Techmeme: Zoom agrees to pay $85M and bolster its security practices to settle a class action lawsuit over alleged user privacy violations and Zoombombing (Jonathan Stempel/Reuters)

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August 2, 2021, 6:45 AM

Top News

Reuters:

Square says it's buying Australia-based buy now, pay later service Afterpay for $29B in an all-stock deal, paying a 30% premium on Afterpay's last closing — U.S. fintech company Square Inc (SQ.N) said on Monday it had agreed to purchase Australian buy now/pay later giant Afterpay Ltd …

More: TNW, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, iTnews, TechCrunch, Australian Financial Review, The Economic Times, Engadget, CNBC, PYMNTS.com, Gizmodo, Cointelegraph, Cryptonews, TechRadar, Neowin, Fortune, ABC, SiliconANGLE, BBC, ZDNet, CNN, Insider, and Tech in Asia

Tweets: @jack, @square, @valwagoner, @gokulr, @rrhoover, @pitdesi, @magyer, @jonrussell, @magyer, @packym, @rstephens, @bengrubb, @mengxilu, @fintechfrank, @jendudley, @alexh_johnson, and @carnage4life

Greg Ahlstrand / CoinDesk:

Square reports Q2 revenue of $4.88B, up 143% YoY, while its Cash App service's bitcoin yearly revenue was $2.72B, up 200% — Cash App's bitcoin gross profit rose to $55 million, Square said in its Q2 letter to shareholders. — Jack Dorsey's Square said its Cash App service's bitcoin …

More: Square, Decrypt, Finextra, Benzinga, The Block, blockchain.news, Cointelegraph, NewsBTC, and Reuters

Tweets: @arturo_p_a and @firstgenwealth

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:

Zoom agrees to pay $85M and bolster its security practices to settle a class action lawsuit over alleged user privacy violations and Zoombombing — Zoom Video Communications Inc (ZM.O) agreed to pay $85 million and bolster its security practices to settle a lawsuit claiming …

More: Engadget, BBC, ZDNet, CNN, Bloomberg, The Register, SiliconANGLE, New York Times, Digital Trends, iTnews, The Hill, Agence France-Presse, Axios, NPR, TheStreet, Mercury News, AppleInsider, and Slashdot. Tweets: @pernillet

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Bangalore-based online learning startup Unacademy raises $440M round led by Temasek at a $3.44B valuation — Unacademy has raised $440 million in a new financing round as the Indian online learning startup looks to expand into multiple additional categories.

More: The Economic Times, Moneycontrol, KrASIA, Entrackr, Tech in Asia, Bloomberg, Business Standard, and Keeping Up With India

Tweets: @samidhas, @gauravmunjal, @prasannavishy, and @gauravmunjal

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

London-based Kuda, which offers mobile-first banking services in Nigeria, raises $55M Series B at a $500M valuation co-led by Valar Ventures and Target Global — Kuda Bank, the London-based, Nigerian-operating startup that is taking on incumbents in the country with a mobile-first …

More: TechCabal, Techpoint Africa, and WeeTracker

Tweets: @oba_kinbo, @pkisadha, @iatalkspace, and @oluwatosinraji_

Emmanuel Akinwotu / The Guardian:

Nigeria is now second only to the US in bitcoin trading volume, hitting $2.4B in May from $684M in Dec. 2020, as the government tries and fails to curb its use — As leaders around the world grapple with cryptocurrencies, what happened when the African country tried to ban them?

More: Cointelegraph. Tweets: @lynaldencontact, @gladstein, @yme, @anthonydessauer, and @nic__carter

Francis Agustin / Insider:

Filings: Starlink has secured a license to build a satellite ground station on the Isle of Man, aiming to provide “blanket coverage” across Great Britain — - Elon Musk's Starlink will seek to provide high-speed internet across Great Britain, the Telegraph first reported.

Source: Telegraph. Tweets: @jd and @rezahashemi

Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:

Matrixport, led by Bitmain founder Wu Jihan, which offers crypto financial services, raises $100M+ Series C, and says a second tranche is to come — - DST, Tiger are among the latest backers of Wu Jihan's firm — Matrixport has raised $129 million since its 2019 founding

More: Decrypt, Forkast, The Block, PR Newswire, Cointelegraph, blockchain.news, Coinspeaker, CoinDesk, and Tech in Asia. Tweets: @pingroma

Stitch / The Verge:

Some K-pop stars are bypassing Twitter and Facebook to create platforms for fans, like Universe, which features AI-generated voice calls with the idols — Fandom has changed a lot since I was a kid. As a tween, I had no hope of getting in touch with celebrities I adored like Britney Spears and Whitney Houston.

Tweets: @roburaibu, @stitchmediamix, @researchbts, @fansumption, @marshawright, @pauljholden, and @verge

Ryan Browne / CNBC:

Estonian ride hailing startup Bolt, formerly known as Taxify, raises $713M at a ~$4.75B valuation, led by Sequoia, Tekne, and Ghisallo — - Estonian ride-hailing start-up Bolt has raised $713 million in fresh funding to push into the rapidly-growing online grocery delivery industry.

More: Bloomberg, Forbes, and Reuters

Tweets: @pvesterbacka, @ryan_browne_, and @e_estonia

Heather Somerville / Wall Street Journal:

Non-VC funds invested in a record 42% of tech startup funding deals in Q2 2021; H1 '21 US startup funding was $150B, with FY 2021 on pace to double 2020's total — Hedge, mutual and pension funds are investing heavily, leading to higher valuations and more leverage for company founders

Tweets: @notamitalegend, @jontreble, @amyssorrells, @dngusev, @mv11151, @heathersomervil, @timcohn, and @mdudas

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Indian online insurance aggregator Policybazaar files for IPO, seeks to raise $809M and says it may raise about $100M in a pre-IPO round — Indian online insurance aggregator PolicyBazaar has filed for an initial public offering in which it is seeking to raise $809 million …

More: Moneycontrol, The Economic Times, Tech in Asia, and Moneycontrol. Tweets: @digbijaymishra1

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:45 AM ET, August 2, 2021.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

From Mediagazer

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

Interview with WPP CEO Cindy Rose, who says AI puts pressure on the ad agency's pricing and WPP has 10K data scientists and software engineers and 12K creatives

Paul Glynn / BBC:

HarperCollins UK drops children's author and comedian David Walliams following allegations of inappropriate behavior toward young women

Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:

Lou Cannon, a veteran Washington Post reporter who wrote several influential biographies of Ronald Reagan, has died at 92

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Daniela Hernandez / Wall Street Journal:

A look at technology's role in professional surfing, as ML-based wave forecasting and biomechanics data help improve riders' performance and prevent injuries

Tweets: @asayed, @danielas_bot, and @richardattiasas

Brent Lang / Variety:

Profile of Netflix's head of movies Scott Stuber, who has grown original film output from 21 in 2016 to 70+ in 2021, as it makes deals with Spielberg and others

Tweets: @adequateemily, @2old2guard, @erikdavis, @raminsetoodeh, @dfriend, @getfandom, @ljwr_, @cavillclarke, @variety, and @discussingfilm

Earlier Picks

Stephen Nellis / Reuters:

Qualtrics to acquire Virginia-based Clarabridge, which offers AI-powered customer experience management tools, for $1.125B in stock

Source: PR Newswire and Clarabridge. More: Washington …, CMSWire.com, SiliconANGLE, FinSMEs, and Forbes

Christine Hall / TechCrunch:

Medical imaging startup Exo, which aims to commercialize its AI-powered point-of-care workflow software and handheld ultrasound device, raises $220M Series C

Source: Exo. More: FinSMEs and hitconsultant.net

Joe Burns / FinLedger:

Mercury, which offers banking services to startups, raises $120M Series B, including a $5M allotment for crowdfunding, led by Coatue at a $1.62B valuation

Source: Mercury Blog. More: PYMNTS.com, Fortune, FinSMEs, and Finextra. Tweets: @shenlucinda

Molly Wood / The Atlantic:

Microsoft is avoiding antitrust scrutiny by rebranding itself as nice and boring, even as it reverts to some of the behaviors that led to prosecution the '90s

Tweets: @mukund, @arekfurt, @carnage4life, @teezeh, @aarti411, @brycas, @theatlantic, @mollywood, @mollywood, and @mollywood

Associated Press:

DOJ: 27 US Attorney offices had at least one staffer's Microsoft email account breached from May to Dec. 2020 by Russian hackers as part of the SolarWinds hack

Source: U.S. Department of Justice. More: Neowin, PCMag, BBC, Wired, Slashdot, Newsweek, Mother Jones, Raw Story, CNET, Engadget, New York Post, Bloomberg, and Associated Press

Tweets: @sunnynehrabro, @otpor17, @bleepincomputer, @adam_k_levin, @stengel, @renato_mariotti, @etuckerap, @jonlemire, @michaelehayden, @jsrailton, and @juliadavisnews