More and more startups are finally focusing on real business models, ones that are based on actually selling a product or service. For money, you know. Read More
[UK] Channel 4’s 4iP fund will tomorrow announce seven new investments totaling £500,000 as part of its mission to kick-start new investment in public service-oriented digital media. However, while the full list hasn’t yet been made public, TechCrunch Europe has acquired details of two of the investments. GymFu, an iPhone app designed to encourage people to get fit, and School Report Card, a new web service that should help parents make better informed decisions about which school to send their children. Here’s what else we’ve learnt. Read More
Digital Sky Technologies (aka DST), the Russian Internet holding company that holds stakes in several major Russian-language social networking and communication players and notably also recently invested in Facebook, is melting two of its largest portfolio companies together into one online powerhouse. Read More
[Sweeden] Oskar Stål has joined Spotify as its new CTO after the departure of the original CTO Andreas Ehn, who left to pursue his own startup. I guess people slightly forget that next year Spotify is actually going to be 4 years old, even though it only launched publicly at the end of last year. (Long time in private beta). Read More
Taiwan-headquartered Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, will launch up to 10,000 consumer electronics retail stores in China, says China Daily. Until now they have not had a significant retail brand or presence. Read More
BillShrink, the startup that looks to help users save money across verticals including cell phones, credit cards, and savings accounts, has just announced that it has grown to 1 million members since its launch in April 2008. Alongside the milestone, the site is also announcing that it has found “$1 billion in savings on everyday bills”. Read More
If you’re going to leave your job at TechCrunch, you better have a good reason. I think Mark Hendrickson actually may have had one. Read More
Of the hundreds of companies I meet in any given country, I only write about a handful. Sometimes it’s the ones that seem to be copying a US idea, but in reality are building their company in a completely unique—and frequently more profitable—way. Other times, I’m captivated by an idea that’s perfect for an emerging market, but probably wouldn’t work in the US. Read More
Apple has long been