Daily Crunch - Airbnb cancels all DC bookings during inauguration week

TechCrunch Newsletter [TechCrunch logo]( [The Daily Crunch logo]( Wednesday, January 13, 2021 • By [Anthony Ha]( Airbnb takes a big step to avoid violence at the inauguration, Intel gets a new CEO and Affirm goes public. This is your Daily Crunch for January 13, 2021. [The big story: Airbnb cancels all DC bookings during inauguration week]( Airbnb said today that “in response to various local, state and federal officials asking people not to travel to Washington, D.C.” it will be [canceling all reservations]( in the area for next week, which is the week of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. This will apply to all reservations on Airbnb-owned HotelTonight as well. The company had already said that it would [ban anyone who was involved in last week’s riot]( in the U.S. Capitol, but it’s now taking a much more aggressive step to avoid housing anyone who might have violent plans during the inauguration. They also said guests will be given a full refund, while hosts will still receive full compensation for these reservations. [Read more]( [The big story: Airbnb cancels all DC bookings during inauguration week image] Image Credits: Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty Images [Drive smart customer experiences with an AI-driven context center]( Sponsored by [Avaya]( [The contact center is evolving into a context center that goes beyond providing support for customers. The future of the customer experience depends on it. Learn more about deploying an AI-enabled context center using Avaya OneCloud CCaaS.]( [Read more]( The tech giants [Pat Gelsinger stepping down as VMware CEO to replace Bob Swan at Intel]( — Gelsinger would be replacing Intel’s interim CEO Bob Swan on February 15. [Affirm doubles after starting to trade despite strong IPO pricing]( — Affirm’s explosive debut comes on the heels of similarly strong results from DoorDash, C3.ai and Airbnb. [Apple announces new projects related to its $100 million pledge for racial equity and justice]( — For starters, the company will contribute $25 million to the Propel Center, an innovation and learning hub for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. [The tech giants image] Image Credits: Horacio Villalobos / Getty Images Startups, funding and venture capital [Rapyd raises $300M on a $2.5B valuation to boost its fintech-as-a-service API]( — Rapyd’s customer base now includes about 5,000 businesses. [Flo gets FTC slap for sharing user data when it promised privacy]( — The FTC has reached a settlement with Flo, a period and fertility tracking app with 100 million+ users. [E-commerce optimization startup Tradeswell raises $15.5M]( — The key goal is to allow e-commerce businesses to improve their net margins. [Startups, funding and venture capital image] Image Credits: MirageC / Getty Images Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch [Venture capitalists react to Visa-Plaid deal meltdown]( — The leading sentiment seems to be, “Congratulations, you’re no longer selling your company for billions of dollars!” [Will startup valuations change given rising antitrust concerns?]( — Even a few smoke signals is enough to start raising concerns. [Dear Sophie: What’s the new minimum salary required for H-1B visa applicants?]( — The latest edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies. [Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch image] Image Credits: Ana Maria Serrano / Getty Images Everything else [These robo-fish autonomously form schools and work as search parties]( — Researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have created a set of fish-shaped underwater robots that can autonomously navigate and find each other. [Survey: Help shape the future of TechCrunch]( — We’re always looking to make TechCrunch better, and part of that is regularly gathering feedback from the people who matter most: You! [Everything else image] Image Credits: Berlinger et al., Science Robotics [Read more stories on TechCrunch.com]( Newest Jobs from Crunchboard - [WPF/Desktop Software Developer at eIVF/PracticeHwy (Irving, TX, USA)]( - [Demand Generation Marketing Manager at IncentFit (Philadelphia, PA, USA)]( - [Software Application Support Specialist at S.H. Tevis & Son (Westminster, MD, USA)]( - [System Administrator at S.H. Tevis & Son (Westminster, MD, USA)]( - [Director of Content Marketing at Dev Spotlight (Indianapolis, IN, USA)]( [See more jobs on CrunchBoard]( [Post your tech jobs]( and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( [Flipboard]( [View this email online in your browser]( [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Service]( | [Unsubscribe]( © 2021 Verizon Media. All rights reserved. 110 5th St, San Francisco, CA 94103