Natasha Mascarenhas
TechCrunch
San Francisco, CA, United States
Contact Natasha
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Recent articles by Natasha:
Kolkata Chai’s next cup includes a taste of venture funding –
Co-founded by brothers Ani and Ayan Sanyal, Kolkata Chai wants to be “the place to get good chai” in the United States. It’s a big market. The Sanyal brothers estimate the national tea market represents a $12.7 billion dollar business per year. To chase after it, the duo tells TechCrunch that Kolkata is about to […] → Read More
How close are we to understanding what’s going on? –
The end of iPod, a time to reflect on technology trends, and #justdownturnthings. → Read More
Tech employees face another tough week of cross-stage layoffs –
Tech giants like Uber, Meta and Twitter enforce hiring freezes, while layoffs descend on employees at companies like Carvana, Latch, DataRobot and Section4. → Read More
Scott Galloway’s edtech startup, Section4, lays off a quarter of staff –
Section4, an upskilling startup launched by prominent NYU professor Scott Galloway, has laid off a quarter of staff sources say. The layoffs, which occurred last week, affected employees across all levels of seniority and teams, but specifically targeted a majority of the product team. The startup first splashed onto the scene in 2019 with a […] → Read More
Leland breaks into the coaching space with a focus on careers, not classes –
The startup tells TechCrunch that it raised a $4 million seed round led by Contrary. → Read More
Tech layoffs don’t happen to companies, they happen to people –
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single topic, think about a question and unpack the rest. This week, Natasha and Alex asked: What does the most recent wave of layoffs mean […] → Read More
AboveBoard’s $6 million seed will help place underrepresented folks in executive roles –
To help historically overlooked individuals get executive jobs, Aboveboard tells TechCrunch that it has raised $6 million. → Read More
Freada and Mitch Kapor are ‘stepping back’ from Kapor Capital –
Kapor Capital co-founders Freada and Mitch Kapor are stepping back from the venture capital firm they launched over a decade ago. In a blog post announcing the news, the Kapor’s say that Uriridiakoghene “Ulili” Onovakpuri and Brian Dixon will be the new managing partners at the firm – which focuses on funding social impact ventures […] → Read More
Modern Fertility co-founder leaves Ro a year after acquisition –
Modern Fertility co-founder Afton Vechery is leaving healthcare unicorn Ro about a year after her company, built alongside co-founder Carly Leahy, was sold for north of $225 million. According to an internal e-mail from Ro’s executive team, obtained by TechCrunch, Vechery is leaving her role as president of women’s health of Modern Fertility to pursue […] → Read More
The Great Resignation, meet the Great Reset –
Welcome to Startups Weekly, a fresh human-first take on this week’s startup news and trends. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. The Great Resignation, the economic trend of people quitting their jobs in pursuit of other opportunities, has been greeted by a harsh reality: the Great Reset. This week, a spate of tech […] → Read More
Need advice on navigating a tough startup market? Start here –
The market for startup investment has changed. From the hottest year in startup VC history to a period of pessimism, how did we get here? This digest of TechCrunch coverage looks to answer that. → Read More
Post-pandemic reset leads to wave of layoffs in tech –
Over the past week, we’ve witnessed an alarming amount of layoffs across the startup ecosystem, from buzzy, big names like Cameo, OnDeck and Robinhood, to b2b platforms like Workrise and Thrasio. → Read More
Stripe is playing checkers with Plaid –
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. The crew was back at full-speed, and maybe even full excitement meets exhaustion, this week. Alex Wilhelm, Natasha Mascarenhas and Mary Ann Azevedo were on the mic with moral and edit support from […] → Read More
On Deck cuts 25% of staff, scales back accelerator –
On Deck, a tech company that connects founders to each other, capital and advice, has laid off 25% off its staff, per sources familiar with the company. → Read More
Fintech MainStreet cuts about 30% of staff, citing ‘incredibly rough market’ –
MainStreet, a startup that helps other startups uncover tax credits that was valued at $500 million last year, has laid off about 30% of its staff, according to a tweet from CEO Doug Ludlow. In that tweet, Ludlow said MainStreet “took the difficult step of reorganizing and restructuring the company” this week. He did not […] → Read More
200 investments in, Backstage Capital is pivoting to fund only existing portfolio companies –
Backstage Capital, founded by Arlan Hamilton in 2015, has officially invested in 200 companies led by historically overlooked founders. And that’s all, for now. Going forward, the firm will only invest in existing portfolio companies, meaning that Backstage Capital is no longer making net new investments. The firm says that it will remain active and […] → Read More
The BNPL crackdown hasn’t crushed Walnut and its latest $110M Series A –
The startup is back with fresh funding this time in the form of a $110 million Series A round. → Read More
Cameo conducts layoffs a year after hitting unicorn status
Cameo, a platform that allows fans to buy personalized videos from celebrities, has laid off nearly a quarter of its staff. → Read More
Afore’s fresh $150 million fund includes a plan to standardize the pre-seed world –
Venture firm Afore Capital first splashed on the scene with the aim to institutionalize that angels, friends, and family round. Now, after investing in over 80 companies over five years, the eight-person team has landed on a more specific way to do so: offer a standard deal, and raise what it claims is the largest […] → Read More
Ok, this one is for the crypto-curious –
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single topic, think about a question and unpack the rest. This week, Natasha and Alex asked: What do the crypto-curious need to […] → Read More