Venture

Rwazi raises $12M Series A to help companies with consumer insights and intelligence

Joseph Rutakanga spent eight years looking for tools to help companies gather consumer insight data. Eventually, he decided to just build them.  Now his startup, called Rwazi, has raised a $12 million Series A led by Bonfire Ventures to help companies with market intelligence and consumer insights. He founded the company in 2021 with co-founder

Rwazi raises $12M Series A to help companies with consumer insights and intelligence Read More »

Brian Singerman’s new fund has a twist, and Peter Thiel as a big backer

Former Founders Fund GP Brian Singerman and co-founder and managing partner of Quiet Capital, Lee Linden, are seeking over $500 million for a new fund called GPx, three people familiar with their strategy told TechCrunch. A significant portion of GPx’s fund, potentially as much as 50%, will come from Founders Fund co-founder Peter Thiel, these

Brian Singerman’s new fund has a twist, and Peter Thiel as a big backer Read More »

Former Sequoia partner Matt Miller raises $355M for new fund — with Sequoia’s backing

Former Sequoia partner Matt Miller has already locked in $355 million for his new VC firm, Evantic, which is also backed by Sequoia, TechCrunch learned. Last December, Miller announced his departure from Sequoia after twelve years to “start [his] own fund focused on the great founders of Europe.”  Despite the European focus, TechCrunch’s understanding is

Former Sequoia partner Matt Miller raises $355M for new fund — with Sequoia’s backing Read More »

Sarah Smith launches $16M fund, says AI can ‘unlock’ so much for solo GPs like herself

Sarah Smith, founder and managing partner of the eponymous Sarah Smith Fund, announced Thursday the final closing of a $16 million Fund I.  Smith launched her eponymous fund in 2022 and is a solo GP. She said she’s “stunned” by what AI can unlock for firms like hers, solo and next-generation. “I can’t imagine doing

Sarah Smith launches $16M fund, says AI can ‘unlock’ so much for solo GPs like herself Read More »

Medium’s CEO explains what it took to stop losing $2.6M monthly

Medium CEO Tony Stubblebine announced on Friday that the publishing platform has remained profitable since August of last year, when it first achieved this milestone. In the post, Stubblebine detailed what it took to achieve this goal, which involved a combination of product changes, an investor restructuring, renegotiated loans, unloading office space, layoffs, and other

Medium’s CEO explains what it took to stop losing $2.6M monthly Read More »

4 days until TC All Stage in Boston and the lowest ticket prices vanish

Time’s running out. In just four days, TechCrunch All Stage 2025 touches down at Boston’s SoWa Power Station on July 15 — and your chance to lock in savings of up to $475 disappears. This one-day summit isn’t built for spectators. It’s designed for the doers — the founders, builders, and backers who are shaping

4 days until TC All Stage in Boston and the lowest ticket prices vanish Read More »

European VC breaks taboo by investing in pure defense tech from Ukraine’s war zones

Defense tech has gone from a no-go zone for VCs to a hot investment sector. However, dual use — meaning that the technology must also have civilian applications — is still a requirement for most of them, including the NATO Innovation Fund.  Estonian VC firm Darkstar breaks from this trend by sometimes investing in purely

European VC breaks taboo by investing in pure defense tech from Ukraine’s war zones Read More »

Drive Capital’s Columbus gamble is paying off

This week on StrictlyVC Download, TechCrunch EIC Connie Loizos is joined by Drive Capital co-founder Chris Olsen. Chris explains how Drive’s contrarian approach to fund size, ownership stakes, and geographic focus is generating returns where others firms are right now struggling. They also discuss the firm’s current composition, three years after Olsen and his co-founder

Drive Capital’s Columbus gamble is paying off Read More »