Author Archives: Natasha Lomas

Blackbird.AI grabs $10M to help brands counter disinformation

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New York-based Blackbird.AI has closed a $10 million Series A as it prepares to launched the next version of its disinformation intelligence platform this fall. The Series A is led by Dorilton Ventures, along with new investors including Generation Ventures, Trousdale Ventures, StartFast Ventures and Richard Clarke, former chief counter-terrorism advisor for the National Security […] Continue reading Blackbird.AI grabs $10M to help brands counter disinformation→

‘No code’ process automation platform, Leapwork, fires up with $62M Series B

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Copenhagen-based process automation platform Leapwork has snagged Denmark’s largest ever Series B funding round, announcing a $62 million raise co-led by KKR and Salesforce Ventures, with existing investors DN Capital and Headline also participating. Also today it’s disclosing that its post-money valuation now stands at $312M.  The ‘no code’ 2015-founded startup last raised back in […] Continue reading ‘No code’ process automation platform, Leapwork, fires up with $62M Series B→

Google tightens UK policy on financial ads after watchdog pressure over scams

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The UK’s more expansive, post-Brexit role in digital regulation continues to be felt today via a policy change by Google which has announced that it will, in the near future, only run ads for financial products and services when the advertiser in question has been verified by the financial watchdog, the FCA. The Google Ads […] Continue reading Google tightens UK policy on financial ads after watchdog pressure over scams→

Worksome pulls $13M into its high skill freelancer talent platform

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More money for the now very buzzy business of reshaping how people work: Worksome is announcing it recently closed a $13 million Series A funding round for its “freelance talent platform” — after racking up 10x growth in revenue since January 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic sparked a remote working boom. The 2017 founded […] Continue reading Worksome pulls $13M into its high skill freelancer talent platform→

Zoom to start first phase of E2E encryption rollout next week

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Zoom will begin rolling out end-to-end encryption to users of its videoconferencing platform from next week, it said today. The platform, whose fortunes have been supercharged by the pandemic-driven boom in remote working and socializing this year, has been working on rebooting its battered reputation in the areas of security and privacy since April — […] Continue reading Zoom to start first phase of E2E encryption rollout next week→

Hypatos gets $11.8M for a deep learning approach to document processing

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Process automation startup Hypatos has raised a €10 million (~$11.8M) seed round of funding from investors including Blackfin Tech, Grazia Equity, UVC Partners and Plug & Play Ventures. The Germany- and Poland-based company was spun out of AI for accounting startup, Smacc, at the back end of 2018 to apply deep learning tech to power […] Continue reading Hypatos gets $11.8M for a deep learning approach to document processing→

Scandit raises $80M as COVID-19 drives demand for contactless deliveries

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Enterprise barcode scanner company Scandit has closed an $80 million Series C round, led by Silicon Valley VC firm G2VP. Atomico, GV, Kreos, NGP Capital, Salesforce Ventures and Swisscom Ventures also participated in the round — which brings its total raised to date to $123M. The Zurich-based firm offers a platform that combines computer vision […] Continue reading Scandit raises $80M as COVID-19 drives demand for contactless deliveries→

Leverice is a team messenger app that’s taking aim at information overload

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Meet Leverice: A team messenger and collaboration platform that’s aiming to compete with b2b giants like Slack by tackling an issue that continues to plague real-time messaging — namely, ‘always-on’ information overload. This means these tools can feel like they’re eating into productivity as much as aiding it. Or else leave users stressed and overwhelmed […] Continue reading Leverice is a team messenger app that’s taking aim at information overload→

Verizon is buying B2B videoconferencing firm BlueJeans

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US carrier Verizon* has splashed out to buy veteran B2B videoconferencing platform, BlueJeans Network — shelling out less than $500 million on the acquisition, according to the Wall Street Journal which first reported the news. A Verizon spokeswoman confirmed to TechCrunch that the price-tag is sub-$500M but did not provide a more exact figure. Videoconferencing […] Continue reading Verizon is buying B2B videoconferencing firm BlueJeans→

TripActions reportedly lays off hundreds amid COVID-19 travel freeze

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The coronavirus demand crunch has taken another bite: Palo Alto-based corporate travel-focused unicorn, TripActions, reportedly laid off hundreds of staff yesterday. Per this post on Blind — written by someone with a verified TripActions email address — the company fired 350 people. Business Insider reported the same figure yesterday. While the Wall Street Journal said […] Continue reading TripActions reportedly lays off hundreds amid COVID-19 travel freeze→