TechCrunch Startup News
3,872 episodes — Page 16 of 78
Gecko Materials wants to sell you the next Velcro
A new startup setting out to combat the scourge of deepfakes and spoofed evidence in the age of AI is showing off its wares on the Startup Battlefield stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Luna wants to help young girls navigate their health and well-being
Meet Luna, a health and well-being app for teen girls that is designed to help them navigate teenhood. The app lets teens ask questions about their health and wellness and get responses from experts. It also lets them track their periods, moods, and skin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Infraspeak raises $19.5M to bring collaboration to facilities management
It might not be the sexiest of subjects, but facilities management is central to any business that has a physical premises — the bigger that footprint becomes, the more complex it gets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Emidat is building a tool to clean up construction by automating environmental reporting
Fixing the climate crisis is a vast, world-sized puzzle. But one particularly large piece of this ginormous conundrum is construction and real estate — which collectively amount for around 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Enter Munich-based data startup Emidat, which has built a software platform for automating the generation of validated Environmental Product Declaration Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Read AI raises $50M to integrate its bot with Slack, email, and more
There are plenty of startups now that have AI bots that will listen to your meetings, transcribe them, make notes, and create insights. That means companies in this area must differentiate themselves by offering additional feature sets and integrations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Vinted hits $5.4B valuation amid wave of secondary share sales in Europe
Lithuania’s Vinted has secured a new valuation of €5 billion (around $5.4 billion at current exchange rates), after the second-hand fashion marketplace closed a secondary share sale worth €340 million ($367 million). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
General Catalyst raises $8B in fresh funds to back startups globally
U.S. venture capital giant General Catalyst has announced a fresh $8 billion in funds as it looks to ramp up its investments in multi-sector early-stage startups globally, with a specific focus on the U.S., Europe, and India. The capital constitutes around $4.5 billion for its “core VC funds” which spans seed and growth equity funding, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Screenable’s app turns any iPhone into a starter phone for kids
A new app called Screenable will help parents introduce their children to technology by turning an iPhone or iPad into a starter phone. The app is designed to grow over time with a child, as it offers different modes for kids of different ages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Supply chain startup Interos lands new customers, cash
Each year, supply chain disruptions cost the global economy trillions of dollars. In a recent McKinsey poll, nine in ten businesses said they had encountered logistics challenges over the past 12 months. Headwinds have only grown stronger as chaos reigns in key shipping corridors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cash collection startup Upflow also wants to handle B2B payments
Upflow, a French startup we’ve been covering for quite a while, originally focused on managing outstanding invoices. The company is now announcing a shift in its strategy to become a B2B payment platform with its own payment gateway to complement its accounts receivable automation solution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Interface.ai raises $30M to help banks field customer requests
Interface.ai, a customer automation platform for banks and other financial institutions, today announced that it closed a $30 million funding round led by Avataar Venture Partners. $20 million of the round was equity, while the remaining $10 million was in the form of debt. It’s Interface’s first outside capital; the startup had been completely bootstrapped Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cement startup Furno lands $20M grant to build low-carbon micro-kilns in Chicago
Furno’s micro-kilns promise to reduce pollution and eliminate transportation costs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
CrewAI uses third-party models to automate business tasks
Back in 2022, João Moura was directing AI engineering efforts at Clearbit, a startup creating a unified hub for business intelligence tools. There, Moura was responsible for leading the development of AI integrations, as well as defining Clearbit’s AI product roadmap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Socket lands a fresh $40M to scan software for security flaws
The software supply chain, which comprises the components and processes used to develop software, has become precarious. According to one recent survey, 88% of companies believe poor software supply chain security presents an “enterprise-wide risk” to their organizations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Shobizzy, a networking app for the TV industry, aims to open new doors for freelancers
With the current unemployment crisis in Hollywood, many TV and film crew members are concerned about finding their next job. This is particularly the case for freelancers, who often face unstable work and irregular pay. Shobizzy is the latest professional networking app for the entertainment industry that aims to address this challenge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Uprise wants to help small businesses make better financial decisions
Small business creation has been on the rise in the U.S. since the pandemic. There are a lot of tech tools designed to help these companies with things like payroll or setting up retirement benefits — but more tools doesn’t mean small businesses know how to use them to make smart decisions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Byju’s founder says his edtech startup, once worth $22B, is now ‘worth zero’
Byju Raveendran, the founder of the embattled edtech group Byju’s, acknowledged on Thursday afternoon that he made mistakes, mistimed the market, and that his startup, once valued at $22 billion, is now effectively worth “zero.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
With $11.9 million in funding, Dottxt tells AI models how to answer
As we’ve reported before, enterprise CIOs are taking generative AI slow. One reason for that is AI doesn’t fit into existing software engineering workflows, because it literally doesn’t speak the same language. For instance, LLMs (aka large language models) require a lot of cajoling to deliver valid JSON. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How Paladin’s drones helped Asheville during Hurricane Helene
When Hurricane Helene hit Asheville, North Carolina in September, the city’s police department reached out to public safety drone startup Paladin for help. The startup’s 30-member team jumped into action working nights and through the weekend to assist Asheville’s police department with locating people and dropping off supply. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
ODD taps $27M for diamond chips to clear radioactive debris at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
Back in 2011, the world held its breath after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan suffered a failure of its cooling systems, in the wake of the country getting hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Support automation firm Capacity grows with new cash and acquisitions
David Karandish has been busy. Capacity, his support automation company, was planning a $5 million “bridge round” to help the company reach the break-even point. But TVC Capital, Toloka.vc, and the venture’s other backers had something grander in mind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Storio is helping other businesses unlock more value from solar energy
Meet Storio, a French startup that’s focused on providing smart energy storage for commercial and industrial customers. Founded in 2023, the startup raised a €5 million seed round earlier this year (around $5.5 million at current exchange rates) and has signed its first client. Storio believes solar panels have a bright future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Data center tech is exploding but adoption won’t be easy for startups
The data center industry is expanding rapidly to keep up with the flywheel growth of AI. While these data centers are necessary AI infrastructure, they store an AI company’s compute, they are expensive to build, seemingly more so to run, and they are a huge energy suck. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Table Space eyes $2.5B valuation in India IPO
Table Space is targeting a valuation of $2.5 billion or higher for an India IPO planned planned for 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Peanut, a social network for women, adds a pregnancy tracking tool
Peanut, a social networking app for women, is launching a new feature to help users track their pregnancies. The new Peanut Track tool leverages seven years of data from questions asked on the social network and uses AI to anticipate questions that women have during different stages of their pregnancy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This three-person robotics startup is working with designer Yves Béhar to bring humanoids home
It’s hard to know where to focus when speaking to Christoph Kohstall. The contents of his packed Palo Alto garage compete for attention. To his immediate right stands a tower of electrical components, dotted with flashing lights. To his left is a workbench and the tops of machining tools. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
MiLaboratories gets $10M for a platform play to accelerate genomic research
Advances in DNA sequencing and the vast amounts of genomic data being produced by next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology have created a startup opportunity to build software for biologists so they can more easily analyze this big data and take the next leap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
UK neobank Monzo hits $5.9B valuation with secondary market sale
Monzo is now valued at $5.9 billion after the U.K.-based challenger bank announced a secondary market share sale to provide liquidity for its employees. The transaction saw existing investors such as Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund (GIC) and StepStone Group procuring additional shares in the London-based fintech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Streamer Plex rolls out movie and TV show reviews
Following its $40 million fundraise at the beginning of this year, streaming media company Plex announced on Wednesday it’s rolling out a new TV show and movie reviews feature, putting its app in more direct competition with other apps, like Letterboxd and TV Time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Health insurtech startup Qantev raises €30 million to outperform LLMs with small AI models
Health and life insurance providers face a rising volume of claims due to chronic disease and aging populations, but their processes lack scalability. AI automation can help, but it takes more tailoring than for other insurance types. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Zap Energy shows off its new fusion power prototype, Century
After keeping Century under wraps for several months, the startup gave TechCrunch a peek under the hood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Alaska Airlines’ venture lab spins out its first startup: Odysee
Odysee CEO Steve Casley sees dollar signs in data. Or more specifically, AI-powered software that can analyze reams of data to help commercial airlines get the most out of its complex flight schedules. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Distributional raises $19M to automate AI model and app testing
Distributional, an AI testing platform founded by Intel’s former GM of AI software, Scott Clark, has closed a $19 million Series A funding round led by Two Sigma Ventures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Revyze, a ‘TikTok for education’ startup, draws on Duolingo to add bite-sized learning too
Middle and high schoolers are both the easiest and most difficult audience. If you’re developing a neat little video game, chances are they’re willing to download it right away. But if, like the team behind Revyze, you’re working on a learning app, good luck pitching them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ollie scoops up health startup to launch a tool that analyzes dog poop
The global pet food market has become fiercely competitive, with an estimated market share of $103.3 billion in 2023 and still growing. This growth has led many companies to target pet owners who are willing to invest in quality food to enhance their pets’ well-being and longevity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SoCreate wants to transform screenwriting software with AI imagery and community sharing tools
Many screenwriters have embraced modern tools over traditional PDFs to craft their film or TV show pilots. SoCreate, the latest entrant in the screenwriting software arena, is challenging established players like Final Draft and Celtx with its fresh approach to storytelling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AirOps is an all-in-one platform for generating and managing AI-based marketing content
To some degree, every business that has a presence on the web is in the content business — whether that’s for informing customers, finding new clients, or for SEO. That means managing the production of those texts and images, updating them, and potentially optimizing them for a search engine to index and rank. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Voyage AI is building RAG tools to make AI hallucinate less
AI tends to make things up. That’s unappealing to just about anyone who uses it on a regular basis, but especially to businesses, for which fallacious results could hurt the bottom line. Half of workers responding to a recent survey from Salesforce say they worry answers from their company’s generative AI-powered systems are inaccurate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Spill, the Black-owned Twitter alternative, scores investment from Kerry Washington
As the second anniversary of Spill rolls around, Spill has something else to celebrate: Emmy-winning actress Kerry Washington has made an investment in his app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Pallet uses AI to bring logistics into the 21st century
Transportation and warehousing are multi-trillion-dollar industries, but the technologies that power them are often outdated, inefficient and siloed. Pallet, which is announcing an $18 million Series A funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures today, has built an all-in-one transportation and warehouse management system that uses AI to help these businesses streamline their operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Numa raises $32M to bring AI and automation to car dealerships
Numa, a startup developing AI-powered automation tech for car dealerships, has raised fresh capital in a Series B round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Eon emerges from stealth with $127M to bring a fresh approach to back up cloud infrastructure
A team of founders who sold their last company to Amazon to build a new business within AWS is setting out to reinvent the tricky business of backing up an organization’s cloud infrastructure. Today, Eon — as their new startup is called — is coming out of stealth with a product, a set of customers, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Beta Technologies unveils first passenger carrying electric aircraft
Beta Technologies unveiled Monday the next electric aircraft in its lineup — a passenger-carrying version of its ALIA vertical takeoff and landing and fixed-wing vehicles. Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles don’t rely on a runway, whereas fixed-wing aircraft do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
.Airship wants to build better sales tools for HVAC contractors
The HVAC industry is going through a transformation. The old guard of tradespeople are on the cusp of retiring while private equity firms are consolidating the industry. Airship is building a software solution for HVAC’s next chapter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Podcasting startup Podeo gets $5.4M to go beyond the Arab world
Podcast listeners crossed half a billion people at the end of last year as listenership maintained steady growth. With countries in the Arab world having some of the most engaged listeners, a podcasting startup out of Dubai is doubling down on the opportunity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
HungryPanda, a food ordering app for the Asian diaspora, picks up $55M
Apps catering to the Chinese and wider Asian diaspora, especially urban consumers focused on food, can be big business. Now, HungryPanda, one of the trailblazing startups in that market is announcing more funding. The food ordering and delivery app, founded in London and aimed squarely at Chinese and other Asian consumers living outside their home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why Index Ventures is bulking up its investment team in NYC
While online discourse would make it seem that venture has retreated to the Bay Area, with San Francisco being the most important place to build a startup, Index Ventures is looking to bulk up its New York-based investing team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Indian game streaming startup Loco sells majority stake to Redwood
UAE-based Redwood has acquired a majority stake in the game streaming platform Loco as the Indian firm looks to expand focus to international markets, TechCrunch has learned and confirmed. Redwood, a newly-formed investment firm, has signed a $65 million deal with Loco, an investment that also gives full exit to all existing Loco backers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Prepared, which wants to ‘revolutionize’ emergency 911 calls, raises $27M
A company that claims its tech can “revolutionize” emergency calls has raised $27 million in a Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz. The company, Prepared, enables 911 dispatchers to get a caller’s real-time GPS location if their phone supports it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dinii, a cloud-based restaurant management platform, raises $45M Series B
Japan has always been a strong market for bringing technology into the experience of consuming food, and now one of the startups leading on this idea is attracting investors from across the ocean. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices