Techmeme
December 16, 2021, 12:10 PM

Top News

Reddit:
Reddit confidentially files its S-1 with the SEC for an IPO; the number of shares to be offered and the price range have yet to be determined  —  Reddit, Inc. today announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission …
Henry Mance / Financial Times:
Interview with Nick Clegg, Meta's VP of global affairs, on moving from politics to Meta, the impact of Haugen's leaks, and the decision to ban Trump  —  Nick Clegg may be available in Berlin.  He has a slot in Paris.  He'll make time for lunch in Brussels.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Memo: Apple delays its return to corporate offices to a “date yet to be determined”, after previously setting a February 1 return date  —  - Company had planned to bring corporate workers back by Feb. 1  — Delay comes in response to rising Covid-19 cases, new variant
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Tanya Basu / MIT Technology Review:
Meta says a woman was groped on its Horizon Worlds platform on November 26; an internal review says she should have used its “Safe Zone” tool  —  Last week, Meta (the umbrella company formerly known as Facebook) opened up access to its virtual-reality social media platform, Horizon Worlds.
Project Zero:
A deep dive into an NSO zero-click iMessage exploit, captured in the wild by Citizen Lab and one of the most sophisticated Google's Project Zero has seen  —  We want to thank Citizen Lab for sharing a sample of the FORCEDENTRY exploit with us, and Apple's Security Engineering and Architecture …
Reuters:
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Apple releases Swift Playgrounds 4, which lets users develop apps on their iPads and upload finished apps to the App Store  —  Apple announced that it has officially released Swift Playgrounds 4.  The tech giant first announced the upcoming launch of the new software at WWDC earlier this year.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Indian edtech company Byju's is in advanced talks to go public via SPAC on the NYSE, raising around $4B and valuing it at about $48B  —  - Education startup is discussing deal with Churchill Capital  — SPAC merger could value Byju's at more than $40 billion
Dan Primack / Axios:
Source: grocery delivery service Gopuff, which recently launched in London and NYC, raised $1.5B in convertible notes at a ~$40B valuation  —  Gopuff, an instant delivery platform for everyday items, has raised $1.5 billion in new funding at around a $40 billion valuation, Axios has learned.
Gillian Tan / Bloomberg:
Stocktwits, a social network used by traders and investors, raises $30M, source says at a $210M valuation, led by Alameda Research and says it has 1M MAUs  —  Stocktwits, a social-media platform used by day traders and other retail investors, raised $30 million in a funding round led by Alameda Research Ventures.
Washington Post:
An in-depth look at the events surrounding the deadly tornado that hit an Amazon warehouse in Illinois, leaving six dead, as workers sheltered in restrooms  —  A woman told 911 that one of the people sheltering with her had been ‘bent in half’ by rubble.  A driver detailed his frantic flight to safety.
Christine Hall / TechCrunch:
Brazilian e-commerce startup Olist, which connects small sellers to large marketplaces, raises $186M Series E at a $1.5B valuation, after $80M Series D in April  —  Olist, a Brazilian e-commerce marketplace integrator, confirmed it is now valued at $1.5 billion after securing $186 million …
More: Reuters
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon says it will reduce its Alexa skills commission from 30% to 20% for developers who earn less than $1M per year, starting in Q2 2022  —  Amazon is joining other tech giants by lowering its cut of developer revenue generated by voice apps, known as Alexa skills, which run on Amazon's smart speakers and other Alexa-powered devices.
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Elementary, which uses AI to automate product inspections in factories, raises a $30M Series B led by Tiger Global, bringing its total funding to $47.5M+  —  While it might not be the first example that comes to mind when thinking of AI applications, AI systems are increasingly being used in the manufacturing sector.
More: TechCrunch
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Dialpad, an enterprise voice, video, and contact-center service, raises $170M led by Iconiq at a $2.2B valuation, up from $1.2B last year  —  Cloud communications platform Dialpad has raised $170 million in a round of funding led by Iconiq Capital, valuing the company at $2.2 billion — roughly double its valuation on last year.
Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:
Denver-based Gtmhub, which helps companies track objectives and results, raises a $120M Series C led by Index Ventures, bringing its total raised to ~$160M  —  Denver-based software startup Gtmhub announced this morning that it has closed a $120 million Series C. Index Ventures led the round …

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Earlier Picks

Rest of World:
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Dan Primack / Axios:
Wall Street Journal: