Say ‘fromage’! French startup PhotoRoom captures $19M Sequence A • TechCrunch

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Good day, pricey crunchers! We hope you’ve had a peaceable weekend and that you just had been in a position to keep away from social media for a couple of days. LOL Who’re we kidding? We’ve all been glued to the slow-moving, painful, Elon-catalyzed hen crash over at Twitter. Now, if solely Mastodon would name its posts one thing apart from “toots,” we would be capable to get behind these. Within the meantime, come say whats up to us on Mastodon!

A lot love from Christine (@ChristineHall@mastodon.social) and Haje (@Haje@mastodon.social). And, provided that these social handles don’t precisely roll off the tongue, we’ll in all probability return to linking to our Twitter accounts tomorrow. We’re nothing if not creatures of behavior, in spite of everything.

The TechCrunch High 3

• Prepare to your close-up: PhotoRoom, a photo-editing app for e-commerce sellers that allows customers to take away the background behind objects, has attracted 40 million app downloads and now raised $19 million, Romain experiences.
• Twitter desires you again: Should you had been lately laid off from Twitter, would you come? Ivan writes that after shedding half of its workers, the social media big is reportedly compiling an inventory of people that may very well be requested to come back again. Higher learn the superb print on that rehiring contract.
• Placing the “tremendous” in tremendous app: Organizing all of the sides of your life in a single app appears to be fairly well-liked, and Yassir is proof of that. The Africa-based tremendous app, providing ride-hailing, meals and grocery supply and funds, grabbed $150 million. Tage has extra.

Startups and VC

Evidently, the downturn hasn’t soured buyers on the journey business. Journey reserving startup Hopper at the moment introduced that it closed a $96 million follow-on funding from Capital One, bringing the corporate’s complete raised to shut to $730 million, Kyle experiences. The recent money will likely be put towards a number of efforts, CEO and co-founder Frederic Lalonde stated in a press launch, together with supporting Hopper’s new social commerce initiatives.

Wish to begin a DAO? It’s not that tough. Wish to be a part of a DAO? It’s even simpler, however there are a number of steps to get linked. A few of these steps are daunting. Matt is right here to assist, and he’s invited Alex Taub and considered one of his buyers to study extra about how beginning and onboarding for a DAO is about to develop into lots simpler, at the least if they’ve one thing to do with it. Tune in to our subsequent episode of TechCrunch Stay on Wednesday to listen to from Alex and investor Karin Klein from Bloomberg Beta.

A smattering extra:

Pricey Sophie: How can I keep within the US if I’ve been laid off?

Pricey Sophie,

I used to be laid off and I’m on an H-1B. I’ve sufficient financial savings to outlive for some time. What ought to I do if I’ve been let go from my job? I’m on an H-1B, have an accredited I-140, and an I-797 that expires in March 2024.

If I’ve to go away the U.S., can my present I-797 be transferred to my subsequent employer? Are there any points I ought to concentrate on?

— Upended & Unemployed

Three extra from the TC+ workforce:

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup groups get forward of the pack. You may join right here. Use code “DC” for a 15% low cost on an annual subscription!

Large Tech Inc.

Romain has your take a look at the Devialet Mania, a $790 high-end transportable speaker. And he truly makes use of the time period “transportable” flippantly as a result of it weighs 5 kilos, so extra like a speaker you’ll be able to decide up and alter rooms with, not one you carry round in a backpack.

Enterprise marriage is within the air, with Ouster and Velodyne agreeing to merge. Rebecca writes that this transfer “alerts consolidation within the lidar business” and likewise describes the background and what led as much as this.

Prepared for 5 extra?

• That’s a variety of cryptocurrency: The U.S. Division of Justice stated it seized $3.36 billion in cryptocurrency from James Zhong, who Jacquelyn experiences is accused of unlawfully acquiring that enormous chunk from the darkish net.
• Recreation on: Paul updates us on the completion of the $4.4 billion merger of Unity and ironSource. Collectively, the businesses are constructing a platform for the event and monetization of video games.
• Flocking to one thing new: Boosted by all of the Twitter drama over the previous week, folks have been looking out for one more place to get pleasure from social media. Mastodon has been one of many benefactors, reaching 1 million lively month-to-month customers, Kyle experiences.
• All the costs which might be match to put up: Airbnb is tweaking its search so that it’ll quickly present costs inclusive of all charges in search outcomes, Ivan writes.
• Say farewell: Over the weekend, Lauren had a narrative about HBO canceling “Westworld.”