Techmeme
February 25, 2021, 11:15 AM

Top News

Alex Leary / Wall Street Journal:
Biden signs an EO mandating a 100-day review of supply chains, including for semiconductors and rare-earth metals, amid chip shortages  —  The president signed an executive order with the aim of eventually increasing domestic production of critical materials
Daniel Van Boom / CNET:
Australia passes news bargaining code that requires Facebook, Google, and other digital platforms pay local media outlets and publishers for their content  —  Australia on Wednesday passed a new media law that had generated noisy pushback from internet giants Google and Facebook …
Jeff John Roberts / Decrypt:
Coinbase files its S-1, reveals profit of $322M in 2020 on $1.2B in revenue, up from a loss of $30M in 2019 on $533M in revenue  —  The recent Bitcoin bull run helped Coinbase pull in a profit of $322 million on revenues of over $1.2 billion in 2020, putting the cryptocurrency giant …
Richard Lawler / Engadget:
ViacomCBS says Paramount+ will cost $5/month with ads and $10/month without ads; the ad tier will be available in June while the ad-free tier starts on March 4  —  ViacomCBS has a ‘mountain of content’ on the way to streaming, including a ‘Halo’ series and ‘Beavis and Butthead.’
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
India issues tougher rules for tech firms and streaming services like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Netflix over resolving user complaints and more  —  India announced sweeping rules to regulate social media firms, streaming services, and digital news outlets, joining a handful of other nations …
Megan Graham / CNBC:
Facebook launches a TV, radio, and digital ad campaign in support of personalized ads called Good Ideas Deserve to be Found, ahead of Apple's IDFA changes  —  - Facebook is launching a new ad campaign called “Good Ideas Deserve to be Found,” which makes a case for personalized advertising.
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Tech retailer Fry's Electronics announces it will cease operations effective immediately, blaming industry changes and the pandemic  —  Your best buys are no longer at Fry's, guaranteed  —  Fry's Electronics, one of the last big brick-and-mortar electronics store chains in the United States …
Rachel Lerman / Washington Post:
Sources: Parler investor Rebekah Mercer, who controlled 2 of 3 board seats in early February, is increasingly exerting control since the founding CEO's exit  —  Mercer, whose family also invested in right-wing news site Breitbart, controls two of the three board seats at the company
More: Fortune
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Otter.ai, which offers an AI-based transcription service, raises $50M Series B, including $10M in convertible notes, led by Spectrum Equity  —  AI transcription startup Otter.ai today announced it has raised $50 million in a series B round that includes $10 million in convertible notes and was led by Spectrum Equity.
More: TechCrunch
Lauren Kaori Gurley / VICE:
Amazon is sending postal mail to warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama urging them to “VOTE NO” on unionization, and has also pushed anti-union ads on Twitch  —  A mysterious new USPS mailbox has appeared on Amazon property amid a historic union drive in Bessemer, Alabama.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Terminus, a B2B marketing service that combines sales and marketing functions, raises $90M Series C, sources say at a valuation of around $400M  —  Sales and marketing are often considered a single category on a business plan, but ironically, when it comes to building apps and services to help with them …
Yogita Khatri / The Block:
Sorare, an ethereum-powered marketplace for creating and trading football NFTs, raises $50M Series A led by Benchmark  —  Quick Take  — NFT marketplace Sorare has raised $50 million in Series A.  — The round was led by Benchmark, with participation from Accel, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian …
Rafael Frankel / About Facebook:
Facebook says it is banning all Myanmar military and military-controlled entities from Facebook and Instagram, and ads from military-linked commercial entities  —  Myanmar military banned from Facebook and Instagram with immediate effect.  —  Today, we are banning the remaining Myanmar military …
Maggie Fitzgerald / CNBC:
GameStop shares closed up nearly 104% on Wednesday, halting twice for volatility; GameStop said on Tuesday its CFO will resign  —  - GameStop announced Tuesday that its chief financial officer Jim Bell will resign on March 26.  — Sources familiar with the matter told Business Insider …
Bloomberg:
FCC reveals that for its 5G licenses auction, Verizon spent the most of any carrier with $45.5B, followed by AT&T with $23.4B, and T-Mobile with $9.3B  —  - AT&T is second at $23 billion in bids, followed by T-Mobile  — FCC releases results of so-called C-band airwaves sale
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Armorblox, which protects enterprise communications using AI, raises $30M Series B led by Next47, bringing its total raised to $46.5M  —  Armorblox, a cybersecurity startup using natural language understanding to protect enterprise communications, today announced that it raised $30 million in series B venture capital funding.
Katie Roof / Bloomberg:
BetterUp, which helps clients provide employees with career coaches and mental health counseling, raises $125M Series D at a $1.73B valuation  —  - $125 million Series D funding round led by Iconiq Growth  — BetterUp offers coaching, counseling as well as mentorship
More: Reuters
Michael McSweeney / The Block:
Optimism, which plans to help scale the Ethereum blockchain with a Layer 2 protocol, raises $25M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz  —  Optimism, a startup focused on the scalability of the Ethereum blockchain network, has raised a $25 million Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz.
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Stockholm-based Memmo.me, which allows users to pay celebrities for personalized video messages, raises $10M Series A  —  Memmo.me, a startup allowing users to pay celebrities for personalized video messages, is announcing that it has raised $10 million in Series A funding.

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