Author: Daniel Harrison

microsoft nuance cmabishopgeekwire Microsoft completes its $19.7B acquisition of Nuance, announced in April 2021, after the UK’s CMA approved the deal earlier this week  —  Microsoft completed its $19.7 billion acquisition of voice technology company Nuance Communications on Friday morning, two days after clearing their final regulatory hurdle. Source Keep visiting venturebeast.net for the latest news and updates.

soup soul entertainment dvd redbox 375mschifrinforbes Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment plans to acquire DVD rental and streaming company Redbox Entertainment for $375M in an all-stock deal  —  New!  Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it!  —  Among buggy whip businesses, Redbox Entertainment (RDBX) … Source Keep visiting venturebeast.net for the latest news and updates.

czech republicbased dodo group 60m seriesfaridi Prague-based DoDo Group, whose last-mile B2B logistics network has 2K+ couriers in seven countries, raises a €60M Series B led by EC Investments and J&T Capital Source Keep visiting venturebeast.net for the latest news and updates.

tencentbacked hike india whatsapp sticker Tencent-backed Hike, once India’s answer to WhatsApp and valued at $1.4B in 2016, says it is shutting down its messaging app Sticker Chat  —  India’s answer to WhatsApp has completely moved on from messaging.  —  Hike Messenger, backed by Tencent, Tiger Global and SoftBank and valued … Source Keep visiting venturebeast.net for the latest news and updates.

amazon aipoweredkaori gurleyvice Thousands of Amazon workers in 15 countries, including call center workers, warehouse workers, and garment makers, to stage coordinated Black Friday protests  —  The day of action includes strikes and protests from garment manufacturers in Bangladesh to call center workers in the Philippines … Source Keep visiting venturebeast.net for the latest news and updates.

sentry microsoft slack 90m bond 3b sawersventurebeat Sentry, an application performance monitoring service used by Microsoft, Slack, and others, raises a $90M Series E led by Bond and Accel at a $3B+ valuation  —  Sentry, an application performance monitoring (APM) platform used by some of the world’s biggest companies, has raised $90 million in a series E round of funding. Source Keep visiting venturebeast.net for the latest news and updates.

cloud village chinese netease 422m hong Sources: Cloud Village, the music streaming arm of Chinese gaming giant NetEase, raises ~$422M in a Hong Kong IPO, pricing shares at HK$205, or ~$26.30  —  – Cloud Village prices shares at midpoint of HK$205 after delay  — Chinese tech firms listing in Hong Kong face new data rules Source Keep visiting venturebeast.net for the latest news and updates.

the philippines tiktok filipinospierson los angelestimes In the Philippines, presidential frontrunner Bongbong Marcos is using TikTok and troll farms to rewrite his dictator father’s violent past for young Filipinos  —  The popular video-sharing app, TikTok, could tip the balance in the upcoming Philippine election. Source Keep visiting venturebeast.net for the latest news and updates.

bluesky grabermcsweeney theblock Twitter’s open-source Bluesky unit releases early code for a decentralized social network protocol, dubbed Authenticated Data Experiment, for developers to test  —  It’s called the Authenticated Data Experiment  —  Bluesky, Twitter’s open-source offshoot, has released early code for a decentralized social network protocol. Source Keep visiting venturebeast.net for the latest news and updates.

nycbased level 27m azevedotechcrunch NYC-based Level, which helps companies offer customized employee benefits plans and touts the ability to process claims in four hours, raises $27M Series A  —  Level, a startup that aims to give companies a more flexible way to offer benefits to employees, has raised $27 million in a Series … Source Keep visiting venturebeast.net for the latest news and updates.