Friday, April 26, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! I love this era of tech news because there’s always something popping off. Today we have an IPO update that portends good things for startups looking to exit, notes on a multi-billion-dollar venture fund, how hard it is to kill non-competes, space news, Google Cloud results, and more. Dig in, let’s go! — Alex

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: a-image / Getty Images

1. Rubrik rises after debut, indicating IPO window’s open: Rubrik is the latest tech company to IPO in the United States and be received warmly. After pricing above its target range, the data management and cybersecurity company traded higher on its first day as a public company. What more do unicorns want to see before they start listing themselves? Read More

2. Norwest Ventures bags $3 billion: What venture slowdown? Norwest is now sitting on a cushy $3 billion, which is the same amount as its last fund raised in late 2021. The venture market has compressed and retracted since its last fundraise, so Norwest’s capital base is now effectively much larger. That means it can throw its weight around if it chooses to do so. Read More

3. Non-competes may live on: Many hailed the surprise death of non-compete agreements for employees following a recent FTC vote, but don’t bust out the champagne yet: Legal challenges to the decision are looming, and some folks are going to fight the new rules tooth and nail. Read More

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Morning Must Reads

Image Credits: NASA

Boeing’s Starliner is a go for launch: What do we love? Going to space! What do we love more? A functioning and competitive market for space launch methods! Boeing’s Starliner is going to bring two astronauts to the ISS in May, and that’s great news for the market and Yours Truly. Read More

Can you acqui-hire a venture firm? Apparently, yes. Berlin-based venture firm Global Founders Capital and Rocket Internet have had close ties for some time. It turns out the ties are so close that instead of raising a new fund, GFC is going to invest off Rocket’s balance sheet moving forward. It’s the Microsoft-Inflection AI of the VC-startup studio world! Read More

Meta loves the fediverse: Meta’s work to integrate Threads with the fediverse is raising eyebrows, and some concerns. But thanks to other work in the open-source world, there’s a general belief that Meta won’t be a jerk when it comes to federated social media platforms. Read More

Iterative improvements in humanoid robots are a good thing: When we think about the companies developing humanoid robots, there’s one name we shouldn’t forget: Sanctuary AI. The company has been in the game for a while, and now has an updated model that features faster learning. Not quick learning compared to humans, of course, but this is the sort of upgrade that really adds up over time. Read More

Why did Kaiser share patient data with advertisers? The medical giant is blaming the mess on “certain online technologies, previously installed on its websites and mobile applications” that “may have transmitted personal information to third-party vendors.” Sure, OK, but why the hell did the people who served my therapist have that tech to begin with? Read More

Google Cloud is going strong: Search revenue increased 14.4% at Google in its most recent quarter, but Google Cloud stole the show, reporting a 28% improvement in revenue. That’s nearly double Search’s result and it’s therefore an important differential. I am not sure how much worse Google search could become to allow for greater monetization, but the cloud market clearly has lots of room to grow. Read More

Snap soars: Shares of Snapchat’s parent company only do two things on earnings days: rise sharply or plummet deep underground. It was the former this time ‘round, and Snap’s stock is up about 25% in pre-market trading today. Part of the reason is that its short-form video service, Spotlight, saw a 125% rise in total watch time, which indicates it could be a big winner if TikTok does exit the U.S. market. Read More

Around the Web

Thoma Bravo snaps up Darktrace: The Financial Times reports that PE outfit Thoma Bravo – not, sadly, the name of a plucky superhero from the ‘50s – is buying cybersecurity firm Darktrace for 4.3 billion pounds. That is far above Darktrace’s IPO price, which may make this a great deal for its investors. Read More

Jeff Lawson gets into publishing: And he’s going to be printing satire. After leaving Twilio, the company’s former founder and CEO has purchased the illustrious and very serious journalism outlet, The Onion, from G/O Media. The saga of wealthy tech types buying media properties continues, but I’ve met Jeff a number of times and I can see this working out. Read More

The crypto reverse-Uno card: The SEC has been busy suing crypto companies for not following the law as it understands it. Now, Consensys is suing the SEC for not following the law as it understands it. I did not see that coming! Read More

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Before You Go

Image Credits: Shein

Shein gets the VLOP treatment: A VLOP is a company designated in the EU as a very large online platform, and they can come under extra scrutiny for their reach and effects on the masses. And such is the case with fast-fashion company, Shein, which will now have to “identify and mitigate systemic risks, such as related to the sale of counterfeit or illegal goods or other types of content which could pose harms to consumers’ well-being.” Read More