TechCrunch
Technology news and analysis
Websitetechcrunch.com
CommercialYes
LocationSan Francisco, California, United States[1]
Language
  • English
  • Chinese
  • French
  • Japanese
RegistrationNone
Owner
AuthorMichael Arrington, Keith Teare
EditorMatthew Panzarino[2]
Launch dateJune 10, 2005 (age 21)[3]
Current statusActive

TechCrunch is an American global online newspaper focusing on topics regarding high-tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare.[4] In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately $25 million. Following the 2015 acquisition of AOL and Yahoo! by Verizon, the site was owned by Verizon Media from 2015 through 2021.[5]

In 2021, Verizon sold its media assets, including AOL, Yahoo!, and TechCrunch, to the private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Apollo integrated them into a new entity called Yahoo! Inc.[5] In addition to its news reporting, TechCrunch is also known for its annual Disrupt conference, a technology event hosted in several cities across the United States, Europe, and China.

History

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.[6] As of 2013 , TechCrunch was available in English, Chinese (managed by Chinese tech news company TechNode),[7][8] and Japanese.[9] TechCrunch France was folded into the main TechCrunch.com site in October 2012.[10] Boundless (formerly Verizon Media Japan), the Japanese subsidiary of the TechCrunch's parent company, closed TechCrunch Japan in May 2022 according to its "global strategy".[11][12]

Following the acquisition of AOL and Yahoo by Verizon, TechCrunch was owned by Verizon Media from 2015 through 2021.[13] In August 2020, the COO of TechCrunch, Ned Desmond, stepped down after eight years in the company. He announced that he would join the venture capital firm SOSV in December 2020 as a senior operating partner.[14][15] His former role at TechCrunch was replaced by Matthew Panzarino,[16] former editor-in-chief, and Joey Hinson, director of business operations.[17][18]

In 2021, Verizon sold its media assets, including AOL, Yahoo, and TechCrunch, to the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and Apollo integrated them into a new entity called Yahoo! Inc.[19] TechCrunch's monthly visitors in September 2024 were 12.12 million, according to data from SEMRush.[20] In March 2025, Yahoo! Inc. sold TechCrunch to private equity firm Regent LP.[21] A few months later Sifted reported the website shut down its European operations, which was later denied by TechCrunch Chairman and Publisher Michael Reinstein.[22][23]

Events

TechCrunch Disrupt

https://forbesmagazines.de/ Starting in New York City in 2010, TechCrunch hosts an annual tech conference, TechCrunch Disrupt, in several cities in the United States and Europe. The event brings entrepreneurs, investors and tech enthusiasts together to watch startups pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, participate in networking events, listen to keynote speeches and panel discussions.[24][25]

Startup Battlefield

Startup Battlefield is a startup competition. Monetary awards are presented at the TechCrunch Disrupt conferences. Startup Battlefield has a reputation for launching some of the most successful companies in the tech industry. Notable startups that have been involved in the competition include Dropbox, Intuit Mint, Yammer, Parallel Health, and CrateDB.[26][27][28]

Former features

Crunchbase

From 2007 to 2015, TechCrunch operated Crunchbase, a website and online encyclopedia of information on startups, key people, funds, funding rounds, and events. In 2015, Crunchbase became a private entity and is no longer part of TechCrunch.[29][30]

Crunchies

From 2007 to 2017, TechCrunch sponsored the annual Crunchies award ceremony to award startups, internet, and technology innovations.[31] At the first award ceremony in 2007, Facebook won the award for best startup. TechCrunch announced in 2017 that it would end the Crunchies.[32][33]

Controversies

In 2011, the site's editors and writers were criticized for possible ethics violations. These included claims that Arrington's investments in certain firms that the site had covered created a conflict of interest.[34] The controversy that ensued eventually led to Arrington's departure, and other writers, including Paul Carr and Sarah Lacy, moved to another technology investment media company.[35][36]

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2013, TechCrunch faced criticism for allowing a presentation of a mobile app called Titstare, created by two Australian developers. The app, which purportedly allowed users to share photos of men staring at women's breasts, was widely condemned as sexist and inappropriate. The incident drew negative media attention, including coverage from CNN and The Guardian, and prompted TechCrunch to issue a public apology and pledge stricter content review for future events.[37][38][39]

In 2014, TechCrunch Disrupt was featured in an arc of the HBO series Silicon Valley.[40] The characters' startup "Pied Piper" participates in a startup battle at TechCrunch Disrupt.[40]

References

  1. ^ Arrington, Michael (June 3, 2010). "Goodbye, Palo Alto: TechCrunch Moves To San Francisco". TechCrunch. Archived March 5, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  2. ^ "Matthew Panzarino". TechCrunch. August 16, 2023. Archived November 20, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  3. ^ "TechCrunch.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info – DomainTools". WHOIS. Archived November 22, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  4. ^ "About TechCrunch". Archived from the original on October 24, 2005. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  5. ^ "What Is TechCrunch? We Explain Here". Advisory Excellence. 2022-11-15. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  6. ^ Sweney, Mark (September 29, 2010). "AOL buys TechCrunch". The Guardian. Archived March 29, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  7. ^ Desmond, Ned (June 5, 2013). "TechCrunch Returns To China, For Keeps, COO of TechCrunch and CrunchBase and General Manager of AOL Tech". Archived February 26, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  8. ^ "We Catch Up With Our TechCrunch China Partner, TechNode, At Disrupt [TCTV]". TechCrunch. September 11, 2013. Archived March 20, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  9. ^ Yutaira, Iwamoto (November 16, 2012). "TechCrunch Tokyo 2012". CNET. Archived February 26, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  10. ^ Butcher, Mike (October 31, 2012). "TechCrunch France Integrates With TechCrunch.com". TechCrunch. Archived July 8, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  11. ^ 「TechCrunch Japan」および「エンガジェット日本版」終了のお知らせ Archived February 15, 2022 at the Wayback Machine (in Japanese). Boudless. February 15, 2022.
  12. ^ 「エンガジェット日本版」「TechCrunch Japan」終了へ 5月1日で閉鎖 Archived February 15, 2022 at the Wayback Machine (in Japanese). ITmedia. February 15, 2022.
  13. ^ Heater, Brian & Lunden, Ingrid (May 3, 2021). "Private equity firm Apollo to buy Verizon Media assets for $5B, will rename business 'Yahoo'". TechCrunch. Archived November 21, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  14. ^ "The venture firm SOSV has hired former TechCrunch COO Ned Desmond to help grow its startups". TechCrunch. December 18, 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  15. ^ Tan, Wilfred (July 21, 2020). "COO of popular tech news site, TechCrunch, is stepping down.". News Asia Today. Archived December 4, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  16. ^ "Author: Matthew Panzarino". TechCrunch. Archived November 20, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  17. ^ "Author: Joey Hinson". TechCrunch. Archived August 2, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  18. ^ "TechCrunch's COO, Ned Desmond, steps down.". Startup News, Networking, and Resources Hub | BEAMSTART. Archived January 26, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  19. ^ Moritz, Scott & Tse, Crystal (May 3, 2021). "Apollo's $5 Billion Bet on Yahoo Aims to Go Beyond Advertising". Bloomberg News. Archived February 27, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  20. ^ "techcrunch.com Website Traffic, Ranking, Analytics [January 2025] | Semrush". SEMRush. 15 October 2024. Archived 15 October 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  21. ^ Fischer, Sara (2025-03-21). "Yahoo sells TechCrunch to investment firm Regent". Axios. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
  22. ^ Coulter, Martin & Matsuda, Tom (June 1, 2025). "TechCrunch rocks industry with European shutdown: 'A gut punch to the ecosystem'". Sifted. Retrieved 2025-06-02.
  23. ^ Reinstein, Michael (2025-06-11). "Europe, we're not leaving. Period.". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
  24. ^ "Announcing TechCrunch Disrupt 2010". Techcrunch. February 17, 2010. Archived from the original on May 8, 2010. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  25. ^ Kolodny, Lora (May 24, 2010). "May Madness: TechCrunch Starts a Tournament-Style Business Competition". You're the Boss Blog. Archived June 9, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  26. ^ Baker, Dylan (October 22, 2014). "UK Tech: Crate dominates Battlefield to take £30,000 prize". Archived June 9, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  27. ^ "TechCrunch Disrupt Europe 2014 Announces Startup Battlefield Finalists". Business Wire. October 20, 2014. Archived June 9, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  28. ^ "Startup Battlefield: Techcrunch's Premiere Startup Competition". TechCrunch. August 17, 2023. Archived November 22, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  29. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (September 22, 2015). "AOL/Verizon Completes Spinout Of CrunchBase Funded By Emergence Capital". TechCrunch. Archived July 5, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  30. ^ Hockenson, Lauren (September 22, 2015). "Crunchbase leaves AOL with funding by Emergence Capital". The Next Web. Archived August 4, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  31. ^ "Crunchies". TechCrunch. January 10, 2018. Archived May 17, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  32. ^ Stangel, Luke (November 9, 2017). "The Crunchies, where Silicon Valley went to be celebrated and skewered, is ending". American City Business Journals. Archived September 22, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  33. ^ Tiku, Nitasha (February 9, 2015). "Sexism and consequences at TechCrunch's annual award show". The Verge. Archived November 29, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  34. ^ Carr, David (September 5, 2011). "Michael Arrington's Audacious Adventure". The New York Times. Archived February 26, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  35. ^ Swisher, Kara (January 16, 2012). "Sarah Lacy Debuts New Tech Site, PandoDaily — $2M+ in Funding and Guess Who's Working for Her?". All Things Digital. Archived December 29, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  36. ^ Ha, Anthony (September 16, 2011). "TechCruncher Quits, Slams New Editor—On TechCrunch". Adweek. Archived November 14, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  37. ^ Gray, Amy (September 8, 2013). "'Titstare' app at Techcrunch: women in tech deserve better". The Guardian. Archived December 30, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  38. ^ Grubb, Ben (September 9, 2013). "TechCrunch forced to apologise over Sydney duo's 'Titstare' app". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived November 12, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  39. ^ Marcotte, Amanda (September 9, 2013). "Titstare app at TechCrunch Disrupt: What would a tech conference be without the sexism?". Slate. Archived October 31, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  40. ^ Smith IV, Jack (June 2, 2014). "'Silicon Valley' Fact Check: HBO Nails TechCrunch Disrupt All the Way Down to the Nametags". The New York Observer. Archived October 31, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 22, 2020.