\nAre corporations too influential?<\/br>
\n2023-06-30 21:36:06<\/br><\/p>\n
Welcome to Startups Weekly. Sign up <\/em>here<\/em><\/a> to get it in your inbox every Friday.<\/em><\/p>\n This week, I\u2019ve been doing a lot of thinking about how some of the biggest companies in the world have as much \u2014 if not more \u2014 power than entire countries. Most countries, at least, have some level of democratic oversight, but that isn\u2019t true in the same way for companies. My question, then: In a world where the policies of, say, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter become de facto standards all around the world, should we have a greater degree of say<\/a> (TC+) in what those policies are?<\/p>\n The other thing that\u2019s kept me busy this week is fundraising. Alex talked with 11 VCs<\/a> (TC+) about how hard it was for their companies to raise so far this year. Meanwhile, I talked with a number of founders who were really<\/em> struggling to raise money. The truth is, the founders struggling the most have three things in common<\/a> (TC+).<\/p>\n Now let\u2019s take a look at what happened in the world of startups this week.<\/p>\n Image Credits: Bryce Durbin \/ TechCrunch<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The most popular story on TechCrunch in the past week was one of my own, which came with a curious backstory: Flipper Devices was founded in Moscow, Russia, in 2020, by a Ukrainian founder and a largely Russian team. I ran the headline that a \u201cRussian hacking device\u201d had made $80 million worth of sales<\/a>, only for a bunch of PR people to get very upset with me for calling the company, which was founded in Russia and whose team is still 90% Russian, Russian. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I get why a company making a hacking device might not want to be associated with Russia \u2014 and the company has gone to great lengths to scrub any traces of that connection from the internet. The whole story was pretty weird, and concluded with me getting an unsolicited scan of the founder\u2019s (Ukrainian) password in my email inbox. Very curious indeed.<\/p>\n That sounds secure\u2026<\/strong>: In a beacon of \u201chere\u2019s what not to do,\u201d Lorenzo reports that an Illinois high school accidentally changed every student\u2019s password to \u2018Ch@ngeme!\u2019<\/a>. The problem? For a moment there, every student knew every other student\u2019s password. D\u2019oh.<\/p>\n Stupid and pointless<\/strong>: Prosecutors called for the British hacker who was responsible for the 2020 Twitter breach to serve at least seven years. Zack reports that the hacker was sentenced to 5 years<\/a> behind bars. The convicted hacker described his crimes as \u201cstupid and pointless.\u201d Who am I to disagree?<\/p>\n Watching the watchers<\/strong>: Zack reports that Polish-developed stalkerware LetMeSpy, a phone-tracking app<\/a>, says it was hacked. The leaked data included years of victims\u2019 call logs and text messages dating back to 2013.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A ton of interesting things happened in startup hardware land this week. Uplift Labs signed an interesting deal with Major League Baseball to use the startup\u2019s 3D motion tracking tech to help scout for promising players<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fast on the heels of its previous $14 million fundraise, Realtime Robotics raised another $10 million or so<\/a>, representing the third close on what now seems like a never-ending Series A financing for the manufacturing automation startup.<\/p>\n Apropos robotics, Brian also had a fascinating story today on how robots are learning<\/a> from watching YouTube videos. If my YouTube recommendations are anything to go by, every robot in the world will very soon be expert woodworkers and do very stupid things with explosives.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s a good bot? That\u2019s right, you\u2019re a good bot:<\/strong>\u00a0In a, \u201cGeez, I feel safer already\u201d type moment, Brian reports that the House GOP discussed the use of robot dogs to patrol U.S. borders<\/a>.<\/p>\n It flies and it counts. That\u2019s just what it does:<\/strong>\u00a0Kate reports that B Garage raised $20 million for its warehouse inventory drones<\/a>. And as we\u2019re talking about flying inventory drones, Brian reported that Gather AI bought drone inventory competitor<\/a> Ware.<\/p>\n Walking? Feh, check the webcam:<\/strong>\u00a0The lazy among us may have pointed a webcam at the oven to keep an eye on a pizza, but Devin reports that Lilz takes the same concept to a whole \u2018nother level, bringing its gauge-watching smart cameras to the U.S. <\/a>and raising $4 million.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Joby Aviation<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Raise your hand if you saw this one coming (while I sit on my hands, because I really did not) \u2014 but it seems like the Tesla charging standard is gaining a foothold very quickly. First, Texas said<\/a> that state-funded EV chargers had to include Tesla plugs (now known as the North American Charging Standards, or NACS), and it seems like Washington state may be following suit<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wheeee<\/strong>: You couldn\u2019t force me on board one of these things with a gun, but Joby Aviation has reasons to celebrate, as Rebecca reports that the company received a permit to fly its first eVTOL<\/a> built on a production line.<\/p>\n Pulling the e-brake<\/strong>: Kate reports that Singapore\u2019s ride-hailing firm Grab lays off over 1,100 employees<\/a>, representing around 11% of its staff \u2014 its first big round of layoffs since 2020.<\/p>\n End of the road for Lordstown<\/strong>: It\u2019s been an uphill battle for Lordstown Motors. Rebecca reports that the company is suing Foxconn<\/a>, claiming fraudulent conduct that \u201cdestroyed\u201d the American company\u2019s business. Over on TC+, Alex ponders that there\u2019s not a lot of SPAC deals left<\/a> that didn\u2019t come crashing down painfully and spectacularly. Canoo, anyone<\/a>?<\/p>\n Despite all its rage, it is still just a car in a cage<\/strong>: Even as Lordstown implodes and a lot of the other EV companies are struggling, Faraday Future raises $90 million<\/a> to keep itself alive.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Forcite<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Foo-wee, it\u2019s been a lively week. My personal favorite was Tim\u2019s story about Forcite launching a $1,100 smart helmet<\/a>, finally bringing a version of the decade-old Skully dream to fruition.<\/p>\n U so basic<\/strong>: Netflix decided that it had enough of letting its users skate by on the cheap, and Ivan reported that the streaming giant quietly axed its basic plan<\/a> in Canada.<\/p>\n We totally have lots of users, promise!<\/strong> Some strange dodginess this week \u2014 Amanda reported that Unicorn social app IRL is to shut down after admitting 95% of its users were fake<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yeah, saw that one coming<\/strong>: In my very personal opinion, Shein \u2014 and other, similar purveyors of essentially disposable clothing \u2014 is the literal worst for the environment. It seems like the company got a sheen of comeuppance, as Amanda reports that an influencer\u2019s highly curated trip to a Chinese factory<\/a> backfired.<\/p>\n The crowd is going Vilnius<\/strong>: Europe keeps investing huge sums of money into tech ecosystems, and Paul reports that Lithuania\u2019s capital Vilnius is about to invest more than $100 million into \u201cEurope\u2019s largest tech campus.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Get your TechCrunch fix IRL. Join us at Disrupt 2023 in San Francisco this September to immerse yourself in all things startup. From headline interviews to intimate roundtables to a jam-packed startup expo floor, there\u2019s something for everyone at Disrupt. Save up to $600 when you buy your pass now through August 11, and save 15% on top of that with promo code STARTUPS. Learn more<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/br><\/br><\/br><\/p>\nNotes from the security frontlines<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nNews you can touch. Yep, it\u2019s hardware.<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nStartups that are going places<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nTop reads on TechCrunch<\/h2>\n
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