SmartBank secures $26M for its personal finance management app

The majority of the aging population in Japan still prefers using cash for transactions, according to a recent report citing government data. In 2023, cashless transactions in Japan totaled 126.7 trillion yen ($885 billion), accounting for 39.3 percent of all spending in the country,…Read More

Indonesian VC firm Intudo raises $125M across two funds

Intudo, the Indonesia-only venture capital firm, said it has raised $125 million across two investment funds — $75 million for Intudo Ventures IV, and $50 million for another fund that will invest in downstream natural resources and renewable energy. Intudo said Fund IV will invest in I…Read More

Amazon confirms employee data stolen after hacker claims MOVEit breach

Amazon has confirmed that employee data was compromised after a “security event” at a third-party vendor. In a statement given to TechCrunch on Monday, Amazon spokesperson Adam Montgomery confirmed that employee information had been involved in a data breach. “Amazon and AWS s…Read More

Amazon confirms employee data stolen after hacker claims MOVEit breach

Amazon has confirmed that employee data was compromised after a “security event” at a third-party vendor. In a statement given to TechCrunch on Monday, Amazon spokesperson Adam Montgomery confirmed that employee information had been involved in a data breach. “Amazon and AWS s…Read More

Intuitive Machines CEO: ‘We now have the platform for a lunar economy’

Steve Altemus is optimistic. And as CEO of Intuitive Machines, which made history with the first ever successful moon landing performed by a private company, he has good reason. But that was just the opening act of his company’s plans to build “a full stack: all the pieces you…Read More

From self-driving cars to AI that writes enterprise software: Cogna founder raises $15M

A founder who was an early mover in the race to build autonomous vehicles has raised $15 million for his next act: a startup that claims its AI can write enterprise software on its own. Cogna — as the U.K.-based startup is called — is led by Ben Peters, the…Read More

Brazilian fintech Tako emerges from stealth with sizable seed round led by a16z and Ribbit Capital

Running payroll is hard in any country, but perhaps especially so in Brazil thanks to consistently changing laws and extremely influential unions that make it significantly harder to get it right. Fernando Gadotti struggled with this as the…Read More

X is testing a free version of AI chatbot Grok

Social network X has so far limited its AI chatbot Grok (built by Elon Musk’s other company xAI) to its premium, paying users. However, the platform is seemingly preparing to open up the chatbot to free users. Over the weekend, several app researchers and users posted about a free version of Grok…Read More

Elon Musk’s X is moving its legal disputes to Northern Texas

Lawsuits against X (formerly Twitter) will soon be heard in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The shift was first announced last month as part of a broader set of changes to X’s terms of service and privacy policy. Now, with the changes set to take effect on Nov…Read More

Elon Musk’s X is moving its legal disputes to Northern Texas

Lawsuits against X (formerly Twitter) will soon be heard in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The shift was first announced last month as part of a broader set of changes to X’s terms of service and privacy policy. Now, with the changes set to take effect on Nov…Read More