enabled managed marketplace that…
Avelios nabs $31M led by Sequoia to fix the ailing world of healthcare IT | TechCrunch
The race is on to build a new generation of healthcare software to replace legacy hospital systems that in some cases may not have been updated in decades. A startup out of Munich, Germany called Avelios has ambitions to build a new kind of end-to-end administrative system, leaning into more modern tooling using AI and…
Shein hit with consumer protection action in EU as bloc unboxes strategy to tackle low-cost ecommerce risks | TechCrunch
Chinese ecommerce and fast fashion giant Shein is facing fresh scrutiny in the European Union in relation to consumer protection rules following the launch of a coordinated action by the bloc’s Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPCN). The action is being conducted with reference to the EU’s Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Consumer Rights Directive, Unfair Contracts…
Here are the apps battling to be become the ‘TikTok for Bluesky’ | TechCrunch
TikTok’s potential U.S. ban has sparked a flurry of development within the open social web community. Several new applications are being built that could one day serve as a TikTok replacement for those who favor the open source, decentralized social network Bluesky and the technology that powers it, the AT Protocol. Though the TikTok ban…
Stablecoins are finding product-market fit in emerging markets | TechCrunch
Five years ago, SpaceX launched Starlink, which has since grown into its biggest revenue driver, expanding to more than 100 countries. But as Starlink scaled, it faced a major hurdle: accepting payments in developing markets, where traditional banking infrastructure is unreliable, slow, and prone to blocking transactions. Many local banks across Africa, Latin America, and…
Tesla Superchargers: GM, Ford, Rivian, and other EV brands with access | TechCrunch
In May 2023, Ford triggered a transformation when the U.S. automaker locked in a deal to give owners of its EVs access to the Tesla Supercharger network. In a stunning shift, automaker after automaker — from GM and Hyundai to Rivian and Mercedes — followed suit. By the end of 2023, nearly every major automaker…
Meet Skyseed, a VC fund and incubator backing the Bluesky and AT Protocol ecosystem | TechCrunch
On November 15, Peter Wang posted a message requesting ideas for a new incubator and fund to support experimental projects built on the burgeoning Bluesky/AT Protocol ecosystem. Four weeks later, Skyseed emerged with an initial commitment of $1 million. This turnaround, a speed underscored by the fact that the fund doesn’t even have a website…
Hollywood angels: Here are the celebrities who are also star VCs | TechCrunch
Becoming a venture capitalist has become the latest status symbol in Hollywood. Everyone these days, from Olivia Wilde to Emma Watson, is either launching a venture firm or is in the process of backing the next hottest company. Robinhood, Uber, and Klarna all have some glitzy names on their cap tables, paving the way for…