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Hello, and welcome to your Friday. Did the week drag on, or did it go by shortly for you? Or perhaps you had as we speak off. No matter, I’m right here to deliver you all of as we speak’s techy goodness. The lesson for as we speak: “Don’t ever leak data.”
Oh, and assist our colleagues over on the Chain Reaction and Found podcasts: They had been nominated for a Webby, so please assist them with a vote by April 20. — Christine
The TechCrunch Top 3
- That’s one a-spicy software: ByteDance’s newest hit, Lemon8, which some describe as a cross between Instagram, Pinterest and Amazon, is now sitting among the many prime 10 apps within the U.S. However, Rita says Lemon8 is extra like one other app referred to as Xiaohongshu and discusses why ByteDance could have taken one other web page from the China playbook.
- Get your unicorn horn prepared: You’re going to wish a TechCrunch+ subscription to learn this subsequent one, however I promise, it’s value it. Alex went unicorn IPO looking and got here again with an inventory of names, saying, “The first group of upcoming potential unicorn IPOs is shaping up well.”
- In a galaxy far, far-off: If you’re a Star Wars fan, Disney+ will debut a brand new sequence referred to as “The Acolyte” in 2024. Aisha writes that this storyline takes place on the finish of the High Republic period earlier than the occasions of the primary Star Wars movies.
Startups and VC
Everyone wants some good competitors to get the creativity flowing. Kyle, Devin and Manish teamed up to have a look at Anthropic’s $5 billion, four-year plan to tackle OpenAI. Going by means of the corporate’s pitch deck, the trio describe the enterprise mannequin that can take Anthropic there and the buyers behind it.
Wrapping up the week, as talked about yesterday, there was a gaggle of us watching Y Combinator’s Winter 2023 Demo Day. Artificial intelligence and open supply had been large buzzwords on Day 1, whereas Day 2 had us questioning if crypto is again and why accountants are all of a sudden getting lots of love.
VCs to recommerce startups: Let’s pop some tags
Image Credits: Kinga Krzeminska (opens in a brand new window) / Getty Images
Thanks largely to Gen Z’s curiosity in sustainable procuring, recommerce is hovering to new heights, and VCs are on the lookout for the come up.
Since Etsy went public in 2015, corporations like Poshmark, The RealReal and thredUP adopted swimsuit, attracting much more buyers to the sector. Last 12 months, VCs flowed roughly $6 billion to resale platforms, writes Brian Schwarzbach, an investor with Cathay Innovation.
In a publish for TC+, he explores three recommerce areas attracting VC funds and shares “some food for thought for founders building startups in this (re)emerging space.”
TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup groups get forward of the pack. You can enroll right here. Use code “DC” for a 15% low cost on an annual subscription!
Big Tech Inc.
Sometimes issues don’t go as deliberate. In India, its central financial institution determined to press pause on plans it had for a rival to the nation’s dominant cost system, Unified Payments Interface. Manish writes that the challenge, referred to as New Umbrella Entity, had made some traction, attracting curiosity from massive corporations and monetary establishments, and welcoming bids in 2021 for licenses to function new retail cost and settlement programs throughout India. However, the challenge simply did not have that sizzle and pop that the Reserve Bank of India was on the lookout for.
Catch a falling iPod and put it in your pocket…Harri studies on Apple’s patent software for what seems to be to be a teeny, tiny iPod that may do all of it: music, movies and books, no smartphone or smartwatch wanted. Though undecided how one can learn on one thing that small. I assume we’ll see.
And we’ve got 5 extra for you: