Techcrunch blog!: Suburban drone-based delivery service Flytrex raises $40M Series C

Friday, November 19, 2021 • By Alex Wilhelm

Hello and welcome to Daily Crunch for November 19, 2021. It's a welcome Friday today, heading into a holiday week here in the United States. TechCrunch is a global team, but we'll be a touch slower starting next Thursday. Still, there's more than a little to get into today! – Alex

P.S. Tickets to our upcoming space-themed event are on sale for the next few days!

The TechCrunch Top 3

Bring on drone deliveries: An Israeli drone company (Flytrex) is teaming up with U.S. chains (Walmart, Chili's) to test deliveries in one state (North Carolina). Amazon has worked on drone deliveries, as have other companies. Flytrex just raised $40 million for its efforts. Given how little interest we have in driving to get things, here's hoping the experiment works this time.
The changing structure of venture capital: News that U.S. venture giant Sequoia was shaking up its operating model was big news when it landed. But after looking at a few examples from other markets, there's precedent for a more permanent capital model. Our next question is which venture capital firm is next.
Crypto unicorns multiply: It's no surprise that with more and more venture funds built to invest in them, crypto-focused startups are having a busy year. But you might be surprised regarding just how many new crypto unicorns were born this year and where they are based. A new data set also details where the crypto unicorns are focused, and, yes, NFTs do come up.

Image Credits: Flytrex

The AI advantages for healthcare and finance

Making the case for IVP: Initial viable product

As a concept, minimum viable product (MVP) has given founders maximum flexibility.

The goal is to keep shipping until you reach product-market fit, but there's a catch: "Minimal is a sliding scale that will always slide onto you," according to Aron Solomon, head of strategy at Esquire Digital.

Instead of putting MVP on a pedestal, he proposes adding an initial viable product (IVP) to the roadmap.

"If your IVP is your presentation of an unbaked pepperoni pizza, your MVP is when you present a can of sauce, a package of cheese, a Slim Jim, and a pencil sketch of an oven."

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)

Making the case for IVP: Initial viable product image

Image Credits: Flashpop / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc.

The EU is not done tinkering with adtech: The European Data Protection Board, or EDPB, is warning EU lawmakers that an upcoming collection of digital rules "risks damaging people's fundamental rights" unless it is amended. One suggestion? That ad-tracking be phased out. That would be, ahem, a change in how the internet works.
Flipkart moves into healthcare: Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart is buying a majority stake in SastaSundar, another Indian company, and one that "works with more than 490 pharmacies," per TechCrunch reporting. American e-commerce giant Amazon is also making moves into healthcare work, perhaps giving us a trend to watch for in other markets.
Twitter brings tipping to Android: Another day, another mote of Twitter product news. Frankly, these are dropping so frequently I might have to stop including as many of these in Daily Crunch as I do. Regardless, if you are on Android you can now access Twitter's tipping feature, in case you were waiting.

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