Technology

WhatFix raises a whopping $125M for its in-app user guides

Published

3 hours ago

September 25, 2024

WhatFix raises a whopping $125M for its in-app user guides

Digital transformation — upgrading a company’s legacy apps and processes with new tech — has long been a buzzy and lucrative business. But the pandemic supercharged the market.

Covid pandemic lockdowns and the widespread move to work-from-home spurred brands relying on old technology to modernize their organizations. According to Statista, worldwide spending on digital transformation reached $1.85 trillion in 2022, up more than 16% from the previous year.

WhatFix is among the digital transformation firms that have benefited enormously from the boom. The San Jose-based company, which offers a platform that demos how to use third-party software, this week closed a $125 million Series E round led by Warburg Pincus.

CEO Khadim Batti says that the round, which also had participation from SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, values WhatFix at a figure 50% higher than its Series D valuation in 2021. WhatFix never disclosed that valuation, but my colleague Ingrid Lunden ascertained that it was close to $600 million. We can assume, then, that the Series E brings the company’s valuation to around $900 million.

Batti co-launched WhatFix with Vara Kumar in 2013 after the pair met while working at Huawei. The Chinese electronics giant had just opened an office in India, near the founders’ home cities.

WhatFix wasn’t an overnight success. Batti and Kumar originally tried building a business around a search engine optimization tool called Search Enabler, but roadblocks kept arising — including user confusion. Few customers knew how to implement the tool’s suggestions, Batti says.

“The recommendations were generally quite basic, such as the webpage not having a title, but customers didn’t know how to use applications like WordPress to correct the error,” he told TechCrunch. “Most were small businesses without technology know-how.”

Out of this early failure sprang inspiration. Batti and Kumar decided to pivot to try their hands at a different challenge: teaching people how to use new software.

Together, the two entrepreneurs built WhatFix, which provides on-screen tutorials for around 750 apps, drawing on a database of tens of thousands of pages of documentation. The platform effectively “lays” on top of desktop and web apps to provide guidance for onboarding, suggested actions, and self-service support.

“We’re able to provide single-line answers from existing knowledge repositories and present them right inside software applications, in the flow of users’ work,” Batti explained.

Batti says that WhatFix has over 10 million users and 700 customers, including Shell, Microsoft, Schneider Electric, Cisco, and the EU’s European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The company’s annual recurring revenue grew 4.5x year-over-year this year, driven by sales of its software-as-a-service plans, he says.

WhatFix occupies the software segment known as digital adoption platforms, or “DAP.” DAP is massive; Gartner predicts that 70% of organizations will use a DAP by 2025. DAP vendors were generating roughly $646 million in revenue combined in 2022, and VC investments in DAP grew sixfold to $470 million that same year.

With the competition getting fiercer — SAP this month paid $1.5 billion to acquire DAP platform WalkMe — WhatFix is doubling down on expansion and diversification, Batti said.

Since its last funding round, WhatFix has rolled out connectors for customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning software, as well as a monitoring dashboard for managers to view app engagement metrics. (Batti says that these products now make up 15% of WhatFix’s revenue.) WhatFix has also doubled its already-massive workforce to over 960 employees to open new offices in Singapore, Germany, Australia, and India.

Looking ahead, WhatFix, with its $280 million in total capital raised, plans to make strategic acquisition (adding to the acquisitions of Airim, Nittio Learn, and Leap.is it has made over the last four years) and invest in product development. Like practically every company these days, WhatFix is keeping a pulse on generative AI; Batti says that WhatFix is experimenting with automated “agents” that can take actions inside certain apps, akin to robotic process automation.

“Looking ahead, the DAP market is expected to evolve toward more AI-driven, personalized experiences with deeper enterprise system integration,” Batti said. “We’ve been very disciplined with our now-$265 million capital, and our ability to grow profitably while expanding within our customer base has helped us maintain strong financial health.”

Is an IPO in WhatFix’s future? Batti wouldn’t say. But he did note that funder Warburg Pincus has a “proven track record in guiding companies to IPO and operating with public companies positions.” Take that how you will.

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Technology

A second Apple Store just ratified a union contract

Published

1 min ago

September 25, 2024

NewsAdmin

A second Apple Store just ratified a union contract

The store’s 78 employees, who are represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), shared the details of the contract, which includes wage increases of up to 11.5 percent over the next three years and guaranteed paid time off. The contract also ensures employee involvement in scheduling, job protection in case of a store closure, and health benefits.

“After all the work we have done and all the obstacles that Apple has put in our way, we have finally secured the protection and improvements in pay and benefits that we deserve,” Michael Forsythe, a member of Apple Retail Union-CWA, said in a statement. “We hope this sets an example for Apple’s tens of thousands of retail workers that when we stand together, we have the power to make meaningful changes in our workplace.”

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Technology

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is Netflix’s #1 show but it’s not as popular as Dahmer – here are 3 better crime dramas to watch with over 85% on Rotten Tomatoes

Published

22 mins ago

September 25, 2024

NewsAdmin

(L to R) Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez, Chloë Sevigny as Kitty Menendez, Javier Bardem as Jose Menendez, Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez posing for a family portrait.

Ryan Murphy’s and Ian Brennan’s second season of the true crime anthology series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story has become Netflix‘s most-watched show with over 12 million views worldwide in the week ending September 22.

Despite being the number one show on the best streaming service, it has been met with criticism. The series has 44% on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics, with The Guardian calling it an “exhausting horror show” in their two star review. Meanwhile, the first season of the series, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story received a slightly better critical reception of 57% and saw a higher view count in its opening weekend (Deadline reports that Dahmer had around 21 million views, while Menendez received 12 million), but both wouldn’t make it onto our best Netflix shows list.

The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is a true-crime drama that centers on the lives of the Menendez brothers, Lyle (Nichola Alexander Chavez) and Erik (Cooper Koch), who were convicted of killing their parents in 1989. But there are plenty of better crime dramas to watch on Netflix – here are three with over 85% on Rotten Tomatoes to watch instead.

MONSTERS: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story | Official Trailer #1 | Netflix – YouTube

Watch On

Unbelievable

Unbelievable | Official Trailer | Netflix – YouTube

Watch On

RT Score: 98%
Age rating: TV-MA
Length: ~48 minute episodes
Creators: Susannah Grant, Ayelet Waldman, and Michael Chabon

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning article by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong, Unbelievable follows the police investigation into the Washington and Colorado serial rape cases between 2008 and 2011. The hard-hitting series explores the survivors’ perspectives and the injustices they suffer by the American judicial system, including teenage girl Marie (Kaitlyn Dever) whose report of being raped is criticized and dismissed by the cops.

Meanwhile, Toni Collette and Merritt Wever are outstanding as two detectives on a mission to uncover the truth about a spate of similar attacks (their empathetic performances are something I often think about when it comes to gripping crime dramas). Even just watching the trailer is goosebump-inducing as it showcases a spectrum of raw emotions from all the cast.

Mindhunter

MINDHUNTER | Trailer 2 | Netflix – YouTube

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RT Score: 97%
Age rating: TV-MA
Length: ~53 minute episodes
Director: David Fincher

Mindhunter is arguably one of the best Netflix shows ever and is adapted from the 1995 true crime book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Serial Elite Crime Unit written by former FBI agent John E. Douglas. Set in the late 70s and early 80s, Mindhunter focuses on the creation of FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit and the beginning of criminal profiling.

Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, and Anna Torv star as two FBI agents and a psychology professor who interview serial killers to understand their damaged minds and motives. Fincher’s signature style makes this dark, chilling piece of television well worth a watch as it leaves you haunted by how depraved and complex real-life monsters can be.

Griselda

Griselda | Official Trailer | Netflix – YouTube

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RT Score: 86%
Age rating: TV-MA
Length: ~55 minute episodes
Director: Andrés Baiz

Sofia Vergara proves she’s as gifted a dramatic actor as she is a comedian in the titular role of Colombian crime boss, Griselda Blanco. Inspired by her real-life story, the Emmy-nominated series documents Blanco’s journey from fleeing Medellín to protect her children into becoming the notorious drug lord known as the Godmother of Cocaine.

Vergara perfectly captures the complex and multifaceted personality of Blanco, from her ardent maternal instincts to her ruthless and more vulnerable side as her hunger for power and wealth in the Miami drug scene becomes all-consuming.

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Servers computers

Dell PowerEdge Rack Server | Models List | Price/Cost in India

Published

30 mins ago

September 25, 2024

NewsAdmin

Dell PowerEdge Rack Server | Models List | Price/Cost in India

Infinian Technology Dealer, Distributor and Partner of Dell PowerEdge Rack Server Provider in India – Bangalore, Chennai for Price/Cost Call: 9739091119

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Technology

James McAvoy and Tom Brady fall for ‘Goodbye Meta AI’ hoax

Published

50 mins ago

September 25, 2024

NewsAdmin

James McAvoy and Tom Brady fall for 'Goodbye Meta AI' hoax

More than 600,000 people, including many celebrities, have fallen for a hoax claiming to deny Facebook and Instagram owner Meta the right to use their images for training artificial intelligence (AI).

Film stars James McAvoy and Ashley Tisdale, as well as former NFL player Tom Brady, are among those who re-shared the fake “Goodbye Meta AI” message on Instagram stories.

The hoax claims that by sharing the message, Meta would no longer be able to use their information.

In reality, Facebook and Instagram users who want to opt out of AI training can do so in their account settings – and posting about it does nothing.

Many of these messages have now been labelled “false information” by Lead Stories, one of Meta’s third-party fact-checking sites.

The post appears to have been created in opposition to Meta’s announcement in June that it will use public posts to train its AI model – but the company has confirmed to the BBC that posting the message has no impact on any user’s privacy settings.

“Sharing this story does not count as a valid form of objection,” a Meta spokesperson said.

Lead Stories pinpointed the origin of the trend to a post on Facebook on 1 September, which used slightly different wording to the version that eventually went viral.

But it was not until this week – when large celebrity accounts began to share the post – that the craze took hold, with Google Trends displaying a steep spike in searches for the phrase “Goodbye Meta AI” after 24 September.

It is far from the first time that social media has been dominated by such “copypasta” – a term meaning a block of text that is “copied and pasted” frequently online.

The fact-checking website Snopes has covered several instances from the past decade of users declaring their privacy rights in public messages to no avail.

But it is rare to see quite so many high-profile accounts fall for the hoax.

Plans for other social media companies to train AI models on public posts have also been met with criticism, with LinkedIn this week reversing its decision to do so in the UK.

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Science & Environment

10 things to watch in the stock market Wednesday, including automaker downgrades

Published

54 mins ago

September 25, 2024

NewsAdmin

10 things to watch in the stock market Wednesday, including automaker downgrades

Top 10 things to watch Wednesday, Sept. 25 — Today’s newsletter was written by the Investing Club’s director of portfolio analysis, Jeff Marks. 1. The S & P 500 is on track for a muted open Wednesday following another record close Tuesday. Club holding Nvidia helped lift the market Tuesday but earnings loom from fellow chipmaker Micron . Our trusted momentum indicator, the S & P Short Range Oscillator, remains very overbought. 2. Morgan Stanley’s well-known auto analyst Adam Jonas downgraded his view on the U.S. auto industry to “in line” from attractive while also lowering his ratings on Ford , General Motors and Rivian . Jonas cited a range of factors for his sector downgrade, including Chinese competitors and vehicle affordability in the U.S. We sold out of Ford earlier this year. 3. Tyson Food was downgraded to a sell-equivalent underweight at Piper Sander on worsening beef margins and rising chicken supply. Shares, down more than 4% over the past month, were lower Wednesday. 4. KeyBanc upgraded DoorDash to an overweight buy and lifted its price target on the food delivery platform to $177 a share. Analysts said they’ve become more confident in DoorDash’s ability to sustain gross order volume growth and demonstrate operating leverage. The firm also raised its price target on Uber to $90 on a belief that cost discipline can further boost earnings. 5. Wells Fargo upgraded oilfield services provider Baker Hughes to overweight from a hold-equivalent, citing its diversified business model. It lowered its price targets on peers Halliburton and SLB to reflect a more muted macro outlook. Despite a lift Tuesday on China stimulus news, oil prices have been trending lower since the spring. 6. Baird analysts added Foot Locker to their “Bearish Fresh Pick Trading Call” list through November, which means they are negative on the stock over that stretch. They cited what they see as signs of softer spending trends and lower near-term sales visibility. CNBC’s Gabrielle Fonrouge had a nice look at Foot Locker’s turnaround efforts earlier this week. 7. Hewlett Packard Enterprise was upgraded to a buy-equivalent overweight at Barclays on growing AI server revenues, improvement in storage, and accretion from the Juniper Networks deal. The server makers like HPE, Super Micro Computer and Dell Technologies have been a closely followed group this year. 8. Evercore ISI downgraded Union Pacific to a hold-equivalent in line rating from outperform. Analysts think the railroad stock looks fully valued at around $249 a share based on its medium-term earnings outlook. 9. Expedia was downgraded to hold at Cowen on a slower turnaround in its business-to-consumer operations, which include vacation rental platform Vrbo and Hotels.com. Those brands have been losing share, according to analysts. 10. Oppenheimer cut its price target on Club holding Alphabet to $185 a share due to uncertainty on the Department of Justice’s antitrust pursuits. The company lost a case last month over its Google Search business and is in currently in court to defend its advertising business against monopoly allegations. Sign up for Jim’s Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free (See here for a full list of the stocks at Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Top 10 things to watch Wednesday, Sept. 25

— Today’s newsletter was written by the Investing Club’s director of portfolio analysis, Jeff Marks.

1. The S&P 500 is on track for a muted open Wednesday following another record close Tuesday. Club holding Nvidia helped lift the market Tuesday but earnings loom from fellow chipmaker Micron. Our trusted momentum indicator, the S&P Short Range Oscillator, remains very overbought.

2. Morgan Stanley’s well-known auto analyst Adam Jonas downgraded his view on the U.S. auto industry to “in line” from attractive while also lowering his ratings on Ford, General Motors and Rivian. Jonas cited a range of factors for his sector downgrade, including Chinese competitors and vehicle affordability in the U.S. We sold out of Ford earlier this year.

3. Tyson Food was downgraded to a sell-equivalent underweight at Piper Sander on worsening beef margins and rising chicken supply. Shares, down more than 4% over the past month, were lower Wednesday.

4. KeyBanc upgraded DoorDash to an overweight buy and lifted its price target on the food delivery platform to $177 a share. Analysts said they’ve become more confident in DoorDash’s ability to sustain gross order volume growth and demonstrate operating leverage. The firm also raised its price target on Uber to $90 on a belief that cost discipline can further boost earnings.

5. Wells Fargo upgraded oilfield services provider Baker Hughes to overweight from a hold-equivalent, citing its diversified business model. It lowered its price targets on peers Halliburton and SLB to reflect a more muted macro outlook. Despite a lift Tuesday on China stimulus news, oil prices have been trending lower since the spring.

6. Baird analysts added Foot Locker to their “Bearish Fresh Pick Trading Call” list through November, which means they are negative on the stock over that stretch. They cited what they see as signs of softer spending trends and lower near-term sales visibility. CNBC’s Gabrielle Fonrouge had a nice look at Foot Locker’s turnaround efforts earlier this week.

7. Hewlett Packard Enterprise was upgraded to a buy-equivalent overweight at Barclays on growing AI server revenues, improvement in storage, and accretion from the Juniper Networks deal. The server makers like HPE, Super Micro Computer and Dell Technologies have been a closely followed group this year.

8. Evercore ISI downgraded Union Pacific to a hold-equivalent in line rating from outperform. Analysts think the railroad stock looks fully valued at around $249 a share based on its medium-term earnings outlook.

9. Expedia was downgraded to hold at Cowen on a slower turnaround in its business-to-consumer operations, which include vacation rental platform Vrbo and Hotels.com. Those brands have been losing share, according to analysts.

10. Oppenheimer cut its price target on Club holding Alphabet to $185 a share due to uncertainty on the Department of Justice’s antitrust pursuits. The company lost a case last month over its Google Search business and is in currently in court to defend its advertising business against monopoly allegations.

Sign up for Jim’s Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free

(See here for a full list of the stocks at Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.)

What Investing Club members are reading right now

As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade.

THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY, TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER. NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

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Servers computers

42U Adjustable 4 Post Frame Server Rack Cabinet – 4POSTRACK42 | StarTech.com

Published

1 hour ago

September 25, 2024

NewsAdmin

42U Adjustable 4 Post Frame Server Rack Cabinet - 4POSTRACK42 | StarTech.com

The 4POSTRACK42 42U Server Rack lets you store your servers, network and telecommunications equipment in a sturdy, adjustable depth open-frame rack.

Designed with ease of use in mind, this 42U rack offers easy-to-read markings for both rack units (U) and depth, with a wide range of mounting depth adjustments (22 – 40in) that make it easy to adapt the rack to fit your equipment.

This durable 4-post rack supports a static loading capacity of up to 1320lbs (600kg), and offers compliance with several industry rack standards (EIA/ECA-310, IEC 60297, DIN 41494) for a universal design that’s compatible with most rack equipment.

For a complete rack solution that saves you time and hassle, the rack includes optional accessories such as casters, leveling feet and cable management hooks. The base is also pre-drilled for securing the rack to the floor if needed, providing you with many options to customize the rack to fit your environment.

Backed by a StarTech.com 2-year warranty and free lifetime technical support.

To learn more visit StarTech.com

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