Techmeme

Chris Metinko / Crunchbase News:Analysis: AR and VR startups raised ~$1.9B in Q4 2021, more than any quarter ever, making 2021 the second-best year for AR/VR investments with ~$3.9B raised  —  Although the term metaverse has been around for nearly 30…

Patricia Allen / EU-Startups:Berlin-based Lendis, which helps companies set up and manage employees' equipment and software for hybrid work, raises an €80M Series A in equity and debt  —  Today, Lendis has just announced an €80 million Series A funding…

Wall Street Journal:How longstanding disagreements between the FCC and FAA over potential risks to aircraft remained unresolved in the lead up to the 5G C-band rollout in the US  —  Longstanding disagreements between federal agencies over potential risks…

Luca Bertuzzi / Euractiv:EU Parliament passed Digital Services Act, including provisions banning targeted ads based on highly sensitive personal data, limiting dark patterns, and more  —  A large majority of MEPs voted in favour of the Digital Services Act…

Andrew Dickson / New York Times:How UK theater companies are using AR and VR to broadcast productions to viewers at home, as the pandemic pushes companies to experiment with new art forms  —  The Interactive Storytelling Studio at the National Theater in…

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:How advances in semiconductor fabrication equipment are being applied to the production of nano-scale microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS  —  For years, engineers have made microchips ever smaller and more…

Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:Plaid acquires Cognito, which offers ID verification and compliance services to financial firms, source says for ~$250M in cash and stock  —  Plaid, a fintech unicorn known for its APIs that connect consumer bank accounts to…

Sneha Shah / The Economic Times:Bengaluru-based StockGro, a social investment startup with a gamified app for learning about and participating in stock markets, raises a $32M Series A  —  Mumbai: Social investment startup StockGro has raised $32 million…

Christine Hall / TechCrunch:Nowsta, which runs an on-demand labor marketplace and develops tools to help companies manage their hourly, gig, and flex workers, raises a $41M Series B  —  Nowsta attracted venture capital for its approach to help employers…

Mark Williams / The Columbus Dispatch:How Ohio attracted Intel to build semiconductor plants, including pursuing execs for eight months, financial incentives, and sustainability commitments  —  It was a Christmas morning surprise for Ohio's governor and…

Stefanie Marotta / Bloomberg:Shopify confirms it canceled contracts with warehouse and fulfillment partners, but says its capacity to handle orders won't be affected; stock closed down 14%  —  Shopify Inc. plunged by the most since March 2020 after a…

Malia Spencer / Portland Business Journal:Anitian, which offers enterprise cloud security and compliance software, raises a $55M Series B led by Sageview Capital, bringing its total funding to $71M  —  A Portland-area cloud security and compliance software…

Bloomberg:A look at ID.me, which will soon be used to verify IRS.gov logins and claims to have uncovered a $400B theft of US pandemic unemployment payments  —  If you were writing a techno-thriller, you'd give your hero a backstory like Blake Hall's. …

Vittoria Elliott / Rest of World:US tech firms are “nearshoring” Latin American talent, lured by cheaper costs and similar time zones, leading to staffing shortages at tech firms in the region  —  As a hedge against American talent poachers, some…

Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:Berlin-based Moss, which offers a spend management service with credit cards to SMBs, raises a €75M Series B led by Tiger Global at a €500M valuation  —  Berlin-based startup Moss has announced earlier this week that it has…