Year: 2018

 The SoftBank Vision Fund has struck again. This time, it’s investing $300 million in on-demand walking and dog care startup Wag. Wag has also brought on Hilary Schneider, formerly of identity theft protection company LifeLock, to serve as the company’s new chief executive officer. Last year, Wag was reportedly in talks with a handful of investors, including NEA and Kleiner… Read More

 Amazon Treasure Truck, the retailer’s deals-on-wheels program that is literally a truck driving around with discounted products you can buy online and pickup in person, will now be popping up at Whole Foods. The companies announced today that Treasure Truck will start coming to Whole Foods stores with new offers, starting with today’s deal on the popular kitchen item, Instant Pot.… Read More

 Shadow of the Colossus is one of those games I’ve purchased multiple times on multiple platforms, because the original was about as unique and satisfying a video game experience as you can find. But the new PlayStation 4 remake of the Team ICO standout, which recreates the game in stunning 4K HDR, is that rare remake that proves a better and more satisfying experience than the… Read More

 It’s crunch time for TrackR, that startup that lets you use an app to find items like keys, wallets and bags that have been tagged with its small Bluetooth-based tracking devices. TechCrunch has learned and confirmed that the company has laid off a substantial proportion of its staff, as it seeks to sharpen its focus amid a wider market contraction for item-tracking businesses. The… Read More

 Everyone loves free stuff, apparently including VC investors. Toronto-based Drop, whose app allows consumers to collect points for transactions they make and then receive reward offers, has secured a $21 million Series A round led by Rick Yang at NEA. The company has previously raised about $5 million in seed capital over the past year. Drop’s concept is simple. Unlike traditional… Read More

 Evangeline Lilly moves up to superhero status alongside Paul Rudd in Marvel’s sequel to Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp, which hits theaters on July 6, 2018. The first trailer for the movie shows Wasp in action plenty, and also contains a whole lot of Michael Douglas, plus what seems like jokes that land better than those peppered throughout the first installment. This should be an… Read More

 A startup called Cake has an ambitious plan to take on incumbents like Chrome and Safari to build a better browser for mobile devices. The company announced this morning it has raised $5 million for those efforts from Peak Ventures, Pelion Ventures and Kickstart Seed Fund. Cake was founded in late 2016 in Provo, Utah by Jase Bosarge, who had originally developed technologies and a… Read More

 Mammoth Media has raised a $13 million Series A funding to create what it calls “entertainment experiences for the mobile-first generation.” Mammoth isn’t not the first startup to pitch itself as reinventing entertainment for smartphones, but for the most part, that message has come from gaming companies. Co-founder and CEO Benoit Vatere said he wanted to take the… Read More

 When you’re big enough and powerful enough, you don’t need to rely on the existing private healthcare providers out there to handle your employee medical needs. That’s what Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase have determined, and so they’re working together to build their own, fully independent employee healthcare company, which will exclusively offer benefits… Read More

 Now you can customize your Snapchat Bitmoji avatar with 40 skin tones, 50 hair colors, 50 hair treatment options and more so it looks just like you no matter what you look like. Today Snapchat launches Bitmoji Deluxe, a more configurable version of its cartoony avatars that embraces the growing diversity of its users. The feature offers an easier front-end builder that instantly previews… Read More