The Venn diagram between crypto and OnlyFans
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch's venture-capital-focused podcast (now on Twitter!), where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.
For the first time in donkey's years, we didn't have our full crew this week. Instead, we had just Natasha and Chris and myself — we had to survive without Danny while he took the week "off" to "relax."
But our depleted ranks did not mean that news was waiting for us to reassemble. Indeed, there was a mass of stuff to get through:
Atlanta-based Presso raised $1.6 million for its in-unit dry cleaning tech, which we thought was neat.
OpenSensors raised $4 million for its air-monitoring tech after a history of bootstrapping.
Lantern, which helps folks plan for their death, is having a big year. It raised $1.4 million.
Public raised $65 million, the same week that Robinhood came under fire by the Massachusetts securities group, and the SEC. Robinhood will pay $65 million to settle the SEC's charges without admitting wrongdoing.
In the world of product, we chatted about Substack's new Reader service, which we seem to like. (We also chatted about this Taylor Lorenz piece.)
It was also prime season to chat a little about what's new in the Bitcoin world, and take a peek at the stock market's recent over-success. Roblox, see you in 2021.
And for everyone who made it to the end, here are the pieces from Axios and The Information that we mentioned.
Before we say goodbye, our very own Natasha is taking on Startups Weekly, a long-time TechCrunch Newsletter. Subscribe to it for her debut issue, and while you're at it, check out Alex's The Exchange, which goes out the same day and means the Equity conversation can continue well into your weekends.
Equity drops every Monday at 7:00 a.m. PST and Thursday afternoon as fast as we can get it out, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.
UiPath files confidential IPO paperwork with SEC
Tencent-led consortium will lift stake in Universal Music to 20%
WhatsApp delays enforcement of privacy terms by 3 months, following backlash
Desktop Metal buys fellow 3D printing company EnvisionTEC for $300M
Apple is extending Apple TV+ trials again
Lessons from Top Hat's acquisition spree