Business

Uber has been in trouble for a while. The company was built on a bro-tastic, anything goes attitude that goes way back to God View and the targeted harassment of journalists. In short, it was built on an original sin that was never washed clean. There are two takeaways circulated …

Y Combinator is officially adding three new team members to its roster this morning. Gustaf Alstromer, formerly product leader of Airbnb’s growth team, is joining YC as a partner. Meanwhile Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky is taking a visiting partner role and Jocelyn Robancho is coming on board to assist with organizing YC’s startup …

The TechCrunch Summer Party is a thing of tradition and we hope you can make it out this year. As in years past we’ll gather on the spacious grounds of August Capital in Menlo Park and enjoy an evening of cocktails and the spirit of entrepreneurship. The deck around August …

I’ve been visiting Central Europe almost every year and almost every year my buddy Jack Deneut has been setting up PragueCrunch, our kind-of-semi-annual celebration of Czech startups. And it’s happening again this year! The event is on July 13, 2017 at Riegrovy Sady Beer Garden. You can RSVP here. We’ll …

Ever since I wrote about the Midwest last year I’ve been keeping my eyes on Columbus. I decided to hold a small pitch-off to meet some of the startups I saw last time I had driven through. The pitch-off was a success and a company called Wyzzer took first place …

Mobike, one of two fast-emerging on-demand bike rental services, has landed $600 million in new funding as it seeks to expand its business outside of China. Bike rentals are shaping up to be the first global tech industry that was born in China. The principle is simple: bikes are fitted …

500 Startups has announced the close of its fund for Japan, more than 18 months after it was first unveiled. The effort is backed by the Japanese government, which has chipped in as an LP via its Cool Japan Fund. (Yes, that really is the name of the fund, which …

Uber has confirmed that Emil Michael, one the company’s top executives, has left the company. Earlier today Michael sent an internal email to staff that he would be leaving the ride-hailing company, according to a report from Recode. Michael, who served as the company’s senior vice president of business, has …

Uber’s business is going through a period of turmoil in the U.S. right now, but Grab — its main rival in Southeast Asia — is under pressure itself after a driver in Malaysia was arrested on suspicion of raping a passenger he drove home via the ride-hailing service. Media in …

Timeular, the Austrian startup behind the neat Zei time-tracking device that we wrote about last year, has raised €1 million ($1.1 million) in funding to develop new productivity coaching tools to help you work smarter. The company is best known for the Zei, its eight-sided device that is Bluetooth-enabled and acts …