Techmeme: Snoop, which uses open banking and analytics to help customers manage their money, raises £15M Series A at a post-money valuation of £47M (Dan Taylor/Tech.eu)

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August 2, 2021, 7:35 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: Wall Street Journal, TNW, The Verge, iTnews, TechCrunch, The Economic Times, Australian Financial Review, CNBC, PYMNTS.com, Gizmodo, Engadget, Cointelegraph, TechRadar, Fortune, Neowin, SiliconANGLE, Cryptonews, ABC, BBC, ZDNet, CNN, Insider, and Tech in Asia

Tweets: @jack, @square, @gokulr, @pitdesi, @magyer, @jonrussell, @magyer, @rstephens, @mengxilu, @fintechfrank, @jendudley, @valwagoner, @rrhoover, @packym, @bengrubb, @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, altfi.com, Finextra, Benzinga, The Block, Coinspeaker, Bitcoin Magazine, blockchain.news, Cointelegraph, NewsBTC, and Reuters

Tweets: @firstgenwealth and @arturo_p_a

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, Digital Trends, New York Times, Agence France-Presse, iTnews, The Hill, Axios, NPR, TheStreet, Mercury News, AppleInsider, and Slashdot. Tweets: @pernillet

Jon Porter / The Verge:

YouTube trials Premium Lite subscription for €6.99/month, offering ad-free viewing across all major platforms, currently available in Europe — Currently being piloted in parts of Europe — Google is piloting a more affordable premium subscription tier for YouTube …

More: ResetEra, Android Police, MacRumors, 9to5Google, and Cult of Mac

Tweets: @chunvn8888, @danishkh4n, @tomwarren, and @martinsfp

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, Tech in Asia, Entrackr, Bloomberg, Business Standard, and Keeping Up With India

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

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: @yme, @anthonydessauer, @nic__carter, @lynaldencontact, and @gladstein

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

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

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

Dan Taylor / Tech.eu:

Snoop, which uses open banking and analytics to help customers manage their money, raises £15M Series A at a post-money valuation of £47M — Money management app Snoop has raised £15 million in a few funding round, giving the business a post-money valuation of £47 million.

More: Finextra

Carly Page / TechCrunch:

Nozomi Networks, which aims to shield critical infrastructure from cyberattacks, raises $100M Series D led by Triangle Peak Partners as it prepares for an IPO — Nozomi Networks, an industry cybersecurity startup that aims to shield critical infrastructure from cyberattacks, has raised $100 million in pre-IPO funding.

More: VentureBeat, Reuters, and Nozomi Networks

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

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From Mediagazer

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Source: Bari Weiss is planning to create a masthead for CBS News as part of a broader overhaul of standards and procedures

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Trump says Stephen Colbert is a “pathetic trainwreck” and “CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW”; earlier CBS aired the Kennedy Center Honors, hosted by Trump

Lorcan Lovett / Nieman Reports:

A look at the state of independent media in Myanmar, which lost US and Swedish funding this year and where subscriptions aren't a dependable source of revenue

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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

More: Bloomberg, Forbes, and Reuters

Tweets: @ryan_browne_, @pvesterbacka, @e_estonia, and @ryan_browne_

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

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

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

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

Earlier Picks

Kyle Chayka / New Yorker:

Profile of Bored Ape Yacht Club, an NFT collection that sold for $2M+ in April, spawned a collector community, and has since seen ~$100M in trading activity

More: The Overspill. Tweets: @newyorker, @aljaparis, @seth, @narendra, @anthony, @aljaparis, @borgetsebastien, @martinsfp, @zoescaman, @mitchem, @taylorlorenz, @adambrotman, @taylorgerring, and @chaykak

Stephen K. Hirst / Ars Technica:

How the radical environmental themes of the game Final Fantasy VII, released in 1997 for the original PlayStation, influenced a generation of environmentalists

Tweets: @dante_the_k9, @martinsfp, @envdefensefund, @kyleorl, and @mediasmarts

John Herrman / New York Times:

After a decade of online identities coming under increasingly centralized control, online anonymity is starting to look like a threatened privilege than a right

Tweets: @slydessertfox, @noupside, @davidakaye, @hkesvani, @moonalice, @jwherrman, @wexler, @natematias, @graceonfootball, and @jwherrman

Stephen Nellis / Reuters:

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

Source: Clarabridge and PR Newswire. 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

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