Startups

Startups Weekly: Startups raised funding to help others navigate challenges

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. Sometimes problems are just that: problems. But often, they are also fodder. This week brought us a mix of startups facing adversity, sometimes of their own doing,

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Scale AI is being investigated by the US Department of Labor

The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating the data labeling startup Scale AI for compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, TechCrunch has learned. That’s a federal law that regulates unpaid wages, misclassification of employees as contractors, and illegal retaliation against workers. The investigation has been active since at least August 2024, a document seen

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Shield AI raises $240M at a $5.3B valuation to commercialize its AI drone tech

Shield AI, the San Diego defense tech startup that builds drones and other AI-powered military systems, has raised a $240 million round at a $5.3 billion valuation, it announced today. Shield AI says its Hivemind software already enables fighter jets and drones to fly autonomously. Now, Shield AI wants to sell Hivemind to a broader

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Intangible AI, a no-code 3D creation tool for filmmakers and game designers, raises $4M 

Intangible AI, now backed by $4 million in seed funding, offers an AI-powered creative tool that allows users to create 3D world concepts with text prompts to aid creative professionals across a variety of industries. The company’s mission is to make the creative process accessible to everyone, including professionals such as filmmakers, game designers, event

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Alpine Eagle secures funding from European backers for counter-drone tech amid rising threats

The war in Ukraine has brought drones to the forefront of modern warfare, creating a surge in demand for counter-drone systems. However, legacy solutions to counter drones, such as ground-based defense systems and cyber warfare, often come with a hefty price tag. For German startup Alpine Eagle, these solutions fall short: When now-ubiquitous $500 first-person

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Revenue prediction startup Gong surpasses $300M ARR, indicating potential IPO path

Gong, a startup that helps companies predict their revenue from potential sales, has surpassed $300 million in annualized recurring revenue, the company announced on Wednesday. Since its founding in 2016, Gong has used AI to analyze customer interactions. The addition of generative AI capabilities in recent years has helped to fuel the company’s growth. “We’re

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Ryan Breslow is back as CEO of fintech Bolt, after years of controversy

Ryan Breslow is once again the CEO of Bolt, the fintech company told TechCrunch on Wednesday. Bolt shared a communication that recently went out to investors in which Breslow wrote that “following a challenging few years,” he had been reinstated as Bolt’s CEO with “unanimous approval” of the board of the one-click checkout company. Justin

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Growth at all costs is destroying the internet. PR maven Ed Zitron says that’s an opportunity for startups.

If you spend any amount of time online, you probably noticed that your user experience keeps getting worse.  Websites are waterlogged with autoplay ads, pop-ups, and tracking scripts. Customer service chatbots are useless, despite the promises of generative AI. Social media algorithms boost rage-bait to keep you scrolling and engaged. Dating apps hide all the

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