TechCrunch Startup News

Autograph, an NFT agency co-founded by athlete Tom Brady with a particularly deep bench of star power, has banked new funding from crypto investors who hope the platform can bring a new generation of celebrities and their fans into the fold of crypto collectibles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nowsta’s web and mobile app rolls workforce management tools into an all-in-one resource that includes an on-demand labor marketplace connecting employers with a skilled pool of workers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ancient8, Vietnam’s blockchain gaming guild, develops a community and software platform to enable everyone to play P2E (play-to-earn) games and build the metaverse while earning rewards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first electric bus by Swedish-Kenyan EV startup, Opibus, has hit Kenya’s roads marking the beginning of the company’s venture into the mass transit industry. Opibus first announced plans to roll out electric public transport buses last year when it raised $7.5 million in a pre-Series A round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Canadian startup working at the cutting edge of satellite imaging has raised $4.5 million across a combination of a $2.25 million seed round, and $2.25 million from a combined pre-seed and government funding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fintech startup Spendesk is announcing that it has raised an extension to its Series C round. Tiger Global is investing $114 million (€100 million) in the startup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

French startup Exotec has raised a $335 million Series D round in a new round of funding led by Goldman Sachs’ Growth Equity business. Following today’s investment, the company has reached a valuation of $2 billion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

London-based legaltech startup Juro has grabbed $23 million in Series B funding for its browser-based contract automation platform.  In total the startup has raised $31.5M since being founded back in 2016. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Retailers often build their own “orchestration” platforms for payment processing and routing, but these can be complex to maintain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Companies use invoices to pay for many of their major costs, ranging from materials to contract work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When the consumer opens an account and hits savings milestones for products they want to buy from their favorite brands, they can receive cash contributions from the brands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the past two years, since the pandemic hit, there has been a sharp rise in financial crime compliance costs, nearing $50 billion in 2021, up 58% compared to 2019, in the U.S. and Canada.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every company has to decide what to pay their employees and track that compensation in some way, often in spreadsheets and across disparate payroll, finance and HR systems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Headspace Health has acquired Sayana, an AI-powered mental health and wellness company, for an undisclosed amount. Headspace Health says the acquisition of the San Francisco-based company will expand its ability to provide personalized self-care to its users. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Foxtrot is reimagining the convenience store experience by seeking out the best food items by local artisans along with its core offerings of coffee, ready-to-eat cafe meals and wine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The company's technology makes it easier for companies to create demonstration videos, called “arcades,” that walk people through how their tools work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Career Karma raised its first millions off of a pitch that resonates with anyone who has ever googled coding bootcamps: a navigation tool for aspiring students and working professionals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ParrotConnect is a point-of-sale software for restaurants enabling them to digitize and take advantage of the home delivery boom to accelerate growth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Founder Alán Jaime Misrahi grew up devoted to soccer, eventually playing in Mexico’s third division. While he didn’t necessarily make it to the “big leagues” playing the sport, his new company Draftea aims to win over the 350 million sports fans in Latin America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Age-tech startups at this year’s CES demonstrated the potential breadth of the sector. If tech can help an older person live more comfortably, it can also help out a lot of other people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Will the world ever go back to big in-person events? Of course. Eventually. CES already moved in that direction this year, for better or worse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Doosan Robotics this week announced $33.7 million in funding, led Praxis Capital Partners and Korea Investment Partners. The fundraising news arrives as the Seoul-based company shows off its wares at CES in Las Vegas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s always fun tech for pet owners at CES, and 2022 is no different. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Autonomous shuttle company EasyMile and sidewalk robot delivery startup Coco are integrating DriveU.auto’s teleoperation and connectivity platform into their operations, DriveU.auto, an Israeli startup that came out of stealth last year, they announced at CES. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Refinery focuses on “early scale” companies, a term the firm uses to describe companies that secured a seed, but need that “oomph” to get it to Series A. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices