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Happy Thursday, Crunchers!
An agreement between a group of the largest banks in the country to deposit some $30 billion in the First Republic Bank could save their bacon, christina reports, and more on TC+, RAM breaks down everything you need to catch up on the BLS crisis.
Meanwhile, annie and carry contemplate the broader implications of SVB being in trouble, reporting how it is forcing African startups to rethink their banking options.
With the national banking collapse out of the way… let’s get on with the rest of the tech news!
Don’t forget to wear something green tomorrow! — christina and The wine
TechCrunch Top 3
- no more waiting: Ivan reports that Bing’s waiting list for its GPT-4 powered chat no longer exists. Enjoy!
- Biting into an Apple AI: Apple isn’t about to let all those other big tech companies in on the AI fun. A new story, also from Ivanreports that Apple is reportedly experimenting with AI that generates language so that Siri can better understand queries.
- load it: Parker is entering the world of corporate cards, and trying to grab a share of the market from companies like Brex and Ramp, with its new credit offering tailored to the needs of e-commerce brands. christina has more.
Startups and VCs
One of the main challenges for companies turning to the gig economy is managing payroll and benefits. Inspired to figure it out, Kyle reports that Wingspan jumps to the rescue with a payroll platform aimed at businesses that primarily employ freelancers.
Here are six more stories, including an extra one because Haje decided to favor her own story in this section. Such preferential treatment, tut tut.
How To Introduce Myself: 7 Investors Discuss What They Are Looking For In March 2023
Image Credits: Sean Gladwell (Opens in a new window) / Fake Images
It’s too soon to tell whether the fall of Silicon Valley Bank heralds a new era for venture capital, but based on anecdotal evidence, off-the-record discussions, and chats with co-workers, it appears we’re back to where we used to be -fundraising. start-up income funds are concerned.
Before SVB’s failure, Walter Thompson interviewed seven investors to find out more about where they are looking to invest, how they prefer to be approached, and whether they have any general advice for first-time founders:
- brian backeengeneral partner, Lightship Capital
- masha bucher, founder and general partner, Day One Ventures
- Rebecca Liu DoyleManaging Director, Insight Partners
- Clelia Warburg-PetersManaging Partner, Era Ventures
- nick adamsManaging Partner and Co-Founder of Differential Ventures
- Lisa Lambertfounder and president of National Grid Partners
- elizabeth yinco-founder and general partner, Hustle Fund
Three more from the TC+ team:
TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps start-up founders and teams get ahead of the rest. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” to get 15% off an annual subscription!
big tech inc
Via, to bolster its traffic technology offerings, is following through on its promise to make more acquisitions and has now acquired the Citymapper trip planning app. Rebeca and ingrid keep in mind that “it’s been rumored for years that Citymapper was trying to find a buyer” and even had some big names like Google and Apple courting it, but all was quiet until this news from Via.
Now let’s move on to Microsoft, which introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot, a suite of business and productivity apps that are packed with AI-powered benefits. Kyle has more.
And we have five more for you:
- Go to main engine pause: Sometimes you just have to hit “pause,” and that’s exactly what Virgin Orbit is doing to perform a cash search, Devin reports.
- excluded: Five Russian-affiliated internet companies, including Yandex, to be formally removed from Nasdaq and NYSE, Pablo writes
- taking a step back: After more than a decade at the helm of Twitch, CEO Emmett Shear is retiring to move on to something else, Taylor writes
- Dating in the age of apps.: Tinder has a host of new features, including some to help better define what type of relationship users are looking for, Sarah reports.
- The SVB accident is affecting everyone, even robots: Brian spoke with some founders and investors to understand how the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank will affect the robotics industry.
