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Early-stage investments inherently have a higher risk of failing, but these risks also come with potentially higher rewards — getting in at the ground floor of a startup’s journey gives VCs more negotiation clout. This is particularly true at the very early pre-seed stage, where companies might barely have a functioning product to shout about. And this is something that London-based generalist VC firm Playfair Capital knows all about, given its focus on backing super young startups that have yet to make much of a ripple in their respective industries. In its 10 year history, Playfair has invested in around 100 companies, including well-established unicorns such as Stripe, and Mapillary , a startup that exited to Facebook back in 2020. Those specific investments were from Playfair’s inaugural fund which wasn’t focused on any particular “stage” of company. But Playfair transitioned into more of a pre-seed firm with its second fund announced in 2019 , a focus that it’s maintaining fo...

Walt Disney Co. has eliminated its metaverse division as part of staff cuts that promise to reduce head count by around 7,000 across the company over the next two months, reports The Wall Street Journal. CEO Bob Iger said Monday that those layoffs would begin this week . Disney’s next-generation storytelling and consumer experiences unit, the small division that was developing metaverse strategies, looks like it’s one of the first to go. The metaverse division is headed by Mike White, who was promoted to the role from SVP of consumer experiences and platforms in February 2022 and charged with getting Disney deeper into the web3 space. The unit aimed to find ways to tell more interactive stories in immersive formats using Disney’s extensive library of intellectual property, according to WSJ. Aside from the Disney we all know and love, that extensive library includes Pixar, Marvel and all of the Star Wars movies and shows. All 50 or so members of the team have lost their jobs, sources...

Tesla is bringing back its referral program to Europe , a strategy that taps into the brand loyalty of customers as it seeks to preserve market share and boost sales before the first quarter of 2023 closes. The referral program follows Tesla’s move to reduce prices in a variety of markets, including Europe, China and North America. Starting Tuesday in Europe, new Tesla buyers can receive 100 so-called “Loot Box Credits” when referred by a current Tesla owner, who will get 2,000 credits for the referral. If the referred customer takes delivery before March 31, 2023, they’ll get a bonus of 5,000 free Supercharging kilometres, and the referrer will get 10,000 credits. Those credits can be redeemed for software upgrades, up to 10,000 kilometers of free Supercharging “and more.” Explore your Loot Box in the Tesla app to view available credits, refer friends & shop for awards pic.twitter.com/pChM1CFCQV — Tesla Europe (@tesla_europe) March 27, 2023 Tesla has never used traditio...

Tesla is bringing back its referral program to Europe , a strategy that taps into the brand loyalty of customers as it seeks to preserve market share and boost sales before the first quarter of 2023 closes. The referral program follows Tesla’s move to reduce prices in a variety of markets, including Europe, China and North America. Starting Tuesday in Europe, new Tesla buyers can receive 100 so-called “Loot Box Credits” when referred by a current Tesla owner, who will get 2,000 credits for the referral. If the referred customer takes delivery before March 31, 2023, they’ll get a bonus of 5,000 free Supercharging kilometres, and the referrer will get 10,000 credits. Those credits can be redeemed for software upgrades, up to 10,000 kilometers of free Supercharging “and more.” Explore your Loot Box in the Tesla app to view available credits, refer friends & shop for awards pic.twitter.com/pChM1CFCQV — Tesla Europe (@tesla_europe) March 27, 2023 Tesla has never used traditio...

UPDATE: This article has been updated with compensation package information for Green, Zimmer and Risher. Lyft co-founders, CEO Logan Green and president John Zimmer, are stepping down from their roles by mid-April, the company said Wednesday. They will serve as chair and vice chair of Lyft’s board, respectively. David Risher, a former retail executive at Amazon, will take over the CEO position at Lyft. Lyft’s current chairman, Sean Aggarwal, will step down from his post but will stay on the board. Green and Zimmer founded Lyft in 2012. Back then, the company was mainly differentiated from Uber by the presence of pink mustaches on Lyft vehicles. Back then, Zimmer told TechCrunch that Lyft had originally thought of doing the service just for women, “as a safety kind of service and a very particular clientele.” Lyft ditched the mustache in 2016 and went public three years later. When it debuted, Lyft raised more than $2 billion in an afternoon after pricing its shares at $72 each...

Hello and welcome back to Max Q! In this issue: Relativity Space’s Terran 1 reaches Max Q NRO lines up hyperspectral imagery providers News from Virgin Orbit and more Relativity Space’s first launch fails to reach orbit, but proves its 3D-printing rocket tech works Relativity Space achieved a massively important milestone just before 11:30 PM ET on Wednesday, with the first-ever flight of its 3D-printed rocket technology. Its Terran 1 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, successfully clearing the pad and launch structure, and achieving “Max Q” — or the point during the launch sequence at which the vehicle is under the most pressure in terms of atmospheric resistance and stress — and also succeeded at cutting off its main engines and separating its first stage as intended. – Darrell Etherington Image Credits: Relativity America’s space-based spy agency awards six contracts to hyperspectral imagery providers The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has award...

Oma Fertility is on a mission to improve in vitro fertilization. The company says it accomplishes this by offering clients better technology, respectful care, and ethical pricing. Founded by Gurjeet Singh in 2020, the company raised $71.5 million over three rounds of funding. Chrissy Meyer and Root Ventures invested in the last two rounds. I’m excited to have Gurjeet speaking at an upcoming TechCrunch Live event on March 29 at 12 pm PDT . Oma Fertility investor Chrissy Meyer is speaking at the event, too. TechCrunch’s Hardware Battlefield editor Neesha Tambe is conducting the interview. Chrissy Meyer knows hardware. She spent nearly six years at Apple, where she was an engineer program manager for five years. After leaving Apple in 2013, she spent a year as an engineering program manager at Square before joining up with Pearl Automation, where she was a founding team member at the ambitious startup. She’s been at Root Ventures for nearly six years, where she writes $1 million to $3 ...