The Information

Zach Perret, CEO and co-founder of Plaid, spoke during the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit in Salt Lake City last year. Photo: Bloomberg

Plaid Shareholders Field Offers at $15 Billion After Merger Collapse

By Kate Clark · Jan 21, 2021 1:47pm PST · 2 comments

Normally CEOs that opt to sell their companies aren’t happy when the government blocks the deal over antitrust concerns. But that doesn’t appear to be the case with Plaid, a fintech startup that has seen a surge in investor interest since federal regulators blocked its merger last week with Visa. So far, the prospective investors... Normally CEOs that opt to sell their companies aren’t happy when the government blocks the...

Patreon CEO Jack Conte. Photo courtesy of Patreon

Patreon Considers Public Listing as Soon as This Year

By Ross Matican and Amir Efrati · Jan 20, 2021 6:45pm PST

Patreon, the online service that allows podcasters, musicians and other artists to receive direct financial support from fans, is considering a public listing as soon as this year, said a person with knowledge of discussions. The San Francisco startup has met with banks and has been approached by special purpose acquisition companies, though the... Patreon, the online service that allows podcasters, musicians and other artists to receive direct...

Rioters breached barricades to enter the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Photo: Bloomberg

Airbnb Used Facebook and Twitter to Weed Out Hate Groups

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 20, 2021 6:02am PST · 1 comment

For the past few years, a specialized team of about half a dozen employees within Airbnb has been assigned an urgent task: preventing white nationalists and other potentially dangerous fringe groups from renting homes on the site. Working inside the company’s trust and safety unit, the employees comb through Facebook, Twitter and far-right... For the past few years, a specialized team of about half a dozen employees within Airbnb has been...

Andreessen Horowitz co-founders Marc Andreessen (left) and Ben Horowitz. Photo by Bloomberg.

Andreessen Horowitz Looks to Launch Opinion Publication as Its Media Ambition Grows

By Zoë Bernard · Jan 19, 2021 5:39pm PST · 5 comments

Andreessen Horowitz co-founders Marc Andreessen (left) and Ben Horowitz. Photo by Bloomberg.

Andreessen Horowitz Looks to Launch Opinion Publication as Its Media Ambition Grows

By Zoë Bernard · Jan 19, 2021 5:39pm PST · 5 comments

Silicon Valley investment firm Andreessen Horowitz, which once courted attention from the news media, is ramping up its own media efforts. The firm plans to expand its publication of content related to technology and business on its website through an opinion section that publishes articles from outside contributors, according to people briefed... Silicon Valley investment firm Andreessen Horowitz, which once courted attention from the news...

Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc. Photo by Bloomberg.

Inside Nancy Dubuc’s Quest to Rehabilitate Vice

By Jessica Toonkel · Jan 19, 2021 6:00am PST · 4 comments

When television veteran Nancy Dubuc took over as CEO of Vice Media in the spring of 2018, cash was so tight that company executives were debating whether they should cancel the Friday morning ritual of free donuts and bagels for staff. Once the irreverent darling of the new media sector, known for its online news and TV documentaries, Vice was... When television veteran Nancy Dubuc took over as CEO of Vice Media in the spring of 2018, cash...

David Barrett, CEO of Expensify. Photo courtesy of Expensify.

Expensify in Talks With SPACs About a Potential Merger

By Ross Matican · Jan 15, 2021 4:39pm PST

Expensify, a startup that sells expense management software, has been in talks with special purpose acquisition companies about a possible merger to take it public, say two people familiar with the discussions. The 13-year-old software company is also considering a direct listing with an accompanying capital raising, said one of the people. Its... Expensify, a startup that sells expense management software, has been in talks with special...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple Plans Podcasting Subscription Service in Threat to Spotify

By Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel · Jan 15, 2021 9:26am PST · 8 comments

Apple—long considered the sleeping giant in the podcast space—is waking up. The company, which runs the most widely used podcasting app in the industry, is discussing launching a new subscription service that would charge people to listen to podcasts, according to people familiar with the matter. Such a service could pose a threat to... Apple—long considered the sleeping giant in the podcast space—is waking up. The...

Samsung QLED televisions on display at the company's Digital Plaza store in Seoul. Photo by Bloomberg.

Samsung’s Peacock Standoff with NBCUniversal Shows Power of TV Makers

By Jessica Toonkel · Jan 15, 2021 6:00am PST · 5 comments

Samsung QLED televisions on display at the company's Digital Plaza store in Seoul. Photo by Bloomberg.

Samsung’s Peacock Standoff with NBCUniversal Shows Power of TV Makers

By Jessica Toonkel · Jan 15, 2021 6:00am PST · 5 comments

As streaming TV becomes the default viewing option for Americans, the makers of streaming devices are taking the place of cable operators as gatekeepers, deciding what streaming services will be available to viewers. Increasingly the gatekeepers include not only Roku and Amazon but smart TV makers such as Samsung. NBCUniversal is learning that... As streaming TV becomes the default viewing option for Americans, the makers of streaming devices...

Snap's Ben Schwerin on stage at the virtual Snap Partner Summit 2020. Screengrab via YouTube

Snap Names New Content Leader in Push to Counter TikTok

By Alex Heath · Jan 14, 2021 6:24pm PST

Snap has promoted executive Ben Schwerin to be its new senior vice president of content and partnerships, a move that signals the company’s ambitions to compete more aggressively with TikTok and to cut more deals with media companies and app developers. As part of the change, Chief Strategy Officer Jared Grusd, who previously oversaw... Snap has promoted executive Ben Schwerin to be its new senior vice president of content and...

Zapier founders from left to right: Mike Knopp, Bryan Helmig and Wade Foster. Photo courtesy of Zapier

Sequoia Buys Shares in Elusive Startup Zapier at Multibillion-Dollar Valuation

By Kate Clark · Jan 14, 2021 2:44pm PST · 11 comments

Zapier isn’t a household name outside Silicon Valley, but the world’s top venture capitalists have long been trying to own a piece of the booming enterprise software firm. The problem for investors was that Zapier, whose software automates personal computing tasks, didn’t need their money. It raised just $1.3 million in... Zapier isn’t a household name outside Silicon Valley, but the world’s top venture...

Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, in 2016. Photo by Bloomberg

Telegram Founder in Talks to Raise Debt Amid App’s Explosive Growth

By Alex Heath and Cory Weinberg · Jan 13, 2021 11:04am PST

Telegram in the past week experienced a sharp influx of new users who flocked to the private messaging app after rival WhatsApp changed its privacy policies and Facebook and Twitter took a harder line on President Donald Trump and users promoting violence. That growth comes with mounting costs. The Dubai-based startup, which has yet to generate... Telegram in the past week experienced a sharp influx of new users who flocked to the private...

An advertisement for Tencent's WeChat Pay displayed outside a restaurant in Hong Kong last September. Photo: Bloomberg

Tencent Ramps Up Consumer Lending as Rival Ant Group Struggles

By Wayne Ma · Jan 13, 2021 6:00am PST

An advertisement for Tencent's WeChat Pay displayed outside a restaurant in Hong Kong last September. Photo: Bloomberg

Tencent Ramps Up Consumer Lending as Rival Ant Group Struggles

By Wayne Ma · Jan 13, 2021 6:00am PST

Chinese tech giant Tencent is planning a big new push into consumer lending in China just as its archrival, Alibaba affiliate Ant Group, is reeling from a regulatory crackdown. Tencent, already a force in payments through its hugely popular WeChat messaging app, is working with a consortium of investors to form a consumer finance company, a... Chinese tech giant Tencent is planning a big new push into consumer lending in China just as its...

Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif., campus. Photo by Bloomberg

Following Trump Ban, Facebook Tells Employees to Avoid Wearing Company-Branded Apparel

By Alex Heath · Jan 11, 2021 5:40pm PST · 5 comments

Facebook on Monday told employees to avoid wearing or carrying company-branded clothing and other items in public following the company’s suspension last week of President Donald Trump’s account and its more recent crackdown on content mentioning “Stop the Steal,” an online movement that falsely claimed the presidential... Facebook on Monday told employees to avoid wearing or carrying company-branded clothing and other...

AWS CEO Andy Jassy and WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar. Photos by Bloomberg

WarnerMedia Extended AWS Deal to Win Key HBO Max Concession

By Jessica Toonkel · Jan 8, 2021 9:54am PST · 5 comments

For six months after WarnerMedia launched HBO Max, the growth of the high-profile new streaming service suffered because the company couldn’t reach deals to distribute the service on popular streaming devices, including those made by Amazon. The impasse was so paralyzing that John Stankey—CEO of WarnerMedia’s parent company,... For six months after WarnerMedia launched HBO Max, the growth of the high-profile new streaming...

BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti. Photo by Bloomberg

BuzzFeed Has Held Discussions With Rascoff’s SPAC

By Ross Matican and Jessica Toonkel · Jan 8, 2021 6:00am PST

BuzzFeed has held discussions with at least one special purpose acquisition company, Spencer Rascoff’s Supernova Partners Acquisition Co., in a sign that it is actively exploring going public, say people familiar with the situation. BuzzFeed’s interest comes as Group Nine Media has launched its own SPAC to raise $200 million for... BuzzFeed has held discussions with at least one special purpose acquisition company, Spencer...

Hipcamp campers at a site in Maryland last year. Photo: AP

Hipcamp, ‘Airbnb of the Outdoors,’ Raises $57 Million

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 7, 2021 9:45am PST · 1 comment

Hipcamp campers at a site in Maryland last year. Photo: AP

Hipcamp, ‘Airbnb of the Outdoors,’ Raises $57 Million

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 7, 2021 9:45am PST · 1 comment

Hipcamp, a VC-backed startup that offers people places to stay or pitch a tent in rural areas, closed a $57 million funding round that values it at more than $300 million, according to financial filings, more than double the valuation of its last major financing in 2019. New investors in the round include Index Ventures and Mary Meeker’s... Hipcamp, a VC-backed startup that offers people places to stay or pitch a tent in rural areas,...

Syndio CEO Maria Colacurcio. Photo provided by Syndio

Pay Equity Startup Raises $17.1 Million in Round Led by Bessemer

By Nick Wingfield · Jan 7, 2021 8:46am PST · 1 comment

Most subscription software companies aren’t at the white-hot center of social justice movements, but one that is—Syndio—has seen a surge in corporate customers, including Coinbase. Syndio’s product identifies employee pay disparities based on gender, race and ethnicity. Now Syndio is taking advantage of the growth in its... Most subscription software companies aren’t at the white-hot center of social justice...

Guards at the U.S. capitol try to stop pro-Trump mob from entering a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Credit: Bloomberg

After Capitol Violence, Some Facebook Employees Call For Ban of Trump

By Alex Heath · Jan 6, 2021 6:07pm PST

Facebook temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from posting on the site after dozens of the company’s employees asked CEO Mark Zuckerberg to suspend or ban his account. Trump had falsely claimed in a video post on Wednesday that the election was “stolen” and praised rioters who had earlier stormed the U.S. Capitol. For an... Facebook temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from posting on the site after dozens of the...

A Grab taxi. Photo by Bloomberg.

Grab’s Fintech Unit Raises $300 Million As Asia’s Tech Wars Intensify

By Juro Osawa · Jan 6, 2021 6:53am PST

Grab, the Southeast Asian $15 billion ride-hailing and food-delivery giant backed by SoftBank and Uber, is accelerating its expansion into financial services with a new fundraising by its fintech subsidiary. Grab is betting on growing demand from the regions’ rising class of merchants and consumers. The unit, Grab Financial Group, has... Grab, the Southeast Asian $15 billion ride-hailing and food-delivery giant backed by SoftBank and...

Hinge Health co-founders Daniel Perez (left) and Gabriel Mecklenburg. Photo courtesy of Hinge Health

Hinge Health Valued at $3 Billion by Tiger Global, Coatue

By Kate Clark · Jan 5, 2021 3:27pm PST · 3 comments

Hinge Health co-founders Daniel Perez (left) and Gabriel Mecklenburg. Photo courtesy of Hinge Health

Hinge Health Valued at $3 Billion by Tiger Global, Coatue

By Kate Clark · Jan 5, 2021 3:27pm PST · 3 comments

Hinge Health, which sells virtual physical therapy sessions for customers with back and joint pain, has raised a financing round led jointly by Coatue Management and Tiger Global Management at a valuation of $3 billion, or seven times its last financing in April, according to two people familiar with the matter. The San Francisco–based... Hinge Health, which sells virtual physical therapy sessions for customers with back and joint...