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May your weekend be as energetic as you want, and full of all the right types of surprises. Oh, and ice cream. – Christine and Haje
TechCrunch Top 3
- Zenly does not want you to miss another event: Do you remember the big card that used to sit in the back pocket of the passenger side of your parents’ car? I loved plotting different routes and checking out the graphics at the top that showed how many miles there were between the cities. Oh, that was just me? Well, at least, like Romain Say it today, Zenly “makes social cards cool again.” The kind where you find out what’s going on nearby and which of your friends should be there. The Snap-owned app is undergoing its biggest redesign, taking on a sleeker look with a black background and features to make the app easier to navigate.
- Amazon focuses on social: At least that’s what we mean by its recent move to acquire India-based social trading firm GlowRoad. The deal comes as other big retail names, such as Walmart and YouTube, invest in the social commerce area. Amazon also announced the first five startups that are part of their $ 1 billion industrial innovation fund that focuses on logistics, supply chain and customer fulfillment, all things that are facing a bottleneck right now.
- Unicorns can check out at any time, but they can never leave: It seems to be the mood behind global companies reaching $ 1 billion in value but not being listed. But in Asia, Anna found that it was not a problem – nine of the 10 largest IPOs in the first quarter came from the region – and with almost 100 agreements made during that time, we dare say it is becoming “a haven for public exits “?
Startups and VC
One of the things that is often described as the benefit of web3 startups is also its downfall, Connie suggests: Yes, it’s nice that everything is decentralized, but when something goes sideways, there is no safety net.
What the hell, check out the rest of the boot technology on deck *:
- And they breathe and they breathe and they turn on for noise reduction: I took a closer look at Sennheiser’s latest earphones that exclude the training sounds while you are sweating. In audio news, I also reviewed the curious DJI Mic product – a wireless microphone set for creators that is a little below the price tag, IMO.
- They have 99 problems, but the kitchen is not one: Catherine explores how MadEats is a full stack delivery startup, not just a ghost kitchen game.
- Low stove, not war: Luke Hutchinson went from five years as an infantry officer to launching a restaurant booking platform and raised $ 3.6 million to do so.
- It is overturned, but it rises again: Bipedal robots are a little creepy if you ask me, but Amazon, DCVC and Playground have just thrown $ 150 million into Agility to bring them to a warehouse near you. Not to diminish Brian‘s eloquent words, but it’s worth checking out the article just for the video.
- YC or a16z… Who would win in a karaoke match? I would totally pay money for not having to listen to any of their investment teams sing, will not lie – but luckily that’s not the topic of the latest episode of Equity. Instead, Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann wonder who is driving the best accelerator as a16z joins the fight and takes on YC at their home ground.
4 questions each CISO should ask about the meta-verse
Image credit: Adrian + Los / EyeEm (opens in new window) / Getty Images
The metaverset is still taking shape, but it is already creating headaches for cybersecurity professionals.
Technology that places users in virtual, immersive environments where they can shop can unlock countless benefits, but it will certainly create a threat attack surface of titanic proportions. To prepare, CSO / CISO David Fairman says organizations need to be able to answer these questions:
- Can we protect PII (and other sensitive data) in the meta-verse?
- How can I authenticate users?
- Can we protect users from bullying, harassment and exploitation?
- Can we control this kind of fast-growing attack surface?
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Big Tech Inc.
- Brian Armstrong is waging a bit of a war with Apple, saying the technology giant’s App Store rules mean some of Coinbase’s features will be banned. Overall, Armstrong makes the claim that Apple is not very sweet to the crypto world. Meanwhile, Stripe has no issues with crypto and is adding payouts to Connect, with Twitter being the first platform to use it.
- We are pleased to learn that former President Barack Obama is reading TechCrunch and taking on disinformation.
- We hope you have not grown tired of social media news, because there were many of them today. Here’s what we’ve gathered: Consumers are picky creatures, and we’re always looking for new features, so Instagram is testing something called “Templates,” which will allow Reels creators to use the same format as other videos. Next, Twitter wants to win back developers with some new tools and testing status updates. Then TikTok launched an in-feed advertising feature for interactive add-ons. And finally, Snapchat is testing ads on Spotlight.
- Meanwhile, if you also try to remember if Snapchat was still a thing, its first-quarter earnings show that it largely is. And if there was any doubt, Snap and Disney team up to create an augmented reality Cinderella slot mural in Disney World. Bibbidi-bobbidi buo!