Greg Kumparak
TechCrunch
Oakland, CA, United States
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Recent articles by Greg:
Pre-orders for Panic’s Playdate handheld will open on July 29th –
Playdate, the adorable whimsy-and-nostalgia-box/handheld game system built by Panic (with some help from Teenage Engineering), has taken one more big step toward reality: it has an official pre-order date. And it’s soon! The company announced this morning that pre-orders for the handheld will go live on July 29th at 10 a.m pacific. Looking to get […] → Read More
Litnerd streams live actors into the classroom to help kids better connect with reading –
Our kids can’t read. As of 2019, roughly a third of US fourth graders were unable to read at the level expected of them. The scores have barely changed in decades. Something isn’t working here. Litnerd, a company out of New York City, wants to try something new. They’re writing books and building lesson plans […] → Read More
AngelList Venture’s Avlok Kohli on rolling funds and the busy state of VC –
The CEO joined us last week at a TechCrunch Early Stage event to share all kinds of insight, from the state of the market to his thoughts on why there's suddenly so much money flooding into VC. → Read More
Twilio’s new tools will let anyone add live video and audio to their apps –
Twilio, a company best known for its tools that help developers build text message/phone call-powered apps, is branching out into a new category: live streaming. This morning the company announced Twilio Live, a platform meant to help developers more easily integrate live video/audio features into their apps. Details are still a bit light, but here’s […] → Read More
FightCamp punches its way to a $90M round –
FightCamp, an interactive at-home training system for boxing/kickboxing, is announcing this morning that it has raised a $90M round from a long list of investors, including quite the roster of famous fighters. FightCamp pairs smart sensors (“punch trackers” worn under your boxing gloves) with a subscription-based stream of training videos. As you punch your way […] → Read More
Niantic is working with Hasbro on a Pokémon GO-style Transformers game –
Niantic has encouraged the world to roam the streets as Pokémon trainers and wizards… next up? Time to transform and roll out. 80’s mega toy Transformers is the latest IP to partner with Niantic to build a map-heavy, geolocation-centric game. Details are still a bit light, but here’s just about everything we know: It’ll be […] → Read More
Dark Sky iOS app and website are likely shutting down at the end of 2022 –
After Apple acquired Dark Sky in March of 2020, we all knew the super-granular weather app was probably headed for shutdown. But while the company announced that the Android app would go dark in July of the same year, things were left a bit more open-ended for the iOS app. There would be “no changes” […] → Read More
Here’s everything Apple announced at the WWDC 2021 keynote –
It’s that time again! This morning Apple kicked off its annual Worldwide Developer Conference the same way it does each year: a keynote jammed to the brim with new stuff. Didn’t have time to tune in to the liveblog or watch the stream? We get it. That’s why we’ve boiled all of the biggest news […] → Read More
Stack Overflow acquired by Prosus for a reported $1.8 Billion –
The legendary Q&A website for programmers (and probably one of the most copy-and-pasted sites on the Internet) Stack Overflow is being acquired. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Prosus (the primary shareholder of Chinese gaming mega co. Tencent) will acquire Stack Overflow for $1.8 billion. Co-founders Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky shared the following […] → Read More
Shef raises $20M to expand its homemade meal delivery marketplace –
It’s still a bit of a legal maze, but more cities are coming around to the idea of letting local home chefs bring in more income by selling homecooked meals to those nearby. Shef is a marketplace meant to help these home chefs connect with customers, handle orders, and get the food delivered — and […] → Read More
Raising a round? AngelList Venture CEO Avlok Kohli will share insights at TC Early Stage –
What’s it like raising a round in 2021? How has it changed over the last few months, as some glimmer of normalcy seems, at least, within reach? What do early-stage founders (and investors!) need to know about the current state of the industry? Few are in a better place to outline this than Avlok Kohli, […] → Read More
Whatnot raises $50M to let people sell Pokémon cards, Funko Pops, and more via livestream –
Whatnot exists with one primary goal in mind: to give people a place to buy and sell collectibles (like Pokémon cards, sports cards, pins, etc) in a safe, authenticated way. The company started out with intentions of being a GOAT/StockX-style resale marketplace, where the products up for sale lived on neat little pages with row […] → Read More
Future Family raises $9M to make fertility treatments more accessible and expand its clinic network –
Future Family, a company we’ve written about a few times over the years, makes fertility treatments more accessible. They pre-negotiate terms with fertility clinics to ensure there are no surprise fees, convert the often substantial upfront costs into a monthly payment plan, and give each user a dedicated Fertility Coach to help them navigate their […] → Read More
OpenUnit raises a $1M seed round to be the online face of self-storage –
How are mom-and-pop self-storage facilities meant to keep up with the tech offered by the massive, ever-growing chains? That’s a key part of the idea behind OpenUnit, a team I first wrote about in August of last year. You bring the storage units, they bring the website, payment processing, and backend tools you need to […] → Read More
Hardware hacker brings online multiplayer to the original Game Boy –
Move over, Xbox and PlayStation. A new foe has appeared in the world of online multiplayer gaming! It’s the… uh, Game Boy. As in that unbreakable, gray, 4.19Mhz tank from 1989. While the Game Boy has had a handful of locally multiplayer games since the beginning, using it meant physically connecting your Game Boy to […] → Read More
Google’s ‘DVD Screensaver’ Easter egg makes the logo bounce around your screen accordingly –
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a good Easter egg out of Google. Not too long ago it felt like someone would discover a new hidden gag in Google’s products every few weeks. The company cranked them out like it was their job. While we haven’t seen as many new ones pop up lately, […] → Read More
These are the 25 companies presenting at Alchemist Accelerator’s 27th Demo Day today –
Enterprise-focused Alchemist Accelerator is back with another one. Today marks its 27th Demo Day, with over two dozen companies expected to take the (virtual) stage. Coming in at 25 companies, this is Alchemist’s largest cohort so far. Meanwhile, Alchemist Director Ravi Belani tells me that applications to the accelerator have grown by over 100%, and […] → Read More
Someone already turned Apple’s AirTag into a slim, wallet-friendly card –
Apple’s new AirTag item trackers are pretty small, but not quite small enough to slip into most wallets without adding an obvious bit of bulk. Fortunately, as one talented AirTag owner has found, that’s nothing you can’t fix with a heat gun, a bit of soldering, and an understanding that you could totally fry your […] → Read More
Here’s everything Apple announced at its ‘Spring Loaded’ event today –
It’s Apple event day! From tweaks to the Apple Card to all new iMacs and iPads, Apple crammed this one-hour event with news. Don’t have time to sit down and click through every last announcement? We’ve slimmed it down to just the key points for maximum skimmability. Enjoy! Apple Card Apple kicked things off with […] → Read More
You can now pay for BART using an iPhone or Apple Watch –
Good news, Bay Area! Apple Pay now works with Clipper cards. That means you can now use an iPhone or Apple Watch to pay for BART. Or Muni. Or Caltrain. Or the Ferry! Or (almost) any other transit-related thing you’d otherwise use the plastic Clipper card for. Clipper has a page outlining the Apple Pay […] → Read More