Journals

Chris Eggertsen / Billboard: Neil Young is bringing back his music to Spotify, after the removal in January 2022, saying “Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation”  —  The singer-songwriter previously had his music removed from the platform… Read More »Neil Young is bringing back his music to Spotify, after the removal in January 2022, saying “Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation” (Chris Eggertsen/Billboard)

Sean Michael Kerner / VentureBeat: Chicago-based Ocient, which provides hyperscale data warehouse and analytics software, raised a $49.4M Series B extension, bringing its total funding to $119M  —  Hyperscale data warehouse vendor Ocient is raising $49.4 million in new funding,… Read More »Chicago-based Ocient, which provides hyperscale data warehouse and analytics software, raised a $49.4M Series B extension, bringing its total funding to $119M (Sean Michael Kerner/VentureBeat)

Natasha Mascarenhas / The Information: Sources: e-commerce roll-up firm Kite, which was cofounded by Blackstone in 2022 and closed a $200M equity commitment, shut down earlier in 2024  —  How bad is the slowdown in e-commerce growth?  Ask Blackstone, one… Read More »Sources: e-commerce roll-up firm Kite, which was cofounded by Blackstone in 2022 and closed a $200M equity commitment, shut down earlier in 2024 (Natasha Mascarenhas/The Information)

Emilia David / The Verge: Perplexity is licensing Yelp’s data and integrating its maps, reviews, and other details in responses when users ask for restaurant recommendations  —  Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas tells The Verge that many people are using chatbots… Read More »Perplexity is licensing Yelp’s data and integrating its maps, reviews, and other details in responses when users ask for restaurant recommendations (Emilia David/The Verge)

Daphné Leprince-Ringuet / Sifted: Paris- and New York-based Adaptive ML, which helps businesses build custom tools with open-source generative AI models, raised a $20M seed led by Index Ventures  —  The French-American startup says it will help businesses turn off-the-shelf… Read More »Paris- and New York-based Adaptive ML, which helps businesses build custom tools with open-source generative AI models, raised a $20M seed led by Index Ventures (Daphné Leprince-Ringuet/Sifted)

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch: TikTok expands its Effect Creator Rewards monetization program to 33 more regions, including Argentina, Belgium, and Israel, and lowers its payout threshold  —  TikTok is expanding its Effect Creator Rewards monetization program to more regions and… Read More »TikTok expands its Effect Creator Rewards monetization program to 33 more regions, including Argentina, Belgium, and Israel, and lowers its payout threshold (Aisha Malik/TechCrunch)

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: RevenueCat survey of nearly 30K mobile subscription apps finds that only 17.2% of them will reach $1,000 in monthly revenue and only 3.5% will reach $10,000  —  Investors know that most startups fail, but something that… Read More »RevenueCat survey of nearly 30K mobile subscription apps finds that only 17.2% of them will reach $1,000 in monthly revenue and only 3.5% will reach $10,000 (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: Docs: RISC-V chip designer SiFive had $38.2M in revenue in 2023, a net operating loss of $113.1M, and expects to boost its licensing revenue to $60M this year  —  – Company has discussed possibility of initial… Read More »Docs: RISC-V chip designer SiFive had $38.2M in revenue in 2023, a net operating loss of $113.1M, and expects to boost its licensing revenue to $60M this year (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)

Tabby Kinder / Financial Times: Carta: tech startup workers are receiving 37% less equity in their companies on average compared with 18 months ago; average salaries are down 0.2% since 2022  —  Data shows equity compensation has decreased by more… Read More »Carta: tech startup workers are receiving 37% less equity in their companies on average compared with 18 months ago; average salaries are down 0.2% since 2022 (Tabby Kinder/Financial Times)

Bloomberg: Letter: Chamath Palihapitiya’s VC firm Social Capital said it fired two of its partners, citing an undisclosed “situation”, and hired a law firm to investigate  —  – Social Capital has declined to explain the sudden move  — High-profile firm… Read More »Letter: Chamath Palihapitiya’s VC firm Social Capital said it fired two of its partners, citing an undisclosed “situation”, and hired a law firm to investigate (Bloomberg)