TechCrunch Startup News
3,808 episodes — Page 17 of 77
Bandana lands new investment to help hourly wage workers find good jobs
Most startups are looking to solve a problem inside a business, but Bandana, a New York City-based startup has a different goal. It wants to help people at the lower end of the wage scale find better jobs with higher wages and good benefits, all while being closer to home to reduce commuting time Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Archer to set up air taxi network in LA by 2026 ahead of World Cup
Los Angeles is notorious for its back-to-back traffic. Three events that promise to bring in millions of spectators from around the world — the 2026 World Cup, the Super Bowl in 2027, and the 2028 Olympics — have LA officials searching for a range of new mobility solutions to address its congestion problems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Humidity sucks. Transaera has a new way to deal with it
The startup's core technology is a proprietary material that absorbs moisture from the air, allowing air conditioning to cool buildings more efficiently. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cocoon is transforming steel production runoff into a greener cement alternative
Slag is the molten runoff created while producing steel in a traditional blast furnace. The material has been prized as greener cement alternative for creating concrete, the Earth’s most abundant human-made material. The runoff is facing supply chain issues, however, as the steel industry looks to greener methods of production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Anduril raises $1.5B at a $14B valuation
The Palmer Luckey-founded defense startup wants to become a serious rival to longstanding kingpins, and has been clocking some big wins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fintech Payoneer is buying 5-year-old global payroll startup Skuad for $61M in cash
New York-based fintech Payoneer has acquired Skuad, a Singapore-based global HR and payroll startup, for $61 million in cash, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. Payoneer said it could also pay up to another $10 million, contingent on if Skuad meets various performance goals within the first 18 months of the acquisition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Database startup Neon nabs a Microsoft investment
In a sign that big tech companies are ready and willing to shell out cash for database tech, Neon, a startup building an open source alternative to AWS Aurora Postgres, on Wednesday announced that Microsoft’s venture arm M12 led a $25 million strategic investment in its business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
H3X scales up its electric aerospace ambitions with $20M in new funding
Many industries that rely on legacy energy sources are aiming to electrify or at least streamline their operations, but for countless use cases the tech just isn’t there. H3X is changing the game with electric motors so compact and efficient that the aerospace and marine world — not to mention investors — are taking notice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Placer.ai boosts valuation to $1.5B after quietly raising another $75M
A startup developing AI market research based on location data, and backed by a who's who, has quietly raised, TechCrunch has learned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
From golf to hunting, a new crop of startups want to make these experiences even better
COVID-19 pushed people to take up outdoor activities. Now, startups are helping companies and consumers keep up with demand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Trade My Spin is building a business around used Peloton equipment
Trade My Spin has pieced together a logistics network capable of offering same or next day delivery in most major cities in the continental U.S. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google Cloud now has a dedicated cluster of Nvidia GPUs for Y Combinator startups
Google Cloud is giving Y Combinator startups access to a dedicated, subsidized cluster of Nvidia graphics processing units and Google tensor processing units to build AI models. It’s part of Google Cloud’s effort to cozy up with promising early-stage AI startups, in hopes some of them will evolve into massive, compute-hungry business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Self-driving truck startup Aurora Innovation to sell up to $420M in shares ahead of commercial launch
Self-driving technology company Aurora Innovation is looking to raise hundreds of millions in additional capital as it races towards a driverless commercial launch by the end of 2024. Aurora, which went public in 2021 through a special purpose acquisition merger, is pursuing a driver-as-a-service model, wherein carriers purchase trucks with the Aurora Driver tech on Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Indian startups Ola Electric, FirstCry gut valuations ahead of IPOs
Two large Indian startups, Ola Electric and FirstCry, are set to test investor appetite with their public listings this month, but both have had to price their shares below their previous valuations as they come to terms with new market realities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sybill raises $11M for its AI assistant that helps salespeople reduce administrative burden
Sybill, a startup that has built an AI assistant specifically for sales reps, has raised $11 million in a Series A round led by Greycroft. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Date Like Goblins, a new dating platform, allows users to virtually date and play video games
Date Like Goblins is geared toward the gaming community and allows users to connect through voice chat while playing video games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Applied Carbon’s farm robot turns plant waste into biochar to capture CO2
The startup has raised $21.5 million to build more of its machines and deploy them throughout the U.S. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Lime is piloting two new e-bikes to attract more women and older riders
Shared micromobility giant Lime is piloting two new vehicles designed to appeal to women and older folks who might appreciate a lower step-through frame, smaller wheels and an upgrade from pedal-assist. Lime has experimented with several new form factors over the years, something it can do because it designs and engineers its vehicles in-house. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Autonomous delivery startup Nuro is gearing up for a comeback
The California Department of Motor Vehicles this week granted Nuro approval to test its third-generation R3 autonomous delivery vehicle in four Bay Area cities, giving the AV startup a positive boost after facing some setbacks and financial struggles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Alphabet X spinoff Skip partners with Arc’teryx to bring ‘everyday’ exoskeleton to market
Skip exited stealth this week to announce a partnership with outdoor clothing specialist Arc’teryx. The deal is the first to bring Skip’s MO/GO technology to market: “powered pants” that utilize a soft exoskeleton technology, developed in-house at Alphabet’s X Labs moonshot factory. MO/GO, short for “mountain goat,” is a hybrid soft/rigid exoskeleton system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Stripe acquires payment processing startup Lemon Squeezy
Payments giant Stripe has acquired a four-year-old competitor, Lemon Squeezy, the latter company announced Friday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. As a self-proclaimed “merchant of record,” Lemon Squeezy calculates and pays global sales tax for digital products, handling legal processing and fees in every country. It primarily serves SaaS and software businesses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Energy tech startup Greenely grabs €8M to reach more households and support Europe’s energy transition
The energy transition is a marathon, not a sprint. But opportunities for acceleration are growing. Swedish startup Greenely* has just spotted one. It’s closing an €8 million Series A funding round to expand its energy management platform into neighbouring Nordic countries (so around $8.7M at current exchange rates). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Intron Health gets backing for its speech recognition tool that recognizes African accents
Voice recognition is getting integrated in nearly all facets of modern living, but there remains a big gap: speakers of minority languages, and those with thick accents or speech disorders like stuttering are typically less able to use speech recognition tools that control applications, transcribe or automate tasks, among other functions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Kodiak Robotics is taking self-driving trucks off road to reach profitability faster
Don Burnette, CEO and co-founder of self-driving truck startup Kodiak Robotics, had an “a-ha” moment when the company started working with the U.S. Department of Defense. Kodiak’s mission has always been to pursue long-haul autonomous trucking, but two years ago, the startup won a $50 million contract from the DoD to help the Army automate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Micropep taps tiny proteins to make pesticides safer
Farmers have got to do something about pests. But nobody really likes the idea of using more chemical pesticides. Thomas Laurent’s company, Micropep, thinks the answer might already be in the plants themselves. Micropep is exploring how naturally occurring compounds, known as micropeptides, might work as an entirely new class of pesticides. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
QA Wolf secures $36M to grow its app QA-testing suite
Quality assurance in the app development world is a necessary, but often resource-draining, undertaking. According to Statista, 23% of companies’ annual IT budgets are allocated to in-house or third-party contracted QA and testing. The stakes are high. In a survey by QA software-testing company QualiTest Group, 88% of app users said that they’d abandon apps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Linx emerges from stealth with $33M to lock down the new security perimeter: Identity
Identity management is one of the most common fulcrums around which security breaches have pivoted in the last several years. One of the main reasons it has become the gift that keeps on giving to malicious hackers is that it’s a nightmare for organizations to track. A security startup founded in Tel Aviv called Linx Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Farmblox puts the control into farmers’ hands with its AI-powered sensor-reading platform
Nathan Rosenberg, the founder of farm automation platform Farmblox, said if there is one thing to know about trying to sell technology to farmers, it’s that you can’t tell them what to do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Without this company’s technology, future fusion power plants might never light up
Marathon Fusion emerges from stealth with a plan to help fusion power plants extract tritium, a necessary fuel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Unpacking how Alphabet’s rumored Wiz acquisition could affect VC
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz for $23 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. TechCrunch’s sources heard similar and added that deal discussions could last into next week. If this deal does end up getting done, it would be Alphabet’s largest acquisition yet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
PE firm PartnerOne paid $28M for HeadSpin, a fraction of its $1.1B valuation set by ICONIQ and Dell Technologies Capital
Canadian private equity firm PartnerOne paid $28.2 million for HeadSpin, a mobile app testing startup whose founder has been sentenced for fraud earlier this year, according to documents viewed by TechCrunch. The fire sale was reported by TechCrunch last week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fintech startup Coast lands $40M just 4 months after its last $25M raise
Coast, a startup that describes itself as “a financial services platform for the future of transportation,” has raised $40 million in Series B funding — just four months after announcing a $25 million round, the startup has told TechCrunch exclusively. Back-to-back fundraises were common prior to and during the wild investment days of 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
WHAM! Nuclear fusion experiment hits new record for magnet strength
Strong magnets are essential for the type of fusion power being pursued by Commonwealth Fusion Systems and a number of other startups. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Deel acquires Hofy to build its own IT device management service
Both of Hofy's co-founders, Sami Bouremoum and Michael Ginzo, along with the rest of the startup's leadership team and 120 employees, are joining Deel to build Deel IT. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A company building Wordle for chess raises money from a16z Speedrun, Mark Pincus and Eric Wu
Echo Chunk, a company that is building Wordle-styled daily chess puzzle game Echo Chess, has raised $1.4 million in pre-seed from a16z Speedrun (Andreessen Horowitz’s early stage games accelerator), founder of Zyanga Mark Pincus, South Park Commons (SPC), Opendoor founder and CEO Eric Wu and Stef Corazza, the Head of Generative AI at Roblox Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Kandji raises another $100M for Apple device management as valuation rises to $850M
At a time when many startups have struggled to raise money and keep their heads above water, Kandji, an Apple device management platform, has been an exception. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Astor’s ‘community’ approach to financial advice aims to help women feel more confident about investing
Astor is a free personal finance platform for women that merges community and investing in an approachable way, came to be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Toddle wants to ‘change how we build software’ with a collaborative visual web app builder
Danish startup Toddle has launched a no-code web app builder that's designed as a full-featured alternative to Javascript frameworks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Adaptive builds automation tools to speed up construction payments
Adaptive is a platform that provides tools designed to simplify payments and accounting for general construction contractors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How VanMoof’s new owners plan to win over its old customers
When VanMoof declared bankruptcy last year, it left around 5,000 customers who had pre-ordered e-bikes in the lurch. Now VanMoof is up and running under new management, and the company’s current owners are courting those same customers by offering them a €1,000 discount off a new bike. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ superconducting magnet sale is more than it seems
Fusion power may still be a few years away, but one startup is laying the groundwork for what it hopes will become a bustling sector of the economy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A startup set out to fight climate change — it did it by helping plumbers
The founders of HERO Software didn’t start out to help small tradespeople in construction with a platform. They started out to fight the climate crisis. But in doing so, they stumbled on a way to help the whole business. Now, the company has closed a €40 million Series B financing round, and plans to expand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Beeble AI raises $4.75M to launch a virtual production platform for indie filmmakers
Visual effects have emerged as essential in filmmaking and have transformed storytelling and creativity in the film industry with its diverse digital techniques. However, the high cost of VFX tools often leaves independent filmmakers and content creators working with modest budgets struggling to compete with larger productions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Joby Aviation is betting on hydrogen-electric aircraft for regional flight
Joby Aviation is still a year away from commercially launching its electric air taxi designed for urban environments, but the startup is already looking towards its next chapter: Intercity flight, powered by hydrogen. To get the conversation started with regulators and demonstrate hydrogen’s capabilities, Joby told TechCrunch that it completed a 523-mile test flight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Iceland is dodging the VC doldrums as Frumtak Ventures lands $87 million for its fourth fund
Iceland’s startup scene is punching above its weight. That’s perhaps in part because it kept the 2021 hype in check, but mostly because its tech ecosystem is coming of age. Iceland attracted the most venture capital per capita of all Nordic countries in 2023, but that stat is somewhat skewed by its relatively small population. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Deep tech startups with very technical CEOs raise larger rounds, research finds
SaaS founders trying to figure out what it takes to raise their next round can refer to Point Nine’s famous yearly SaaS Funding Napkin. (The term refers to “back of the napkin” plans or calculations.) Now, European hardware deep tech teams have a similar resource from First Momentum, a pre-seed fund investing in technical B2B Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Nala to use $40M Series A to build B2B payments platform, scale remittance services
Nala, a remittance startup that is now widening its portfolio through a new B2B payments platform, has raised $40 million equity in a rare deal that becomes one of the largest Series A transactions in Africa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Byway is using AI to help travelers slow down and take the scenic route
Solo founder Cat Jones took the plunge on setting up a travel business right around the time the pandemic was hitting Europe in March 2020. Fast forward to summer 2024 and her curated package tour business, Byway, is announcing close of an oversubscribed £5.4 million Series A round (around $6.9M at current exchange rates). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Investors chase wealthtech startups in India as affluent class grows
Investors are betting on Indian wealthtech startups as a growing middle class turns to diversify investments and startups challenge traditional financial advisors for high-net-worth clients. Premji Invest is in advanced stages of talks to lead a funding round of $30 million to $40 million in Dezerv, an app offering a suite of investment solutions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Quantum Rise grabs $15M seed for its AI-driven ‘Consulting 2.0’ startup
Quantum Rise, a Chicago-based startup which does AI-driven automation for companies like dunnhumby (a retail analytics platform for the the grocery industry), has raised a $15 million seed round from Erie Street Growth Partners. Its approach is somewhat akin to UIPath’s, a company famous for bringing robotic process automation to the enterprise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices