TechCrunch Startup News
3,836 episodes — Page 28 of 77
Topline Pro grabs $12M in new capital to help home service businesses get discovered
The company added a social media hub for automated posts and ads as well as an AI-enabled “Super Assistant” to help with navigating through the application and digitizing customer interactions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Pollen is a professional development platform for tech workers, by tech workers
Meet Pollen, a new French startup that wants to provide a better way to learn new skills. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
HerMD opening new women’s health clinics following $18M extension
The company offers comprehensive women’s healthcare, either in-person or virtual, and one of its differentiators is that the average appointment is between 20 and 60 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Pet telehealth company Airvet closes on $18.2M to embark on enterprise focus
The company has built up a base of employer clients, including Adobe, Ceridian and Rexford Industrial, eager to offer an employer-sponsored benefit for employees with pets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AutogenAI, a generative AI tool for writing bids and pitches, secures $22.3M
Business is regularly won and lost on the strength of a proposal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Helpful secures $7.5M to launch family caregiver app
Helpful's app brings insurance benefits, medical records and caregiving resources into one place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bloom Money raises £1M to digitize microcredit finance for ethnic communities
The company seeks to digitize the rotating savings and credit association (ROSCA) financial technique often used by ethnic communities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dioxycle raises $17 million for its electrolyzer that turns CO2 into ethylene
Dioxycle is a carbon transformation startup that is working on a new process to produce ethylene at scale using recycled carbon emissions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dial-up a therapist like an Uber? Wangie aims at Gen-Zs and the time-poor
It would be fair to say there’s no global solution for instant 24/7 access to mental health support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Prosus questions Byju’s governance, says Indian edtech ‘regularly disregarded advice’
A key Byju’s investor has gone on record to express its disappointment in the edtech giant’s governance issue, just weeks after all the independent members quit the startup’s board. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bunq, the Dutch neobank, has raised $111M at a flat $1.8B valuation to break into the US
Remote working and digital nomads became two very prominent aspects of the world of work during the pandemic, shedding a light on the millions of people who live in one country but earn money in another. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Whop, an online marketplace for digital goods, raises $17M
Amazon might have the monopoly on physical goods sold online. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cruise starts initial robotaxi testing in Miami
Cruise, the self-driving arm of General Motors, has begun initial testing and data collection in Miami, the company said in a tweet Wednesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Collectly wants to make paying healthcare bills easier so medical providers don’t lose $200B
Collectly customers have, on average, been able to increase patient collections for medical group partners by 75% and reduce the “days sales outstanding” to 12 days from between 60 and 90 days. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
InDrive brings its ‘bid-based’ ride-hail app to the US
InDrive (formerly inDriver) is bringing a new type of ride-hailing app to South Florida. The startup operates a “bid-based” platform wherein passengers can name their own fare for a ride, and nearby drivers can accept, decline or counter the offer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Gushwork.ai raises $2M, led by Lightspeed, to outsource business tasks to workforces trained in AI
Gushwork.ai, a global platform that aims to advance business process outsourcing (BPO) using AI and human expertise, has raised $2.1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Lightspeed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
With $37M seed round, Maka Motors begins EV pilot on Indonesia’s streets
A recent report said that Indonesia’s electric vehicle (EV) market is projected to reach $20 billion by 2029, up from $533 million in 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
VanMoof, the e-bike startup, officially declared bankrupt in The Netherlands
Another grim stage for VanMoof, the e-bike startup backed by venture capitalists to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wing Cloud is building an open source, unified cloud programming language
Running a multi-cloud strategy where you use different cloud vendors for different workloads, helps companies avoid vendor lock-in and lets them use the best-of-breed tools across different platforms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Polar Analytics raises $9M to scale Shopify brands
Polar Analytics gives each brand a so-called “knowledge worker,” that aggregates all of the different data sources so that users can then pose questions about the data. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Herself Health, providing primary care to women 65 and over, raises $26M
Six months after raising a $7 million seed round, Herself Health is back with some additional venture capital to expand its clinic footprint. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Inngest helps developers build their backend workflows, raises $3M
Inngest, an open-source startup that helps developers build and manage serverless queues, background jobs and workflows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Spline, a no-code design tool for creating 3D assets, raises $15M
Spline, a no-code design tool for creating 3D assets, today announced that it raised $15 million in a seed round led by Gradient Ventures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
QED leads $7M round into startup that offers financing to SaaS businesses across US-South Asia corridor
There are a number of companies in the U.S. that offer revenue-based financing to SaaS companies including Capchase, Pipe, Founderpath and Arc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Secure Code Warrior lands $50M to educate developers on best cyber practices
In 2015, Pieter Danhieux and Matias Madou, both cybersecurity analysts, came to the realization that they wanted to provide a way to make software more secure by empowering developers with the skills and tools to enhance their speed of delivery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Infant formula company Bobbie takes in $70M to acquire Nature’s One
With the Nature’s One acquisition, Bobbie becomes the third-largest fully integrated brand in the U.S. and will grow to a 15% non-WIC market share. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Pearpop’s new ‘Boost Mode’ feature allows brands to turn content from creators into paid ads
Pearpop, a marketplace for social collaborations, announced today that it’s launching a new product called “Boost Mode.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cyber insurance startup Coalition acquires privacy assistant Jumbo
San Francisco-based cybersecurity startup Coalition is acquiring Jumbo, a mobile app that lets you control your privacy on the web. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Savvy, a platform to secure SaaS apps, launches out of stealth with $30M
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) apps are an essential part of how many companies do business. But when the number of apps grows beyond a certain threshold, it can be difficult to secure them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Raft closes $30M Series B led by Eight Roads VC
During the pandemic, the digitisation of the freight industry took off like a rocket, and stayed that way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Pylon wants to make it easier to manage B2B conversations in Slack
As email has becomes an increasingly clogged communication mechanism, businesses looking for more direct ways to communicate with their customers in a B2B context have been turning to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord and other channels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SpeedyBrand uses generative AI to create SEO-optimized content
While working at Vetan, a startup helping small- and medium-sized (SMBs) businesses manage employee payroll, Jatin Mehta realized that SMBs often lack the tools to thrive online with organic sales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google’s Gradient Ventures backs Weflow to bring greater hygiene to Salesforce data
Google’s venture capital arm Gradient Ventures has made another foray into Europe, investing as part of a $3.2 million seed round in two-year-old German startup Weflow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
CADDi raises $89M Series C to scale its B2B supply chain marketplace for manufacturing parts
The pandemic has damaged the entire manufacturing supply chain, which is not likely to return to normal until at least 2024 due to a few challenges, including the ongoing U.S.-China tech battle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Brinc launches new program for climate tech startups
Brinc, the Hong Kong-based accelerator backed by investors like Animoca Brands, is launching a new program for fledgling climate tech startups. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
DigitalOcean acquires cloud computing startup Paperspace for $111M in cash
DigitalOcean, the cloud hosting business, today announced that it’s agreed to acquire Paperspace, a New York-based cloud computing and AI development startup, for $111 million in cash. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thrive Capital doubles down on Clair, a fintech helping frontline workers get paid instantly
New offerings include an on-demand pay solution where users can withdraw funds immediately for the money they've earned, but not yet received, and a lending program for employers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After bootstrapping for 8 years, accounting startup Dougs raises $27 million
Dougs, a French accounting startup, has been around since 2015. It already generates $16.4 million (€15 million) in annual recurring revenue. And it’s a bootstrapped company, meaning that it hasn’t opened its capital and raised any funding from VC firms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
PharmEasy seeks funding via rights issue at 90% valuation cut, report says
Indian online pharmacy startup PharmEasy has informed its existing investors that it plans to raise a new round of funding via rights issue at a 90% markdown from the previous valuation, Indian newspaper Economic Times reported. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google’s Gradient backs YC alum Infisical to solve secret sprawl
Secret sprawl, where companies store authentication credentials and similar sensitive data across multiple locations, is a real and growing problem for any company wanting to avert a security breach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Level wants to back your fund — and your portfolio companies too
In 2023, funds of funds (FoFs) are on track to raise the smallest amount of money this year in more than a decade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After aperitif ambitions sour, Haus is back on virtual shelves via The Naked Market
The Naked Market is relaunching Haus favorites, including Citrus Flower, Pomegranate Rosemary and Grapefruit Jalapeño. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
B Garage raises $20M for its warehouse inventory drones
B Garage, a San Jose-based startup building autonomous drones along with software to track warehouse inventory, said that it has picked up $20 million in a Series A round of funding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
India startup funding slides 68% after Tiger and SoftBank make virtually no deals
Indian startups experienced a significant contraction in funding in the first half of 2023, revealing the knock-on effect of broader public market instability on young ventures in emerging regions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Workflow automation startup Parabola raises $24M
Parabola, a San Francisco-based startup that uses AI to help expedite back-office processes, particularly in the logistics and ecommerce sectors, today announced that it raised $24 million in a Series B funding round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Astrix Security, which uses ML to secure app integrations, raises $25M
Astrix Security, a platform that helps companies manage and secure third-party app integrations, today announced that it closed a $25 million Series A funding round led by CRV with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners and F2 Venture Capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AWS launches $100M program to fund generative AI initiatives
Amazon, keen to avoid being left behind in the hyper-competitive AI race, is launching a new program to invest in startups and organizations focused on generative AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
BentoML scores $9M funding to expedite AI app development
The success of large language models like GPT has sparked a frenzy of developers eager to make AI-powered applications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
ThoughtSpot acquires Mode Analytics, a BI platform, for $200M in cash and stock
ThoughtSpot, an AI-powered analytics platform last valued at $4.5 billion, today announced that it’s entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Mode Analytics, a business intelligence startup, for $200 million in cash and stock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
French VC firm Frst reaches $80 million first close for its new seed fund
Frst, the Paris-based VC firm with no vowel in its name, is in the process of raising its second fund. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices