Anthony Ha
Senior Writer
The Latest from Anthony Ha
Daily Crunch: Europe charges Apple with antitrust breach
Apple faces an antitrust complaint in Europe, TikTok has a new CEO and YouTube TV disappears from Roku. This is your Daily Crunch for April 30, 2021. Also, this is my last day at TechCrunch, and there
Roc Nation’s VC Neil Sirni lays out his investment strategy
Jay-Z’s Roc Nation announced in 2017 that it was forming a venture investment arm called Arrive. And the firm has been busy since then — co-founder and president Neil Sirni said Arrive has mad
Developer-focused video platform Mux achieves unicorn status with $105M funding
Barely more than eight months after announcing a $37 million funding round, Mux has another $105 million. The Series D was led by Coatue and values the company at more than $1 billion (Mux isn’t
Daily Crunch: Biden’s labor secretary says gig workers should be reclassified
The Biden administration hints at gig economy changes, Blue Origin will be taking passengers and we interview Jim Belushi about weed. This is your Daily Crunch for April 29, 2021. The big story: Biden
Digital comics startup Madefire is shutting down
R.I.P. Madefire, a startup that recruited high-profile artists to reinvent comics for new formats and platforms. An announcement on the Madefire website states the company entered into “an assig
MoviePass co-founder’s PreShow Interactive raises $3M to expand into gaming
PreShow Interactive is giving gamers a new way to earn in-game currency in exchange for watching ads — a concept that’s become familiar in mobile games but hasn’t really made much headwa
Zynga and Rollic acquire the hyper-casual game studio behind High Heels
Last year, Zynga bought hyper-casual game maker Rollic. Today, Rollic is a Zynga subsidiary, and it’s announcing the acquisition of another game studio called Uncosoft. Like Rollic, Uncosoft dev
Daily Crunch: Uber adds vaccine booking
Uber unveils half a dozen new features, Samsung announces a new flagship laptop and Zomato files to go public. This is your Daily Crunch for April 28, 2021. The big story: Uber adds vaccine booking Ub
Near acquires the location data company formerly known as UberMedia
Data intelligence company Near is announcing the acquisition of another company in the data business — UM. In some ways, this echoes Near’s acquisition of Teemo last fall. Just as that deal
Yousician raises $28M to make music education more accessible
By his own admission, Chris Thür wasn’t the most obvious person to start a music education company. Thür (previously a laser researcher) recalled an early meeting with an investor who asked wh
Daily Crunch: Spotify adds support for paid podcasts
Spotify launches paid podcast support, Amazon announces new tablets and we unveil the agenda for TC Sessions: Mobility. This is your Daily Crunch for April 27, 2021. The big story: Spotify adds suppor
Language learning startup Toucan raises $4.5M
Toucan, a startup that helps users learn a new language while they browse the web, is announcing that it has raised an additional $4.5 million in seed funding. As I wrote last fall, the Santa Monica,
Property management startup Guesty raises $50M and acquires competitor Your Porter
Guesty, which has created property management software for hosts on short-term rental platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo, is announcing that it has raised $50 million in Series D funding. “In the pu
DoorDash announces new pricing for restaurants, with commissions as low as 15%
DoorDash is announcing new pricing plans for the restaurants that use the platform for pickups and deliveries. Before this, the company did not offer standardized pricing across restaurants. However,
Daily Crunch: iOS 14.5 brings privacy changes and more
Apple’s latest software upgrade brings a big change, Roku accuses Google of anti-competitive behavior and Brex raises a big funding round. This is your Daily Crunch for April 26, 2021. The big s
Dating app S’More bets on celebrity content with S’More TV
Dating startup S’More has launched a new feature called S’More TV, which CEO Adam Cohen-Aslatei said could give users new ways to talk to each other. It also bringing the startup closer to
Netflix won seven Oscars last night
After everything was wrapped up at a very weird Oscars ceremony, original films released by Netflix had won seven statuettes. The streaming service’s awards include two for “Mank” (p
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature has arrived — here’s what you need to know
The latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system — iOS 14.5 — is launching today, and with it comes a much-discussed new privacy feature called App Tracking Transparency. The feature wa
Daily Crunch: Meet Disney Imagineering’s new robot
We get up close with a robotic Groot, SpaceX has a successful astronaut launch and cryptocurrency prices tumble. This is your Daily Crunch for April 23, 2021. The big story: Meet Disney Imagineering&#
Hawke Ventures raises $5.6M to back digital marketing startups
Hawke Ventures, the investment arm of marketing consultancy Hawke Media, is announcing that it has closed its first $5.6 million venture fund. Managing Partner Drew Leahy acknowledged that the firm