In an all-cash transaction, private equity firm buys insurtech startup Duck Creek for $2.6B

TechCrunch Newsletter [TechCrunch logo]( [The Daily Crunch logo]( By [Christine Hall]( Monday, January 09, 2023 Welcome to the beginning of the week. My thumb got smashed in my standup waffle iron while I was cleaning it this morning, so it can only get better from there, right? Anyway, here’s what’s in store for today. — [Christine]( [ image] Image Credits: josh ludahl / Unsplash The TechCrunch Top 3 - [If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…](: Vista Equity Partners has plans to take Duck Creek Technologies private. The private equity firm announced its plan to acquire the insurance software company for $2.6 billion.[Paul]( has more. - [This is a Releaf](: Nigerian agritech Releaf bagged $3.3 million in additional capital as it launches new technology for food processing, starting with oil palm,[Tage]( reports. - [The Superscript was on the wall](: London-based Superscript, a small business insurance provider, raised $54 million amid a particularly hard year for the sector,[Paul]( writes. Startups and VC Attention has our attention. The company raised $3.1 million to continue developing its technology, which combines artificial intelligence with natural language processing [to help sales reps sell faster]( by automatically filling in customer relationship management forms and drafting follow-up emails,[Catherine]( writes. Here’s four more for you: - Git smart: XetHub raises $7.5 million for its [Git-based data collaboration platform](,[Frederic]( reports. - Footloose and fancy free:[TikTok stars Charli and Dixie D’Amelio]( are building a business empire and will see the fruits of their labor in May when their [new footwear line launches](, [Sarah]( reports. - Raising big bucks: Venture capital deployment has slowed down, and now there is talk that the same might happen for VC funds. However, if anyone can raise additional money, it’s perhaps[Khosla Ventures](, which I wrote announced its intent to raise nearly $3 billion across three new funds. - “Checkout” this company’s strategy: FLIK secured $1.1 million in pre-seed funding to provide a [unified checkout solution]( so that sellers in Southeast Asia can have more control over data, [Catherine]( reports. [5 cloud trends to track in 2023]( Despite the downturn, Gartner estimates that global IT spending will reach $4.6 trillion this year, a year-over-year increase of 5.1%. Josh Berman, president of C2C Global, has identified five trends that cloud technology startups should keep in mind as they create product, fundraising and hiring plans for the new year. “The promise of these technologies is too significant to ignore,” writes Berman. Two more from the TC+ team: - Capital cometh: [Mary Ann]( talked to five companies that [bootstrapped their way to big businesses](before answering the VC knock at the door. - You are what you eat: “If you’ve been seeing a slew of new [alternative meat and animal products]( popping up in your grocery store, Lisa Feria is at least partially to thank,” said [Tim]( in his interview with the plant-based-foods investor on how she remains bullish on this sector. [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]( [5 cloud trends to track in 2023 image] Image Credits: Peter Dazeley / Getty Images Big Tech Inc. [Lauren]( takes us streaming service by streaming service to show us what each has [up its sleeve in 2023](. However, if you’re trying to get Disney+ Basic on Roku, you may have to wait a little longer. And we have five more for you: - Apple has been busy: Its [mixed-reality headset]( could arrive this year,[Romain]( reports. Meanwhile, [Lauren]( writes about [Apple Maps teaming up with parking app SpotHero]( to give users access to 8,000 parking options, and [Aisha]( tells us why [iOS 17 may have fewer major changes than initially planned](. - Row, row, row your boat, gently down the anime stream: [Lauren]( details the [anime streaming services]( you need to try in 2023. - Truck porn: Stellantis has us drooling over all of the [flashy features stuffed into the Ram 1500 Revolution EV truck](. [Kirsten]( has more. - Up, up, and away: Get ready to see [Virgin Orbit attempt the first orbital launch from British soil](, [Devin]( reports. - Q&A: Virginia senator Mark Warner spoke to [Brian]( about [cybersecurity, Musk’s Twitter and legislating killer robots](. [Read more stories on TechCrunch.com]( Newest Jobs from Crunchboard - [Curriculum Writer at CodePath (Anywhere)]( - [Director of Health Plan Strategy & Sales (New 911 Telehealth Technology) at MD Ally Technologies, Inc. (Anywhere)]( - [IT Technology Analyst II at Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA, United States)]( - [Business Process Specialist - Procurement at Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA, United States)]( - [IT Technology Analyst I at Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA, United States)]( [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]( © 2023 Yahoo. All rights reserved. 110 5th St, San Francisco, CA 94103