Facebook enters the cloud gaming arena amidst its ongoing disagreement with Apple, Ant Group prepares for a substantial public offering, and Pinterest introduces support for iOS widgets. This is your Daily Crunch for October 26, 2020.

Key development: Facebook introduces cloud gaming platform

Facebook has launched its own cloud gaming service, but its approach differs from those of Google’s Stadia and Microsoft’s xCloud. Instead of aiming to replicate a console gaming experience across various devices, Facebook’s service concentrates on mobile games and streamlining the process from seeing a game advertisement to actually playing it.

The service is currently available on the web and for Android users, however, it is not accessible on iOS. Facebook attributes this absence to restrictions imposed by Apple’s App Store policies.

According to Facebook’s Jason Rubin, Apple’s regulations concerning cloud gaming services create “a series of obstacles that collectively result in a poor user experience.”

Major technology companies

Twitter will display warnings to all U.S. users regarding voting misinformation and potential delays in election results — Beginning today, Twitter users within the United States will encounter prominent notices at the top of their timelines designed to “proactively counter” false information related to the voting process.

Ant Group anticipates raising up to $34.5 billion in its IPO, potentially becoming the world’s largest initial public offering — The highly anticipated IPO of Ant Group, a Chinese fintech company affiliated with Alibaba, is expected to generate tens of billions of dollars through a dual-listing on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

Pinterest’s latest widget allows users to display photos from their preferred boards on their iOS 14 home screens — As iPhone users began personalizing their iOS 14 home screens with new widgets and customized icons, Pinterest experienced a surge in both downloads and searches.

Startups, funding, and venture capital

Tencent leads a $100 million Series B funding round for China-based esports provider VSPN — Established in 2016, VSPN has been a leading force in the organization of esports tournaments and the creation of related content within Asia.

Linktree secures $10.7 million to enhance its streamlined, link-focused user profiles — The Melbourne-based startup reports that 8 million users, including prominent figures like Selena Gomez and brands such as Red Bull, have established profiles on its platform.

This company aims to resolve the challenges within the internship structure — Symba has developed white-label software to facilitate communication and collaboration between companies and their remote interns.

Insights and analysis from Extra Crunch

Effective and ineffective board members (and strategies for addressing them) — The events surrounding CircleUp raise questions about internal dynamics at startups and the importance of board composition.

Evaluating Databricks’ potential valuation in a 2021 IPO — We have identified Databricks as a strong candidate for an IPO, and reports now suggest that an offering is indeed being planned.

(Please note: Extra Crunch is our subscription program dedicated to providing accessible information about startups. You can register here.)

Other noteworthy news

NASA confirms the presence of water on the sunlit areas of the moon — Previously, water was known to exist as ice on the moon’s dark side, but this discovery remains significant.

Human Capital: A court decision could pose challenges for Uber and Lyft as gig workers may be reclassified as employees — Megan Rose Dickey has launched her newsletter focusing on labor, diversity, and inclusion within the technology sector.

Original Content podcast: ‘Lovecraft Country’ is remarkably inventive — Remarkably inventive!

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