Visa acquires Brazilian fintech startup Pismo in $1B blockbuster deal
Credit card giant Visa is acquiring Brazilian payments infrastructure startup Pismo for $1 billion in cash in what is likely one of the largest fintech M&A deals taking place this year so far. Founded in 2016 by Juliana Motta (CPO), Ricardo Josua (CEO), Daniela Binatti (CTO), and Marcelo Parise (VP
Read MoreCisco bolsters network, internet monitoring capabilities with acquisitions
Cisco yesterday announced its intention to acquire U.K.-based SamKnows, a privately held broadband network monitoring company, to increase the reach of its ThousandEyes network intelligence service’s view of the internet into the last mile. This comes on the heels of last week’s announcement that it plans to acquire Montreal-based Accedian,
Read MoreBrex refocuses on startups with hire of SVB veteran, ex-a16z operating partner
Just over one year ago, spend management decacorn Brex declared that it was “less suited to meet the needs of smaller customers” in an announcement that caused shock waves in the startup community. While Brex soon clarified that by smaller customers it meant small to medium-sized businesses and non-funded startups,
Read MoreCelestial AI raises $100M to transfer data using light-based interconnects
David Lazovsky and Preet Virk, technologists with backgrounds in semiconductor engineering and photonics, came to the joint realization several years ago that AI and machine learning workloads would quickly encounter a “data movement” problem. Increasingly, they predicted, it would become challenging to move data to and from compute hardware as
Read MoreAs $100M+ venture rounds evaporate, IPOs might have to carry the weight
Earlier this year we wrote that the “the $100M venture round is going extinct.” Often our predictions wind up sideways. This time we were on the right track. According to new data from PitchBook, the U.S. venture market is continuing to endure lackluster velocity for nine-figure investments into private companies,
Read MoreJuly 4th weeklong sale on passes to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023
Here in the States, we’re celebrating the start of a great summer by traveling back in time. Back to the days of early-bird prices on passes to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, which takes place on September 19–21 in San Francisco. We’re rolling back prices on passes to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 Our
Read MoreHouse GOP discusses use of robot dogs to patrol US borders
The United States Department of Homeland Security caused a stir last February when it revealed that it was exploring deploying robot dogs on the U.S./Mexico border. “The southern border can be an inhospitable place for man and beast, and that is exactly why a machine may excel there,” the DHS’s
Read MoreReddit protest plunges user engagement, site activity and ad portal visits
Reddit community moderators made a bold move earlier this month that caused quite a stir online. They took a stand against the platform’s decision to charge certain developers for access to its valuable data, which many found controversial. The fallout was evident as users retreated and started to ignore the
Read MoreTechstars raising $150 million for new accelerator fund
Startup accelerator Techstars is raising $150 million for its new fund, SEC filings show. The accelerator is seeking new capital ahead of the end of the deployment period of its third institutionally-backed fund, Techstars Accelerator 2021, later this year. Techstars declined to offer details on how it intends to use
Read MoreBuilding a Security-First Culture for a Cyber-Resilient Future
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, the threat of cyberattacks looms larger than ever before. With advances in technology and the growing sophistication of attackers, human-targeted attacks have become increasingly prevalent. Therefore, it is imperative that organisations take proactive measures to address this growing concern. Building a security-first culture is
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