Fundraising

Praktika raises $35.5M to use AI avatars to make learning languages feel more natural

Fundraising /

Most apps that help you learn languages have features where you select options or swipe away wrong answer cards — you’re more or less interacting with a machine. Language-learning app Praktika is adopting a different approach: It lets you create personalized AI-powered avatars to replicate the experience of having a private tutor, leveraging inflections like […]

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VCs wanted FarmboxRx to become a meal kit, the company bootstrapped instead

Fundraising /

Some startups choose to bootstrap from the beginning while others find themselves forced into self funding by a lack of investor interest or a business model that doesn’t fit traditional VC. FarmboxRx decided to bootstrap because founder Ashley Tyrner didn’t like the advice she was getting from potential backers. Tyrner told TechCrunch’s Found podcast that

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Bill Gates-backed wind startup AirLoom is raising $12M, filings reveal

Fundraising /

It started with a drawing on a napkin. Now AirLoom Energy is raising $12.7 million in fresh funding, TechCrunch has learned. The funding came from 21 investors, according to a regulatory filing that does not list the names of the backers. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Wyoming-based startup

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Data-labeling startup Scale AI raises $1B as valuation doubles to $13.8B

Fundraising /

Scale AI, which provides data-labeling services to companies that want to train machine learning models, has raised a $1 billion Series F round from a slew of big-name institutional and corporate investors that include Amazon and Meta. The fundraise is a mix of primary and secondary funding, and is the latest in a slew of

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Vitesse, a payments and treasury management platform for insurers, raises $93M to fuel US expansion

Fundraising /

U.K. fintech Vitesse has closed a $93 million Series C round of funding led by investment giant KKR. KKR said it’s making the investment through its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund III, a $3 billion fund it closed last year. Founded out of London in 2013, Vitesse is the handiwork of Paul Townsend and Phil

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Sagetap looks to bring enterprise software sales into the 21st century

Fundraising /

When the founders of Sagetap, Sahil Khanna and Kevin Hughes, started working at early-stage enterprise software startups, they were surprised to find that the companies they worked at were trying to sell their innovative tech through old-school methods like repeated cold emails and calls. Khanna, a former product marketer, and Hughes, a former sales manager,

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Khosla Ventures, Pear VC triple down on Honey Homes, a smart way to hire a handyman

Fundraising /

There’s apparently a lot of demand for an on-demand handyperson. Khosla Ventures and Pear VC have just tripled down on their investment in Honey Homes, which offers up a dedicated handyman to take care of all the random tasks on a homeowner’s to-do list. The company raised $9 million last June in a Series A

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YC-backed Recall.ai gets $10M Series A to help companies use virtual meeting data

Fundraising /

More money for the generative AI boom: Y Combinator-backed developer infrastructure startup Recall.ai announced Thursday it’s raised a $10 million Series A funding round, bringing its total raised to over $12M. The startup has built infrastructure and a unified API that enables companies to access raw data from virtual meeting platforms like Google Meet, Microsoft Teams,

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Embedded accounting startup Layer secures $2.3M toward goal of replacing Quickbooks

Fundraising /

Embedded finance is usually what we hear about when brands and non-financial businesses want to offer financial products or services — like banking, insurance, lending and payments — to provide a better user experience for customers. Layer is leaning into that better user experience, but with embedded accounting. Its customers are those, like Square or

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Accion’s new $152.5M fund will back financial institutions serving small businesses globally

Fundraising /

Accion, a global nonprofit, announced on Tuesday the launch of the Accion Digital Transformation Fund, a $152.5 million fund for large financial institutions, including microfinance serving small businesses currently excluded from the world’s financial system. The firm said in a statement that it will provide growth capital and strategic support to these companies for “digital

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