Fastly CDN Outage Impacts Twitch, Reddit, and Pinterest

Daily TechCrunch Update & Today's Internet Outage

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The Internet Disruption Explained

For those seeking an explanation of today’s widespread internet issues, we have comprehensive coverage of the event. Interestingly, this particular outage was not attributable to Amazon or Cloudflare.

The internet possesses numerous potential points of failure, a fact that became strikingly clear today. The root cause was identified as an outage at Fastly, a content delivery network, which resulted in significant disruptions across numerous websites.

Unexpected Market Reaction

Despite causing a major internet outage, Fastly’s stock experienced a surprising surge, increasing by over 9% during the time of this report. This counterintuitive market response presents a curious case for analysis.

The complexities of internet infrastructure and market dynamics continue to offer intriguing observations – as noted by Alex.

TechCrunch's Leading Three Stories

Here's a summary of the top three articles featured on TechCrunch today, covering SaaS growth, the resilience of personal computers, and continued investor enthusiasm for software companies.

Expensify's Bottom-Up Sales Strategy

The concluding part of TechCrunch’s in-depth analysis of Expensify’s operations prior to its Initial Public Offering (IPO) has been published.

Anna explored in this fifth and final article how the popular expense management software provider achieved the expansion that is contributing to its public offering.

The Enduring Relevance of Personal Computers

Predictions of the personal computer’s demise, sparked by the introduction of the iPad, proved premature.

In the United States, PC sales experienced a significant surge of 73% during the first quarter of the year when compared to the same period in 2020.

Notably, HP surpassed Apple to become the leading PC vendor in the U.S. market.

Software Remains a Favored Investment

The market for rapidly expanding technology businesses is currently experiencing a period of intense activity.

Recent indicators of this trend include the pricing of Monday.com’s IPO and anticipated investments from Zoom and Salesforce.

The Israeli-based company is scheduled to launch on U.S. stock exchanges later this week.

Investors continue to demonstrate a strong preference for software companies over other sectors.

Startups and Venture Capital Updates

This morning’s startup news can be categorized into three primary areas. The first centers around consumer social applications, a sector known for fluctuating investor enthusiasm. The second focuses on developments within the fintech industry. Finally, a diverse collection of funding rounds, both substantial and modest, are summarized to provide a current overview.

Social Applications and Mobile Photography:

Dispo Secures Series A Funding: Following a notable launch and subsequent controversy surrounding a co-founder’s association, the Dispo camera application has officially confirmed a $20 million Series A funding round. The company’s future access to private investment markets remains a point of interest.
Turntable Launches Beta Versions: Turntable, reminiscent of the earlier Turntable.fm but functioning as a distinct application, is releasing beta versions for both iOS and Android platforms. It’s worth noting that Turntable previously secured $500,000 in funding earlier this year, and that Turntable.fm itself has been revived. The emergence of two startups sharing a similar name is a characteristic trend of the current year.

Developments in the Fintech Landscape:

Nubank’s Valuation Soars: Brazilian neobank Nubank has achieved a $30 billion valuation and secured an additional $750 million in funding. This new capital represents an extension of its Series G round, albeit at an increased valuation, effectively constituting a new investment round.
Airbase Raises $60 Million: Following significant funding rounds secured by competitors Ramp and Brex, Airbase has also successfully raised $60 million. The company’s strategy centers on targeting mid-sized businesses and leveraging software integration to differentiate itself within the market.

A Compilation of Recent Funding Rounds:

Kafene Targets the Subprime Lending Market: Kafene is exploring the intersection of accessible consumer credit and subprime lending scores, having raised $14 million to develop a “buy-now-pay-later” solution for individuals with lower credit ratings.
Compose.ai Secures $2.1 Million for AI-Powered Writing Assistance: Driven by advancements in GPT-3, Compose.ai is among a growing number of startups focused on language technology. The company aims to accelerate writing speeds and, eventually, enable businesses to establish consistent brand voice through customized AI language models.
Relatively Space Attains $4.2 Billion Valuation: The company demonstrates the potential of combining 3D-printing technology with rocket science, securing $650 million in funding. Relatively Space believes it can manufacture a new heavy rocket within a timeframe of 60 days, which would significantly impact the industry.
Gideon Brothers Advances Warehouse Robotics: Gideon Brothers, a Croatian robotics startup, has raised $31 million to further develop and commercialize its AI and 3D vision-based autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).

ExtraHop Acquired for $900M in a Deal with Bain Capital and Crosspoint Capital Partners

It was announced today that ExtraHop, a network security company headquartered in Seattle, is being acquired by Bain Capital Private Equity and Crosspoint Capital Partners.

ExtraHop operates within the Network Detection and Response (NDR) sector, providing security solutions designed for organizations with both cloud-based and on-premises infrastructure.

The company’s offerings are particularly relevant as an increasing number of businesses navigate hybrid IT environments.

Deal Details and Background

Just twelve months prior, ExtraHop was nearing $100 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and actively evaluating a potential Initial Public Offering (IPO).

We interviewed Jesse Rothstein, ExtraHop’s Chief Technology Officer and co-founder, to gain insight into the factors driving this acquisition and the process behind it.

The decision to pursue a sale, rather than an IPO, was a strategic one based on evolving market conditions and opportunities.

(Access to exclusive content and resources for founders and startup teams is available through Extra Crunch. Sign up for membership here.)

Big Tech Inc.

Comprehensive coverage of Apple is still underway. The company's Realty Kit 2 is poised to empower developers with the capability to construct 3D models utilizing images captured on iPhones.

While this technology appears promising, the practical applications and market adoption remain a point of interest.