Uber introduces half a dozen new features, Samsung announces a new flagship laptop and Zomato files to go public. This is your daily crisis for April 28, 2021.
The big story: Uber adds vaccine booking
Uber today announced half a dozen new features, including the ability to schedule a vaccine appointment with Walgreens and then reserve a ride to get there.
Further additions are a valet service for dropping off rental cars, reserved rides at airports and the option of picking up groceries during a trip. In an interview, CPO Sundeep Jain suggested that these features are part of the company’s main focus for the past year, “helping users walk and helping users get up”.
The technology giants
Here’s Samsung’s new flagship line of laptops, the Galaxy Book Pro – These Windows computers continue the company’s drive to blur some of the productivity lines between its Galaxy PC and mobile offerings.
Facebook hides posts calling for PM Modi’s resignation in India – Facebook has temporarily hidden all posts with the hashtag “ResignModi” in India, despite a spokesman saying those posts have now been restored.
Netflix is launching its shuffle feature, now called “Play Something,” for users around the world. This should make it easier to find something to look at when you can’t make a decision on your own.
Startups, Finance and Venture Capital
Alchemy Raises $ 80M on a $ 505M valuation as “AWS for Blockchain” – The company describes itself as the backend technology behind the blockchain industry.
MessageBird to Acquire SparkPost for $ 600 million with a $ 800 million Series C expansion. The acquisition gives MessageBird a stronger foothold in the US market.
Splitwise is raising $ 20 million in Series A to help everyone around the world distribute the spend. Splitwise aims to reduce the stress and awkwardness that money creates for relationships of all kinds.
Advice and analysis of extra crunch
Zomato Juice: The Indian Unicorn’s planned IPO could boost regional startup liquidity – Zomato’s debut could lead to a surge in liquidity in India.
Dear Sophie, what’s the latest at DACA? – The latest edition of Dear Sophie, the column of advice that answers questions about immigration at work in technology companies.
Fund managers can use ESG-related data to generate insights. Georges Archibald of the Apex Group argues that environmental, social and governance insights can provide a treasure trove of alternative data.
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Everything else
CES will return to Las Vegas in 2022 – around 1,000 companies have committed to return, according to a press release.
India’s entrepreneurs and investors are mobilizing to help the nation fight COVID-19, and so can you. For a week, India reported more than 300,000 new infections a day, around half of all cases worldwide.
Porsche relies on a fully electric Taycan car – the Porsche Taycan 4 Cross Turismo offers a mixture of practicality with a lot of power and speed for less than 100,000 US dollars.
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