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Lenskart acquires majority stake in eyewear brand Owndays in $400 million deal
Lenskart acquires majority stake in eyewear brand Owndays in $400 million deal

India's Lenskart is buying a majority stake in Japan's Owndays, the two firms said, creating one of Asia's biggest online retailers of eyewear. The firms did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but a person familiar with the matter said the merger values 32-year business Owndays at $400 million. The 12-year-old Bengaluru-headquartered startup is buying Owndays' shares from L Catterton, Mitsui and Principal Investments, the two firms said.

NFT giant OpenSea reports major email data breach
NFT giant OpenSea reports major email data breach

OpenSea, the popular NFT marketplace that hit a colossal $13 billion valuation in January, is warning users of email phishing after a data breach. A staff at Customer.io, an email vendor contracted by OpenSea, misused their employee access to download and share email addresses of OpenSea's users and newsletter subscribers with an unauthorized external party, the world's largest NFT marketplace said Wednesday night. The scale of the security breach appears massive.

Black Swan analyzes social media to predict which products will be successful
Black Swan analyzes social media to predict which products will be successful

Consumer packaged goods companies -- think PepsiCo or Nabisco -- face steep challenges from the rising cost of living and distribution. As inflation continues unabated, consumers' disposable income isn't going as far as it used to while products are becoming more expensive to ship. While founded long before the pandemic, Steve King says that Black Swan Data, the data science and tech company that he helped co-launch in 2011, is well-suited to the current environment.

Unity lays off 4 percent of its workforce to realign its resources
Unity lays off 4 percent of its workforce to realign its resources

Over 300 employees have reportedly lost their jobs so far.

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video's Watch Party feature is now available on smart TVs and streaming devices

Amazon Prime Video's Watch Party feature, which lets you watch a movie or a TV show together with your friends remotely, is now available on smart TVs, streaming devices like Roku, and gaming consoles like Xbox or PlayStation. Before this expansion, the feature was available on desktops, Fire TV devices, and on the Prime Video app on iOS and Android. Now, you can watch titles with your friends through almost all kinds of devices that support Prime Video.

A US-backed global task force says it has frozen more than $330 billion of assets from Russian oligarchs and the country
A US-backed global task force says it has frozen more than $330 billion of assets from Russian oligarchs and the country's central bank in 100 days

Yachts seized include the Amadea, a $300 million vessel linked to Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, and the $90 million Tango.

North Korea may be behind new $100 million cryptocurrency hack, experts say
North Korea may be behind new $100 million cryptocurrency hack, experts say

North Korean hackers are most likely behind an attack last week that stole as much as $100 million in cryptocurrency from a U.S. company, three digital...

US Hypersonic Missile Fails in Test in Fresh Setback for Program
US Hypersonic Missile Fails in Test in Fresh Setback for Program

(Bloomberg) -- A flight test of a hypersonic missile system in Hawaii ended in failure due to a problem that took place after ignition, the Department of...

Google sign-up a
Google sign-up a 'fast track to surveillance', consumer groups say

Ten European consumer organisations join forces to launch complaints to privacy and data regulators

Y Combinator announces Launch YC, a way for its portfolio to shout to the public
Y Combinator announces Launch YC, a way for its portfolio to shout to the public

Y Combinator has announced Launch YC, a platform where people can sort accelerator startups by industry, batch and launch date to discover new products. The famed accelerator, which has seeded the likes of Instacart, Coinbase, OpenSea and Dropbox, invites users to vote for newly launched startups "to help them climb up the leaderboard, try out product demos, and learn about the founding team." In a blog post announcing the news, Y Combinator said that the program has existed for years but only internally for YC founders.

How Netflix, Hollywood
How Netflix, Hollywood's most innovative disruptor, is facing disruption with layoffs, streaming competition, and subscriber loss

Since Netflix began making original shows in 2013, the streaming giant has upended show business with its ambitious innovation. Now it's being disrupted by competitors like Disney+, has lost subscribers, and is making layoffs.

Get hype for the first images from NASA
Get hype for the first images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope

Very soon, humanity will get to view the deepest images of the universe that have ever been captured. In two weeks, the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) -- NASA's super expensive, super powerful deep space optical imager -- will release its first full-color images, and agency officials today suggested that they could just be the beginning. "This is farther than humanity has ever looked before," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a media briefing Wednesday (he was calling in, as he had tested positive for COVID-19 the night before).

Daily Crunch: Indian edtech giant Byju
Daily Crunch: Indian edtech giant Byju's delays $1B acquisition payment, lays off hundreds of workers

Hits keep coming: Byju's capital woes are spilling over into its ability to make payments for a $1 billion acquisition of physical coaching center provider Aakash, Manish reports. This follows some layoffs the company made at online learning platforms Toppr and WhiteHat Jr. What gives with these layoffs?: And if you were wondering where all of these 2022 layoffs are coming from, Alex writes it has little to do with the economic correction we saw in early 2020, but instead was touched off by a crappy public market.

Google
Google's 'deceptive' account sign-up process targeted with GDPR complaints

Consumer rights groups in Europe have filed a new series of privacy complaints against Google -- accusing the advertising giant of deceptive design around the account creation process which they say steers users into agreeing to extensive and invasive processing of their data. Hence the consumer groups' beef -- if deceptive design by Google is tricking users into accepting its tracking. The complaints highlight how more privacy-friendly options -- described by Google as "manual personalization" -- require users to take five steps and ten clicks ("grappling with information that is unclear, incomplete, and misleading", as they put it); whereas it offers a one-click "Express...

Substack cuts 13 jobs to avoid raising more venture capital
Substack cuts 13 jobs to avoid raising more venture capital

The newsletter platform Substack laid off 13 employees today, mostly in HR and writer support roles. Co-founder and CEO Chris Best informed the company after holding meetings with the affected employees. Like several other companies that boomed in a time when venture capital flowed more freely, Substack must figure out how to survive in a hostile economic time.

Xerox CEO John Visentin has died unexpectedly after a long illness
Xerox CEO John Visentin has died unexpectedly after a long illness

The CEO of Xerox, John Visentin, died unexpectedly on Tuesday, the company announced Wednesday. He had been CEO since 2018.

Big tech
Big tech's abortion travel policies do nothing for its contractor workforce

Tech companies cannot promise to build the future while vast numbers of their workforces are trapped in 1972.

Elon Musk:
Elon Musk: 'A Recession Is Inevitable' - Here Are 3 Investments To Keep You Afloat If He's Right

During a video appearance at the Qatar Economic Forum, Billionaire Elon Musk shared his views and thoughts regarding Dogecoin (Crypto: DOGE), Tesla Inc...

Prime Day is coming soon and Amazon has early tech deals from Apple, Samsung and Sony
Prime Day is coming soon and Amazon has early tech deals from Apple, Samsung and Sony

If you can't wait for Prime Day 2022 savings, Amazon has early tech deals on laptops, headphones and TVs available now.

Bird CEO Travis VanderZanden steps down as president
Bird CEO Travis VanderZanden steps down as president

Shared micromobility company Bird's board of directors has appointed Shane Torchiana as president of the company, replacing the company's CEO and founder Travis VanderZanden. VanderZanden, who previously served as the chief operating officer (COO) at ride-hailing company Lyft, will stay on as CEO of Bird and chair of the board of directors. The departure of VanderZanden and the election of Torchiana comes a few days after Bird received a warning from the New York Stock Exchange for its too-low stock price.

Still feeling stressed and sad amid COVID? New report says you're certainly not alone.

Gallup report shows that we're feeling even more stressed and sad during year two of the pandemic than we were in 2020.

'Buying a $5 dress isn't a victimless crime': Thrifting takes over TikTok as young Americans look for alternatives to fast-fashion brands like Shein and H&M

Shopping less - and with intention - is the best way to go sustainable without blowing your budget.

60-Year Wall Street Veteran Says S&P 500 Will Sink to 3,100
60-Year Wall Street Veteran Says S&P 500 Will Sink to 3,100

(Bloomberg) -- Not many industry experts would shrug off a 35% drop for the S&P 500, but six-decade Wall Street veteran George Ball says a fall of that magnitude would be a normal adjustment.Most Read from BloombergTrump's Final Scene Didn't Go According to ScriptDemocrats Weigh Paring Biden Tax Hike to Win Over ManchinVenice Plans to Start Weeding Out Cheap TouristsFauci Suffers Covid Symptom Rebound After Course of Pfizer's PaxlovidDisquiet Over the Housing Market Is Only GrowingBall, chairman

The company behind Pokémon Go, Niantic lays off 8% of staff and cancels 4 projects
The company behind Pokémon Go, Niantic lays off 8% of staff and cancels 4 projects

Niantic also cancelled four upcoming projects: Heavy Metal, a Transformers game that had already entered beta testing, Hamlet, a collaboration with the theater company behind "Sleep No More," and two other projects called Blue Sky and Snowball. By comparison, the smash-hit Pokémon Go earned $500 million in just its first two months, making it one of the fastest-growing mobile games ever. Not every game will be as monumental as Pokémon Go, but new games probably should earn more than mere fractions of a percent of the revenue from Niantic's most popular app.

Watch Virgin Orbit
Watch Virgin Orbit's 'Straight Up' launch of Space Force satellites live tonight

Virgin Orbit is ready to launch the "Straight Up" mission this evening at 10 PM PDT - yes, it's named after the singer's 1988 hit - and you can watch it live below. The mission will ferry seven experimental satellites to orbit for the United States Space Force, demonstrating both new hardware (a new satellite bus and radio communications technology) and software (regarding satellite monitoring and studying climate change). "Our hardware is in top-notch condition, and the team is performing exceptionally, as we prepare for our first night-time launch," Tyler Grinnell, Virgin Orbit's Vice President of Test, Flight, and Launch, said in a press release.

Modsy shuts down design services, cutting roles and disrupting orders
Modsy shuts down design services, cutting roles and disrupting orders

Modsy, an online interior design services company, has ceased to offer design services, a move that comes at the cost of the team behind the effort and customers who have orders in flux. The potential acquirer is not known.

What downturn? The total cloud market reached $126B in Q1 2022
What downturn? The total cloud market reached $126B in Q1 2022

Imagine for a second that you could roll up the entire cloud market, everything from SaaS to infrastructure to platform, CDNs (content delivery networks), managed private clouds, data center rentals -- everything. Well, the folks at Synergy Research were kind enough to do the work for us and the figure the firm came up with was $126 billion for Q1 2022, up 26% over the prior year. Another major tranche of $54 billion came from three major categories that Synergy follows encompassing managed private cloud services, enterprise SaaS and CDN, leaving $28 billion divided up among the remaining categories -- still nothing to sneeze at, mind you.

The iPhone at 15: How Apple
The iPhone at 15: How Apple's iconic smartphone changed the world forever and how it's evolved since 2007

Apple's first iPhone set the stage for the modern smartphone. Here's how the iPhone has evolved, from the original model to the iPhone 13 Pro.

Disneyland employed a pro wrestler accused of sexual harassment
Disneyland employed a pro wrestler accused of sexual harassment

Former pro wrestler Joey Ryan, who has faced several accusations of sexual misconduct, worked briefly on the Jungle Cruise before he was dismissed.

Get better views for Prime Day with these TV deals from Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart
Get better views for Prime Day with these TV deals from Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart

Celebrate Prime Day 2022 with these amazing TV deals on dazzling screens available at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart and more retailers.

Niantic is laying off about 90 employees and canceling four projects
Niantic is laying off about 90 employees and canceling four projects

'Pokémon Go' isn't going anywhere, though.

Formula E
Formula E's Gen3 car will make its race debut on January 14th

Formula E's Gen3 all-electric car will make its race debut on January 14th, 2023 in Mexico City.

Crypto exchange CoinFlex says Roger Ver - aka
Crypto exchange CoinFlex says Roger Ver - aka 'bitcoin Jesus' - is behind the underwater account that forced it to halt customer withdrawals

"He is denying that the debt pertains to him and so we felt the need to clarify to the public that yes - the debt is 100% related to his account," CoinFlex's...

'Hocus Pocus 2' just dropped a new teaser trailer-here's what you need to know about the sequel

'Hocus Pocus' is finally getting a sequel on Disney Plus. 'Hocus Pocus 2' will release in September 2022 and star the original cast of witches.

How can I
How can I 'quiet' my portfolio? Here are 3 top dividend stocks for stable cash return and inflation protection - one of them even offers an incredible 14.9% yield

Look beyond the popular growth stocks. A healthy stream of income awaits.

'Crossy Road' creator Andy Sum's next game will arrive on July 20th

'TombStar' is a space Western shooter inspired by 'Enter the Gungeon.'

The layoffs at Tesla show that white-collar workers are screwed, predicts hedge funder famous from
The layoffs at Tesla show that white-collar workers are screwed, predicts hedge funder famous from 'The Big Short'

There's a surplus of white-collar workers in America and more layoffs are coming, warns Michael Burry of Scion Asset Management.

Amazon is limiting purchases of Plan B
Amazon is limiting purchases of Plan B 'morning-after' pills to 3 units a week amid a spike in demand after the overturn of Roe v Wade

Amazon says it's temporarily capping purchases of emergency contraceptives to 3 units per week, joining other retailers that have seen a demand spike.

PS Plus games for July include
PS Plus games for July include 'Crash 4' and 'Man of Medan'

Multiplayer looter shooter 'Arcadegeddon' rounds out the lineup for the Essential tier.

Oil is likely to hit $200 a barrel under the disastrous G7 plan to cap Russian prices, an SEB analyst says
Oil is likely to hit $200 a barrel under the disastrous G7 plan to cap Russian prices, an SEB analyst says

The G7's potential plan to cap Russian energy prices "sounds like a recipe for disaster right now," SEB analyst Bjarne Schieldrop said.

Cybersecurity startups, once the VC darling, hammered by layoffs
Cybersecurity startups, once the VC darling, hammered by layoffs

On the face of it, the cybersecurity sector is doing just fine. Demand for cybersecurity products remains high as cyberattacks continue to blight both public and private-sector businesses, and investor enthusiasm for all things cyber-related remains strong. On Friday, IronNet, a Virginia-based network security company, announced plans to let go of 55 workers, or 17% of its workforce, less than a year after filing to go public.

Google and the Internet Archive are the first customers to pay for commercial access to Wikipedia content
Google and the Internet Archive are the first customers to pay for commercial access to Wikipedia content

Google is going to start paying for its use of Wikipedia information to help power its knowledge panels in Google Search. The search giant, along with the digital library the Internet Archive, are the first customers for the still relatively new commercial product launched by the Wikimedia Foundation -- the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia.

'Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope' aims to be a more modern tactical adventure

In Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, Mario et al. (and their Rabbid equivalents) face a shared threat, called Cursa. The blended worlds of Mario and Rabbids are being contorted by darkness, but this time it's a little more galactic.

'Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration' brings together more than 90 games this fall

With Atari turning 50 this year, the brand's current owner plans to celebrate with a collection that brings together five decades of games.

Crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried says more exchanges will fail as the industry faces a brutal downturn
Crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried says more exchanges will fail as the industry faces a brutal downturn

Crypto exchange FTX has lent money to floundering players in the industry, but its CEO says that many others lack a "business left to be saved."

Shopify Shares Slide After Completing 10-for-1 Stock Split
Shopify Shares Slide After Completing 10-for-1 Stock Split

(Bloomberg) -- Shopify Inc. shares fell after the Canadian e-commerce giant completed a 10-for-1 split of its common stock on Wednesday.Most Read from...

York Harbour Metals Announces Closing of $11.46 Million Private Placement of Units and Flow-Through Units
York Harbour Metals Announces Closing of $11.46 Million Private Placement of Units and Flow-Through Units

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2022) - YORK HARBOUR METALS INC. (TSXV: YORK) (OTC Pink: YORKF) (FSE: 5DE0) (the "Company" or "York")...

A bundle with the Echo Show 5 and a Ring Doorbell is only $85 for Prime members
A bundle with the Echo Show 5 and a Ring Doorbell is only $85 for Prime members

You'd effectively be getting the smart doorbell for free.

Helios wants to tame the microservices development chaos
Helios wants to tame the microservices development chaos

Helios, a Tel Aviv-based startup that wants to make it easier for developers to understand, troubleshoot and test their distributed systems during the development phase, today announced its general availability and that it has raised a $5 million seed round co-led by Entrée Capital and Amiti VC. A number of angel investors, including Benny Schnaider, Guy Podjarny (co-founder of Snyk), Adi Sharabani and Yair Amit (co-founders of Skycure) and Guy Fighel (GM at New Relic), also participated in this round.

Understanding the not-so-fine print of 2022 term sheets
Understanding the not-so-fine print of 2022 term sheets

The question was inspired by a recent story by Becca Szkutak - one of TC's newest venture reporters - about how deal terms look different in a downturn. Expect a tactical episode all about different terms that may start sneaking into term sheets, the cost benefit analysis of each, and why down rounds aren't the end of the world.

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