Martech news roundup: WaitWhat funding, Twitter cofounder steps down from board, Google's GKE beta

In our roundup of last week’s martech news, we highlight:

• Podcasting company WaitWhat raises $4.3M Series A funding
• Twitter co-founder Evan Williams steps down from board
• Google’s Kubernetes Engine hybrid cloud platform released in beta

Top stories in marketing technology last week:

Podcasting company WaitWhat raises $4.3M Series A funding

What it is

WaitWhat, a New York-based digital media platform, announced $4.3 million Series A funding on February 21.

Why it matters

The cofounders of WaitWhat, June Cohen and Deron Triff grew the media operations of TED for sixteen years. They launched TED.com, the TED Open Translation Project, TED Radio Hour on NPR, TED in Cinema, and a host of other efforts that grew TED Talks to more than one billion views/listens per year.

They create “premium, genre-defining digital content.” Where other companies go for short-lived, high metrics, they go for deep engagement.

Ever listed to Masters of Scale, the popular podcast hosted by LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman? WaitWhat were the content masters behind it.

Twitter co-founder Evan Williams steps down from board

What it is

On Friday, February 22, Twitter co-founder Ev Williams tweeted this:

I’m very lucky to have served on the @Twitter board for 12 years (ever since there was a board). It’s been overwhelmingly interesting, educational—and, at times, challenging.

— Ev Williams (@ev) February 22, 2019

Why it matters

Williams has been on the Twitter board for twelve years, and was CEO of Twitter from 2008 to 2010. Currently, he’s CEO of Medium.

Google’s Kubernetes Engine hybrid cloud platform released in beta

What it is

On February 21, Google released their Kubernetes Engine-based Cloud Services Platform (CSP) in a beta version.

What makes Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) different than other cloud platforms? Essentially, it lets companies run apps using both their own data centers (on-premise) and also most cloud platforms. Hence, a hybrid cloud platform.

Why it matters

Moving everything to the cloud is not an easy transition. Many companies are reluctant to make the shift so soon, or they prefer to keep information on their own hardware.

The GKE will allow companies to use both options, and shift between the two.

Before you go

• Redis Labs raised $30 million Series E funding.
• Google introduced the option to include YouTube video assets as part of their responsive ad (RDA) campaigns.
• Navigation app Waze (owned by Google) announced a partnership with WPP to boost its ad business.
• Google rebrands Universal App Campaigns to just “App Campaigns.” The rebranding won’t affect functionality, and will be effective next month.
• Facebook added an offline conversions category as part of its Marketing Partners program.
• What to expect from Facebook Marketing 2019.
• Survey: These are the top five search trends for 2019.

See something we missed? Leave us a comment below!