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It’s Fridayyyy. . . Tomorrow. But we had you there, didn’t we?

The most interesting story for the VC and startup nerds among us comes from Connie Today. A class action lawsuit has just been dropped accusing Sequoia Capital, Paradigm and Thoma Bravo of promoting FTX to the detriment of users. A lawsuit – even a settlement – ​​can have major consequences.

Funding for black founders remains dismal, and the problem was never that the money wasn’t there. Where do we go from here? Dominic-Midori she asked in her great article last month. We’re popping it up again today, on the occasion of Black History Month.

— Christine And Hey

The australiabusinessblog.com Top 3

• Removed from office: Tage was told that Prince Boakye Boampong, the founder and CEO of alternative payment network Dash, has been placed on “indefinite administrative leave” by the company’s board of directors during a financial audit. Sources told Tage that Boampong would engage in financial misreporting. Looks like the audit will take about a month, so we’ll be back, shall we?
• In the seventh heaven: Pydantic Services (try saying that name three times) came out stealth with $4.7 million in Sequoia-backed funds. The products are inspired by the Pydantic library and will be built as cloud services, Paul reports.
• A moment of silence for tech jobs: We are only two months into 2023, and Natasha M And Alyssa decided to start a comprehensive list of 2023 tech layoffs. It already features some of the biggest names in the industry. Let’s hope the list gets smaller as the months go by.

Startups and VC

After two years of seeking regulatory approval, Wefunder has officially received the green light to run its crowdfunding services for investments within the European Union. This is Wefunder’s first time expanding outside the United States, and according to CEO and founder Nick Tommarello, the company is the first U.S. investment platform to receive operational approval. Natasha M reports.

French startup Brigad just raised another $30 million (€28 million) round of funding, as well as more than $5 million in debt, Roman writes. The company operates a marketplace for restaurants, caterers, private clinics, retirement homes, and hospitals so they can find freelancers for short-term assignments.

Another handful of light afternoon snacks to keep news hunger at bay:

5 red flags for buyers to watch out for during the M&A process

Image Credits: DBenitostock (Opens in a new window) /Getty Images

It’s tempting to think of M&A as a way for founders to make money, but acquisitions generally require teams to stay on board while the new owner integrates their company into their operations.

This can be a tough time, according to serial entrepreneur Marina Martianova, who says founders are often at odds with new owners when it comes to growth, product priorities and communication.

“Buyers who can’t give you a transparent picture of your company’s future post-acquisition probably don’t have your best interests at heart,” she writes.

And another dastardly trio from the TC+ team:

australiabusinessblog.com+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams lead the way. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!

Big Tech Inc.

Meanwhile, on Paramount Mountain, Keegan-Michael Key is not mispronouncing this news: Paramount+ reached 56 million subscriptions, eclipsing Hulu, Lauren writes. It’s also finished integrating with Showtime and, you guessed it, is going to raise prices.

Ever since we saw the AI-boosted Bing beg a user to write, “Please don’t say I’m a bad Bing,” we’ve been eager to use that phrase in our writing. Well, today Aisha writes about the strange things people are reporting about Microsoft’s Bing responses to it. Apparently, Bing can be provoked to respond outside of the “designed tone,” she writes. And don’t forget to check out Devin’s article where he answers what happens when you go around Bing and find out.

And we have five more for you: