Cheaper, lighter, and denser: the trifecta defines an ideal battery. No one has devised a perfect cell quite yet, but one stealthy startup thinks it has found a new material that solves at least two of those challenges. Daqus Energy has been quietly operating for the past couple years, refining a compound known as TAQ […]
Daqus Energy has a plan to make EV sports cars fast, light, and cheap Read More »
A few years ago, several startups with a specific focus on digital avatars appeared because of all the metaverse buzz. While that buzz died down, generative AI has given a new life to avatars as it is easier to spin up different virtual identities. Companies are trying out different use cases for avatars, including D-ID
As the U.S. trucking industry gears up for the negative impacts of U.S. President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada, a startup building a new kind of trucking insurance has raised some money to grow and help truckers weather the changes. Nirvana, an AI-based insurance platform that uses real-time driving
Nirvana keeps on truckin’ with $80M at a $830M valuation for its AI-powered insurance Read More »
Last year was a monumental year for the AI industry in the U.S. and beyond. There were 49 startups that raised funding rounds worth $100 million or more in 2024, per our count at TechCrunch. Three companies raised more than one “mega-round” last year, and seven companies raised rounds at $1 billion or larger. How
9 US AI startups have raised $100M or more in 2025 Read More »
Just over a year after being replaced as CEO of the battery startup Our Next Energy (ONE), Mujeeb Ijaz is back at the helm. Alongside this news, the company announced the close of a new funding round led by Crescent Ventures and Trousdale Ventures. ONE did not release any details about the round’s size, nor
Founder of battery startup Our Next Energy returns as CEO following new funding Read More »
Getting ghosted is never fun. Especially if you’re a founder seeking capital from investors. It’s similar to dating. You might be left wondering “Why is this person not getting back to me? Did I do something wrong?” Did the investor hate the product? Did they not care for me personally?” It’s enough to drive anyone
Why VCs ghost founders, or reject deals and never speak to the founder again Read More »
Fusion power startups have long been stalked by one stubborn question: Will the technology work? But now, with net-positive fusion power no longer the stuff of science fiction, a fresh crop of startups have been founded on more mundane questions: Can reactors be built for less money? How can maintenance be made simpler? The answers
Renaissance Fusion raises €32M to radically simplify complex fusion reactors Read More »
Anna Patterson has had a storied career in Silicon Valley. She founded three startups, including search engine upstarts Xift and Cuil, as well as recall.archive.org, which became the Internet Archive. She was the vice president of engineering at Google, and later on started Gradient Ventures, an AI-focused seed fund. And she isn’t done building. Patterson
Flex, which offers personal finance software and payments infrastructure for business owners, has raised $25 million in equity funding while securing a $200 million credit facility, it told TechCrunch exclusively. The equity funds were raised at a valuation of “just under $250 million.” The company last raised a $20 million Series A announced in September
Flex, a Brex for business owners, has raised $25M at a $250M valuation Read More »
Foreign exchange fluctuations can make or break a business that trades across borders, but keeping up and responding to the FX market can be tricky if you’re anything smaller than the world’s largest enterprises. Today, a startup called Grain is emerging from stealth with a product that it says will let finance teams at companies
Grain emerges from stealth with $50M to help any business hedge against FX volatility Read More »
