Data privacy agency fines Meta $1.3B — company must stop exporting EU Facebook data to US

Monday, May 22, 2023

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Today, we look at Meta’s giant fine from the European Union, which startups are flush with cash and what Amazon is doing with your palm. I hope you had a good weekend and are ready to jump into some news, because this is your Daily Crunch for Monday. — Christine

Meta is most likely smarting from a whopping $1.3 billion fine (€1.2 billion) handed down from the European Data Protection Board related to Facebook data flows. Just to hammer that home more, “the Board confirmed it is the largest fine ever issued under the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation.” We’ve got all the juice that’s fit to squeeze on this.

Show of digital hands: How many of you have created a great social media post only to hit “post” and find a typo? The only options used to be “delete” and try again, or pay for the privilege of editing. Well, today you’re in luck because WhatsApp has your back in the editing department. Find out more.

Telemedicine continues to gain ground, but digital healthcare startup Patient21 thinks it has a unique business model going where there is proprietary software for managing patients, who are then steered toward one of the company’s 50-plus outpatient clinics across Germany. See how this model is paying off.

Ebb and Flow: Romania’s FlowX.ai is now flush with $35 million for its AI-based approach to application integration. Get the scoop.

Banned!: China launched a probe into American chip manufacturer Micron over national security risks and has now banned some of Micron’s products. Read more.

Hello? Is someone there?: General Atlantic gave a whopping $100 million to this India-based fintech that processes online transactions. Find out who it is.

Meanwhile, Amazon One found something fun to do with its palm-scanning payment technology. I’ll give you a hint: It involves age verification services and cold beverages. Find out where this is being used.

Machines break down all the time, which costs companies time and money until they are up and running again. What if you could predict this happening before it happens? See who Tiger Global backed to solve this problem.

Financial technology is often developed for the wealthiest individuals or those with low income. Onyx Private believes affluent professionals — those in the middle that make a decent living and aren’t wealthy yet — deserve some bank love, too. Read about what Onyx developed for them.

The kids are all right: Venmo is going after some new demographics. The intro gives it away, but you can still find out more.

New job alert: We have the scoop on where Melonee Wise landed after selling Fetch Robotics in 2021. Read more.

Startups need a plan, too: Financial planning might not typically be a subject you associate with startups, but trying to predict the future sure is. See how Firmbase is modernizing financial planning for startups.

The wheels on the bus are now digital: India’s Chalo raised $45 million in fresh funding to digitize bus commutes.

Shut up and drive: If you like your SUV with a place to plug it in, you’ll want to check out the new offering by Cadillac. Read more.

Don’t forget these:

Volition wants to be DigiKey for industrial parts.

Discord is testing parental controls that allow for monitoring of friends and servers.

Dish says ransomware gang stole almost 300,000 employee records.

LinkedIn brings its verification tools to job posts

Opentrons aims to democratize lab access with its Flex robot.

Image Credits: Amazon

CRO: Why startups should prioritize conversion rate optimization early

Landing pages are the first places most startups go to experiment and refine messaging, but unless you’re using a solid framework and constantly iterating, you’re leaving money on the table.

In his latest column, growth marketing expert Jonathan Martinez identifies several conversion rate optimization (CRO) experiments and explains how “to streamline efforts so you can stack-rank tests and have a consistent measuring methodology.”

“CRO is so vital early on for startups,” Martinez noted on Twitter. “It’s when you can most easily find those 10-20% wins in conversion rates across the funnel.”

Four more from the TC+ team:

Grab-and-go: Will startups have a shot in the enterprise AI race?

Brrr, it’s cold in here: How to write the perfect cold email to investors.

ESGee whiz: Executives say they’re committed to ESG, but data shows otherwise.

Cloudy with a chance of redundancy: For startups, how many clouds to use may be the wrong question to ask.

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