TechCrunch Startup News
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Exaforce raises $125M Series B to build AI for catching and stopping cyberattacks as they happen
Riding an AI rally, Robinhood preps second retail venture IPO; plus, Korea’s biggest manufacturers back Config, the TSMC of robot data
Cowboy Space raised $275 million to build rockets for space data centers; plus what will the whisper-filled office of the future sound like
A 20-minute pitch wins Indian startup Pronto backing from Lachy Groom; plus, Khosla-backed robotics startup Genesis AI has gone full stack
Ethos raises $22.75M from a16z for its expert network with voice onboarding; plus, Altara secures $7M to bridge the data gap that’s slowing down physical sciences
OpenAI’s cozy partner Cerebras is on track for a blockbuster IPO; plus, Katie Haun raises $1 billion for new venture funds
Musely secures $360M from General Catalyst without giving up equity; Meta buys robotics startup
Legal AI startup Legora hits $5.6B valuation and its battle with Harvey just got hotter; also, Shapes brings humans and AI into the same group chats
Firestorm Labs raises $82M to take drone factories into the field; plus, BMW i Ventures has a new $300M fund
BCI startup Neurable looks to license its ‘mind-reading’ tech for consumer wearables
Two college kids raise a $5.1 million pre-seed to build an AI social network in iMessage
Beehiiv rolls out new creator tools; Also, another customer of troubled startup Delve suffered a big security incident
Cathie Woods’ ARK makes its first lead investment in startup Lucra — and it isn’t AI; Esther and Anne Wojcicki join new healthcare accelerator
SusHi Tech Tokyo isn’t a conference — it’s a deal room with 60,000 people; AI research lab NeoCognition lands $40M seed
SaySo is a new short-form video app that aims to restore users’ trust in news; plus, Loop wants to build supply chain AI that predicts disruptions
Amazon-backed X-energy files to raise up to $800M in IPO; plus, a simulation startup wants to be the Cursor for physical AI
Can AI judge journalism? A Thiel-backed startup says yes, even if it risks chilling whistleblowers
AI data center startup Fluidstack in talks for $1B round at $18B valuation
OpenAI has bought AI personal finance startup Hiro
Slate Auto raises $650M to fund its affordable EV truck plans
Ex-Tesla engineer’s startup taps Pronto to help automate a copper mine; plus, Collide Capital raises $95M fund to back fintech
TC's Julie Bort can’t help rooting for tiny open source AI model maker Arcee; plus, Databricks co-founder wins prestigious ACM award
AI startup Rocket offers vibe McKinsey-style reports at a fraction of the cost; plus, Hermeus raises $350M to build unmanned hypersonic fighters
Spain’s Xoople raises $130 million Series B to map the Earth for AI
Peter Thiel’s big bet on solar-powered cow collars; plus, Anthropic buys biotech startup Coefficient Bio in $400M dea
Beehiiv expands into podcasting; also, Gateway Capital announces first close of $25M Fund II
One way Beehiiv is convincing creators to switch from rivals like Substack and Patreon is by not taking a cut of revenue. Plus, Gateway Capital Partners, the venture firm founded by Dana Guthrie, announced the first close for its $25 million target Fund II earlier this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Commonwealth Fusion Systems leans on magnets for near-term revenue; plus the company behind ClassPass and Mindbody just got a lot bigger with a $7.5B merger
Realta Fusion is buying magnets from Commonwealth Fusion Systems, providing a revenue stopgap. Also, the merger is a sign that the fitness industry is continuing to move toward consolidation to compete at a larger scale. Recent moves include MyFitnessPal acquiring Cal AI, an AI calorie counting app, and Strava buying two apps: cycling app The Breakaway and running app Runna. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Exclusive: Runway launches $10M funExclusive: Runway launches $10M fund, Builders program to support early-stage AI startupsd, Builders program to support early-stage AI startups
Runway is launching a $10 million fund and startup program to back companies building with its AI video models, as it pushes toward interactive, real-time “video intelligence” applications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
ScaleOps raises $130M to improve computing efficiency amid AI demand; Qodo raises $70M for code verification as AI coding scales
ScaleOps just raised $130M to tackle GPU shortages and soaring AI cloud costs by automating infrastructure in real time. Plus, as AI floods software development with code, Qodo is betting the real challenge is making sure it actually works. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Defense startup Shield AI lands $12.7B valuation; plus, Aetherflux reportedly raising Series B at $2 billion valuation
In one year, Shield AI's value has leaped 140%. This after it won a contract to be the software provider to Anduril's Fury fighter jet for the U.S. Air Force. Also, Index Ventures is said to be leading a $250 million to $350 million round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Conntour raises $7M to build an AI search engine for security video systems; plus, Lucid Bots raises $20M for its window-washing drones
Conntour uses AI models to let security teams query camera feeds using natural language to find any object, person, or situation. Also, Lucid Bots has seen demand accelerate over the last year for its window cleaning drones and power washing robots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Seattle's Brinc just launched a drone it says can replace police helicopters; Arinna raises $4M seed round to solve the space power problem
Brinc launched its newest 911 response drone this week, as the company seeks to expand its prominence in the public safety industry. Also, Arinna builds solar cells specifically for spacecraft and has developed an ultrathin new material that it expects to be far more flexible and more efficient than current technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Startup Gimlet Labs is solving the AI inference bottleneck in a surprisingly elegant way; plus, Flighty gives you real-time alerts about airport disturbances
Gimlet Labs just raised an $80 million Series A for tech that lets AI run across NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, ARM, Cerebras and d-Matrix chips, simultaneously. Also, Flighty's new feature will give users real-time updates about why operations at an airport are disrupted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sam Altman-backed fusion startup Helion in talks with OpenAI; plus, the SEC dropped its four-year-old investigation into EV startup Faraday Future
Helion is reportedly negotiating a deal that would see it sell 12.5% of its power output to OpenAI. Also, after four years, and multiple subpoenas and depositions, the beleaguered EV startup, Faraday Futures, has dodged yet another bullet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AI startups are eating the venture industry and the returns, so far, are good; plus, Delve accused of misleading customers
AI startups accounted for 41% of the $128 billion in venture dollars raised by companies on Carta last year — a record-high annual share. Also, an anonymous Substack post accuses compliance startup Delve of “falsely” convincing “hundreds of customers they were compliant” with privacy and security regulations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Geothermal startup Fervo catapults itself over the ‘valley of death’; K2 to launch its first high-powered satellite for space compute
Fervo landed a large new loan with terms that strongly suggest the company's most turbulent days are behind it. Also, K2's Gravitas is an ambitious project that aims to demonstrate the tech needed to build data centers in space. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Rebel Audio is a new AI podcasting tool aimed at first-time creators
Rebel Audio is a new all-in-one podcasting tool that allows creators to record podcasts, edit, clip content for social, and publish episodes, all without ever leaving the platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
H&M wants to make clothing from CO2 using this startup’s tech; plus, Niv-AI exits stealth to wring more power performance out of GPUs
Rubi has developed an enzymatic process to turn carbon dioxide into cellulose that's ready to be spun into lyocell or viscose. Also, Niv-AI raised $12 million in seed funding to measure and manage GPU power surges. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fuse wants to disrupt aging loan origination systems used by US credit unions; plus, Another deep tech chip startup becomes a unicorn: Frore hits $1.64B
The startup also announced a $5M 'rescue fund' to help credit unions ditch legacy software for its AI-native platform. Also, at Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's urging, Frore developed liquid-cooling tech for chips. That shift helped it just raise $143 million. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The biggest AI stories of the year (so far)
Written by TechCrunch's Amanda Siberling. The AI industry is constantly churning out news, like major acquisitions, indie developer successes, public outcry, and existentially dangerous contract negotiations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A Chinese Brain-Computer Interface startup raised $21M just two months after launch; plus, Gumloop turns every employee into an AI agent builder
This is the largest early-stage funding in China’s brain computer interface industry. Also, Benchmark’s new patner Everett Randell, sees Gumloop's enterprise automation as the largest opportunity in AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Rivian spin-out Mind Robotics raises $500M for industrial AI-powered robots
The startup, which was created by Rivian founder RJ Scaringe, is looking to train on data from, and deploy in, Rivian's factory. Plus, Replit raised a new $400 million round and said it hopes to have $1B in ARR by year's end. And, Breakout Ventures is finding growing success by backing early-stage startups in scientific fields such as biology and chemistry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Canopii looks to succeed where past indoor farms have not; plus, Legora reaches $5.55 billion valuation as AI legal tech boom endures
Canopii's robotic farms can autonomously grow 40,000 pounds of herbs and leafy greens a year while being the size of a basketball court. Also, Legora, an AI platform for lawyers, is now valued at $5.55 billion following a $550 million Series D led by Accel to fuel its growth in the U.S. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Robinhood’s startup fund stumbled in NYSE debut, plus, AI network startup Eridu emerged from stealth, and ModRetro seeking funding at $1B valuation
-The fund currently offers retail investors exposure to eight startups, including Mercor, Ramp, and Stripe, with plans to expand its portfolio. -Unlike a vibe-coded product built by a college dropout, Eridu's co-founder, Drew Perkins, has been inventing networking tech since the dawn of the internet. -The company launched its first product, a Game Boy-style handheld device called the Chromatic, in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Zeno raises $25M to speed up production of its battery-swap motorbikes; plus, Lio raised $30M from A16Z and others to automate enterprise procurement
The startup, co-founded by Tesla and Apple alumni, has sold nearly 1,000 of its motorbikes so far. Also, AI procurement startup Lio announced a $30 million Series A in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Science Corp raises $230M as it races to bring its brain implant to market
A source close to the company says the round assigns Science a post-money valuation of $1.25 billion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Decagon completes first tender offer at $4.5B valuation; plus, three companies dominated the $189 billion in VC investments last month
The AI-powered customer support startup is the latest example of a fast-growing, young company that's providing employee liquidity. Also, Crunchbase data shows a record $189 billion of global venture capital flowed to startups last month, with AI startups nabbing 90% of the capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why AI startups are selling the same equity at two different prices?
Some AI founders are using a novel valuation mechanism to manufacture unicorn status. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fig Security emerges from stealth with $38M to help security teams deal with change; plus, Cursor has reportedly surpassed $2B in ARR
Fig traces data flows in the security stack and then alerts security teams when changes at any point affect detection or response capabilities. Also, the four-year-old startup Cursor saw its revenue run rate double over the past three months, according to one Bloomberg source. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
MyFitnessPal has acquired Cal AI, the viral calorie app built by teens
After wooing Cal AI for months, MyFitnessPal has successfully acquired its up-and-coming rival, Cal AI, the app built by teens soaring on the apps stores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices