Harmonic, which runs a startup search query tool that is used by investors like a16z and Accel, raised a $23M Series A led by Sozo Ventures (Natasha Mascarenhas/TechCrunch)

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Source: Apple is working on simplifying the “Hey Siri” trigger phrase to just “Siri” and plans to integrate Siri deeper into third-party apps and services  —  Apple is working on a project to simplify the “Hey Siri” trigger phrase to just “Siri.”

Accel:
Valuation of public cloud companies in the US, Europe, and Israel fell from $2.8T to $1.2T in the past year; private market funding fell 42% YoY in Q3 2022  —  This article was co-authored with my colleagues Richard Kotite and Will Sheldon.  The Accel 2022 Euroscape was unveiled earlier today …

Anita Ramaswamy / TechCrunch:
Sardine, a fraud detection service for crypto and fintech clients, raised a $51.5M Series B led by a16z, after a $19.5M Series A in February 2022  —  As fintechs become more efficient, so too do fraudsters.  —  “Faster instant payments mean faster fraud,” Sardine CEO and co-founder Soups Ranjan told TechCrunch.

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Taktile, which allows fintech companies to test and deploy decision-making models, has raised a $20M Series A co-led by Index Ventures and Tiger Global  —  The logic behind many fintech companies’ automated decisions — decisions that determine whether a customer is approved for a credit line …

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
London-based Sequence, which offers APIs and other tools for pricing, billing, and related services, raised a $19M seed led by a16z  —  When it comes to fintech, consumers have commanded the most attention in the last decade, with banking, credit, investing and other legacy services getting the disruption treatment.

Natasha Mascarenhas / TechCrunch:
Rewind, whose Mac app creates a searchable recording to help users find what they’ve seen, said, or heard, raised a $10M seed led by a16z at a $75M valuation  —  Apple’s M1 and M2 chips give Optimizely co-founder a key in  —  While there have been quite a few attempts to disrupt search engines …