WordPress.com owner Automattic is acquiring Beeper, the company behind the iMessage-on-Android solution that was referenced by the Department of Justice in its antitrust lawsuit against Apple. The deal, which was for $125 million according to sources close to the matter, is Automattic’s second acquisition of a cross-platform messaging solution after buying...
As big social apps are optimizing for maximum engagement using algorithmic feeds and personalized content recommendations, Retro wants to go in the opposite direction: The company is launching a new feature called journals. It’s a flexible way to share photos with your favorite people and create visual...
Skyflow announced that it has raised a $30 million Series B extension led by Khosla Ventures. The deal is interesting on a number of fronts, including the round’s structure and how Skyflow has been impacted by the growth of AI. The new capital comes after...
A new app from a startup called Cherry is aiming to transform the online shopping experience with its AI assistant that allows users to discover products across the internet using just a screenshot or image. Cherry helps you find products that you’ve come across while scrolling through...
Lacking a holistic understanding of their target audience limits marketers’ ability to create the most effective strategies. Yet they often prioritize the concrete metrics of quantitative data, such as sales numbers and website traffic that seem easier to measure and analyze, over subjective observations. Consequently,...
India-based audio platform Pocket FM has secured $103 million in Series D funding led by Lightspeed Ventures, with participation from Stepstone Group. The company, which counts Tencent and Times Internet as backers, aims to expand into Europe and Latin America after looking at positive results in the...
Roblox is introducing two new AI technologies to reduce the time it takes to create avatars and 3D models, the company announced. The technologies, which were built on Roblox artificial intelligence, are designed to help creators eliminate time-consuming avatar setup and texturing steps when building...
Google announced a number of new features for Google Play listings for games, including AI-powered FAQs, displaying the latest YouTube videos, new immersive ad formats and support for native PC game publishing. The announcements were made at the Google for Games Developer Summit held in...
In the last 12 months, reader apps have adopted AI to change how users consume news. Instagram co-founders’ now discontinued Artifact introduced AI-powered summaries and headlines. Newer apps like Bulletin and former Twitter engineers’ Particle are taking similar approaches. However, developer Nate Parrott’s app Feeeed (it’s four Es), which is available for iPhones and...
In the world of HR tech startups, there are the Davids and the Goliaths. Deel and Rippling are the Goliaths, both having raised millions of dollars in venture capital. But Remofirst, which just secured $25 million in Series A funding, is proving to be a very...
