Journals

Olivia Poh / Bloomberg: Singapore-based online shopping rewards app ShopBack cuts 195 jobs, or 24% of its staff, to become self-sustainable; ShopBack raised a $200M Series E in 2022  —  ShopBack, an online shopping rewards app backed by Temasek Holdings… Read More »Singapore-based online shopping rewards app ShopBack cuts 195 jobs, or 24% of its staff, to become self-sustainable; ShopBack raised a $200M Series E in 2022 (Olivia Poh/Bloomberg)

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters: At an EU DMA hearing, a Meta lawyer says the company has offered to cut its EU subscription fee from €9.99 to €5.99 per month after discussions with regulators  —  Meta Platforms (META.O) has offered… Read More »At an EU DMA hearing, a Meta lawyer says the company has offered to cut its EU subscription fee from €9.99 to €5.99 per month after discussions with regulators (Foo Yun Chee/Reuters)

Bloomberg: Xiaomi reports Q4 revenue up 11% YoY to ~$10.2B, above ~$10.1B est., net income up 50% YoY to ~$653M, and plans to diversify its business by launching EVs  —  – Revenue and profit beat estimates in sign of market… Read More »Xiaomi reports Q4 revenue up 11% YoY to ~$10.2B, above ~$10.1B est., net income up 50% YoY to ~$653M, and plans to diversify its business by launching EVs (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg: Sources: senior DOJ officials plan to hold closed-door Senate briefings on March 19 and 20 to advance a TikTok divestiture, as opposed to an outright US ban  —  – DOJ wants senators to pass a bill forcing TikTok sale … Read More »Sources: senior DOJ officials plan to hold closed-door Senate briefings on March 19 and 20 to advance a TikTok divestiture, as opposed to an outright US ban (Bloomberg)

Richard Waters / Financial Times: On the first day of his trial, US prosecutors portray Mike Lynch as “a controlling, dominating, intimidating boss” and “driving force behind [a] massive fraud”  —  UK tech entrepreneur finally faces a US jury after… Read More »On the first day of his trial, US prosecutors portray Mike Lynch as “a controlling, dominating, intimidating boss” and “driving force behind [a] massive fraud” (Richard Waters/Financial Times)

Sean Hollister / The Verge: A look at Playtron, which raised a $10M seed to build a Linux-based, platform-agnostic gaming OS to replace Windows or SteamOS, starting with handheld consoles  —  The former CEO of Cyanogen has a plan for… Read More »A look at Playtron, which raised a $10M seed to build a Linux-based, platform-agnostic gaming OS to replace Windows or SteamOS, starting with handheld consoles (Sean Hollister/The Verge)

Shaurya Malwa / CoinDesk: Solana meme coin SLERF raised $10M in a presale, hitting $1.7B in trading volume, but the developer claims to have “burned” tokens set aside for an airdrop  —  “This is not a joke I really f****d… Read More »Solana meme coin SLERF raised $10M in a presale, hitting $1.7B in trading volume, but the developer claims to have “burned” tokens set aside for an airdrop (Shaurya Malwa/CoinDesk)

Tage Kene-Okafor / TechCrunch: Lagos-based Moove, which offers car financing to ride-hailing drivers, raised a $100M Series B led by Uber at a $750M valuation, up from $550M in August 2023  —  Moove, an African mobility fintech that offers vehicle… Read More »Lagos-based Moove, which offers car financing to ride-hailing drivers, raised a $100M Series B led by Uber at a $750M valuation, up from $550M in August 2023 (Tage Kene-Okafor/TechCrunch)

Allie Garfinkle / Fortune: Q&A with Lila Tretikov, who just joined NEA as a partner and head of AI strategy; Tretikov was previously Microsoft’s deputy CTO and Wikimedia Foundation CEO  —  “God is in the details,” reads one of Stephen… Read More »Q&A with Lila Tretikov, who just joined NEA as a partner and head of AI strategy; Tretikov was previously Microsoft’s deputy CTO and Wikimedia Foundation CEO (Allie Garfinkle/Fortune)

Just Lunning / New York Times: Hollywood actors like Megan Fox, Idris Elba, and Keanu Reeves are leaping into video games, a once stigmatized medium now seen as a unique platform for stories  —  Onscreen stars have increasingly been going… Read More »Hollywood actors like Megan Fox, Idris Elba, and Keanu Reeves are leaping into video games, a once stigmatized medium now seen as a unique platform for stories (Just Lunning/New York Times)