Ahead of Uber’s IPO, more than100 people are protesting outside of the transportation company’s headquarters in San Francisco. They’re here demanding four key things: better wages, transparent policies, benefits and a voice, Uber driver and Gig Workers Rising member Mostafa Maklad told TechCrunch ahead of the protest. “Uber year after year keeps cutting the rate […]

Virtual reality is the ultimate money pit. Tech giants are selling low-margin hardware on which users play software that was funded by those same companies. This strategy seems to continue year after year without a hockey stick chart in sight. While VR may still be waiting for its breakout hardware hit, there has already been […]

Lora DiCarlo, a startup coupling robotics and sexual health, has $2 million to shove in the Consumer Electronics Show’s face. The same day the company was set to announce their fundraise, The Consumer Technology Association, the event producer behind CES, decided to re-award the Bend, Oregon-based Lora DiCarlo with the innovation award it had revoked […]

U.S. prosecutors have formally brought charges against the alleged co-owners and administrators of Deep Dot Web, who were arrested Tuesday. Tal Prihar, 37, and Michael Phan, 34 — both Israeli citizens — were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to a now-unsealed indictment. Prihar, who resided in Brazil, was arrested […]

Google unveils new Pixel 3 phones, Bird will start selling directly to consumers and PUBG takes a hit in China. Here’s your Daily Crunch for May 8, 2019. 1. Here’s everything Google announced today at the I/O 2019 Keynote Google’s developer conference is still underway, but we’ve rounded up everything they announced at their big […]

Google employees are still going strong and not letting up on their demands. Following a sit-in protesting retaliation last month, Googlers are making four demands. “Google seems to have lost its mooring, and trust between workers and the company is deeply broken,” Google walkout organizers wrote on Medium today. “As the company progresses from crisis […]

Facebook still won’t let you advertise for cryptocurrencies, exchanges, binaries, or ICOs without prior approval. But a year after banning all blockchain-related ads, it’s reopening to ones for “blockchain technology, industry news, education or events related to cryptocurrency” without the need for pre-approval. The change could be a boon to an industry struggling for mainstream […]

Microsoft’s yearly Imagine Cup student startup competition crowned its latest winner today: EasyGlucose, a non-invasive, smartphone-based method for diabetics to test their blood glucose. It and the two other similarly beneficial finalists presented today at Microsoft’s Build developers conference. The Imagine Cup brings together winners of many local student competitions around the world with a […]

We’re hunting for a cadre of exciting early-stage startups to attend and exhibit at Disrupt San Francisco 2019 as part of our TC Top Pick program — for free. Not only that, if your company makes the cut, you’ll get the VIP treatment and receive a ton of media and investor attention. Sounds great, right? […]

Almost three years ago, as the gig-economy company TaskRabbit was nearing its eventual sale to Ikea, its founder, Leah Busque, headed into the venture world. More specifically, she joined Fuel Capital, a firm founded in 2013 by Chris Howard, a VC who’d spent nearly six years as a principal with Ignition Parters before deciding to […]