Techmeme: Indian startup FloBiz, a mobile billing app for small and medium businesses, raises $31M Series B led by Sequoia Capital India (Soumyarendra Barik/Entrackr)

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September 20, 2021, 8:40 AM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:

A possible retail listing of Surface Pro 8 with a 13" 120Hz display, narrow bezels, and two Thunderbolt ports leaks ahead of Microsoft's event on September 22 — Microsoft is holding a Surface hardware event on Wednesday — Microsoft is preparing to launch a new Surface Pro 8 model next week …

More: PCWorld, Livemint, Windows Central, Laptop Mag, Softpedia News, TechRadar, Ubergizmo, HotHardware.com News, Pocketnow, Wccftech, TNW, SlashGear, MSPoweruser, Pocket-lint, fossbytes.com, MobileSyrup, phonearena.com, XDA Developers, BetaNews, OnMSFT.com, PCMag, Engadget, Thurrott, Neowin, WinCentral, and CNET

Tweets: @tapbot_paul, @brianfagioli, @snazzyq, @techaltar, and @superscientific

Rebecca Elliott / Wall Street Journal:

NTSB head says Tesla shouldn't roll out its Full Self-Driving update with the city-driving tool before addressing safety deficiencies — Tesla plans to expand access to Full Self-Driving system and defends its tech; safety official says more work is needed

More: The Verge, Protocol, Gizmodo, Benzinga, Reuters, Mashable, Engadget, PCMag, Wccftech, and Insider

Tweets: @wpipperger, @jimpethokoukis, @paulpage, @eliotwb, @bgrahamdisciple, @cmarinucci, @faizsays, @parismarx, @gordonjohnson19, and @davidzipper

Soumyarendra Barik / Entrackr:

Indian startup FloBiz, a mobile billing app for small and medium businesses, raises $31M Series B led by Sequoia Capital India — FloBiz, a mobile billing app for businessmen like distributors, wholesalers, traders and retailers, has scooped up $31 million in its Series B round led by Sequoia Capital India …

More: TechCrunch, FinSMEs, The Economic Times, and Tech in Asia

Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou / Bloomberg:

A look at US “finfluencers”, creators partnering with fintechs to promote investment products, as App Annie says hours spent on finance apps are up 90% YoY — Finance firms have long struggled to reach young and new customers — until now. — At first no one could explain …

More: Sramana Mitra. Tweets: @kulanthisilva, @misyrlena, @hacks4pancakes, @bw, @trengriffin, and @ryanbeckwith

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Indian used-car marketplace Cars24 raises $450M, made up of $340M Series F and $110M in debt, at a $1.84B valuation — The used car market is getting another major infusion of venture capital today, with one of the faster scaling startups out of India picking up a major round of financing …

More: Livemint, Bloomberg, DealStreetAsia, Financial Times, The Economic Times, Entrackr, Tech in Asia, and VCCircle

Kim Lyons / The Verge:

ByteDance says Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, will limit users who are under 14-years-old to 40 minutes per day, between 6am and 10pm, in China — Douyin's youth mode will limit kids under 14 to 40 minutes a day — The Chinese version of the popular short video app TikTok …

More: The Register, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNET, CNN, South China Morning Post, Benzinga, Engadget, Insider, TNW, PCMag, and Tech in Asia

Tweets: @carnage4life, @brianroemmele, @lizalinwsj, @antd, @jerometaylor, @jchengwsj, @echinanews, and @martinsfp

Mikael Thalen / The Daily Dot:

In a live Q&A, Epik's CEO Rob Monster was talked into taking down a site that doxxed journalists and admitted the controversial web host was breached last week — Rob Monster sparred with journalist and hackers and even asked Jesus to rebuke the demons in the room.

Tweets: @stevanzetti, @josephmenn, and @mikaelthalen

Lily Hay Newman / Wired:

A look at Nahoft, an Iran-focused text encryption tool for Android that can turn up to 1,000 characters of Farsi text into a jumble of random words — Nahoft uses encryption to turn chats into a random jumble of words, and it works even when the internet doesn't.

Tweets: @wilderko, @mnureddin, @dgtlcatacombs, and @lilyhnewman

Nick Clegg / About Facebook:

Facebook says WSJ's series contained deliberate mischaracterizations and conferred egregiously false motives to Facebook's leadership and employees — A lot has been said about Facebook this week. A series of articles published by the Wall Street Journal has focused on some of the most difficult issues …

More: Washington Post, ZDNet, MSNBC, CNET, fossbytes.com, The Overspill, The Hill, Gizmodo, Axios, Insider, Benzinga, PCMag, The Guardian, The Verge, New York Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, and The Wrap

Tweets: @andymstone, @nickclegg, @mbfhunzaker, @mbfhunzaker, @skwrlz, @nickclegg, @kantrowitz, @yaeleisenstat, @juliacarriew, szhang_ds, @tarletong, @kantrowitz, @blackamazon, @doctorow, @jeffersonpooley, @jason_kint, @justinhendrix, @bobpickard, @jason_kint, @craig_walmsley, @grady_booch, @jocwapo, @samthielman, @repkenbuck, @ccdhate, @skwrlz, @lauraedelson2, @lauraedelson2, @mattyglesias, @yaeleisenstat, @smdiehl, @lauraedelson2, @acedtect, @douglindner, @bernstein, @sherman4949, @samidh, @hhariri, @alexstamos, @blancheminerva, @juliacarriew, @juliacarriew, @daithaigilbert, @juliacarriew, @colegarry2, @nickclegg, @nickclegg, @jeffnolan, @jason_kint, @ceciliakang, @dnvolz, @katierosman, @blackamazon, @bgrueskin, @ravmabay, @willoremus, @grady_booch, @keithmansfield, @moonalice, @nickclegg, @_alialkhatib, @zamaan_qureshi, @edzitron, @mikeisaac, @jason_kint, @donie, @johnpaczkowski, @gregbensinger, @davidnemer, @somospostpc, @kantrowitz, @iansherr, @bobbyallyn, @sg, @andymstone, @jesselehrich, @samifathi_, @slaby, @kimmasters, @caseynewton, @daveleeft, @sarosecav, @senwarren, @migueldeicaza, @pierasselin, @jeffhorwitz, @bernstein, @giladedelman, @evan_greer, @gartenberg, @willoremus, @willoremus, @tvietor08, @jodikantor, @pinboard, @pinboard, @anthony, @jemimacmcevoy, @jason_kint, @amnestytech, @justinhendrix, @emilyglazer, @justinhendrix, and @samschech

Avi Greengart / Techsponential:

Analysis of the products announced during Apple's California Streaming event, the carrier and upgrade outlook, and possible responses from competitors — What Software and Services? — While most of the presentation focused on hardware, the event started with a review of upcoming Apple TV+ shows …

Antonia Timmerman / Rest of World:

Profile of Ismail Fahmi, who has become an Indonesian household name for combating misinformation with data from his company's social media-mapping tools — In a “dystopian nightmare” internet, Ismail Fahmi holds a strange monopoly on debunking false facts. — • JAKARTA, INDONESIA

Tweets: @restofworld, @ismailfahmi, @rosstapsell, @cengizyar, @anupkaphle, @restofworld, @timmerman91, @iethics, @fedecherubini, @restofworld, @restofworld, and @risj_oxford

Akash Bajwa / Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants:

As hedge funds ramp up private market investments, a look at Coatue Management, a hedge fund started by ex-Tiger Global employees that manages $50B+ in assets — The Tiger cub that's likely to make its mark known in 2021 — It's been heartwarming to receive messages from some of you over …

Tweets: @hkanji and @akashbajwa96

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From Mediagazer

Jennifer Jacobs / CBS News:

Sources: the Pentagon fired Stars and Stripes' publisher, EIC, and a Middle East reporter for insubordination; the publisher earlier announced his retirement

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

Sources: Paramount reps are expected to meet Monday with the California AG's office to discuss a possible settlement of the antitrust suit blocking the WBD deal

Dominic Patten / Deadline:

Chris Aronson, ex-president of domestic theatrical distribution at Paramount, sues the company, claiming breach of contract and age discrimination

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More News

Wall Street Journal:

French cloud services provider OVHcloud says it plans to launch an IPO, raising up to €400M, sources say at a valuation of more than €4B

More: Reuters

The Economic Times:

Facebook India appoints former Uber executive Rajiv Aggarwal as head of public policy, a post that has been vacant for nearly a year since Ankhi Das quit

More: Quartz, Moneycontrol, The Hindu BusinessLine, Business Standard, and TechCircle

Eric Benjamin Seufert / Mobile Dev Memo:

The Epic v. Apple ruling shows gaming apps account for ~70% of App Store revenue; in Q3 2017, <0.5% of Apple accounts made up 53.7% of all App Store billings

Nicole Wetsman / The Verge:

Experts say current cuffless methods for measuring blood pressure, like the tech found in Samsung Galaxy Watch, can only reliably track relative changes

Tweets: @berci and @spjuraschek

Dan Taylor / Tech.eu:

Madrid-based Seedtag, a contextual adtech company, raises $40M Series B led by Oakley Capital to expand into the US market

Source: Seedtag and PR Newswire. More: Insider and AdExchanger

Oscar Williams / New Statesman:

A look at how the withdrawal of Google and others from London's decade-old Silicon Roundabout may be proof the UK's startup scene has expanded and matured

Tweets: @dougall, @rsohoni, @oscwilliams, @sarahdrinkwater, @christianhern, and @jpwiseuk. Thanks:@oscwilliams

Todd Spangler / Variety:

CreatorIQ, which helps brands with influencer marketing by providing e-commerce and campaign measurement tools, raises $40M from investors including TVC Capital

Source: CreatorIQ and Business Wire. More: Forbes

Earlier Picks

Kia Kokalitcheva / Axios:

LA-based Tradesy, an online marketplace for secondhand high-end fashion goods, raises $67M Series D led by Foris Ventures, the family office of John Doerr

More: WWD, The Business of Fashion, The Business Journals, socaltech.com, FashionUnited, and dot.LA

Amrith Ramkumar / Wall Street Journal:

Pagaya, whose AI-powered service makes financial transactions like lending more efficient for banks, is going public in a SPAC merger at a valuation of ~$9B

Source: Business Wire. More: Globes Online and PYMNTS.com

Matthew Martin / Bloomberg:

Saudi-based customer communications service Unifonic raises $125M Series B led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Sanabil, which is owned by Saudi Arabia's PIF

Source: unifonic. More: Gulf Business, MENAFN.COM, TyN Magazine, Cairo Scene, Wamda, and Reuters

Tweets: @aitmit and @arabianbusiness

Sean Hollister / The Verge:

A look at the lawsuit over Kosta Elefteriou's FlickType app for Apple Watch that he claims Apple had offered to buy, as Apple unveils its own swipe keyboard

More: Softpedia News and iThinkDifferent

Tweets: @tinyfreudian, @nunomahorta, @pasisalenius, @n1gh7_, @matthewfx, @jp_payeur, @scififa26502583, @michael_ludden, @gamerdriftking7, @cinemec, and @keleftheriou

Tom Krazit / Protocol:

Interview with GitHub COO Erica Brescia on GitHub's infrastructure, changes in open-source software philosophies, and why hybrid work will thrive post-pandemic

Tweets: @protocol and @protocol. Thanks:@colegarry2

Will Oremus / Washington Post:

Profile of Chris Gilliard, aka @hypervisible, who has helped coin concepts like “digital redlining” to highlight the impact of tech on marginalized groups

Tracy Qu / South China Morning Post:

Amazon says it has closed 3,000 seller accounts backed by about 600 Chinese brands for review fraud

More: Pocketnow, Tech in Asia, PYMNTS.com, TechSpot, Caixin Global, Notebookcheck.net, The Verge, Engadget, Benzinga, SlashGear, Techaeris, and PCMag

Tweets: @blacklabeladvsr, @carnage4life, and @robleathern