wprss domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /var/www/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114wprss domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /var/www/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114wprss domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /var/www/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114wprss domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /var/www/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114wprss domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /var/www/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114There’s an ocean of meme coins beyond Dogecoin, and a new startup called Neverless wants to make it easier to get started with trading crypto, with a particular focus on providing access to small-cap tokens. This is an interesting new crypto startup, founded by three former executives at Revolut, the London-based fintech juggernaut.
Phuc To was the global head of product for Revolut, and was in charge of the company’s crypto project back in 2021. Mikael Peydayesh was the head of core payments at Revolut, and later became the head of premium plans, and Arthur Johanet was the head of card payments for a while before he went on to lead Revolut’s cryptocurrency department.
While crypto exchanges have greatly simplified the onboarding experience for new users over the years, the three believed it could still be improved, and so they teamed up to create a new app that makes cryptocurrencies more accessible.
Neverless lets you buy over 400 crypto tokens from the app using Apple Pay or Google Pay. In addition to the most common cryptocurrencies, the startup has chosen to offer access to meme coins and relatively rare coins with low trading volumes.
Buying these small-cap tokens can be challenging, as you usually need to find a crypto exchange that lists them. Alternatively, you can swap tokens on a decentralized exchange, which can be complicated if you don’t understand how decentralized applications (dApps) work.
Moreover, there are some caveats when you’re trying to buy tokens with low trading volumes. Pricing can vary from one trading venue to another, and there can be a large spread between the buying and selling prices. Neverless says it can seamlessly route trades to the right trading platform to get its users the best prices.
Another issue regular people have with crypto trading products are the fees involved. While tech-savvy people often look at the fineprint before buying crypto, and are willing to create yet another account, big exchanges often take advantage of their clout to charge higher fees if you just want to instantly buy and sell crypto, without creating a market order.
Neverless doesn’t charge fees to buy and sell cryptos using bank transfers, blockchain transfers, Apple Pay and Google Pay. For transactions above $1,000 with Apple Pay or Google Pay, the startup charges a 1% fee. Of course, things could change in the future as Neverless becomes more popular.
So how does the startup make money right now? On some cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH, DOGE, SOL, XRP and AVAX), Neverless generates interest that is passed on to the users. The company also offers automated trading strategies that revolve around high-frequency arbitrage and market-making. Neverless can take a share of the returns generated from these yield-generating products.
The company has secured a MiFID license, which means that it is a regulated financial firm in Europe. It will have to comply with the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation when it comes into force in the coming weeks.
Earlier this year, the startup raised $6.7 million in a seed round led by Lakestar and Connect Ventures. Nordstar, Chad West, Dan Westgarth, Eamon Jubbawy, Xiao-Xiao and David Chreng also invested in the round.
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Generative AI may look like magic, but behind the development of these systems are armies of employees at companies like Google, OpenAI and others, known as “prompt engineers” and analysts, who rate the accuracy of chatbots’ outputs to improve their AI.
But a new internal guideline passed down from Google to contractors working on Gemini, seen by TechCrunch, has led to concerns that Gemini could be more prone to spouting out inaccurate information on highly sensitive topics, like healthcare, to regular people.
To improve Gemini, contractors working with GlobalLogic, an outsourcing firm owned by Hitachi, are routinely asked to evaluate AI-generated responses according to factors like “truthfulness.”
These contractors were until recently able to “skip” certain prompts, and thus opt out of evaluating various AI-written responses to those prompts, if the prompt was way outside their domain expertise. For example, a contractor could skip a prompt that was asking a niche question about cardiology because the contractor had no scientific background.
But last week, GlobalLogic announced a change from Google that contractors are no longer allowed to skip such prompts, regardless of their own expertise.
Internal correspondence seen by TechCrunch shows that previously, the guidelines read: “If you do not have critical expertise (e.g. coding, math) to rate this prompt, please skip this task.”
But now the guidelines read: “You should not skip prompts that require specialized domain knowledge.” Instead, contractors are being told to “rate the parts of the prompt you understand” and include a note that they don’t have domain knowledge.
This has led to direct concerns about Gemini’s accuracy on certain topics, as contractors are sometimes tasked with evaluating highly technical AI responses about issues like rare diseases that they have no background in.
“I thought the point of skipping was to increase accuracy by giving it to someone better?” one contractor noted in internal correspondence, seen by TechCrunch.
Contractors can now only skip prompts in two cases: if they’re “completely missing information” like the full prompt or response, or if they contain harmful content that requires special consent forms to evaluate, the new guidelines show.
Google did not respond to TechCrunch’s requests for comment by press time.
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GPS tracking firm Hapn is exposing the names of thousands of its customers due to a website bug, TechCrunch has learned.
A security researcher alerted TechCrunch in late November to customer names and affiliations — such as the name of their workplace — spilling from one of Hapn’s servers, which TechCrunch has seen.
Hapn, formerly known as Spytec, is a tracking company that allows users to remotely monitor the real-time location of internet-enabled tracking devices, which can be attached to vehicles or other equipment. The company also sells GPS trackers to consumers under its Spytec brand, which rely on the Hapn app for tracking. Spytec touts its GPS devices for tracking the locations of valuable possessions and “loved ones.” According to its website, Hapn claims to track more than 460,000 devices and counts customers within the Fortune 500.
The bug allows anyone to log in with a Hapn account to view the exposed data using the developer tools in their web browser.
The exposed data contains information on more than 8,600 GPS trackers, including the IMEI numbers for the SIM cards in each tracker, which uniquely identify each device. The exposed data does not include location data, but thousands of records contain the names and business affiliations of customers who own, or are tracked by, the GPS trackers.
Hapn has not responded to multiple emails from TechCrunch. The customer names remain exposed at the time of writing.
Several emails to Hapn CEO Joe Besdin went unreturned. A message sent to an email address listed on the company’s privacy policy returned with a bounce error, saying that the email address does not exist. The company does not have a web page or form for reporting security vulnerabilities.
When we contacted individuals whose names and affiliations were listed in the exposed data, several people confirmed their names and workplaces but declined to discuss their use of the GPS tracker. One company listed on Hapn’s website as a corporate customer had several trackers listed in the exposed data, TechCrunch has seen.
The security researcher said they began looking into the GPS tracker after finding that customers had left online reviews for the devices recommending the tracker for monitoring a person’s spouse or partner. (TechCrunch has seen dozens of reviews on Spytec’s online stores from customers who claim to have used the GPS devices to track their spouses.)
The list of exposed customer records also shows thousands of trackers with associated names but no other discernible affiliation. It’s not known if the individuals are aware of having been tracked.
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After nearly four years of working in sales at tradesperson software company ServiceTitan, Mark Hoadley (pictured above) was looking for a change and to potentially start something of his own in a similar industry.
Hoadley’s brother-in-law, and now co-founder, Ben Sikma, was working on M&A in the waste management space at the time. Sikma discovered how outdated many of the companies changing hands were. When he and Hoadley started looking deeper, they realized waste management might be exactly what Hoadley was looking for.
“All of the existing software in the space, they were clunky, old,” Hoadley told TechCrunch. “Sometimes we’d talk about how this one reminds us of the Oregon Trail, this reminds us of the cell phone Michael Douglas used in ‘Wall Street.’ They’re very clunky and antiquated.”
Hoadley, now CEO, and Sikma, now president, launched Hauler Hero in 2020. The cloud-based software platform works with waste management companies on everything from route planning and management to billing to a customer portal where companies’ underlying customers can request pickups. Hauler Hero’s software also taps AI to help automate some of these tasks like invoicing and route management to find inefficiencies and help companies save money.
Hoadley said the company specifically decided to build multiple product lines right out of the gate as opposed to just building route management or billing software with plans to expand later. He said that he watched ServiceTitan struggle to expand into recurring services (pest control) while he was there. The company ended up having to buy an existing player to get it to work. He didn’t want his company to face the same fate.
“We wanted to make sure that we built this the right way from the beginning,” Hoadley said. “Many people will advise you to build an MVP, which is just a wedge into the market, and on balance, that didn’t seem like the right way to do this. It’s more difficult to raise all the capital and start that way, but now we’ve got a really efficient machine that our customers love.”
The company launched its platform in beta in 2022 and rolled out publicly in Q1 2024. Since then it has amassed more than 120 residential and commercial waste management customers across 40 states. It’s grown its revenue 200% in the past year.
Hauler Hero is announcing that it raised $10 million in seed funding led by I2BF Ventures with participation from K5 Global and Somersault Ventures in addition to executives from companies like Gusto and ServiceTitan and some of Hauler Hero’s customers.
Hoadley said the company plans to use the funds to hire more engineers and sales folks and to continue working on product development.
One area the company is working on, Hoadley said, is building up their products for larger enterprise customers that want better integrations with their other related businesses like transfer stations, or places to sort and store waste. He added that they are also looking to build up its integrated communications offerings like two-way text messaging, which would allow the company to get enough data to eventually build a customer service agent.
Hauler Hero’s tech operates in a relatively crowded industry filled with legacy software companies including Capterra, WasteWorks, and cieTrade, among others.
There are also other startups looking to solve these problems. Copenhagen-based WasteHero is one early-stage startup looking to build software for this industry that’s raised $6.7 million in venture funding. New York-based CurbWaste is another that raised $21.2 million in funding.
The waste management market is massive, though: It generated more than $140 billion in revenue in the U.S. alone in 2023. While the industry does include huge enterprises like Waste Management and G Mello, it also includes thousands of smaller privately run waste collection companies. Hauler Hero wants to grab a meaningful market share.
“It’s extremely rewarding. These are people who really are doing backbreaking work and God’s work,” Hoadley said. “It’s really rewarding to give them an opportunity to get their workflows done more quickly, to be able to generate reports more easily, and ultimately to grow faster and have more cash in their pockets to do the things that matter to them.”
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