techcrunch News of 09/27/20

Black Founders Face A Unique Set Of Challenges

The notion that Black people in America need to work twice as hard as others to succeed may be a depressing sentiment, but it has been deeply ingrained into the psyches of many African-Americans. At TechCrunch Disrupt, several Black founders spoke ...

Human Capital: Moving Away From ‘Master/Slave’ Terminology

TGIF, am I right? Welcome back to Human Capital, where we explore some of the latest news in labor, diversity and inclusion in tech. This week, we’re looking at the use of “master/slave” terminology in computer programming and the ...

We’Re Updating The TechCrunch List Soon. Founders, Send In Your Recommendations Of The Most Helpful Lead VCs

Earlier this year , we launched The TechCrunch List , a carefully curated group of VCs who lead rounds recommended by thousands of founders for their acumen and friendliness, grouped by market focus, stage and geography. Since the launch of the ...

Despite A Rough Year For Digital Media, Blavity And The Shade Room Are Thriving

Last week at TechCrunch Disrupt, TechCrunch media and advertising reporter Anthony Ha sat down with Blavity CEO Morgan DeBaun and The Shade Room CEO Angelica Nwandu to chat about their respective media companies, 2020 in the media world and ...

3 VCs Discuss The State Of SaaS Investing In 2020

Yesterday during Disrupt 2020 I sat down with three investors who know the SaaS startup market very well, hoping to get my head around how hot things are today. Coming on the heels of the epic Snowflake IPO (more to come on that in this ...

Ride-Hailing Was Hit Hard By COVID-19. Grab’S Russell Cohen On How The Company Adapted.

A contactless Grab delivery Ride-hailing services around the world have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Grab was no exception. The company is one of the most highly-valued tech startups in Southeast Asia, where it operates in ...

Meet The Five Startup Battlefield Finalists At Disrupt 2020

TechCrunch hosted an unusual Startup Battlefield this week — the founders, judges, audience and moderator (me) were all in different locations, doing our best to interact over WebEx. But the 20 startups still demonstrated their products and ...

Fabletics’ Adam Golderberg And Kevin Hart On What’S Next For The Activewear Empire

Like plenty of other modern direct-to-consumer companies, influencer marketing has been an essential part of Fabletics’ journey. Actress Kate Hudson co-founded the company and co-CEO Adam Golderberg believes that its network of spokespeople ...

UrbanKisaan Is Betting On Vertical Farming To Bring Pesticide-Free Vegetables To Consumers And Fight India’S Water Crisis

Severe droughts have drained rivers and reservoirs across parts of India, and more than half a billion people in the world’s second-most populous nation are estimated to run out of drinking water by 2030. Signs of this are apparent in farms, ...

A Conversation With Tunde Kehinde Of Lidya On Finance And The Digital Divide

Small and medium businesses have been some of the hardest hit in the Covid-19 pandemic. And all that has been as true in emerging markets as it has been for SMBs in the developed world. Tunde Kehinde has had a front-row seat witnessing and ...

SmartNews’ Kaisei Hamamoto On How The App Deals With Media Polarization

Six years ago, SmartNews took on a major challenge. After launching in Japan in 2012, the news discovery app decided that its first international market would be the United States. During Disrupt, co-founder Kaisei Hamamoto talked about how ...

SmartNews’ U.S. App Unveils New Features For The Elections, COVID-19 And Local Weather

News discovery app SmartNews’ new election features for U.S. users At TechCrunch Disrupt today, SmartNews announced the release of major new features for the American version of its news discovery app, designed to make it easier for ...

Blume Ventures’ Karthik Reddy On Indian Startup Ecosystem, Geo-Political Tension With China And Coronavirus

Despite the coronavirus outbreak, which has slowed down deal-making across the world, dozens of startups in India have raised considerable amounts in recent months. Unacademy, which raised $110 million in February, closed a new round of $150 ...

The Art Of Pivoting With Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins And Jessica Matthews

Building and growing a startup is hard, but pivoting said startup into something new and then achieving that same growth is even harder. But it’s not impossible. Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, founder and CEO of PromisePay , and Jessica Matthews, ...

Alexa’S New Celebrity Wake Words ‘Hey Samuel,’ Turns The Assistant Into Samuel L. Jackson

Alexa just read me Monday’s baseball scores. It was great for two reasons. First, the A’s shut out the Mariners 9-0 in the second game of a doubleheader. And second, she did so in Samuel L. Jackson’s voice. With Amazon based in Seattle, I ...

Facebook Addresses Political Controversy In India, Monetization Opportunities, Startup Investments

At the beginning of the previous decade, Facebook had a tiny presence in India. It had just started to slowly expand its team in the country and was inking deals with telecom operators to make access to its service free to users and even offer ...

Homage’S Gillian Tee On How Technology Can Serve The World’S Aging Population

It’s always a pleasure to chat with Homage co-founder and chief executive Gillian Tee because of her nuanced take on how technology can help elderly and other vulnerable people.  According to the United Nations , people 65-years-old and over is ...

Mette Lykke On Food Waste And Building A Big Startup On A Big Idea

Food has been an ever-present touchpoint in the world of startups, and I don’t mean the free catered lunches, or expansive canteens that you get in bigger places, to keep startup workers sustained but also focused on building, without leaving ...

Carbon Health And Color Founders See Power In Bringing Healthcare To The Edge

When COVID-19 spread to the United States, the pandemic exposed two conflicting realities: a healthcare system that excels at high-cost, complex treatments while failing to provide sufficient access at the local level. That lack of access to public ...

The 2019 TechCrunch Include Report

It’s no secret that the tech industry is historically white, straight and male. Despite promises to examine and reform hiring practices so that tech companies big and small better reflect the world we all live in, diversity reports chart a ...