TechCrunch


TechCrunch is an American online publisher focusing on the tech industry. The company specifically reports on the business related to tech, technology news, analysis of emerging trends in tech, and profiling of new tech businesses and products. It was one of the earliest publications to report extensively on tech startups and funding.
TechCrunch was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately $25 million.

Products

TechCrunch Disrupt

TechCrunch hosts an annual tech conference, TechCrunch Disrupt, that is hosted in several cities in the United States and Europe. Some notable startups that have been involved in the company's Startup Battlefield have been DropBox, Mint, and Crate.io.

From 2007 to 2015, TechCrunch operated Crunchbase, a database of the startup ecosystem, consisting of investors, incubators, start-ups, key people, funds, funding rounds, and events. Subject to registration, members of the public can make submissions to the database; however, all changes are subject to review by a moderator before being accepted.
In 2015, Crunchbase spun out of AOL/Verizon/TechCrunch to become a private entity, and is no longer a part of TechCrunch.

Crunchies

In 2008, TechCrunch started The Crunchies award ceremony to award startups, internet and technology innovations each year. Due to controversy surrounding the awards, TechCrunch announced in 2017 it would end the Crunchies.

Public persona

TechCrunch has more than 10.1 million followers on Twitter, and more than 2.8 million likes on Facebook as of September 2019.
In 2014, TechCrunch Disrupt was featured in an arc of the HBO series Silicon Valley. The characters' startup "Pied Piper" participates on a startup battle at TechCrunch Disrupt.

Available languages

TechCrunch is currently available in English, Chinese, and Japanese. It had a French edition, which was folded into TechCrunch.com.

Controversy

A scandal erupted over the Titstare application, created by participants in a hackathon at Disrupt 2013.
In 2011, the site came under fire for possible ethics violations. These included claims that Arrington's investments in certain firms which the site had covered created a conflict of interest. The controversy that ensued eventually led to Arrington's departure, and other writers, including Paul Carr and Sarah Lacy, followed suit.