Natasha Mascarenhas
TechCrunch
San Francisco, CA, United States
Contact Natasha
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
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Recent articles by Natasha:
GSV Ventures doubles assets managed with new fund focused on global edtech –
GSV Ventures, co-founded by Deborah Quazzo and Michael Cohn, has raised $180 million in its second fund, exclusively focused on backing edtech startups across the globe. The startup now manages $277 million in cumulative assets, inclusive of its debut fund that was closed in 2016. The new fund will let GSV invest in 13 core […] → Read More
SpineZone is the latest health tech startup to raise millions in the musculoskeletal space –
SpineZone is a startup that creates personalized exercise programs and treatment for neck and back pain. The company uses an online platform and in-person clinics to deliver a curriculum that, ideally, helps patients avoid the need for prescription drugs, injections and surgeries, and providers then avoid the cost of all of the above. Co-founded by […] → Read More
Murmur, still in private beta, wants to help startups make private work agreements public –
As building in public continues to gain popularity with early-stage startup founders, Murmur, coming out of stealth today, wants to leverage that natural transparency to a louder frequency. Founded by Aaron Dignan, Murmur helps startups create work agreements based on the policies of other startups. “Work agreements” is an intentionally broad phrase, but encapsulates everything […] → Read More
How capital-as-a-service can help you get your first check in 2021 –
“A lot of founders mix up raising money with making money.” This quote, which Career Karma founder Ruben Harris mentioned off-hand on a phone call with me, has been on my mind for months. In fact, raising money can cost you money, in the form of that sweet, sweet ownership and equity. That’s why Clearbanc, […] → Read More
How to ace the 1-hour, and ever-elusive, pitch presentation at TC Early Stage –
Lisa Wu, a partner at Norwest with investments like Calm, Plaid, Opendoor and Grove Collaborative, has a message for founders: Think like a VC during your pitch presentation. After all, accepting capital isn’t simply adding more money to your balance sheet. It is about picking a venture partner who will be there with you through […] → Read More
Why are we still dating LinkedIn in 2021? –
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. Natasha and Danny and Alex and Grace were all here to chat through the week’s biggest tech happenings. Before we get into this week’s show, make sure to check out all the news here about how Equity is expanding, and becoming even more of […] → Read More
Newsela, the replacement for textbooks, raises $100M and becomes a unicorn –
Newsela, a SaaS platform for K-12 instructional material backed by the likes of TCV, Kleiner Perkins, and Owl Ventures, announced today that it has raised $100 million in a Series D round. The financing was led by new investor Franklin Templeton, and brings Newsela’s valuation to $1 billion. The new round is larger than the […] → Read More
The Landing is bringing shoppable social and collaboration to interior design –
Monetizable mood boards might sound like the moonshot idea that no one asked for, but when you think about it, the vision is already informally happening in various corners of the internet. A young generation of users shops with community in mind, whether that’s buying merchandise from your favorite influencers or giving into those Instagram […] → Read More
SpaceX is really just SPAC and an ex –
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This is our first-ever Wednesday episode. If you want to learn more about the latest edition of the podcast, head here for more. This week we talked about space, an increasingly active part of the global economy, and […] → Read More
The Equity podcast is getting bigger and better –
Equity is celebrating its fourth birthday in a few weeks, and closed 2020 with its biggest quarter to date. To celebrate, and say thank you to our wonderful listeners who tune into us each and every single week, we’re growing upward and outward! First, as many of you have noticed, we’ve expanded the Equity team. […] → Read More
Oak HC/FT closes on $1.4 billion to invest in fintech and healthcare startups –
Oak HC/FT general partners Annie Lamont, Andrew Adams and Tricia Kemp invested in healthcare and fintech before the two sectors were mainstream, and today, as a result of that early intuition and a handful of key exits, the trio has over a billion dollars in new fund money to show for it. The firm announced […] → Read More
Reddit ups Series E round by another $116 million –
Reddit, which announced a $250 million Series E earlier this month, has added over $116 million to the financing event, upping the round’s most recent total to $367 million, according to a new SEC filing. The document shows that Reddit is aiming to raise up to $500 million in this capital raise. A Reddit spokesperson […] → Read More
Contra wants to be the community that independent workers are missing –
Whether you’re working on something new according to your Twitter bio, or self-employed, according to your LinkedIn bio, founder Ben Huffman thinks his platform, Contra, will be the best way for independent workers to explain and monetize what they are working on. Contra is a platform that wants professionals to create profiles that show project-based […] → Read More
Codecademy eyes the enterprise with $40 million in new capital –
After going over four years without raising any capital, coding class platform Codecademy has raised a new tranche of money: a $40 million Series D round led by Owl Ventures, with participation from Prosus and Union Square Ventures. The startup is the latest edtech business to bring on capital after years without it, a list […] → Read More
Chief community officer is the new CMO –
Community isn’t a single Slack group or event or newsletter. It’s an aggregation of all of these touch points, and includes both customers, eventual customers and one-time users. Despite this nebulous, disconnected reality, companies are paying more attention to various channels as remote work and digital communication powers our days. My recent tweet underscored the […] → Read More
A16z doesn’t invest, it manifests –
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. Natasha and Danny and Alex and Grace were all here to chat through the week’s biggest tech happenings. In very good Show News™, Chris is back! He’s working on the next iteration of the show, something that you will be able to see starting Very Soon. […] → Read More
YC-backed Queenly launches a marketplace for formalwear –
Queenly, a marketplace for formalwear, launched into a world where its core product of dresses and gowns had a massive competitor, bigger and more elusive than Poshmark: quarantine. The coronavirus pandemic has caused the fancy in-person events that one might attend, such as award shows, pageants, proms and weddings to be canceled to limit spread. […] → Read More
Tired of ‘Zoom University’? So is edtech –
The rise of “Zoom University” was only possible because edtech wasn’t ready to address the biggest opportunity of the past year: remote learning at scale. Of course, the term encapsulates more than just Zoom, it’s a nod to how schools had to rapidly adopt enterprise video conferencing software to keep school in session in the […] → Read More
Pandemic-era growth and SPACs are helping edtech startups graduate early –
Is there anything specific to SPACs that makes them a better route for edtech companies than a traditional IPO or direct listing? → Read More
Multiplayer fintech, and the muddled world of startup data –
There’s always a fintech angle, even on Valentine’s Day. This week, I covered Zeta, a new startup working on joint finances for modern couples. It aims to take away the money chores of a relationship, from splitting the bill at dinner to requesting rent through a payment app every month. Aditi Shekar, the co-founder, gave […] → Read More