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Hello and welcome to Daily Crunch for Monday, February 7, 2022! Welcome back to the working week, team. Here’s hoping you got some sleep over the weekend because we’re still in a busy tech cycle. That means lots of news from technology companies big and small.
But before we dive into the news, TechCrunch Live kicks off Wednesday with Heartbeat Health and Kindred Ventures. And Equity is live this Thursday, which should be a jam. Both events are free and likely to be good fun. We’re doing a lot of live stuff this year, both virtual and IRL. Get hype! – Alex
TechCrunch Top 3
- Google sued over alleged anticompetitive behavior: U.S. mega-tech companies are taking stick in Europe over regulatory issues right and left. The latest is Google, sued by PriceRunner, alleging that the U.S. concern “ has continued to violate competition law in relation to product search” after being hit with a multibillion fine back in 2017. PriceRunner is seeking “at least €2.1 billion” in damages, we report.
- Wag thinks you’re heading back to work: Remember Wag? It became famous back when SoftBank’s Vision Fund poured hundreds of millions of dollars into its operations. Then the pandemic hit, trashing the company’s results. Now it’s on the bounce, and gunning for a public debut via a SPAC. Baked into its future results is an anticipation that we’re going back to the office — and will therefore require dog-walkers. Do you agree?
- ElasticRun raises $300M, confirming TechCrunch scoop: In early January, TechCrunch reported that ElasticRun was raising a huge round. That was confirmed today with the Indian software business that serves small stores announcing its latest investment. The company is now a unicorn. Who led the round? SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with “Goldman Sachs and existing investor Prosus Ventures” also taking part.
Startups/VC
What’s the best way to make money off the blockchain economy? One way is to buy into well-known coins – bitcoin, ether – and wait. You can also day-trade or flip NFTs. Some companies, however, are betting that building infra for the crypto space is going to be the real golden ticket. Investors appear to agree, with Polygon raising $450 million at a $13 billion valuation as it “expands its portfolio of Ethereum scaling solutions and works to attract the larger developer ecosystem.”
Who else is in the market? It’s a big space, so don’t take the following comparisons too seriously, but Fireblocks is raising big sums as well, Forte is in …….