Join the TechCrunch Meetup in Davos #TCDavos

 TechCrunch is holding an informal meetup during the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Grab a free ticket here.
The event precedes our TechCrunch Meetup the week after in Zug, Switzerland, the so-called Crypto Valley. You can grab a ticket here.
The Davos meetup will be co-hosted by Samantha Stein, TechCrunch’s Director of Special Projects & Startup… Read More

Yes, cities should indeed fight for tech jobs

 Few events have jolted the urban planning crowd quite like Amazon’s process for selecting the company’s new second headquarters (dubbed HQ2). The company put up a massive carrot of 50,000 jobs and $5 billion in investment, and then proceeded to demand proposals from cities across North America (lovingly written up by Clickhole). Perhaps unsurprisingly, Amazon received 238… Read More

Spend a week fielding sensitive HR complaints in ‘Grayscale’ web game

 If you’re looking for a way to close out your week that’s entertaining, edifying, and looks like you’re doing real work, check out Chimeria:Grayscale, a game where you act as an HR person dealing with everyday office problems via email. Okay, maybe it doesn’t sound that exciting, but there’s more to it than that. Read More

Varo Money raises $45 million for mobile banking without fees

 There are a number of startups looking to disrupt traditional banking. We’ve covered Chime, Zero and Jiko, just to name a few.
Another one of those is Varo Money and they’ve raised $45 million led by private equity giant, Warburg Pincus and The Rise Fund, a global impact fund that’s part of another private equity firm, TPG. (That’s the one U2’s Bono is involved… Read More

Tile lays off dozens after a disappointing holiday

 Tile, one of the best known item-tracking gadgets out there, has laid off some 30 people and reportedly froze the potential hires of another 10, TechCrunch has learned. This comes less than a year after the company raised a $25 million B round last May. The layoffs are reportedly due to disappointing sales over the holidays. Read More