For the fifth week, Ukraine still battles on. Again, we are reassured and encouraged in the way the world, and especially those in tech, has stood up and made themselves counted.
Scroll down and you’ll see various ways that people have supported Ukraine, and ways you can support right now 🇺🇦
The Grapevine Newsflash 🔥
11 tech & startup stories in 139 super short seconds.
🍎 Apple’s Next Fintech play? Apple has acquired UK Open Banking startup Credit Kudos for a reported $150m. Credit Kudos has built technology to use Open Banking data to make better decision on lending. The rumours here are that this tech may be used to further bolster Apple’s card product in the UK & Europe. Read more here.
💸 A New Crypto Fund! Katie Haun, former Coinbase board member, A16z partner and creator of the first US ‘crypto task force’ has started a VC fund to invest in crypto. Haun Ventures has raised $1.5bn to invest in crypto and web3. Read more here.
🌏 The Real Metaverse? Yuga Labs, the makers behind Bored Ape Yacht Club (one of the most hyped NFT collections) has raised $450m to build an NFT metaverse. This is the largest round for an NFT company to date. Their mission? To create “Otherside” - a decentralised digital world enabled by NFTs.
💰 The State of SaaS. Sifted have written a pretty interesting article where they interviewed seven founders about the future of software-as-a-service. Have a read here.
🤔 Netflix Password Sharing? Netflix may put an end to sharing a single account across multiple households. How? Although it’s not super clear, it looks like you may have to pay a small amount to share your password with other households. Commercially, this probably makes sense. Read more here.
🔎 ‘Google of Russia’. Rumours are swirling that Yandex, which is often called the ‘Google of Russia’, may face some tough sanctions. The result? Yandex is in discussions to sell. If you’re interested in Russian censorship and tech, read this interesting Techcrunch article here.
😎 Hackers Hack Russia! Online hacking group Anonymous claims to have broken into the Russian Central Bank. They also claim they’ve hacked into a number of unsecured printers across the country to print out ‘anti-propaganda’ messages about the war. Read more here.
🥷 Blockchain Burglars Hackers stole more than $600m in cryptocurrency last week in what has been deemed the largest ever crypto hack. Investigations are undergoing but the tokens were stolen from the Ronin Network, the bridge chain that powers Axie Infinity. Not sure what Axie Infinity is? Read this article about the blockchain-based game.
🛍️ The Everything Company! Andy Jassy, the CEO on Amazon, has done a great interview with Time magazine where he lays out the future of Amazon and their mission to become the everything company. Read the fully story here.
🚗 The Future Arrives Driverless cars are finally here… if you live in San Francisco or Phoenix. Waymo, the Google spinoff, has begun onboarding non-employees to its service. The cars can operate 24/7 and do not have human supervisors behind the wheel.
🎧 Pandemic Headphones They’ve done it again… or have they? Dyson’s first step into wearable tech is a pair of over-ear headphones with a built-in air purifier. If you thought people looked weird wearing Airpods, just check these out.
🇺🇦 Supporting Ukraine 🇺🇦
We’re incredibly saddened at the current situation unfolding in Ukraine. We want to actively state that we stand by the people of Ukraine and are encouraging all our readers to donate via RedCross here.
£10 could provide a hygiene kit to a family of five, giving them supplies to stay healthy for a month
£20 could provide five blankets to families taking shelter
£33 could provide 40 chlorine tablets to ensure that families have access to clean, safe water
£72 could provide a thermometer to help treat those who have fallen ill
£210 could provide a fully equipped first aid kit, including supplies, to a first aider treating those wounded
If you also want to help in other ways (e.g. joining a protest, hosting Ukrainians or support the cyber defence) then check this link.
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Shoot us an email at founders@onthegrapevine.co
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Over & Out,
Nick & Louis