TechCrunch Startup News
3,836 episodes — Page 27 of 77
Kotani gets $2M pre-seed to help African workers send money home via crypto — without the internet
Of the many lofty promises of cryptocurrency, one of the most commendable ones is its potential to bring financial inclusion to underserved users. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Butternut Box wolfs down $354M for subscription canine cuisine
Butternut Box, a U.K.-based startup that prepares and ships healthy food and supplements for dogs, is raising £280 million ($354 million) in a round of funding from General Atlantic and L Catterton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Atomicwork connects workers and their companies
Sometimes the work of having a job takes time away from work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
OpenAI-backed language learning app Speak raises $16M to expand to the U.S.
Speak, an English language learning platform backed by OpenAI’s startup investment fund, the OpenAI Startup Fund, announced that it raised $16 million in a Series B-2 funding round led by angel investor Lachy Groom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Teale, your mental health companion at work, raises $11 million
French startup Teale has secured a funding round of $11 million earlier this summer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hyperproof, a compliance and risk management startup, raises $40M
Hyperproof, a software-as-a-service risk and compliance management company, today announced that it raised $40 million in a funding round led by Riverwood Capital with participation from Toba Capital, an early-stage VC firm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
MFast get backing from Wavemaker Partners to increase financial services access in Vietnam
The majority of Vietnam’s population live in rural areas and often lack access to financial services because banks and other institutions open most of their physical locations in cities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Martian Lawyers Club raises $2.2M for AI-based game personalization tech
The Martian Lawyers Club (MLC) wants to take game personalization to the next level with the help of generative AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Allseated, a virtual venue tour and event planning platform, raises $20M
Allseated, a platform that helps event organizers plan and showcase venues virtually, has raised $20 million in an equity round of funding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Lightspeed backs Markato, a marketplace that helps independent brands break into Asia
During the pandemic, almost all retailers in Asia established an e-commerce presence and adopted digital payments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Subletting app Kiki raises $6M by using dating app concepts to match listings and renters
Kiki (formerly EasyRent), a subletting startup that matches listers with people looking to rent for up to six months, recently closed a $6 million seed round, its co-founder Toby Thomas-Smith exclusively told TechCrunch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Devolut leverages e-commerce growth in Latin America to develop reverse logistics tool
Devolut enables merchants a returns option that doesn’t require boxes or labels. It also provides a network of “city points” where consumers can go to return merchandise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Moxie raises $15.7M to make opening medspas easier
Treatments like botox are becoming more ubiquitous, spurring growth in the number of medspas, or centers that offer botox, IV hydration and laser treatments from certified providers like registered nurses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Zepto becomes India’s first 2023 unicorn with $200 million fresh funding
Instant grocery delivery startup Zepto has raised $200 million in a new funding round at a valuation of $1.4 billion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Weekday puts the spotlight on job references
Job references are an important part of hiring the right person, especially for remote positions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hustle Fund doubles down on its mission to build the ‘YC of angel investing’
What do a chef in Turkey, a pilot in Australia, a physical therapist in Oregon, a submarine operator in the military and a DJ in the Bay Area all have in common? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cypago, which aims to automate compliance and governance for companies, raises $13M
There’s a growing number of cybersecurity regulations designed to keep business and customer data protected. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
IBM sells The Weather Company assets to Francisco Partners
Following rumors that it was exploring the sale of its weather business as part of a move to streamline operations, IBM says that it’s found a buyer for The Weather Company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meet Relume, the bootstrapped AI web builder that wants to supercharge Figma and Webflow
Despite the abundant venture capital available for startups in the current wave of generative AI breakthroughs, Relume has turned down investments and instead relied on bootstrapping since its launch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dipp uses AI to fix bottlenecks between marketing and design teams
Before founding dipp, Jennifer Chen and Mikhail Abramov spent 15 years working as art directors in New York City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Teeny EV startup Arcimoto hooks up with defense contractor
What happens when a maker of tiny electric vehicles dips its wheels into the military industrial complex? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
B2B inventory marketplace Ghost reappears with $30M Series B to expand outside US
In the past year, the company grew its membership base to over 1,000 brands and retailers and saw its year over year gross merchandise value run rate grow over 10 times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Twiga lays off 33% of its staff, disbands in-house delivery and introduces logistics marketplace
Twiga will conduct another round of layoffs to keep its business afloat amid macroeconomic headwinds that have made capital harder to raise, and forced venture-backed companies to scale down their operations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wonder Brands’ pivot to acquiring e-commerce infrastructure pays off
Wonder Brands has since launched over 15 brands in the past 12 months and over 2,000 SKUs in the categories of home and garden, sports and fitness and beauty and personal care categories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
True Anomaly gets regulatory greenlight for first spacecraft reconnaissance mission
Defense-focused space technology startup True Anomaly has received key permits from regulators that will allow it to demonstrate imaging and rendezvous capabilities on-orbit for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Highlight, now flush with $18M, helps CPG brands automate product testing
The company brings the entire product testing process under one umbrella and automates it so customers can set up their testing and get the product results they need quickly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
DynamoFL raises $15.1m to help enterprises adopt ‘compliant’ LLMs
DynamoFL, which offers software to bring large language models (LLMs) to enterprises and fine-tune those models on sensitive data, today announced that it raised $15.1 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Canapi Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Voiceflow, a platform for building conversational AI experiences, raises $15M
The demand for conversational AI — mostly chatbots — has arguably never been higher, riding the publicity wave of systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Browse AI help companies build bots to scrape website data and put it to work
Traditionally, companies looking to extract data from websites have had to create custom code to get at the data, an expensive and time-consuming process that is often out of reach of smaller businesses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Brex expands into group events while Mesh Payments moves into travel
As the spend management space continues to get more competitive, the various players seem to be constantly iterating to add new features to their products. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mixlab adds to veterinary pharmacy footprint following $10M Series A extension
The new investment, an extension of a previous Series A round, enabled the company to open a third location in the Miami area. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
11xAI closes $2 million pre-seed to create autonomous AI workers
The company builds automated digital workers that can be used in lieu of human employees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It’s official: Better.com is going public
We didn’t think we’d see the day. Digital mortgage lender Better.com’s proposal to combine with Aurora Acquisition Corp. via a SPAC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Data visualization startup Virtualitics lands $37M investment
Many companies grapple with data challenges. In a 2019 survey, Deloitte reports that 67% of executives aren’t comfortable accessing or using the data at their organizations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Osano, a data privacy management platform, nabs $25M
Osano, an Austin, Texas-based startup developing a platform to help companies manage their data privacy, today announced that it raised $25 million in a Series B funding round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SAEKI’s “microfactories” help large manufacturing scale up
The architecture, engineering and construction industries involve giant concrete molds that are expensive, slow to manufacture and often only used a few times before being disposed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Matter filters out microplastics, one washer at at time — and raises $10M to go industrial
Microplastics are everywhere — quite literall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Symmetry raises $18M to bolster organizations’ data security programs
As organizations embrace cloud services — and are forced to confront changing regulations and data use standards — their ability to maintain control of data security frequently becomes strained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Atmosfy, an app that helps you discover local businesses through short-from video, raises $12M
Atmosfy, an app that helps you discover restaurants and local businesses through short-form videos, has raised $12 million in seed funding led by Redpoint Ventures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meatable sinks its teeth into $35M to accelerate launch of its cultivated pork products
The new funding will help Meatable scale its processes and accelerate the launch of its first products — sausages and pork dumplings — in Singapore starting in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Zoom launches an asynchronous video tool for the meeting-averse
In its continued attempt to diversify its product offerings, Zoom today launched a new asynchronous video tool, Zoom Clips, that lets users record, edit and share video clips without having to hop on a meeting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
One Model lands $41M to bring data science-powered insights to HR
One Model, a platform that uses AI to help employers make decisions about recruiting, hiring, promotions, layoffs and general workplace planning, today announced that it’s raised $41 million in a funding round led by Riverwood Capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AI chip startup Tenstorrent lands $100M investment from Hyundai and Samsung
The appetite for hardware to train AI models is voracious. AI chips are forecast to account for up to 20% of the $450 billion total semiconductor market by 2025, according to McKinsey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Haus, which helps companies measure marketing ROI, raises $17M
Several years ago, Zach Epstein was leading marketing measurement initiatives at Google, helping large corporate customers to build out measurement infrastructure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Datasaur lets you build a model automatically from a set of labels
Long before people were talking about ChatGPT and generative AI, companies like Datasaur were dealing with the nuts and bolts of building machine learning models, helping label things to train the model. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cohart’s art marketplace makes buying and selling accessible for any kind of art lover
The platform offers tools and infrastructure so that visual artists can be discovered and sell their art. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Lightup wants to shine a light on data quality with $9M Series A
We all know how important data quality is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ramp expands into procurement, lands Shopify as a customer
Ramp continues to ramp up its business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Nile, which offers enterprise networks as a service, raises $175M
If you ask Pankaj Patel, there’s too much complexity in networks today — particularly enterprise networks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Vanguard cuts Indian ride-hailing giant Ola’s valuation by 52%
The U.S. index fund pioneer Vanguard has cut the worth of its holding in the Indian ride-hailing startup Ola by more than half since original investment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices