Startups

Google’s Kurian approached Wiz, $23B deal could take a week to land, source says

Startups /

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is in advanced talks to acquire Wiz for $23 billion, a person close to the company told TechCrunch. The deal discussions were previously reported by the Wall Street Journal. Wiz, a cybersecurity startup founded in 2020, was approached a few weeks ago by Thomas Kurian, head of Google’s cloud division, the […]

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HeadSpin, whose founder is in prison for fraud, sold to PE firm for ‘cents on the dollar,’ sources say

Startups /

Canadian private equity firm PartnerOne has acquired HeadSpin in a fire sale, TechCrunch has learned exclusively. And most of its former employees received nothing for their options, according to multiple sources. HeadSpin is the mobile app testing company whose founder was sentenced to prison for fraud earlier this year. In total, HeadSpin raised $117 million

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A startup set out to fight climate change — it did it by helping plumbers

Startups /

The founders of HERO Software didn’t start out to help small tradespeople in construction with a platform. They started out to fight the climate crisis. But in doing so, they stumbled on a way to help the whole business. Now, the company has closed a €40 million Series B financing round, and plans to expand

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Formlabs acquires 3D printing startup Micronics mid-Kickstarter campaign

Startups /

Formlabs on Thursday announced its acquisition of 3D printing firm Micronics. The Wisconsin-based startup is as plucky as they come, with a headcount of exactly two. Co-founders Henry Chan and Luke Boppart will be joining the more established firm, as Formlabs works to incorporate Micronics’ accessible SLS approach to 3D printing. There are plenty of

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Sekai secures Naruto’s license to develop consumer apps for anime fans

Startups /

Just like in your favorite anime, this is the story of a young group of twenty-something who started with nothing, traveled the world and ended up with a global license to develop official Naruto consumer apps. Originally founded in early 2022, French startup Sekai describes itself as a studio that wants to create entertainment experiences

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Iceland is dodging the VC doldrums as Frumtak Ventures lands $87 million for its fourth fund

Startups /

Iceland’s startup scene is punching above its weight. That’s perhaps in part because it kept the 2021 hype in check, but mostly because its tech ecosystem is coming of age. Iceland attracted the most venture capital per capita of all Nordic countries in 2023, but that stat is somewhat skewed by its relatively small population

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Nala to use $40M Series A to build B2B payments platform, scale remittance services

Startups /

Nala, a remittance startup that is now widening its portfolio through a new B2B payments platform, has raised $40 million equity in a rare deal that becomes one of the largest Series A transactions in Africa.  The oversubscribed round was led by San Francisco-based VC firm Acrew Capital, with participation from DST Global, Norrsken22, HOF Capital,

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