TECH CRUNCH - In a town hall with some members of their community, Launch House addressed the harassment and assault allegations surfaced by a Vox Investigation earlier this week. The startup said that an independent investigation is underway. The conversation focused on three topics: what Launch House says it has done in the past, what it will do in the future and how it plans to build back trust with female founders in their cohorts.
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Launch House Holds Private Town Hall, Says Investigation Is Underway
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Polywork Lands $28M More to Add Hyphens to Job Title
TECH CRUNCH - Polywork is a venture-backed startup that is building a professional network to help people express their multi-hyphenated work lives. Polywork announced today that it has raised $28M in Series B funding co-led by former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Caffeinated Capital.
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TikTok Just Launched a BeReal Clone Called TikTok Now
TECH CRUNCH - TikTok launched a new feature that is just a copy of BeReal, the buzzy French social app that's been steadily gaining popularity. "TikTok Now invites you and your friends to capture what you're doing in the moment using your device's front and back camera," the company's blog reads. "You'll receive a daily prompt to capture a 10-second video or a static photo to easily share what you're up to."
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Snapchat for Web Is Now Available to All Users Worldwide
TECH CRUNCH - Snapchat is making the desktop version of its app, Snapchat for Web, available to its entire global community. With Snapchat for Web, users can send messages and snaps, and also chat via video and voice calls. Snapchat for Web also includes access to the mobile app's messaging features, including chat reactions. It also now features more than 10 Lenses for video calls.
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VSN - No fluff, just daily executive news summaries. Subscribe here to get the daily dose by email.
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Instagram Internally Tests New Monetization Feature for Creators Called 'Gifts'
TECH CRUNCH - Instagram is internally testing a tipping feature that would give creators a new way to make money on the social network. The test feature is called "Gifts" and would enable creators to earn money through Reels.
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DatChat Releases Details of Near Photo Realistic Habytat Metaverse
GLOBE NEWSWIRE - DatChat, a secure messaging, metaverse, and social media company, announced that Geniuz City, the first world of the Habytat will be based on the design and layout of a near photorealistic city of Miami, and its surrounding areas. Pre-registration is now open at SmarterVerse.com. The initial phase of Geniuz City will be limited to an initial 500K land grant recipients.
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Austin-based SweatPals Connects People to Community Workouts
AXIOS - Salar Shahini launched SweatPals as an Instagram page in March to make it easier to find different groups and connect with workout enthusiasts. SweatPals will transform into an app, allowing Austinites to find new events, message friends, share their workouts and get updates from their favorite clubs. The app will launch during a free fitness festival at Highbrow Lowbrow, featuring 12 local fitness communities leading their signature workouts.
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LTR Edition 17, Paktor CEO and Coffee Meets Bagel CMO
VSN - LTR Edition 17 is tomorrow, Friday, and features the CEO of Paktor, and the CMO of Coffee Meets Bagel. See event site here. This event is free and available to dating (IDEA) and social community leaders (OSCA), and our select partners. Apply to join us at [email protected].
LTR stands for Love, Technology, Relationships and is the online event for leaders of companies that bring people together for love and relationships, via technology. This 90 minute online event is entirely free.
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Facebook Alternative MeWe Raises $27M to Help It Become a Household Name
FORBES - The privacy-focused social networking company MeWe is looking to change its reputation from being a hub for right-wing extremist groups to a trusted Facebook alternative that people have heard of. The company has raised $27M in a Series A round. CEO Jeffrey Edell is aiming to reach a much broader audience by focusing on MeWe's firm stance on privacy and tightening content moderation rules by hiring more staff for its content moderation team.
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Twitter Shareholders Approve Musk's $44B Buyout as Trial Looms
BLOOMBERG - Twitter shareholders approved billionaire Elon Musk's proposed $44B buyout, paving the way for a trial next month to determine the deal's fate. Twitter's board - along with two prominent advisory firms - had encouraged investors to ratify the deal. The company’s shares were little changed after the vote and closed at $41.74, well below Musk's proposed price.
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Meta Announces Discord-like 'Community Chats' on Messenger
TECH CRUNCH - Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that "Community Chats" are coming to Messenger and Facebook Groups. The feature allows large Messenger groups to organize chats into categories, including audio and video channels for real-time discussion, admin-only chats for announcements and event chats. Like Discord, Community Chats are designed to make it easier to keep track of fast-moving conversations involving many people.
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Yandex's Sale of News and Zen to VK Completes
TECH CRUNCH - Russian search giant Yandex has confirmed the completion of the sale of two of its flagship media properties, News and Zen, to local social media giant, VK, following regulatory approvals. The sale includes the Yandex.ru homepage which will pass to VK - with visitors to that site being redirected to a renamed version of the page, dzen.ru, which is controlled and developed by VK.
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Payfoot to Release Fan-Focused Soccer Metaverse(s) With Web3 Leader Cosmic Wire
PR NEWSWIRE - Payfoot enlists Cosmic Wire, a leader in Web3, to help release their soccer Metaverse Ecosystem for both fans and clubs alike. The Payfoot Metaverse will be live for beta testing on the Sep 30 with the launch being announced via their official social media handles. This ultimate fan experience will also allow clubs to enter the metaverse and interact directly with their global fanbase of 4B people.
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OfftheGrid, New Tinder-like Travel App, Helps Travelers Meet up and Discover Destinations
TECH CRUNCH - A new app called OfftheGrid aims to bring a Tinder-like experience to the travel market, by having its users swipe and chat with like-minded travelers while also discovering unique places to visit. The app gives users a way to share photos and videos of their travels, post about an upcoming trip, arrange meetups with others and learn about new travel destinations. The travel app can be downloaded on the App Store and Google Play Store.
by Lauren Forristal
See full article at Tech Crunch
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