TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: TechCrunch

1. Slingin' mud in Silicon Valley: You might have noticed the Silicon Valley elite got into it on X on Thursday. Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham called David Sacks "evil" and accused him of mistreating Rippling founder Parker Conrad. Other VCs weighed in, saying all the finger-pointing and name-calling makes the whole industry look bad to founders. Is it just me or has Elon Musk's public ranting on X emboldened other billionaires to act publicly in ways that are, let's say, unbecoming? Read More

2. Grok has your data: In case you weren't aware, X uses your posts and "user interactions, inputs and results with Grok for training and fine-tuning purposes" by default. A disclaimer says this data "may also be shared with our service provider xAI for these purposes." Thankfully, you can opt out of this latest scheme by a tech company to harvest data. Here's how

3. Is 2024 the year of secondaries? Autonomous vehicle startup Applied Intuition has closed a $300 million secondary sale, just four months after it raised a $250 million Series E. I'm noticing a lot of secondaries lately as investors, eager to regain some capital, get impatient with mature portfolio companies that haven't IPO'd yet. Read More

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Morning must-reads

Image Credits: MNT-Halan

Egyptian fintech is on a consolidation march: Fintech unicorn MNT-Halan has raised $157.5 million, part of which will fund the acquisition of another fintech, Tam Finans, and expand into Turkey. We can expect to see more M&A in microfinance and payments in emerging markets, which are mobile-first while also having large swaths of unbanked populations. Read More

More money for device-level security: California-based ZeroTier has raised a $13.5 million Series A that will help it improve security for the kinds of devices that were affected by the CrowdStrike outage. ZeroTier's strategy? To create secure connections between devices like routers and sensors, rather than servers and laptops. Read More

iPhones are a tad cheaper in India, after Apple cut prices for its phones after the country reduced customs duty on imported smartphones to 15% from 20%. The price cut comes at a time when iPhone shipments to China are slowing down, and Apple needs a new growth market in Asia on which to hang its hat. Read More

M&A hits the creator economy: Social network Plaiced has acquired Clutch, a marketplace for digital marketing services. Clutch sees the acquisition as an opportunity to take over market share in the rapidly growing creator economy space. Read More

Europe is crushing the green transition: The latest addition to Europe's crowded energy management space is Swedish startup Greenely, which raised €8 million to expand into neighboring Nordic countries. The startup's pitch is compelling: Switch to our platform, and we'll not only help you save a boatload of money, but let you generate revenue by participating in balancing the grid. Read More

Around the web

SAG-AFTRA strikes again: Video game voice actors and motion-capture pros are striking after talks of a new contract with major game studios broke down over AI protections, the AP reports. The strike, which started at midnight, was spurred by concerns that game companies could train AI to replicate actors' voices or create digital replicas without consent or fair compensation. Read More

Epic is coming to AltStore: After fighting with Apple over developer fees, Epic Games is now bringing its mobile games, including Fortnite, to mobile stores that "give all developers a great deal." That includes the AltStore on iOS in the EU, and other third-party stores. The studio is also threatening to quit some stores, saying it will leave "mobile stores that serve as rent collectors without competing robustly." Read More

Alexa is a giant money pit: You can find Amazon's Echo speakers in millions of households, but the product is losing the company billions, reports The Wall Street Journal. The problem here, it seems, arises from the classic Silicon Valley strategy of selling products for a pittance to scale in the hopes that it would eventually drive sales. But people mostly use Alexa to set alarms, play music and check the weather. Amazon is worried, according to former employees. Read More

Before you go

Image Credits: The Floorr

Why not use tech to look good? Luxury brands are increasingly adopting digital platforms to enhance the one-on-one styling experience they offer, but freelance stylists are often left out of the loop. The Floorr wants to democratize access to such platforms with its app, which gives personal stylists tools to host styling sessions, create mood boards, and interact with customers. Read More