New Starbucks Odyssey loyalty program ‘occurs to be constructed on blockchain and web3’ • TechCrunch

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Pleased new week, startup nerds!

Tomorrow (Tuesday), we’ve got not one, however two Twitter Reside occasions taking place, and we’re enthusiastic about each of ’em. At 8:00 a.m. PDT / 11:00 a.m. EDT, we’re speaking with Andrew Chan about why Gen Z VCs are trash, and at 12:00 p.m. PDT / 3:00 p.m. EDT, we’re speaking with M13 companion Anna Barber about what right this moment’s founders can be taught from the dot-com bubble bursting.

Might your week have all the appropriate sorts of surprises in it!  — Christine and Haje

The TechCrunch Prime 3

• 2001, a Starbucks Odyssey: In August, Starbucks received issues percolating with plans for a blockchain-based loyalty program and NFT neighborhood. Right this moment, the espresso large brews up extra pleasure, unveiling Starbucks Odyssey. Sarah has extra on this steamy, scorching cup of rewards.
• Twitter vs. Elon Musk, half 265: Ivan writes that “the third time is the appeal” for Elon Musk’s attorneys, who delivered a 3rd termination discover to Twitter concerning the severance fee made to former safety head Peiter “Mudge” Zatko in June, arguing that this motion was in violation of Musk’s proposed settlement to amass the social media large. Or so that they thought. Twitter is denying this breached the settlement.
• Africa’s scorching and heavy fintech sector: Kippa, a Nigerian monetary administration app for retailers, closed on $8.4 million in new funding. Tage reviews that Kippa already has 500,000 retailers utilizing its app since launching final June.

Startups and VC

EV truck firm Nikola merged with VectoIQ in a SPAC in June 2020 with a $29 billion valuation. Trevor Milton, ex-CEO of Nikola, begins his fraud trial, which serves as a warning to risk-loving traders who would throw cash at an organization earlier than it begins delivering merchandise or bringing in income, Rebecca reviews.

“The fact is that should you’re a Silicon Valley-based enterprise agency, no LP at your annual assembly goes to ask you, ‘How did you miss firm X in Columbus?’ Like, that’s not gonna occur. However they’ll ask you, ‘How did you miss firm Y that was in Silicon Valley?’ They don’t need to miss these issues of their yard,” defined Chris Olsen in an interesting interview with Connie. Olsen spent six years with Sequoia Capital in California earlier than co-founding Drive Capital in Columbus, Ohio, in 2013.

Tangentially associated, for our Metropolis Highlight: Minneapolis final week, Haje hosted a panel discussing What Minneapolis traders are searching for (trace: it’s not simply Minnesota startups).

Right here’s a number of extra for ya:

For LatAm fee orchestration startups, market fragmentation is a blessing in disguise

Picture Credit: aolomartinezphotography (opens in a brand new window) / Getty Pictures

In Latin America, e-commerce is suffering from excessive fraud charges. Scarcely 20% of adults have a bank card, and plenty of who do aren’t ready to make use of them internationally.

It’s additionally true that e-commerce is rising quicker there than in every other area because the pandemic started. In line with one research, on-line gross sales in Latin America will generate $379 billion in a 32% year-over-year improve.

“The funds panorama in Latin America appears hopelessly fragmented and riddled with fraud,” says Rocio Wu, a principal at F-Prime Capital.

“Nevertheless, we imagine that fragmentation really provides an enormous alternative for vertically built-in funds orchestration startups to seize quite a lot of worth.”

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup groups get forward. You may join right here.)

Massive Tech Inc.

Darrell was following the Blue Origin launch this morning and introduced information that the launch was aborted after “a mid-flight anomaly.”

We all know you missed getting your Apple information repair over the weekend, so the workforce, together with Zack, Ivan, Sarah and Romain, got here collectively to deliver you some tales associated to iOS 16. First are 5 new safety and privateness options adopted by “nifty” options you don’t need to miss. Then every thing you wished to learn about Lock Display screen widgets and the way downloading iOS 16 will flip your iPhone right into a extra private gadget and at last, the thin on Apple Passkey.

• Eyeing India: That’s precisely what Google is planning on doing with a few of the manufacturing for its Pixel smartphones, Manish writes.
• What to not go away in your resort room: Unsure how one can simply “discover” a Meta Quest Professional prototype, however that’s what a online game streamer in Mexico says occurred. Amanda has extra.
• Nope: Can’t say Amazon didn’t strive. The e-commerce large is urging the European Union to just accept its provide to finish an antitrust probe into its use of third-party information. Natasha L writes that some advocacy teams are calling Amazon’s provide “weak, obscure and stuffed with loopholes.”
• Chocolate, salty balls maybe?: Transfer over capsules and Okay-cups. Espresso balls are right here.Discover out what Haje needed to say concerning the Swiss-based CoffeeB machine.