Sign up to receive 5 free days of our daily summary for tech news.

Special Offer: Try out The Information today for only $10/month for your first 3 months.
About Us
Pricing New Corporate Sales
Briefing
Asia Uber/Lyft

Uber’s Old Rivals in Southeast Asia Hold Merger Talks

By Shai Oster
· · Source: The Information

Grab and Gojek, Southeast Asia’s two largest ride-hailing and food-delivery apps, valued at $14 billion and $9 billion respectively, are discussing a merger that would create one of the world’s most highly valued startups, people familiar with the talks said. As we reported, a deal would be the latest step in a consolidation of the broader food-delivery and ride-hailing markets, as companies try...

Get access to exclusive coverage
Read deeply reported stories from the largest newsroom in tech.
Latest Articles
 
Podcast
The Information’s 411 — Are You There, Pod? It’s Me, Spotify
By Tom Dotan · March 27, 2020 4:29 PM PDT

Jessica Toonkel talks about why Spotify decided to go on a spending spree to get into the podcasting business. In the past year the company has made a number of expensive acquisitions, buying podcasting production companies and tech platforms in an effort to build its ad revenue. We discuss how this can pay off for the company, and how long it could take to show results.

Latest Briefs
 
Google Pledges More Than $800 Million to Virus Relief
By Nick Bastone · March 27, 2020
WeWork Competitor Knotel Lays Off, Furloughs Half of Staff
By Cory Weinberg · March 27, 2020
Scooter Rental Startup Bird Lays Off 30% of Workforce
By Martin Peers and Cory Weinberg · March 27, 2020
Stay in the know
Receive a summary of the day's top tech news—distilled into one email.
Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
Venture Capital Startups
Virus Begins Separating Strong Startups From Weak
By Kate Clark, Amir Efrati, Zoë Bernard and Kevin Dugan
While it will take months to understand the full impact of the coronavirus on the startup economy, evidence of its grim toll is already beginning to mount.
Startups
Layoffs Accelerate Across Silicon Valley Startups
By Kate Clark
As the world braces for a recession triggered by the coronavirus outbreak, venture capital–backed startups across several industries are making significant cuts to their employee numbers.
The Takeaway Startups
The (Pink) Elephant in the Tech Press
By Jessica E. Lessin
“I bet that she is next.” So read the text message from a friend as she sent me the essay The Wing CEO Audrey Gelman published about the mistakes she’s made as a founder and what she’s learned from them.
Entertainment
Stay-at-Home Lockdown a Boon for Video Services? Not So Fast
By Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel
In what may be the worst of times for most businesses, the enforced isolation of people at home is likely to make it the best of times for video-streaming services and TV networks.
Exclusive Startups Travel
VC-Backed Sonder Cuts One-Third of Staff as Travel Plummets
By Cory Weinberg
Sonder, a venture capital-backed operator of apartment-based lodgings for tourists and business travelers, laid off or furloughed more than 400 people, about one-third of its staff, in a bid to offset a declining number of bookings as the travel market collapses.