TechCrunch Startup News
3,836 episodes — Page 3 of 77
Complyance raises $20M to help companies manage risk and compliance; plus, Integrate raises $17M to move defense project management
Complyance raised a $20 million Series A led by GV for its AI-native compliance platform. Also, Integrate's round was led by FPV Ventures co-founder and managing partner Wesley Chan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Humanoid robot startup Apptronik has now raised $935M at a $5B+ valuation
Apptronik has sold another $520 million in a Series A extension to existing and new investors like Google and Mercedes-Benz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Proptech startup Smart Bricks raises $5 million pre-seed led by a16z
Smart Bricks is an AI-powered proptech that helps investors find high-quality real estate investments Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hauler Hero collects $16M for its AI waste management software
Hauler Hero has seen its customer base, revenue, and head count double since the company raised its seed round in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Anthropic closes in on $20B round; plus, Harvey reportedly raising at $11B valuation just months after it hit $8B
Anthropic raised $13 billion in equity funding just five months ago, but intense competition between frontier labs and the ongoing cost of compute have made them eager to raise as quickly as possible. Also, after announcing $190 million in ARR in December, Harvey may be raising again a big leap in valuation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Gather AI, maker of ‘curious’ warehouse drones, lands $40M led by Keith Block’s firm
Gather AI has closed funding from former Salesforce CEO's firm Smith Point Capital. Its warehouse AI system doesn't just scan. It seeks out specific data. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sapiom raises $15M to help AI agents buy their own tech tools
The startup -- with backing from Accel -- is building a financial layer that handles the authentication and micro-payments required for AI agents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fundamental raises a Series A with a new take on big data analysis; plus, Stripe alumni raised a Series A for Duna
Fundamental has built a new foundation model to solve an old problem: how to draw insights from the huge quantities of structured data produced by enterprises. Also, having raised a €30 million Series A round led by CapitalG, business identity verification startup Duna is now among the most well-capitalized European startups founded by Stripe alumni. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Peak XV says internal disagreement led to partner exits as it doubles down on AI
Peak XV says internal disagreement led to partner exits as it doubles down on AI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Exclusive: Positron raises $230M Series B to take on Nvidia’s AI chips; plus, Apeiron Labs gets $29M to flood the oceans with autonomous underwater robots
The investment comes from backers including the Qatar Investment Authority as demand for chips beyond Nvidia soars and as Qatar aims to build out its AI infrastructure. Also, To build and sell more of its autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), Apeiron Labs recently closed a $9.5 million Series A round led by Dyne Ventures, RA Capital Management Planetary Health and S2G Investments, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. Assembly Ventures, Bay Bridge Ventures, and TFX Capital participated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Gradient’s heat pumps get new smarts to enable old-building retrofits
Gradient's heat pumps fit in windows, minimizing installation times. Now, it is introducing software to make those units more intelligent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Linq raises $20M to enable AI assistants to live within messaging apps
Linq offers an API that lets companies offer their AI assistants via iMessage, RCS and SMS. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Carbon Robotics built an AI model that detects and identifies plants
Carbon Robotics' Large Plant Model will allow farmers to kill new types of weeds without having to retrain the machines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Two Stanford students launch $2M startup accelator for students nationwide
Two Stanford students launch $2M startup accelator for students nationwide Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
HomeBoost’s app will show you where to save on your utility bills; plus, Waymo reportedly raising a $16B funding round
The startup is partnering with utilities to help homeowners determine the best upgrades to cut their energy use. Also, Waymo is reportedly finalizing a new funding round that will value the robotaxi company at $110 billion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Upwind raises $250M at $1.5B valuation to continue building ‘runtime’ cloud security; plus, AI security startup Outtake raises $40M
The $250 million Series B was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and Picture Capital. Also, Outtake makes an agentic cybersecurity platform to help enterprises detect identity fraud. Its angel investors are a who's who. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Flapping Airplanes and the promise of research-driven AI; plus, Upwind raises $250M at $1.5B valuation to continue building ‘runtime’ cloud security
A new AI lab called Flapping Airplanes launched yesterday, and a Sequoia partner has an interesting take on why they stand out. Also, Upwind's $250 million Series B was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and Picture Capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tiny startup Arcee AI built a 400B-parameter open source LLM from scratch to best Meta’s Llama
30-person startup Arcee AI has released a 400B model called Trinity, which it says is one of the biggest open source foundation models from a U.S. company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jennifer Garner’s Once Upon a Farm resumes IPO plans; plus, Fashion rental app By Rotation partners with Uber
Once Upon A Farm food company may debut as soon as next week. It has issued a price range for shares, an SEC filing shows. Also, By Rotation, one of the UK’s most popular peer-to-peer fashion rental platforms, is partnering with Uber to deliver ski clothes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Phia raises $35M to ‘make shopping fun again’; plus, Risotto raises $10M seed to use AI to make ticketing systems easier to use
Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni’s Phia raises $35M to ‘make shopping fun again’ Also, designed to autonomously resolve help desk tickets, Risotto has raised $10 million in seed funding in a round led by Bonfire Ventures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Northwood Space secures a $100M Series B and a $50M Space Force contract; plus, AI chip startup Ricursive hits $4B valuation
This is the El Segundo, California-based startup's second raise in less than a year. Also, Ricursive joins Recursive and Unconventional AI in raising massive funds at multi-billion valuations out of the gate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AI startup CVector raises $5M for its industrial ‘nervous system’
Industrial AI startup CVector built a brain and nervous system for big industry. Now, founders Richard Zhang and Tyler Ruggles are tasked with a bigger challenge: showing customers and investors how this AI-powered software layer translates to real savings on an industrial scale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How PopWheels helped a food cart ditch generators for e-bike batteries
PopWheels realized its battery swapping network could be used for more than food delivery workers who need to charge their e-bikes. Now, its planning for an "aggressive rollout" this summer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This startup will send 1,000 people’s ashes to space — affordably — in 2027
Started by an engineer who worked on the space shuttle program, and at Blue Origin, Space Beyond has a spot on a 2027 Falcon 9 flight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
OpenAI is coming for those sweet enterprise dollars; plus, Anduril expanding to Long Beach
OpenAI has reportedly appointed Barret Zoph to lead its push into enterprise just a week after Zoph rejoined the company. Also, Anduril announced its plans to expand its Southern California presence with a major campus in Long Beach, the town where founder Palmer Luckey grew up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Struggling fusion power company General Fusion to go public via $1B reverse merger
General Fusion's merger with an acquisition company will net the company over $300 million. Just last year, the company ran into trouble raising money from other investors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
From invisibility cloaks to AI chips: Neurophos raises $110M to build tiny optical processors for inferencing
Neurophos is taking a crack at solving the AI industry's power efficiency problem with an optical chip that uses a composite material to do the math required in AI inferencing tasks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Language learning marketplace Preply’s unicorn status embodies Ukrainian resilience
Language learning marketplace Preply is now valued at $1.2 billion after raising a $150 million that marks a new chapter for the 14-year-old company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
PraxisPro raises $6M seed from AlleyCorp to coach medical sales reps
PraxisPro, founded by a former pharma sales rep, offers small language model AI training specifically designed for medical product sales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Retail startup Another raises a $2.5M seed to help sell excess inventory
Another raises a $2.5 million seed round led by Anthemis FIL and Westbound to help retailers with off-channel inventory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Humans&, a ‘human-centric’ AI startup, raised $480M seed round; plus, Grubhub parent acquires restaurant rewards startup Claim
Humans&, a startup that believes AI should empower people, not replace them, has reportedly raised a $480 million seed round at a $4.48 billion valuation. Also, Grubhub's acquisition of Claim will give restaurants access to Claim’s customer acquisition and retention tools, while Grubhub diners can receive rewards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AI cloud startup Runpod hits $120M in ARR — and it started with a Reddit post
Their startup journey is a wild example of how if you build it well and the timing is lucky, they will definitely come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AI video startup, Higgsfield, founded by ex-Snap exec, lands $1.3B valuation; plus, Symbolic.ai signs deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp
Higgsfield says its on a $200 million annual revenue run rate. So it opened its previous Series A round back up and sold another $80 million in shares. Also, Symbolic.ai claims its AI platform can help optimize editorial processes and research. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
India’s Emversity doubles valuation as it scales workers AI can’t replace
Emversity has raised $30 million in a new round as it scales job-ready training in India. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How one startup is using prebiotics to try and ease the copper shortage
Transition Metal Solutions is applying a special cocktail to coax microbes into unlocking more copper from ore. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Parloa triples its valuation in 8 months; plus, robotics software maker Skild AI hits $14B valuation
The massive round was led by existing investor General Catalyst, with participation from other returning backers. Also, Skild AI, which is building general-purpose robotic software, just raised a $1.4 billion funding round led by SoftBank. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bandcamp bans AI generated music, plus Bill Gates-backed Type One Energy raises $87M ahead of $250M Series B
"We want musicians to keep making music, and for fans to have confidence that the music they find on Bandcamp was created by humans," the company said. Also, Type One Energy has raised more than $160 million from investors to date. The new funding will help the company further refine its stellarator technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SkyFi raises $12.7M to turn satellite images into insights; plus, OpenAI buying health records startup Torch
The Austin-based marketplace offers imagery from more than 50 space-based imagery providers. Also, AI health records startup Torch will be using its tech for OpenAI's new ChatGPT Health, according to co-founder Ilya Abyzov. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Converge Bio raises $25M, backed by Bessemer and execs from Meta, OpenAI, Wiz
AI drug discovery startup Converge Bio raised $25 million in a Series A led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with additional backing from executives at Meta, OpenAI, and Wiz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
These Gen Zers just raised $11.75M to put Africa’s defense back in the hands of Africans
After five years of building an edtech company, Nathan Nwachuku, 22, realized that Africa was at a crossroads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How the Sleepbuds maker, Ozlo, is building a platform for sleep data
The company's plan kicked into high gear at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week as the company met with prospective partners to expand its reach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wing to expand drone delivery to another 150 Walmart stores
The two companies announced on Sunday plans to bring the on-demand drone delivery service to an additional 150 Walmart stores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Former Bolt CEO Maju Kuruvilla’s startup triples to $100M valuation
Spangle has raised $15 million in a Series A round to expand its AI-generated shopping experiences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
EverNitro is simplifying the process of crafting silky nitro coffee at CES 2026
Get that silky-smooth nitro coffee at home without the wasteful cartridges with EverNitro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
OpenAI acquiring the team behind Convogo; also, Data security startup Cyera hits $9B valuation 6 months
OpenAI is acquiring the team behind executive coaching AI tool Convogo in an all-stock deal, adding to the firm's M&A spree. Plus, Cyera raised another $400 million just six months after its last huge round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Yes, LinkedIn banned AI agent startup Artisan, but now it’s back
Several viral posts noticed that Artisan was banned. But the CEO tells us it wasn't for the reasons many thought. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How Quilt solved the heat pump’s biggest challenge
Quilt's heat pumps are built containing a suite of sensors, which have delivered mountains of data that allow its engineers to wring added performance out of its systems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
LMArena lands $1.7B valuation four months after launching its product; plus, Intel spinout Articul8 raises more than half of $70M round at $500M valuation
LMArena, which started as a UC Berkeley research project, has raised about $250 million total and become a unicorn in about seven months. Also, Articul8's valuation for its current funding round marks a roughly fivefold increase since its Series A. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How World Cup champion Mario Götze built a parallel career as an angel investor
Mario Götze will go down in soccer history as the player who scored the winning goal that made Germany the 2014 FIFA World Cup champion. But he is also an increasingly seasoned angel investor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Teradar reveals its first terahertz-band vision sensor for cars
The company is tapping the terahertz band of the electromagnetic spectrum to bring out the best qualities of more common lidar and radar sensors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices