Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.
Natasha and Danny, and Alex and Grace, were all here to talk about the week’s biggest tech events. This week felt strangely comforting from a tech news standpoint: Facebook is copying something, early launch dates are buggy enough to talk about, and Sweet DoorDash is buying robots for undisclosed amounts.
Here’s a rundown of the tech news we came across (as always, jokes aren’t previewed so you’ll need to check out the latest show to get our review and award-winning analysis *):
- Ethena is raising $ 2 million more on corporate training that isn’t terrible, and Zeta is raising $ 1.5 million for banking couples. Natasha has been killing the early beat lately.
- How it can get increasingly difficult to analyze seed data from Alex’s desk and why VC data is tricky from Danny’s in general. We discuss whether directional data is useful and why the limited number could have a cultural impact on the signal.
- Reddit raises $ 250 million but doesn’t tell us who the investors are and what exactly the money is bringing in. Even so, the company has been quite a year to date, so capital comes at an interesting time.
- Justo, a Mexico-based online grocery store, is raising $ 65 million as the pandemic continues to transform the way we live and shop.
- DoorDash buys a salad robot that brings Natasha nostalgia and Danny trouble.
- SoftBank’s inverted J-Curve thesis is a must have for listening and reading.
- And from the world of dating, a big M&A deal that caught our attention and the latest from the Bumble IPO.
Long-time equity producer Chris Gates is back next week, which means our biggest crew will ever help put the show together. And in other good news, there will be more justice than ever for you to hear. Coming soon.
Equity declines every Monday at 7:00 a.m. PST and as fast as possible on Thursday afternoon. So subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all casts.
* OK, so not yet award-winning. But soon, because manifestation works.