Natasha Mascarenhas
The Latest from Natasha Mascarenhas
Why these co-founders turned their sustainability podcast into a VC-backed business
When Laura Wittig and Liza Moiseeva met as guests on a podcast about sustainable fashion, they jibed so well together that they began one of their own: Good Together. Their show’s goal was to provid
A lake house architect, a Miami VC and a homeowner walk into a wine bar
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 th
Class adds $30 million to its balance sheet for a Zoom-friendly edtech solution
Class, launched less than a year ago by Blackboard co-founder Michael Chasen, integrates exclusively with Zoom to offer a more customized classroom for students and teachers alike. The inaugural produ
Edtech valuations aren’t skyrocketing, but investors see more exit opportunities
Despite the pandemic, investors don't seem to value remote learning as much as they do tech sectors like e-commerce and fintech.
Learn how to creatively navigate remote fundraising from top investors
As the COVID-19 era drags on, first-time founders need to find new ways to raise capital needed to keep startups offensive (and defensive). Luckily, a trio of investors from top venture capital firms
Udemy’s new president discusses the reskilling company’s future
Udemy, which launched more than a decade ago, has sold courses to 50 million students through its digital learning platform. But new president Greg Brown sees “exponential growth” opportunities in
Former Asana employees want to take on Discord with a positive platform for creator communities
In a creator-economy world, if you’re only as good as your last YouTube video, then your next YouTube video had better be bigger and louder than the last. Vibely, a new startup co-founded by Asana a
Expectful’s new chief executive experienced the trauma she just raised millions to solve
Nathalie Walton almost didn’t become a mother. Her risky pregnancy caused her placenta to burst during childbirth, almost killing her and her son last year. Walton, who feels lucky to have survived,
Robinhood’s long weekend brings a total of $3.4 billion to its balance sheet
Popular, highly-scrutinized trading app Robinhood has raised $2.4 billion to its balance sheet from shareholders, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal and then confirmed by the company. The pr
Reddit co-founder on GameStop: ‘The collective public cannot unsee this’
When Robinhood, a startup that promises to make finance accessible for all, temporarily limited trading on GameStop, AMC, and other memestocks, many retail investors were pissed that the fintech darli
Nerdy, a tutoring marketplace startup, is going public via SPAC
A gig economy-powered consumer edtech platform is heading to the New York Stock Exchange. Edtech startup Nerdy, which owns the popular tutoring business Varsity Tutors, is seeking to become a public c
Why calendar invites are worth $3B
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 hopped online for our we
SoftBank earmarks $100 million for Miami-based startups
Miami, an emerging startup hub, has a new check-writer in town: SoftBank. The Japanese multinational conglomerate announced plans today to invest $100 million, drawn from across its funds, into Miami-
Inspirit launches to bring Minecraft creativity to biology class
Aditya Vishwanath, the founder of Inspirit, wants to bring the creativity associated with Minecraft to the day-to-day schoolwork of students around the world. “These students are coming from TikTok
13 investors say lifelong learning is taking edtech mainstream
The venture potential of a startup that caters to individual students — instead of a slow-moving, small-pocketed institution — has a bullish aura that attracts investors. Add in a pandemic that fo
ClassDojo’s second act comes with first profits
ClassDojo’s first eight years as an edtech consumer startup could look like failure: zero revenue; no paid users; and a team that hasn’t aggressively grown in years. But the company, which helps p
Work trips are making a $5 billion comeback
Would you bet millions of dollars on a corporate travel comeback? Doesn’t matter. Andreessen Horowitz, Addition and Elad Gil are anyways. This week, the trio led a nine-figure financing round in Tri
Sounding Board raises cash as startups wake up to executive coaching
In an unprecedented work environment defined by distributed teams and virtual-only communication, two co-founders think their 2018 bet reigns truer than ever: mentors need mentorship, too. Christine T
Plaid launches FinRise, an incubator for underrepresented fintech founders
Plaid is launching FinRise, a nine-month incubator for early-stage fintech founders from underrepresented backgrounds. Inspired by an internal hackathon amid Black Lives Matter protests last summer, t