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Hello and welcome to the Daily Crunch for December 21, 2021. This is my last Daily Crunch with you for the year. So, let me just say thank you for reading as I have taken on writing the news of this newsletter. It could have been horrific, frankly, considering how much people hate changes in their inboxes. But with open rates at an all-time high, you’ve welcomed the New Daily Crunch Crew with open arms, and we’re grateful. To an even better 2022 – and more jokes. –Alex
PS You should follow Miranda (Experts), Walter (TC +), Annie (Editor) and Richard (Editor) as they sing this newsletter. Richard declined to share a link. He is a ghost! But a friendly one.
The TechCrunch Top 3
- Bitcoin is religion; web3 is greed: After Jack Dorsey started a firestorm by railing against web3 and the current wave of crypto projects, TechCrunch dug into the debate because how could we not. Whether you are a Bitcoin maximalist or a big NFT stan, we have something that will piss you off!
- EU approves Microsoft Nuance deal: The $ 19.7 billion deal in which the Redmond-based tech giant buys the medical transcription company has received the go-ahead from the European market. See, not all big tech deals are reduced to the bare minimum with regulatory concerns and then canceled!
- With shuttles to the public markets: The software and shuttle company Via for local public transport will go public in early 2022. The company announced today that it has privately filed for its IPO. We’ll know a lot more when we actually get the S-1 document, but the company join Reddit on our list of public debuts expected in the first quarter of next year.
Startups / VC
But wait, there’s more public market news! Yes, Snapdeal has filed for an IPO, and our own Manish Singh (follow him; he’s amazing!) has the details. SoftBank is a supporter of the New Delhi-based startup. According to the prospectus, the company expects to raise around $ 165 million when it debuts in the public market. Remember that Snapdeal “once competed with Amazon and Flipkart in India” [but] has lost significant market share in recent years, ”we wrote.
And when we talk about companies going public, do you remember the Better.com fiasco where the company’s CEO went viral for laying off a number of employees at Zoom? And then a bunch of crazy things came out from the company? Fountain, we are curious why Vishal Garg still has a job, so we did a little digging. There is more to this story.
Next up are a couple of new funds:
- Array Ventures Raises $ 56 Million to Support Really Hard Enterprise Technology: Shruti Gandhi’s fund intends to invest its new pool of capital in 30 start-ups “working on technical backbone enterprise technology”. Given the size of the fund and the number of checks, we’re talking very early money in the Array’s case.
- Calibrate Ventures, Targeting AI Automation, Raises $ 97 Million: With 25% more capital than in its first fund, Calibrate topped up its wallet. The company previously invested in Built Robotics, Embodied, FarmWise, Soft Robotics, Talage and TruckLabs, TechCrunch reports.
- Chapter One raises capital to invest in web3: Don’t tell Jack, but there is more money for web3 projects. The $ 40 million fund will be supplemented by a $ 20 million opportunity fund if the latter vehicle closes as planned. Notably, Chapter One’s Jeff Morris Jr. is a solo investor.
And some great startup news:
Demand curve: How the Ahrefs homepage trains prospective buyers
Credit: PM images (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
When creating a homepage, the goal should be to increase cravings while avoiding work and confusion in order to increase conversions.
“People have short attention spans. If your homepage is confusing, they will be leaving, ”Joey Noble of Demand Curve writes in a guest post.
It tears down the homepage of the Ahrefs SEO platform and offers actionable strategies to use on your startup including dealing with objections, using social proof to build urgency and credibility, and serving your audience.
(TechCrunch + is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams move forward. Here you can sign up.)
Big Tech Inc.
- To watch Microsoft’s withdrawal from China: It is getting harder and harder to keep the Chinese Communist Party happy and to keep your international business in good standing at the same time. Microsoft struggled to get it working, TechCrunch notes, by tracking both LinkedIn and Bing histories in the country.
TechCrunch experts
Credit: SEAN GLADWELL / Getty Images
We reach out to startup founders to let us know who to turn to for the latest growth marketing practices. Fill out the survey Here.
Read one of the testimonials we received below!
Marketer: Brent Payne, Loud interactive SEO
Recommended by: Brad Schnitzer, Techstars Chicago
Transcript: “He’s the best SEO in the Midwest. He led SEO for the Tribune and has now used those skills to help early stage founders achieve the same level of success. He’s honestly changed the careers of so many of the ~ 42 startups I’ve invested in over the past four years at Techstars Chicago. “
