Russia has fined Google $374 million for its invasion of Ukraine

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It’s hot all over the world, and even hotter in today’s paper. We bought heaps of TechCrunch deliciousness for you to eat. If you can believe it, it’s only Tuesday. – Christine And Are you sure?

TechCrunch’s Top 3

• It is one way to do good propaganda.: Russia hit $375 million after search giant Google failed to download some content. Ivan He wrote. Most of it was on YouTube and related to the invasion of the country and the war with Ukraine. The fine comes a month after Russia’s telecommunications regulator, Roskomnadzor, warned the company that it could face fines for violating local laws.
• Growing business: Sudan-based fintech Bloom has raised $6.5 million from investors including Y Combinator, GFC and Visa. Notably, the partnership with Visa landed Bloom as the first Sudanese startup to enter the Visa FinTech Fast Track program. take up Reports.
• Streaming and marketing: or in this case, stream While Purchase. YouTube and Shopify have partnered to allow YouTube creators to connect their stores and display their products on channels and use Shopify’s real-time inventory syncing. Aisha He wrote. This is part of YouTube’s new shopping features.

Startups and VCs

Crunchbase lists about 1,400 unicorns, but on TechCrunch+, Alex I wonder how many unicorns are just dwarfs now? It’s a question worth asking because Instacart takes hairstyling seriously.

Also, many new funds were re-launched today. Jacqueline Trib Capital has raised $25 million to launch a crypto incubator program, it reports. AM Ventures has raised $100 million for industrial 3D printing, he wrote Are you sure?. And Valkyrie is looking to raise $30 million for its new crypto VC arm. Anita He wrote.

Go ahead, then, and here are a few more stories (and some delightfully weird music by Cosmo Sheldrake to go along with it).

• Ramp ramp rev development: Mary Ann The ramp reports accelerating revenue growth, indicating that fintech companies with good product market fit still have a lot of growth left in them.
• Sims only: For the first time, the online fan platform has announced that it has invested in UK creator Chloe Sims and her sisters. Lauren.
• Like a museum, but on the blockchain: Despite the usual skepticism for crypto tech, we notice Are you sure? About the archive and building the world’s first decentralized museum covers the extraordinary history of blockchain.
• Talented people; On TechCrunch+, Kyle Investors are bullish on artificial intelligence as the Great Recession eases, reports report.
• Change happensPersephone Bioscience is a biotech startup — with $15 million in funding and a lot of junk — that is building a library of the human microbiome that could do everything from ease digestion to fight serious disease, Devine reports.
• ⬛⬛⬛ b ⬛⬛⬛: Kyle Strack, which automatically redacts sensitive data on Slack, OneDrive and other platforms, has reported raising $3.5 million in seed investment.

Can Medicare save the insurance market?

Image Credits: Mirage C (Opens in a new window) / Getty Images

In the year By 2020, the US will spend 20 percent of GDP on health care. Every day, nearly 11,000 people turn 65, making them eligible for Medicare, the federally funded health insurance program that is enrolling new patients faster than ever.

Companies that help consumers navigate the complex Medicare market have a big opportunity: “The average senior has to choose between 57 different plan options, and most of them can’t tell them apart,” said TX Zhuo and James Shecter of Fika Ventures.

They shared their six-point investment research with TC+ readers to show that Medicare is the “bright spark” that lights up the “entire insurance market.”

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can register here..)

Big Tech Inc.

If you’re looking for an easy way to get through the airport, Alaska Airlines is here to provide. The airline has a new electronic bag that makes everything easier for checking bags. Frederick He wrote. Considering the lack of flights and thousands of bags being held at airports around the world, we’re not sure this news could have come at a better time.

Another day, another Twitter and Elon Musk story. We’re not sure which date is on Captain’s docket, but a judge has ruled that Twitter may continue and even expedite the trial against Elon Musk. Amanda Reports.

Meanwhile, Zach He writes about BitSight, a cybersecurity startup that discovered a few vulnerabilities in a popular GPS tracker made by Mycodes. The security flaws exposed nearly a million vehicle locations.

Let’s get into more, shall we?