WhatsApp users in India can now pay businesses with credit card, other UPI apps
WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature in India that will allow users in its largest market to pay businesses using a variety of payment options from within the instant messaging app. The Meta-owned app on Wednesday said it has partnered with PayU and Bengaluru-headquartered Razorpay to add support for
Read MoreMeta is expanding its verification program to businesses
Meta announced today that it is expanding Meta Verified to businesses after first launching it for creators in March. The company is initially testing the verification program on Facebook and Instagram, with merchants in select geographies, but it plans to roll it out to businesses on WhatsApp at a later
Read MoreWhatsApp is introducing Flows for a richer in-app shopping experience
WhatsApp is bolstering its shopping experience for both merchants and users through a new feature called Flows, which will let users complete tasks such as picking a seat on a flight or booking an appointment without leaving the app. Merchants will have building blocks ranging from a text box to
Read MoreWhy Shaquille O’Neal led edtech startup Edsoma’s $2.5M seed round
Edsoma, a startup that developed an AI-powered reading, education and communication platform for children, raised $2.5 million in a seed round led by Shaquille O’Neal. The trick? Founder and CEO Kyle Wallgren didn’t ask the NBA superstar and philanthropist for money. “He didn’t ask me for money; what he asked
Read MoreKenyan fintech FlexPay is helping shoppers save for future purchases
FlexPay Technologies is a Kenyan fintech out to enable consumers to afford products that would have otherwise been out of reach for them.
Read MorePlaid’s Zack Perret on Visa, valuations and privacy
When Plaid won TechCrunch Disrupt 2013’s Hackathon, it wasn’t even Plaid yet. The team was building a web app that let users view their credit card and debit card transactions on a map. But in the process they figured out how to solve the challenge of integrating banks with the
Read MoreHow Reed Jobs’ venture firm tackles cancer
Reed Jobs’ new venture firm can change the lives of the estimated 18.1 million diagnosed cancer patients worldwide. Yosemite, Jobs’ fund for cancer-fighting biotech, launched in August with $200 million in funding from investors like MIT, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and John Doerr. Jobs first became interested in oncology
Read MoreSomani’s Offline secures $2M to build community for top Indian startup founders
Utsav Somani, who helped AngelList launch in India and oversaw its local operations for five years, is gearing up to find more ways to help founders. On Wednesday, the entrepreneur said he had raised $2 million for his new venture, called Offline, that will aim to bring the top Indian
Read MoreUpside Foods’ Uma Valeti on why it’s so difficult to scale cultivated meat
This whole cultivated meat industry is “transformative.” But it has to go in steps, Uma Valeti explained.
Read MoreVivek Ramaswamy is in his TikTok era, with Jake Paul’s endorsement
Vivek Ramaswamy is on TikTok now, thanks to Jake Paul. In the week since he joined the platform, Ramaswamy has amassed about 33,000 followers, secured an endorsement from one of the most polarizing creators in YouTube history and attempted to establish himself as the millennial politician who’s cool enough to
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