e Readers Reviews: Dataminr is the latest unicorn to announce layoffs

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

In today's top story, Ingrid writes about Dataminr laying off 20% of its staff, or 150 people. The big data startup, worth about $4 billion, cited "the impact of the economic environment, operational efficiencies and the recent rapid advancements of our AI platform." The layoffs happened just as Dataminr prepares to double down on artificial intelligence. Get the scoop.

Meanwhile, speaking of AI, generative AI is in full force over at Pika Labs. Kyle reports that the startup, building AI tools to generate and edit videos, is the recipient of a $55 million capital infusion. This comes six months after the company launched its new suite of videography tools. Time to animate.

And we have a team on the ground this week at Amazon's AWS re:Invent event. Here's everything from today's keynote.

Image Credits: Getty Images

TechCrunch Early Stage 2024

It's Cyber Monday all week for TechCrunch Early Stage 2024 passes. On April 25 in Boston, expert-led, hands-on sessions give new and aspiring founders help, not hype. Now through November 28 at 11:59 p.m. PT, buy a founder or investor pass for just $99!

Improve operational efficiency with a simple approach to IoT

More top reads

Smooth landing: Plane takes on Jira with an open source project management tool for software teams. With some new funding to boot.

Good dog: As pet owners turn to mobile insurance apps, Lassie raises $25 million in Series B capital. Read more.

Arrested development: Europol arrests hackers who were allegedly behind a string of ransomware attacks. Here's what happened.

For those who have free time: Vimcal, a calendar app, raises $4.5 million to expand its team. See how it works.

Augment-ing your skills: French startup Augment, which recently raised $6 million, provides an MBA-like program — exclusively online. Get the scoop.

When B2B is H-O-T: Venture capital firm NXTP closes its largest fund to date with $98 million for early-stage B2B founders in Latin America. Learn about its third fund.

That's one way to pay: Candex lands a $45 million infusion to grow its procurement management business. Here's how.

Just when they thought they were out: Meta's new European Union ad-free subscription faces some early privacy challenges. Read more.

Game on: YouTube launches more than 30 "Playables" — minigames for Premium users. Here's how to play.

ABCs of IP: Solve Intelligence takes in new capital to help attorneys draft patents for intellectual property analysis and generation. Court is in session.

Your favorite songs, by Apple: Apple Music Replay is here. However, it's still no Spotify Wrapped. Listen up.

IPO yeah!: Now that Shein and Reddit made their intentions known to join the league of publicly traded companies, Alex lays out what the 2024 IPO cohort will look like. (TC+)

Tabs on talent: Nvidia is on a major recruitment mission across China, looking for talent to boost its autonomous driving endeavors. Read more.

Even more for your Tuesday:

Webull leaps into Mexico with acquisition of stock trading app Flink

Why 2024 could be a hot year for startup founders (TC+)

Oxford study says internet use doesn't harm mental health, but its research has limits

Paris-based startup studio Hexa raises some funding to launch even more startups

Wind.app makes DeFi accessible to the average consumer

Image Credits: The Image Bank / Getty Images

On the pods

Medicaid is in its regulatory moment. Today on Found, we're joined by Neil Batlivala from Pair Team, which is building the infrastructure that will help the most vulnerable populations get the clinical and social care they need through the Medicaid expansion.

Dom and Becca talked to Neil about how his previous health tech experience led him to start a company solely focused on connecting care facilities like food pantries and shelters to clinical training and care through Medicaid funding. Listen here.