Startups

M&A activity heats up with Wiz, Graphcore, etc.

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups.  Most interesting startup stories from the week Shortly after Google parent Alphabet reportedly abandoned its ambitions to purchase online marketing software company HubSpot, the tech giant decided to pursue another big acquisition. This time, Google is in […]

M&A activity heats up with Wiz, Graphcore, etc. Read More »

PE firm PartnerOne paid $28M for HeadSpin, a fraction of its $1.1B valuation set by ICONIQ and Dell Technologies Capital

Canadian private equity firm PartnerOne paid $28.2 million for HeadSpin, a mobile app testing startup whose founder was sentenced for fraud earlier this year, according to documents viewed by TechCrunch. The fire sale was reported by TechCrunch last week. HeadSpin’s 2023 revenue was $21 million and its Q1 2024 revenue stood at $5 million, the

PE firm PartnerOne paid $28M for HeadSpin, a fraction of its $1.1B valuation set by ICONIQ and Dell Technologies Capital Read More »

How a B2B payments startup won Max, Jack and Sam Altman, JP Morgan as investors

It’s not everyday that OpenAI founder Sam Altman teaches your class at Stanford, but that’s the kind of entrepreneurial spirit Lawrence Lin Murata, co-founder and CEO of Slope, tapped into as he and Alice Deng build their B2B payments company. “We met back in 2016 when he taught a class called ‘How to Start a

How a B2B payments startup won Max, Jack and Sam Altman, JP Morgan as investors Read More »

Shaped raises $8M Series A and launches its self-serve recommendations and search service

Whether it’s an online marketplace, store, or social media platform, virtually every site today uses some kind of recommendation service to personalize its offerings. Shaped, which is announcing an $8 million seed funding round today, wants to make it easier for businesses of all sizes to combine the data they already have with large language

Shaped raises $8M Series A and launches its self-serve recommendations and search service Read More »

Kandji raises another $100M for Apple device management as valuation rises to $850M

At a time when many startups have struggled to raise money and keep their heads above water, Kandji, an Apple device management platform, has been an exception. Founded in 2019, it has raced through its funding rounds like a precocious child, raising over $188 million along the way. Today it added to that total with

Kandji raises another $100M for Apple device management as valuation rises to $850M Read More »

Andreessen Horowitz co-founders explain why they’re supporting Trump

Marc Andreessen, the co-founder of one of the most prominent venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, says he’s been a Democrat most of his life. He says he has endorsed and voted for Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. However, he says he’s no longer loyal to the Democratic Party.

Andreessen Horowitz co-founders explain why they’re supporting Trump Read More »

YC-backed CrowdVolt shakes up the secondary ticket market with its bid-ask model

The current secondary ticket exchange system is fraught with several issues, such as tickets being resold at prices much higher than their face value, exorbitant fees and other additional costs. Not to mention the risk of purchasing counterfeit or invalid tickets, resulting in a disappointing user experience.  CrowdVolt wants to disrupt the space with its

YC-backed CrowdVolt shakes up the secondary ticket market with its bid-ask model Read More »