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Turkey’s Gaming Scene Gains Momentum with Emergence of Innovative VC Fund

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Turkey has gained a well-earned reputation as a veritable cauldron of mobile games startups, leading to the rise of VCs dedicated to the sector. The latest to join this coterie is Laton Ventures, a new gaming-focused VC that has raised a $35 million fund. Indeed, between 2018 and 2022 Turkish gaming start-ups raised more than $1 billion in funding. There are now at least 25 VC funds that invest in video games startups based out of Turkey. “We’re positioning as a bridge between the Turkish gaming ecosystem, which is booming, and the international gaming ecosystem.

“Unstoppable Momentum: Solana’s Memecoin Craze, Backpack’s Beta Triumph, and Starbucks’ NFT Program Shutdown”

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Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. Hello and welcome back to the TechCrunch Crypto newsletter. This week in web3Crunching numbersThis week the crypto market prices were lower, but still relatively strong compared to previous months. Bitcoin was down 6.5% on the week at $67,300 and 32% higher on the month, at the time of publication. This kickstarted her career in web3, data and AI solutions.

“Inflection-Microsoft AI Saga Persists as Astera Labs Goes Public”

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Hello, and welcome back to Equity, the podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, focused on startup and venture capital news that matters. Today we have a grip of startup stories, and a venture capital item that isn’t as bad of news as it seems at first blush. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. Here’s the rundown:

Stripe’s Unparalleled Growth: Total Payment Volume Soars Past $1T

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Stripe is sufficiently large that when we consider its growth we have to weigh it against the overall growth in the payment space more generally. Major growth pointsIn its annual missive, Stripe noted that it crossed the $1 trillion total payment volume metric in 2023, a figure that is large, and round, if imprecise. Certainly the threshold is notable, but when paired with recent growth figures becomes all the more impressive. Stripe said that in 2023 its payment volume rose 25%. Any company processing that much total payment volume through Stripe could build their own in-house stack, or pursue a more DIY option.

“Stellantis Chief Executive Spills Secrets on Waymo, Rivian Layoffs, and the Ongoing Decline of EV Enthusiasm”

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TechCrunch Mobility is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click TechCrunch Mobility — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Of course, as he talked, I wondered if this was wishful thinking or an attempt to show the company was still part of the autonomous vehicle conversation? Robotic Research Autonomous Industries (RRAI), an autonomous vehicle company with a history of working with the Department of Defense, changed its name to Forterra.

“Cityscoot Acquired by Cooltra: A Step Forward in Micromobility Consolidation”

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Paris’ commercial court has accepted Cooltra’s offer to acquire Cityscoot. These two companies provide shared electric mopeds that you can unlock and ride to go from one place to another. At the same time, foreign micromobility companies also started to look at Paris as a potentially interesting market, including Cooltra and Yego. Cityscoot, Cooltra and Yego won a tender process organized by the city of Paris to limit mopeds to three operating licenses. Cooltra’s mopeds will also get new stickers to show that Cityscoot and Cooltra are now the same service to ease the transition.

Trading for US Bitcoin ETFs Initiated, IPO Filed by Circle, India’s Crypto Restriction Continues

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Fast-forward to Wednesday and the SEC approved the first spot bitcoin ETF applications for 11 issuers (TC+). I spoke with two executives from Grayscale and Valkyrie about what’s in store for their spot bitcoin ETFs. Anyways, that’s enough housekeeping and spot bitcoin ETF news for today. And now, Grayscale’s bitcoin spot ETF was approved. We dive into what a spot bitcoin ETF approval means for GBTC and market demand.

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