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Soooo you may have received the, erm, first edition of Daily Crunch yesterday, where we mentioned a certain conference, placing it in the wrong country. Whoops — we updated the headline. Sorry, Finland, we love you, honestly.
That was yesterday. Today, there’s a wall of new exciting things to look at…including, among other things, an opportunity Neesha has for you if you’re running a space startup: Apply to pitch onstage at TC Sessions: Space 2022!
Okay, with that, let’s get started with the TC Top 3. — Christine and Haje
Aura, a startup founded by early Twitter employees that makes digital frames and photo-sharing apps that can also be used to update those frames, has pulled in some funding to expand its business as it closes in on 3 million users of its app and 1 million frames sold, Ingrid reports. The company has raised $26 million in a mix of debt and equity — money that the company is using to boost manufacturing this quarter and to invest in 2023 plans.
All eyes are currently on the collapse of FTX in the crypto industry. That’s why today’s news from Bitpanda is an important signal for the Austrian unicorn company, which has received a crypto license from Germany’s financial regulator, Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), reports Romain.
Here’s a handful of additional VC and startup stories for ya:
Pitching a startup to investors without a personal recommendation isn’t a terrible idea — as long as you’ve done your research first.
Tetra Insights co-founders Michael Bamberger and Panos Rigopoulos raised a $5 million Series A last year, and the duo said cold outreach was a key part of their strategy.
“When I changed my criteria to finding people who were a fit, the process was really quick,” says Bamberger, who initially raised a $500,000 friends and family round in 2019 followed by a $1.5 million seed round a year later.
Three more from the TC+ team:
TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!
Elon Musk taking over Twitter has resulted in similar social media companies being highlighted. Ivan writes that Indian social network Koo is one such platform gaining popularity in Brazil, but that is turning into a number of challenges, including how to manage moderation.
Meanwhile, with holiday shopping here again, Rita reports that Temu, Pinduoduo’s sister shopping app, has gained some notoriety after topping the U.S. App Store.
And we have five more for you:
Source @TechCrunch
