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Software asset management — an area of enterprise IT designed, in part, to help companies save money — continues to draw a lot of money itself. In the latest development, Xensam — a startup out of Stockholm that provides AI-based tools to help businesses understand and track where and how software is being used — has raised $40 million, its first outside funding since being founded eight years ago. The funding is coming from a single investor, Expedition Growth Capital out of London. Oskar Fösker, Xensam’s CEO who…

Media streamer Plex has raised new capital. The company, which began as a media organization startup, has morphed over the years to become a one-stop shop for all your media, including ad-supported streaming, which now accounts for much of its revenue growth. The new round, which has not yet been disclosed, was initially said to be larger than Plex’s $50 million growth round closed a few years ago, but we now understand it’s $40 million, a rep for Plex has confirmed. The funds will help fuel the company’s push toward…

Norway-headquartered Otovo has secured €40mn to expand its rent-to-buy online marketplace for solar panels, as it seeks to cash in on booming demand from homeowners looking to slash their energy bills. Otovo rents out solar panels and inverters at a fixed monthly cost, which includes all repairs and maintenance. The platform, currently available 13 European countries, uses satellite data and mapping information to calculate how much sunlight a section of your roof receives and the…

The renovations required to restore and reopen Casa Bonita reportedly cost “upward of $40 million.” That’s according to the New York Times, which spoke with owners Matt Stone and Trey Parker, also the creators of the venerable TV show “South Park,” during one of the restaurant’s soft opening nights earlier this month. Estimates procured by 9 News last August put the renovation at $12 million, in addition to the $3.1 million price tag to purchase the local landmark. But as construction mounted, so too did the bill. “When…

How many paying customers do you have, and how long are they locked in? Annual recurring revenue (ARR) has always been a key metric, but with valuations down across the board and new money too tight to mention, it’s now a lodestar — especially for self-funded startups. Hotjar CEO Mohannad Ali wrote an article for TC+ laying out four principles from his bootstrapped company’s product-led growth strategy that helped them “move quickly and pivot regularly.” Full TechCrunch+ articles are only available to membersUse…

German drone solution startup Wingcopter announced today it had landed €40 million in funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to scale up services and ramp up production of its latest model. According to its developers, the Wingcopter 198 introduces a “new era for drone delivery.” Additions to the latest version of Wingcopter’s aircraft, “the world’s first triple-drop delivery drone,” include delivery of up to three packages to multiple locations during one flight.  What’s more, a…

…Sets to deepen footprints across Africa By Juliet Umeh A global education technology learning management platform, Edtech, Classera, said it has successfully raised $40 million in a Series A round. The start-up said the Series A round, which represents the largest funding round ever in Edtech in the Middle East and North Africa, MENA, region and most of Africa, is expected to advance Classera’s Learning Super Platform, LSP, and also deepens its global expansion into new markets, especially in Africa. According to the…

To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PST, subscribe here. Okay, NOW it’s Friday. Got any fun plans for the long weekend? Haje is moving house (ugh), and Christine is browsing GIFs of puppies until her battery runs out. Probably. Most people aren’t straight-up racist, but it turns out unconscious biases sneak into our brains in all sorts of nasty, sneaky little ways. Stereotypes and prejudices exist, and being aware of yours is a good place to…

Hannah Miller / Bloomberg: Horizon Blockchain Games, which develops the Sequence developer platform, Niftyswap marketplace, and Skyweaver trading card game, raised a $40M Series A — Crypto winter has helped chill demand for nonfungible tokens, but that hasn't stopped startups that use them from raising money. Hannah Miller / Bloomberg: Horizon Blockchain Games, which develops the Sequence developer platform, Niftyswap marketplace, and Skyweaver trading card game, raised a $40M Series A …

Catarina Moura / The Block: Golden, which is building a Web3 data protocol expected to fully launch in Q2 2023, raised a $40M Series B led by a16z, bringing its total funding to $60M — - Golden has raised $40 million in a series led by a16z crypto. — The Series B round included high-profile investors … Catarina Moura / The Block: Golden, which is building a Web3 data protocol expected to fully launch in Q2 2023, raised a $40M Series B led by a16z, bringing its total funding to…