Closed early-access product Relay raises $5M seed round to 'tackle collaborative workflows'

TechCrunch Newsletter [TechCrunch logo]( [The Daily Crunch logo]( By [Christine Hall]( and [Haje Jan Kamps]( Wednesday, October 12, 2022 If you’re joining us at Disrupt next week, here’s an incentive for turning up early — we’re [recording our podcasts live onstage, and you can be in the audience](! Fun fun fun! —[Christine]( and [Haje]( [ image] Image Credits: Relay The TechCrunch Top 3 - [Automation nation](: Jacob Bank knows what time it is. [Paul]( writes that after selling his last startup to Google in 2015, Bank is back with Relay, a tool that wants to give people back some time by automating mundane tasks, particularly when it comes to the task we all love to hate — meetings. - [“Bring your ideas to life”](: Microsoft’s Ignite conference was today (get the nitty-gritty in Big Tech Inc.), and [Kyle]( has been following all things DALL-E, including Microsoft’s investment in the AI-powered system for its new Designer and Image Creator tools. - [Cuts run deep](: [Manish]( reports on the latest for Indian edtech giant Byju’s, which said today it would be eliminating another large chunk of jobs, this time 2,500, writing that the move was in efforts to “clear its debts and other balances in recent months.” [Building Tech For A Better Future]( Sponsored by [Chan Zuckerberg Initiative]( [We collaborate with students, teachers, researchers and community leaders to reimagine education. We equip teachers with the research, tools and partners they need to center students’ well-being in support of academic achievement and success.]( [Learn More]( Startups and VC Back in 2019, Microsoft launched Dapr, an open source project that aimed to make it easier for developers to build microservices on top of Kubernetes. [Diagrid raised $24 million to launch a fully managed]( Dapr service, [Frederic]( reports. DataGrail has always been focused on helping companies comply with the growing world of privacy regulation. Today, it’s building on that with a new automated risk monitoring solution that helps companies build third-party application risk assessments quickly. [While they were at it, the startup also announced a $45 million Series C investment](, [Ron]( reports. And here’s a smattering of a few more for your enjoyment and delight: - Really going places: Oh look, [TripActions raised at a $9.2 billion valuation]( after reported $12 billion IPO filing, [Natasha M]( reports. - Tiny cameras, big sack-o-moolah:[Metalenz ships millions of its tiny cameras]( and powers up with a $30 million B round,[Devin]( reports. - A la carte:[Veeve bags $6.7 million](to turn shopping carts into smart carts, [Christine]( reports. - Money for revenue, and clicks for free:[FlapKap provides revenue-based financing to e-commerce brands in MENA,](gets $3.6 million of seed funding, [Tage]( reports. - Gamifying games:[Homa raises another $100 million](for its data-driven mobile gaming tools,[ Romain]( reports. [Dear Sophie: How can I protect my H-1B and green card if I am laid off?]( In our Dear Sophie column, our friendly immigration lawyer answers a question from Leap of Faith: “I am considering leaving my current, steady job for a job with a big name in tech. I’m excited, but nervous. I’ve been hearing that you can lose your H-1B status if you are laid off. Is there any way I can protect my immigration status while making a bold job move?” Three more from the TC+ team, with a sprinkling of lyrics for good luck: - Know when to hold ’em:[6 tips for launching a blockchain startup](, by[Wolfgang Rückerl](. - Free fallin’:[Crypto VC deals continue to drop as activity follows bearish market prices](, by[Jacquelyn](. - Be mine:[The Muse buys Fairygodboss as roll-up acquisitions come to VC,]( by[Becca](. [TechCrunch+]( is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack.[You can sign up here](. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription! [Read More]( [Dear Sophie: How can I protect my H-1B and green card if I am laid off? image] Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch Big Tech Inc. Check out what happened when [Taylor](’s virtual torso [went to Meta Connect 2022](, where [Meta announces legs]( (as [Lucas]( reported), and [Amanda]( shows you [what you might have missed](. Meanwhile, as we noted above, Microsoft held its Ignite conference today, where [Brian](, [Frederic]( and [Kyle]( found lots to write on. For example, [hybrid work setups](, more [Apple integrations](, [avatars for Teams](, new [Power Automate]( features, invite-only [access to DALL-E 2]( for select Azure OpenAI Service customers, automated [document and data processing]( services, [updates to Microsoft Edge](, new [cloud security services]( and upgrades to [Microsoft’s suite of laptops and desktop computers](. In other news: - M&A action: Vista Equity Partners said it will [acquire cybersecurity company KnowBe4]( in a $4.6 billion deal, [Paul]( reports. - Severed: [Haje]( has a look at the new DedroneDefender, a handheld [counter-drone jammer]( that he writes “uses science to stop drones in their tracks.” - Classification known: News of a new [federal gig worker proposal]( had shares of Uber, Lyft and DoorDash sliding yesterday.[Harri]( has more. - Google it: If you’re interested in purchasing[Google’s Pixel Watch]( or the [Google Pixel 7 Pro](, read[Brian](’s take on both of them before you make a decision. - So exposed: [Carly]( writes about[Toyota exposing 300,000 customer emails]( for the past five years. [Read more stories on TechCrunch.com]( Newest Jobs from Crunchboard - [UX Lead at TRANZACT, a WTW Company (Fort Lee, NJ, USA)]( - [Director of Technology | Full Time Hybrid (3 days office, 2 days remote) at Social Imprints (San Francisco, CA, USA)]( - [Principal Data Applications Administrator - Computing Services at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA, USA)]( - [Lead SaaS Software Engineer at Segrera Associates (Miami, FL, USA)]( - [Senior Software Engineer (Golang) at Carted (Anywhere)]( [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]( © 2022 Yahoo. All rights reserved. 110 5th St, San Francisco, CA 94103