The Latest from Steve O'Hear
Gorillas, the on-demand grocery delivery startup, raises $290M and ‘surpasses’ $1B valuation
Gorillas, the Berlin-HQ’d startup that promises to let you order groceries and other “every day” items for delivery in as little as 10 minutes, has raised $290 million in Series B fu
Ribbon wants to make it easier for product teams to interview users
Everybody says they want to build user-centric companies and products, but how exactly is that achieved? Talking and listening to users, of course — a task that is both unnecessarily time-consum
Digital banking solutions provider Meniga closes additional €10M investment
Meniga, the London fintech that provides digital banking technology to leading banks, has closed €10 million in additional funding. The round is led by Velocity Capital and Frumtak Ventures. Also pa
Clubhouse UX teardown: A closer look at homepage curation, follow hooks and other features
UX expert Peter Ramsey and TechCrunch reporter Steve O'Hear discuss some of Clubhouse's UX challenges as it continues to onboard new users at pace while it strives to create enough stickiness to keep
Swedish fintech Zaver raises $5M to bring cardless payments and BNPL to ‘durables’ sector
Zaver, a Swedish fintech that enables merchants to accept cardless payments and offer buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) as an option, has raised $5 million in new funding. The company, which began life focused
Saleor scores $2.5M seed round for its ‘headless’ e-commerce platform
Saleor, a Poland and U.S.-based startup that offers a “headless” e-commerce platform to make it easier for developers to build better online shopping experiences, has raised $2.5 million i
Fulfilment startup Cubyn raises €35M to expand across Europe
Cubyn, the Paris-based logistics startup that lets e-merchants outsource fulfilment and delivery logistics, has raised another €35 million in funding. The round is led by Eurazeo and Bpifrance Large
Dija acquires Cambridge-based Genie to expand its 10-minute grocery service across UK
Dija, the London-based grocery delivery startup backed by Blossom Capital, Creandum and Index Ventures, has acquired Cambridge, U.K.-based Genie, in what looks in part like an acqui-hire. The deal, fo
Wise accuses former Brazil banking partner of smear campaign after ‘unfounded’ accusations of fraud
Wise, the London-headquartered company that made its name offering international money transfers and is reportedly planning an IPO, has accused its former banking partner in Brazil of a “smear c
London’s Jiffy picks up £2.6M seed to enter the grocery dark store race
Another online grocery delivery and “dark store” operator breaks cover today: London-based Jiffy, which aims to deliver fresh groceries and household essentials in around 15 minutes, has r
New challenger Ikigai combines digital banking and wealth management
Ikigai, a London fintech founded by former McKinsey partners, thinks there’s room in the crowded challenger market for a new premium offering that combines digital banking with wealth management
Wise’s Taavet Hinrikus and Teleport’s Sten Tamkivi partner in new investment firm — just don’t call it a VC fund
Taavet Hinrikus, the first employee of Skype and co-founder of fintech giant Wise (formerly TransferWise), is teaming up with Teleport co-founder and current Topia CPO Sten Tamkivi to create a new inv
Zego, the tech-enabled commercial motor insurer, raises $150M at $1.1B valuation
Zego, the insurtech that got its start by offering flexible motorbike insurance for gig economy workers but has since expanded with a range of tech-enabled commercial motor insurance products, has rai
Designing with accessibility in mind: a conversation
At TechCrunch Sessions: Justice, we examined the importance of ensuring products are designed to be accessible from the beginning. And how building the expertise of disabled technologists and advocate
Cosi raises €20M for its ‘full-stack’ approach to short-term rentals
Cosi Group, a Berlin-based startup offering an alternative to boutique hotels and managed short-stay apartments, is disclosing €20 million in new investment. Backing the round is Vienna-based Soravi
Backed by Blossom, Creandum and Index, grocery delivery and dark store startup Dija launches in London
Dija, the London-based grocery delivery startup, is officially launching today and confirming that it raised £20 million in seed funding in December — a round that we first reported was partial
Countingup closes £9.1M for its business current account with built-in accounting features
Countingup, the U.K. fintech offering a business current account with built-in accounting features, has closed £9.1 million in Series A investment. Leading the round is Framework Venture Partners, wi
Flink, the Berlin-based grocery delivery startup that operates its own ‘dark stores’, raises $52M
The on-demand grocery delivery industry in Europe (and beyond) continues to heat up amidst the pandemic, including a plethora of startups taking a vertical approach by operating their own delivery onl
Humaans raises $5M seed to make it easier for companies to on-board and manage staff
Humaans, a London-based HR startup, has raised $5 million in seed funding to accelerate the development of its employee on-boarding and management platform. Backing the round is Y Combinator, Mattias
Klarna confirms new $31B valuation
Klarna, the Swedish buy now, pay later behemoth and upstart bank, has raised $1 billion in new funding at a post-money valuation of $31 billion. That sees the company retain the crown as the highest-v