a16z literally doubles down, announces $4.5B crypto fund IV

TechCrunch Newsletter [TechCrunch logo]( [The Daily Crunch logo]( By [Christine Hall]( and [Haje Jan Kamps]( Wednesday, May 25, 2022 It’s Wednesday the 25th of May, 2022, and we are devastated by the events of the last couple of days. It’s hard to put together a newsletter about tech against the backdrop of a school shooting. Big news events impact everyone differently, so please remember to give yourself and those around you a bit of extra space. We love you. — [Haje]( and [Christine]( [ image] Image Credits: TechCrunch The TechCrunch Top 3 - [Going, going gone](: Twitter confirmed that its former CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down from the company’s board today. No, it’s not a surprise. He and the company were vocal about when his final days would be. We assume Dorsey is happy with how he is leaving things. - [No crypto slowdown to see here](: Even with a grim cryptocurrency market report, there are still dollars to be raised if you are developing viable blockchain infrastructure. StarkWare Industries grabbed 100 million of them, bringing the company’s valuation to $8 billion, essentially a four-time boost from its previous round. Why is blockchain infrastructure so important? Why, integrity of the whole system of course, [Jacquie]( reports. - [Creepy crawlers](: What’s half a millimeter wide and crawls? We’re sure there’s so many gross things running through your mind right now, but in this case it is a remote-controlled crab “robot” created by some geniuses at Northwestern University. Not sure what use there is for a teeny crab, but it’s cute anyway. [The TechCrunch Top 3 image] Image Credits: Northwestern University / Northwestern University [Recurring revenue financing for startups: unlock up-front capital]( Sponsored by [Pipe]( [Growing a business is a challenge, but Pipe makes it easy to finance growth on your terms—bootstrapped, equity-backed, and beyond—without restrictive loans or dilution. Trade your recurring revenue streams on Pipe for instant growth capital.]( [Find Out How]( Startups and VC In startupland, it’s all crypto all the time today. [Lucas]( covers how [a16z announced a $4.5 billion Web3 fund]( less than a year since [it announced its $2.2 billion crypto fund III](. Meanwhile, [Volt Capital debuts a $50 million fund](, also backed by a16z. DJ Gabeau, one of Snapchat Stories’ earliest engineers and founder of Web3 social network [Primitives](, told TechCrunch that he thinks NFTs can be an enjoyable way for people to connect, [Anita](reports. As members of the Terra community try to pick up the pieces from its currently defunct economy, [Polygon launches a fund]( to entice the dozens of developers who had projects built on the inoperative blockchain, [Jacquelyn](reports. And finally, the [IRS’s tax partner ZenLedger was already off to the races](, but it is leaning on the accelerator with a $15 million series B, [Anita](reports. Don’t worry, there’s nonblockchain news too: - Jesus, take the wheel: [Pony.ai loses permit to test autonomous vehicles with driver in California]( after one too many instances of its safety drivers not paying attention, [Rebecca]( reports. - Taking a bite out of food tech: [Synthesis Capital closed its inaugural $300 million fund]( to invest in the future of food, [Christine]( writes. - A high-flying market: [Anna]( did [a series of interviews with cannabis tech investors]( to figure out where the market is going. - All the things, everywhere, via the internet: [Namibian B2B e-commerce retail platform JABU raises $15M led by Tiger Global](, reports [Tage](. - Signed, sealed, delivered — your severance package: Getir, valued at $12 billion, [plans to axe 14% of staff globally and cut aggressive expansion plans](, reports [Ingrid](. - They won’t need your TPS reports: The process to make any purchase within a business can be long and cumbersome. [Zip raised $43 million in a Series B]( to help ease the pain, [Mary Ann](writes. - Post-COVID reboot for femtech hardware: Inne was about to launch when the pandemic hit. [Natasha](has a great feature about [how it regrouped and is gearing up for the future](. - And finally, the $3,000 podcasting microphone: [Haje](took a closer look at the newest podcasting microphone array from Nomono, wondering [who would get in line to spend $3,000 on a spatial audio microphone array](. [Despite regulatory roadblocks, these four US cannabis investors are planting seeds for tomorrow]( The cannabis industry is doing very well in the United States. A state-by-state patchwork of regulations has created a limited market for public and private companies that handle grow operations, distribution and transportation, inventory control, testing and point-of-sale software. Budtenders are a frequent sight at California weddings, but Anna Heim found that the industry still has a long way to go before it reaches maturity, largely because federal laws continue to prevent cannabis-related business from using traditional financial services. To learn more about the underlying market forces and hurdles facing entrepreneurs and investors in this maverick industry, she spoke to four investors: - Jacqueline Bennett, managing partner and co-founder, Highlands Venture Partners - Yoni Meyer, partner, Casa Verde Capital - Matt Hawkins, managing partner and co-founder, Entourage Effect Capital - Emily Paxhia, managing director, Poseidon Investment Management (TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead.[You can sign up here](.) [Read More]( [Despite regulatory roadblocks, these four US cannabis investors are planting seeds for tomorrow image] Image Credits: JD and Kyle Shoot Stock / Getty Images Big Tech Inc. In anticipation of a possible reversal of abortion privacy law Roe v. Wade, a group of Democratic congressional members [penned a letter to Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai](, urging the company to consider changing the way it currently collects and retains cell phone location data records. [Carly]( reports the fear is that it could become a tool for “far-right extremists looking to crack down on people seeking reproductive health care.” [Apple says its iOS App Store supports some 2.2 million jobs]( and was responsible for a 118% increase in U.S. small developer earnings over the past 2 years. [Sarah]( and [Natasha]( provide some analysis of the numbers, noting, “these figures highlight how important the App Store is to a wide range of global developers. That, in turn, could also help demonstrate why a system this large and powerful could also be due for more regulation and competition.” Speaking of Apple, [if you live in Maryland and have an Apple Wallet](, you can store your driver’s license or state ID there. The state became the second, behind Arizona, to offer the feature. Don’t miss these equally exciting stories from today: - [Brainly refused to remove content about the war in Ukraine]( and is now blocked in Russia. - A few things came to fruition today, including [Amazon’s plans for a brick-and-mortar store]( with the opening of a retail store in California, and [Google started running ads in YouTube Shorts](. - [The National Football League is looking at having its own streaming service](. Fans are in luck — it looks like the service fee will be nominal. - And ICYMI from yesterday, [Dyson has secretly been building robots that pick up things](, [Kim Kardadshian likes Beyond Meat]( so much that she is going to be the brand’s first “chief taste consultant,” [Exploding Kittens game]( is finally coming out on Netflix and [Bumble is diving into some new nondating features]( around communities and social groups. [Read more stories on TechCrunch.com]( Newest Jobs from Crunchboard - [Software Engineer II at Schellman (Anywhere)]( - [Digital Service Director at City of San Rafael (San Rafael, CA, USA)]( - [IT Director at Wisconsin Public Media (Madison, WI, USA)]( - [CFO to cashflow positive Fintech company in downtown Manhattan. at Established FinTech company Manhattan (New York, NY, USA)]( - [Chief Information Officer LAFD at la city (Los Angeles, CA, USA)]( [See more jobs on CrunchBoard]( [Post your tech jobs]( and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month. 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