businesses

“SMBs Secure $100M Investment in Coro’s Cybersecurity Solution, Valued at $750M”

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Now, Coro — one of the startups building tools specifically for smaller businesses — is announcing a big round of funding after seeing its recurring revenues shoot up 300% in the last year. Sources close to the deal tell TechCrunch that its valuation is over $750 million post-money. And among SMBs responding to a survey from Digital Ocean, 74% named data privacy a top concern. The opportunity in the security market for SMBs that Coro has identified is that these businesses typically lack the teams and internal IT budgets to dedicate to building and managing their defenses. Its round last year, in April 2023, was $75 million at a $575 million valuation (also post-money).

“Transform Your Business: The Key to Successful Mobile Apps Lies in Emulating Consumer Favorites”

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And they’re calling their company… The Mobile-First Company. Too many companies that offer B2B tools treat mobile apps as companion apps and second-class citizens. Small companies don’t need a complicated enterprise software solution. While Siel Brunet is more experienced with the needs of large companies, he has also seen how B2B apps don’t work well with small businesses. Many small companies simply rely on consumer apps to fill their needs.

PipeDreams, an HVAC Startup, Secures $25M Funding from Ex-Nextdoor Executive

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“The top use of Nextdoor is people looking for providers, HVAC especially,” Laufer told TechCrunch. PipeDreams has purchased nine companies so far and currently operates in the San Francisco Bay Area, Tucson, and Denver with plans to expand. “The beauty of this industry is it’s massive, there are over 100,000 businesses doing plumbing and HVAC,” Laufer said about the U.S. market. Laufer said owning the HVAC companies outright is what differentiates PipeDreams from other competitors looking to just connect consumers with professionals, like Angie and Thumbtack. PipeDreams is also addressing the skills shortage in the HVAC and plumbing industries, as Gen Z is less interested in learning trades then generations before them.

Creating a Climate for Success: Casper’s Co-Founder Aids in Launching Incubator for Tech Startups Focused on Sustainability

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One path, which is particularly well trodden, is to start a venture fund. Instead of launching a VC fund, they’re starting with an incubator called Montauk Climate, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. Montauk Climate is one of the latter. Montauk Climate will remain shareholders in its spinout companies and have seats on their boards. As the number of incubated companies expands, Montauk Climate expects to raise its own venture fund to help support them.

Youverify secures $2.5M funding to bolster anti-money laundering regulations in Nigeria

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Since 2022, Youverify has expanded its real-time business verification coverage to 145 jurisdictions across 48 countries. Across these countries, Youverify processes 4 million monthly applications for over 3,500 businesses with 800 active clients. Additionally, the platform’s capacity to verify IDs has expanded from 400 million to 5 billion people — as well as 600 million businesses across various industries such as gaming, travel, healthcare, and telecommunications. “Individuals and businesses can verify their identity, registration status and ownership using their government data through Youverify. In addition, we launched our anti-money laundering and risk classification product to address some of these industries,” the CEO noted.

Reddit Unveils Complimentary Growth Solutions for Enterprises

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Reddit announced today that it’s launching a suite of tools, called Reddit Pro, to help businesses grow an organic presence on the platform. With this new suite of free tools, Reddit is likely seeking to add more brands it to its platform and possibly convert them into paying advertisers. Reddit Pro is currently in its beta testing phase and gives businesses access to an interface with multiple tools. Reddit says more than 200 businesses have started using Reddit Pro, including Taco Bell, Wendy’s, the NFL, The Wall Street Journal, Kate Somerville and Atlas Headrest. The company plans to launch additional Reddit Pro features this year, but didn’t share details about what they may look like.

PayPal Unveils Touchless Payment Option for Venmo and Zettle-Using Businesses on iPhone in the US

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PayPal launches Tap to Pay on iPhone for businesses using Venmo and Zettle in the USPayPal announced today that it’s launching “Tap to Pay” for merchants with an iPhone through the Venmo and Zettle apps in the U.S. PayPal, which owns both Venmo and Zettle, says the feature will allow businesses to accept contactless card and digital wallet payments directly on their iPhones with no additional cost or hardware. In addition to being able to accept payments from cards or digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay, Tap to Pay allows merchants to add taxes, accept tips, send receipts and issue refunds without any additional hardware. Funds from sales are quickly put into a business’s Venmo or PayPal Zettle account, the company says. With Tap to Pay on iPhone, Venmo business profile users will be able to reach for customers by accepting payments from buyers even if they don’t have a Venmo account. A year later, Strip enabled businesses to carry out Tap to Pay transactions on NFC-equipped Android devices, as well.

“Groundbreaking Partnership: Reliance and Disney Join Forces in India Media, Creating $8.5 Billion Joint Venture”

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Reliance, its portfolio Viacom18 and Disney are merging their media businesses in India, creating the largest media entity in the South Asian market. Reliance will control and own 16.34% of the joint venture, which it has valued at $8.5 billion. Reliance, which is India’s most valuable firm, said it sees an opportunity to expand and streamline its presence in the Indian fast-growing market by merging its media assets with Disney India. Reliance, which owns more than 60% in Viacom18, plans to invest $1.4 billion into the joint venture for its growth strategy. The “strategic” merger of Reliance and Disney India also unites two leading Indian streamers, JioCinema and Disney+Hotstar.

“Unlocking Business Success: Enhancing Customer Loyalty through Retention Experiments and Explainable AI with Subsets”

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Six months on from its launch, Subsets has already claimed some decent customers including the New York Times’-owned Athletic and Danish newspaper Børsen. The media businessWhile Subsets could be applied to any subscription business, it’s currently focused on the digital media vertical. Subsets allows non-technical teams to run retention “experiments” on subsets (hence the company name) of their subscriber base, to see what actions might lead a customer to staying on-board. These experiments might be a series of push notifications or email offering a subscription discount, or perhaps a free upgrade to unlock new features. Aside from lead backers Upfin and YC, Subsets’ pre-seed round included investments from a slew of institutional and angel investors including Cuesta Labs; Sandhill Markets; and Peakon founder Phillip Chambers.

Possible rewrite: Indian Captain Fresh looks to secure $50 million in fresh funding as discussions ensue

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Captain Fresh, a business-to-business harvest-to-retail marketplace for animal protein, is engaging with investors to raise up to $50 million in fresh funding, according to sources familiar with the matter. Captain Fresh declined to comment. The startup specifically focuses on seafood, helping fishermen and farmers sell their catch and livestock to businesses. Captain Fresh has raised over $100 million prior to the new funding and was valued at $500 million in the previous round, whose first tranche it closed in March 2022. It has since extended that round to raise another $15 million or so.