Techmeme: Brazil-based global payments network CloudWalk raises a $150M Series C led by Coatue at a $2.15B valuation, bringing its total funding to $365M (Niket Nishant/Reuters)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News

November 21, 2021, 1:10 AM

Top News

Karen Hao / MIT Technology Review:

Investigation shows how Facebook and Google fund misinformation globally by paying millions of dollars in ad revenue to the operators of clickbait pages — A month after the fall of the democratic government. — In 2015, six of the 10 websites in Myanmar getting the most engagement …

Sean Hollister / The Verge:

The Apple Podcasts app's review score went from 1.8 to 4.6 stars after Apple began prompting users for ratings, confusing some into rating individual podcasts — Apple Podcasts rises above bad reviews, but at what cost? — You pissed off people by somewhat breaking your app, and they're leaving angry reviews.

More: ScreenRant, Engadget, iPhone in Canada Blog, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, and MacRumors

Tweets: @keleftheriou, @keleftheriou, @bohemiancoast, @hbkirb, @timsweeneyepic, @sub8u, @davewiner, @starfire2258, @slightlylate, @keleftheriou, and @keleftheriou

Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:

A voter turnout group says Facebook served 36.8% of their conversion ads to iOS users after Apple's ATT change, down from 63.6% — Tatenda Musapatike is as familiar as anyone with the way Facebook's political ad system works. During the 2016 election and the 2018 midterms …

More: The Voter Formation Project and Insider

Tweets: @issielapowsky, @issielapowsky, @issielapowsky, @issielapowsky, @kingjen, @saramorrison, and @saramorrison

See also Mediagazer

Matt O'Brien / Associated Press:

NY city council passed a bill that bans employers from using AI hiring tools unless a yearly bias audit shows they won't discriminate based on race or gender — Job candidates rarely know when hidden artificial intelligence tools are rejecting their resumes or analyzing their video interviews.

More: Engadget, Associated Press, Morning Brew, Axios, Newsweek, and The National Law Review

Tweets: @re_sieber, @john_j_howard, @cendemtech, @mattoyeah, @cendemtech, and @fbajak

Niket Nishant / Reuters:

Brazil-based global payments network CloudWalk raises a $150M Series C led by Coatue at a $2.15B valuation, bringing its total funding to $365M — Brazilian financial technology company CloudWalk said on Wednesday it was valued at $2.15 billion after a funding round led by Coatue …

More: Business Wire, The Paypers, and pitchbook.com

Ben Lang / Road to VR:

Japan-based VR startup Hikky raises a $57M Series A led by NTT Docomo to expand its web-based virtual events platform Vket Cloud — Japanese social VR startup HIKKY announced today that it has raised ¥6.5 billion (~$57 million), led by Japanese mobile network operator NTT Docomo.

More: Business Wire and Forbes

Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:

Ultraleap, which develops ultrasound-based hand tracking tech and touchless interfaces for VR/XR headsets, raises an $82M Series D from Tencent and others — It was way back in 2017 that the company that became Ultraleap (Ultrahaptics, as weas) demonstrated at TechCrunch Disrupt a technology …

Source: PR Newswire and Media4growth. More: Auganix.org, eeNews Europe, Virtual Reality Times, Sixteen:Nine, University of Bristol, and Road to VR. Tweets: @mikebutcher

Casey Newton / Platformer:

Twitter's AI ethics researchers on getting public feedback about algorithmic bias, why responsible AI is hard, why they think algorithms can be saved, and more — While other tech giants hide from their internal researchers, Twitter is doing its failing — and fixing — in public

Tweets: @hkanji, @platformer, @jackbandy, @sherryaske, @tanit, and @caseynewton

Conor Hale / FierceBiotech:

France-based Owkin, which helps medical researchers build and train AI models, raises $180M from pharmaceuticals company Sanofi — Artificial intelligence developer Owkin scored a major collaboration with Sanofi to help bring its digital clinical research platform to bear …

More: Sanofi, pharmaphorum.com, Reuters, and MedCity News

Tweets: @eithealth and @jarditi

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

Executives at Disney, Qualcomm, Coinbase, and other companies tried to weave their unrelated businesses into the metaverse discussion on their Q3 earnings calls — - The concept of the metaverse is still vague. — That didn't stop dozens of executives from speaking about their metaverse strategies.

Tweets: @sherman4949, @markhachman, @mayhem4markets, @sherman4949, and @sherman4949

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Kettle, a reinsurance startup that uses ML modeling on weather, satellite imagery, and other datasets to predict climate change risks, raises a $25M Series A — One of the most noticeable — and noted — effects of climate change has been its impact on how other events in the environment …

Tweets: @ourkettle, @alitamaseb, @trueventures, @acrewcapital, and @homebrew

Kelly Crow / Wall Street Journal:

ConstitutionDAO, which crowdfunded over $40M, loses Sotheby's US Constitution auction to a $43.2M bid from Citadel CEO Kenneth Griffin — The 53-year-old billionaire paid $43.2 million for the historic document, plans to lend it to Crystal Bridges museum in Arkansas

More: Bloomberg, New York Times, CNBC, Gizmodo, Wall Street Journal, PYMNTS.com, Kotaku, Axios, TechCrunch, VICE, Protocol, Forbes, The Verge, Bloomberg, The Block, Quartz, Slashdot, Washington Post, Nexo.io Blog, CNET, Coinspeaker, Blockchain News, Protocol, and Cryptonews

Tweets: @constitutiondao, @sothebys, @sinakian1, @jchervinsky, @rsarver, @nischalshetty, @iamdcinvestor, @alexrkonrad, @cdixon, @cdixon, @0xmakesy, @joemccann, @scottmelker, @joshelman, @carnage4life, @matt_levine, @grimezsz, @dbreunig, @levie, @cwarzel, @jason_koebler, @katiedrumm, @mulligan, @caseynewton, @kevinroose, @noupside, @alexisohanian, @chuckrossdc, @brycent_, @tomgara, @shanegoldmacher, @matt_kohrs, @austen, @willoremus, @matt_kohrs, @apompliano, @jeffjohnroberts, @cnbcnow, @pt, @pbump, @trungtphan, @tomfgoodwin, @steven_ehrlich, @kellycrowwsj, @shiraeis, @katies, @niubi, @cathsimard_, @jason_koebler, @adriyoung, @penllawen, @kevinroose, @bigmagicdao, @mdudas, @riptari, @basedlemahieu, @drgonzo123, @dlberes, @litcapital, @sub8u, @dalmaer, @ishverduzco, @tanayj, @autismcapital, @twitchpluto, @omarabdelb, and @eladgil

Sponsor Posts

ElevenLabs:

ElevenAgents by ElevenLabs — You know us for voice. Now meet ElevenAgents — featuring Expressive Mode, our most human-sounding AI voice technology in 70+ languages with ultra-low latency. Hear it for yourself.

Niantic Spatial:

World models need real-world data — Scaniverse is the gateway to spatial services — self-serve and built for AI and robotics. Large-area 3D reconstruction from 360° cameras and precise localization, anywhere machines operate.

Zoho:

Introducing the sandbox environment: Safely test and optimize e-signature workflows — Changes are an inevitable part of any workflow. The average agreement workflow involves recipients across organizations …

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Hard Fork:

Anthropic's Cybersecurity Shock Wave + Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz on Their Sam Altman Investigation + One Good Thing

The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.

Subscribe to Hard Fork.

The Upstarts Podcast:

Decagon's Jesse Zhang: Closing Customer Service Doom Loops With AI Concierges

Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.

Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.

Access:

OpenClaw for normies is here

A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.

Subscribe to Access.

The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:

When AI Kills

Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.

Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.

Big Technology Podcast:

OpenAI vs. Anthropic's Direct Faceoff + Future of Agents — With Aaron Levie

The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.

Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.

Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:

Ryan Roslansky: Turning AI Anxiety into Skills for the Future of Work

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.

Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:10 AM ET, November 21, 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

Associated Press:

A federal judge ruled the DOD violated his earlier order undoing most of the Pentagon's press pass policy and failed to reinstate NYT reporters' credentials

Reuters:

Russian authorities detain Novaya Gazeta journalist Oleg Roldugin on charges of misuse of personal data, after searches of his home and Novaya Gazeta newsroom

Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:

Trump says Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones have “Low IQs” and “their views are the opposite of MAGA” after they blasted him over Iran

More News

Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:

Sao Paulo-based social commerce marketplace Facily raises a $250M Series D at an $850M valuation, bringing its total funding to $366M

More: The Information. Tweets: @mfriedrichark, @bayareawriter, @bayareawriter, @ruima, and @turnernovak

Dan Ennis / Banking Dive:

Berlin-based neobank N26, which was recently valued at $9B, to exit the US on January 11 after over two years, following its UK departure in April 2020

More: Bloomberg. Tweets: @sub8u

Maria Volkova / HousingWire:

nCino, which develops a cloud-based operating system for financial institutions, to acquire mortgage tech vendor SimpleNexus for $1.2B, including $240M in cash

More: WilmingtonBiz, Insider, National Mortgage …, and Finextra. Tweets: @jrichlive

Steve Knopper / Billboard:

Profile of Berlin-based Ableton, whose music production software changed the way recordings are produced and how DJs perform by eliminating cumbersome equipment

Tweets: @henrikberggren, @mattetti, @brigidnz, @markkilborn, and @edmacovaz

Gillian Tan / Bloomberg:

SoundHound, which offers voice AI tech to companies like Mercedes-Benz, Snap, and Mastercard, is going public via a SPAC merger at a ~$2.1B valuation

Source: Business Wire. More: Reuters, Dow Jones Newswires, TheStreet, Benzinga, and Silicon Valley Business …

Reuters:

JD.com warns of weak China consumption demand in the second half of its fiscal year, after reporting a 25.5% YoY rise in net Q3 revenue to ~$34B

More: Benzinga, Barron's Online, TheStreet, and KrASIA

Zoe Schiffer / NBC News:

In a note to 80,000 hourly and salaried US employees, Apple affirms their right to discuss working conditions and pay, internally and externally

More: Gizmodo, Reuters, Engadget, CNN, Insider, and AppleInsider

Tweets: @bobpickard, @oilyraincloud, @wndu, @veenadubal, @lazerwalker, @mikeycampbell81, @ashleygjovik, and @ashleygjovik

Earlier Picks

Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:

The US DOJ says Iranian hackers breached a media company in fall 2020 and tested how to create false news content; sources say Lee Enterprises was targeted

More: U.S. Department of Justice, HuffPost, CNBC, Bloomberg, CyberScoop, Tech Policy Press, PCMag, New York Post, Threatpost, Dark Reading, and The Hacker News

Tweets: @fbi, @justinhendrix, @dnvolz, and @emilybell