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H&R Block is now using IBM Watson to find tax deductions
Getting your taxes done is miserable. It’s complicated, time-consuming and costly — particularly for people whose financial situation requires them to seek help from tax professionals. The process is such a mess, even for said professionals, that H&R Block, one of the largest tax services providers, is partnering with IBM Watson to help make the process go more smoothly. Read More
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SoFi buys Zenbanx to offer banking and money transfer services to its users
Online lending firm SoFi announced today that it has acquired Zenbanx, a startup that offers banking, debit, payments and money transfer services to users online and through a mobile app. The combination of the two will allow SoFi to move deeper into the financial lives of its customers. While today it focuses on student-loan refinancing, mortgages and personal loans, integrating Zenbanx… Read More
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ForeScout Technologies filed confidentially for IPO
ForeScout has filed confidentially for an IPO, TechCrunch has confirmed. The security company has submitted its S-1 and will be unveiling it to the public closer to its debut. The IPO is likely to happen in the next few months, with an exact date yet-to-be-determined. The JOBS Act from 2012 made it so that the companies could work on revisions to their filings without public scrutiny. It has… Read More
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Yomoni raises $5.4 million for its automated portfolio management service
French startup Yomoni is a promising fintech startup operating robo-advisors. It means that you can give the company some of your savings, and the startup automatically manages a portfolio for you, buying and selling stocks, bonds and more. Yomoni just raised $5.4 million from existing investors Crédit Mutuel Arkéa and Iéna Venture (€5 million). The management team is also buying back some… Read More
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Korea’s AIM raises $1.6M for its mobile trading service
Seoul-based startup AIM has closed $1.6 million in seed funding to bring its artificial intelligence-powered app for financial investments to market in Korea, and potentially other parts of Asia. The fintech company has developed a system which works alongside existing investment institutions to allow users in Korea to make trades and investments via their smartphone. So rather than a… Read More
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Raising a $32M Series A, Knock seeks to stand out with new model for selling homes
Online real estate service Knock is finishing up a $32 million Series A round led by RRE Ventures. The new company, founded by former Trulia executives, promises to handle the details of home sales in exchange for the traditional six percent commissions. Unlike legacy sellers, though, Knock promises you market-rate returns on your house in advance. And if, for whatever reason, your… Read More
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Apple breaks iPhone sales record with 78.3 million units sold in the holiday quarter
With another big holiday quarter behind it, Apple saw revenues from its flagship iPhone product rise to $54.4 billion, up from $51.6 billion a year earlier. That revenue growth came as Apple reported units sold rose 5 percent to 78.3 million in its fiscal first quarter of 2017. That was a record for sales, and also beat analysts expectations by a couple of million. Wall Street forecast… Read More
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Apple shares up 3% after company beats earnings expectations
Apple’s latest quarter surpassed earnings expectations, sending the stock up about 3% in initial after-hours trading. Its fiscal first quarter of 2017 saw record earnings of $3.36 per share, well above the $3.21 forecast by Wall Street. Revenue also beat, coming in at $78.4 billion, versus the $77.3 analysts were predicting. Investors were pleased that the company sold 78.3 million… Read More
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Qvivr raises $5M to move beyond its all-in-one credit card
Qvivr, a Silicon Valley-based FinTech startup originally known for building the SWYP programmable credit card, has raised $5M in Series A funding. The funding was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from a large multinational Asian bank. The startup was founded in 2014 and originally launched with a pre-order campaign for a hardware product that would let users program all of their… Read More
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CB Insights: 3,358 tech exits in 2016, ‘unicorn births’ down 68%
We’ve kicked off 2017 with a surprise acquisition of what was planned to be the first big IPO of the year — Cisco snapping up AppDynamics for $3.7 billion, just days before its public listing — and what many believe will be an IPO filing for Snapchat’s parent Snap. But in contrast, it appears that 2016 represented a shift less frothy times. CB Insights has published… Read More
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Apple revenue could grow again thanks to the iPhone 7
Apple will report its holiday quarter earnings tomorrow. Once again, all eyes will be on the iPhone. The device now represents the vast majority of the company’s revenue. So anything that can affect iPhone sales is a big deal. And if you’ve been paying attention to Apple’s past earnings, you know that Apple has had a complicated year. In short, revenue has been down for… Read More
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Snap to list on New York Stock Exchange
Snap, the parent of Snapchat, will be listing on the New York Stock Exchange, TechCrunch has confirmed. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. This means that you can expect to see a big Snapchat banner on Wall Street and that executives will probably be ringing the opening bell when the company debuts, likely in March. The move sends the message that Snap wants its IPO… Read More
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Square encourages Apple Pay payments with processing credit
Square partnered with Apple for a promotion when customers use Apple Pay. Starting today, Square merchants won’t pay any processing fee for the first $12,000 in Apple Pay transactions — that represents around $350 in fees. In addition to this promotion, sellers can also get a free marketing kit (with Apple Pay stickers probably) and training materials to tell employees how Apple… Read More
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Fitbit to cut 6 percent of its staff following a disappointing Q4
As anticipated, wearable leader Fitbit kicked off the week by announcing a 6 percent reduction in global work force, following disappointing fourth quarter financials. The company will go into greater detail on today’s earnings call, but a preliminary statement issued this morning details the loss of 110 jobs, as part of a “reorganization of its business” designed to… Read More
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PayPal continues to see strong revenue growth
PayPal reported fourth quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday, and they were just what investors were expecting. The stock was flat in initial after-hours trading. Revenue came in at $2.98 billion, which is on par with analyst estimates and a 17% increase from last year. Adjusted earnings per share was 42 cents, which is also what Wall Street was forecasting. Total payment volume was… Read More
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EBay meets investor expectations for holiday quarter
EBay reported its fourth quarter earnings for the bell. Investors were closely watching the holiday quarter to see if it met expectations, which it did. The stock rose 7% in initial after hours trading. Gross merchandise volume, a metric of that shows the total dollar value of all purchases on eBay’s platforms, came in at $22.3 billion, when analysts were expecting $22.4 billion. Read More
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Why the $3.7 billion AppDynamics acquisition happened right before IPO
Applications management company AppDynamics was just wrapping up the final touches on its initial public offering when it learned that Cisco was interested in discussing a potential deal. Preliminary talks were abandoned in November, but the discussion just picked up again last week. The deal was announced today and the IPO was slated to price tomorrow. Although many companies seek… Read More
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Spendesk grabs $2.2 million for its next-gen corporate cards
French startup Spendesk might be just a few months old, but the company is currently firing on all cylinders. Spendesk just raised $2.2 million (€2 million), rebranded itself, and is about to launch mobile apps and corporate plastic cards for everyone. The company started out as an eFounders startup, but it is now ready to fly on its own and work without the eFounders team. Investors in… Read More
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Yext hires new president as it looks to IPO
Yext, the company that helps businesses make sure that their location data appears correctly in search results, is announcing that Jim Steele will be joining the company full-time as president and chief revenue officer. Steele was previously on the board at Yext and was most recently at InsideSales. “I found a new younger Marc Benioff and I’m really excited,” Steele says… Read More
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Collibra nabs $50M led by ICONIQ to fix companies’ data governance
Data governance and management startup Collibra — originally founded in Belgium but now based out of New York to help businesses in sectors like finance and healthcare to manage and comply with data retention policies — has raised $50 million in its latest round of funding. The company is not disclosing the valuation, but a $650 million figure is being publicly reported in at… Read More
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