Kurtosis raises $20M Series A to give web3 developers 'a place to play around'

Thursday, August 04, 2022

Haje and I are swapping places for the next two days while he gets some much-needed rest. While he’s away, please enjoy his latest Pitch Deck Teardown on Glambook. In the meantime, TechCrunch Disrupt is coming closer: Meet the final five Disrupt Audience Choice roundtable winners, and if you are a student, enter our video competition for a chance to win a free pass.

And don’t forget, applications close tomorrow for Startup Battlefield 200! Apply today to join Startup Battlefield 200 for the chance to exhibit your startup for free at TechCrunch Disrupt this October and win the $100,000 equity-free prize. Applications close August 5. Be sure to get your applications in by tomorrow! Apply today.

See you tomorrow! — Christine

Image Credits: Przemyslaw Klos / EyeEm / Getty Images

The TechCrunch Top 3

Tooling around: Two years ago, two former Palantir engineers started Kurtosis, a crypto-focused developer tool system, and have now raised $20 million in fresh funding to hire a team to get a new product out in the next year, Jacquelyn reports.
Strapping on some capital: Argentine fintech Geopagos leaves the bootstrap life behind as it takes in $35 million in new capital to help businesses launch their own financial services products, Mary Ann writes.
‘Snap’ping into some share buybacks: Moves by Snap and Airbnb to buy back shares amid slower growth has Alex raising his eyebrows and looking under the hood to see what’s going on.

Cars Are Changing - How Does Lidar Help Automakers Evolve?

Startups and VC

Lots of startup news again today, so let’s dig in. First, Natasha M brings us some additional layoff news from On Deck, which is cutting another third of its staff after cutting a quarter a few months ago. For those of you who can add fractions, that’s a lot, right?

We enjoyed reading Becca’s investor survey story, where she interviewed six first-time fund managers about their approach to weathering the downturn.

Also, buy now, pay later is still more prevalent in the world of consumers (see Anita’s funding story on Halliday), but businesses want in on the fun, too. That’s where Kontempo comes in with $30 million and its approach to enabling sales teams to approve credit, Kyle reports.

An app a day keeps the ads away: No one likes pop-up ads, and a new app, Banish, feels you, Sarah writes.
Connecting content to people: Clutch closed on some early-stage funding to match creators with businesses that need content, Dominic-Madori reports.
Rill good: Rill, a business dashboard tool, talks for the first time about a new round and its product that embeds database and instant user experience, Ron writes.
An offer they couldn’t refuse: MiroBio, a startup developing treatments for autoimmune patients, accepted an offer to be a part of Gilead Sciences for $405 million, Paul reports.

From NDA to LOI: What really happens when your startup is being acquired?

Last week, VP and managing director of Dell Technologies Capital Yair Snir shared an article explaining why founders should plan on getting acquired, particularly since their odds of going public are so long.

In a follow-up, he takes readers inside the postacquisition integration period/process:

The shopping sprint
The road to an LOI
Bringing in bankers
Diving into due diligence
Defining “day one”
You’ve been acquired!

“While IPOs may get more headlines, a well-timed, well-planned acquisition can mean even larger opportunities for you, your team and the technologies you’ve built,” says Snir.

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)

Big Tech Inc.

When it comes to cryptocurrency, BlackRock is now saying, “Why beat them when you can join them?” Anita writes about the asset managing giant joining forces with Coinbase to provide its clients with access to crypto, initially Bitcoin. And speaking of Coinbase, Jacquelyn and Alex write for TechCrunch+ on why that partnership, and others Coinbase has, is delighting investors.

In the realm of social media, we enjoyed Amanda’s story where she spoke with Patreon CEO Jack Conte on why Instagram and Facebook are on his list, and not in a good way. And Aisha tells us what’s up with some new Clubhouse features.

Car talk: Volkswagen is gearing up to roll out a cheaper version of its 2023 ID.4 later this year, Kirsten writes. Meanwhile, Rebecca brings us stories on UFODrive, a European electric vehicle rental startup, debuting in San Francisco, and what’s happening with Lyft employees following some layoff news.
Wally World layoffs: Inflation has even the largest of companies examining their budgets, and in this case, Ivan reports that Walmart cuts 200 corporate employees.
Samsung in key of G: Ivan also writes about Samsung bringing Amazon Luna games to its smart TVs and monitors, while Brian highlights what goodies Samsung might announce at next week’s Unpacked event.
Streamers away: In today’s streaming news, Tage reports on Amazon Prime Video launching a local service in Nigeria, while Lauren writes about SoundCloud announcing some layoffs and Paramount+ having a good quarter in terms of subscriber count.
Giving back, just not in the way they wanted: Manish reports that the State Bank of Pakistan ordered fintech startup Tag to refund all funds to customers, “citing violation of regulatory requirements and ‘other concerns,’ posing existential questions on the startup’s future.”