Hello and welcome to Friday, August 27, 2021’s Daily Crunch. What a week it’s been! We’ve got huge news from around the world in the last 24 hours, including China’s newest regulatory drive, Apple making minor concessions on the App Store, and, of course, plenty more startup news.
Melanie Perkins, the CEO of Canva, is also attending Disrupt. — Alexander
- Apple makes the tiniest App Store concession: According to TechCrunch, Apple will now allow apps to “provide information on how to pay for purchases outside of their iOS app or the App Store” as part of a settlement reached today. The modification was dubbed a clarification by Apple, which was intriguing. Apple’s hold on the App Store is still strong, but there are signs that it is loosening slightly.
- China is cracking down on algorithmic trading: A government group announced a draft set of guidelines for algorithms on Friday, as part of an attempt to better regulate and oversee China’s domestic technology market. China is attempting to curtail corporate data collecting, among other things, with the new guidelines. Irony, of course, is no longer alive.
- The recent, record outcomes from the corporate venture capital (CVC) market have taught us that corporations can’t obtain enough startup stock. More and larger startup funding rounds are being participated in by CVCs. We looked at the why and how of the most recent data.
Let’s start at the top with a16z, a venture capital firm. Yes, there are crypto funds, main funds, and other funds galore. However, the group today unveiled a $400 million financing pool dedicated just to seed investments. The size of the fund suggests that a16z is either expected to spend a lot for seed equity or is planning to make a lot of bets. We’ll have to wait and see.
- Sastrify, based in Cologne, has raised $7 million to help businesses acquire and manage SaaS. What is the world’s need for this? Now that any software is available as a subscription, not overpaying and generally understanding what one is paying for is crucial. And a startup is made up of major deals and some founder work. Despite its young, Sastrify is already cash-flow positive.
- The Rivian files will be made public: If you’re seeking for another electric vehicle firm to add to your portfolio, there’s excellent news! Rivian has filed to go public in a private filing! We’re happy about this transaction, but it’s not Lordstown.
- Oren Greenberg, Kurve, is a marketer.
- “He’s the most well-versed growth marketer I’ve met, with a wide variety of skills and an incredible ability to zoom in and out for company context and tactical implementation,” says Michael Lorenzos.
- (Extra Crunch) Are B2B SaaS marketers doing things incorrectly? : Konrad Sanders, the creator and CEO of the Creative Copywriter and a content strategist, wrote for Extra Crunch about SaaS marketing.
- Forbes is going public as well: Forbes, the media and magazine firm, is taking advantage of the spike in blank-check combinations to go public, although through a SPAC. We looked over its deck to see what the company has planned and how COVID-19 influenced its outcomes.
- Toast is also going public, but by the time it was newsletter o’clock, your humble servant had neglected to get a post up on the subject. On TechCrunch.com, there will be more.
