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Okay, we haven’t performed a e-newsletter since Wednesday, and whereas the U.S. workforce was chillin’ like villains, the remainder of the workforce was laborious at work, so right here’s among the highlights from the final half-week of TechCrunchy goodness! — Christine and Haje

The TechCrunch Prime 3

• Speaking to your self simply went digital: As a substitute of getting that inner monologue keep in your head, now you may play out all your ideas to your self in WhatsApp, Jagmeet writes. The messaging platform started rolling out a better approach to discuss to your self immediately after finishing beta testing.
• “Nice Wall of porn”: That’s how Rita and Catherine describe the bot surge in China that’s making it troublesome to get any reputable Twitter search outcomes when looking for out one thing about Chinese language cities. Why, you ask? Rita writes that “the surge in such bot content material coincides with an unprecedented wave of (COVID) protests which have swept throughout main Chinese language cities and universities over the weekend.”
• Your calendar, solely extra productive: Prepare to your calendar to be greater than only a place to file issues it’s a must to try this day. Romain writes about Amie, a startup that grabbed $7 million to hyperlink your unscheduled to-do record along with your calendar. The app additionally permits customers to be social with coworkers.

Startups and VC

Dubai-based mass transit and shared mobility companies supplier SWVL has carried out its second spherical of layoffs, affecting 50% of its remaining headcount, Tage experiences. The information is coming six months after SWVL laid off 32% (over 400 staff) of its workforce in a “portfolio optimization program” effort geared towards reaching optimistic money stream subsequent 12 months.

There’s a few new funds on the town, too! Harri experiences that Early Mild Ventures plots a second, $15 million fund for software program ‘underdogs,’ whereas Mike writes that BackingMinds raises a brand new €50 million fund to fund usually ignored entrepreneurs. He additionally writes about Pact, an all-women led VC for mission-driven startups, backed by Anne Hathaway.

And we have now 5 extra for you:

Classes for elevating $10M with out giving up a board seat

Picture Credit: Ihor Reshetniak (opens in a brand new window) / Getty Pictures

Over the past two years, clever calendar platform Reclaim.ai raised $10 million “utilizing a extra incremental strategy,” writes co-founder Henry Shapiro.

“We’ve performed all this with out giving up a single board seat, and Reclaim staff proceed to personal over two-thirds of the corporate’s fairness,” rejecting standard knowledge that founders ought to “elevate as a lot as you may as quick as you may.”

In a TC+ put up, Shapiro opinions the method they used to determine follow-on traders, shares the e-mail template used to pitch the SAFE, and explains why “a bigger cap desk means extra founder management.”

Three extra from the TC+ workforce:

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup groups get forward of the pack. You possibly can enroll right here. Use code “DC” for a 15% low cost on an annual subscription!

Large Tech Inc.

Amazon’s latest cost-cutting measures appear to be affecting extra than simply its supply enterprise. Manish writes that the corporate is shutting down its wholesale distribution enterprise, referred to as Amazon Distribution, in India. Amazon had began this unit to assist neighborhood shops safe stock. The corporate didn’t say why it was closing this explicit enterprise down, however Manish notes that that is the third such Amazon unit to be shuttered in India.

In the meantime, Natasha L experiences that Meta has gotten itself into hassle once more with the European Union’s Normal Knowledge Safety Regulation (aka, the company that regulates knowledge safety). Fb’s guardian firm is being hit with $275 million in penalties for what the company stated was breaches in knowledge safety that resulted in some 530 million customers’ private data being leaked.

Now get pleasure from six extra:

• UnBlocked: After weeks of experiences claiming this may occur, BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 chapter, and it is likely to be FTX’s fault. Jacquelyn writes that FTX was going to purchase BlockFi, after which, effectively, you recognize what occurred to them. Based mostly on the chapter submitting, BlockFi owes some vital money to collectors and is sadly now one other high-valued, closely backed crypto firm that was unable to make it work on this atmosphere.
• Into the ocean, you and me: Haje managed to speak Apple into giving him early entry to the Oceanic+ app and took the Apple Watch Extremely into the deep blue sea for our world-exclusive evaluation. He additionally received all excited concerning the pricing mannequin the app makes use of.
• I spy: The U.S. authorities is banning telecommunications and video surveillance tools from a number of Chinese language manufacturers, like Huawei and ZTE, citing safety of the nation’s communications community. Carly has extra.
• Yahoola takes this firm in holy partnership?: Yahoo invests a 25% stake in Taboola, an promoting community, in a deal that may marry the 2 firms for the following 30 years, Romain writes.
• Security issues: The U.Okay. authorities expands its On-line Security Invoice to criminalize those that take to the web to encourage self-harm, Natasha L experiences.
• An Apple a day: For his latest trick, Musk is choosing a combat with Apple, experiences Taylor.