Venture

Inside TC’s Techstars investigation and how AI is accelerating disability tech

Venture /

The downturn in venture capital funding has impacted startups, VC firms, and accelerators alike. One company in the final category, Techstars, has been shaking up its operations for some time now, leading to a number of departures. TechCrunch got curious about what happened, so we dove deep into exactly how it all went down. We […]

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From Connie Chan to Ethan Kurzweil, venture capitalists continue to play musical chairs

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When Keith Rabois announced he was leaving Founders Fund to return to Khosla Ventures in January, it came as a shock to many in the venture capital ecosystem — and not just because Rabois is a big name in the industry. It was surprising because unlike in many other fields, venture capitalists don’t traditionally move

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Chicago-based Hyde Park Venture Partners closes $98M Fund IV with two investments made so far

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Midwest venture capital firms might always play catch-up to the coasts, but that’s not stopping some firms from pulling in nice-sized funds to support startups in their local ecosystems and overall region. Despite being so-called “fly-over cities” according to investors focused on the coasts, the money continues to flow into this region. For example, Michigan’s

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Shinkei’s humane, quality-preserving fish-harvesting tech could upend the seafood industry

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Harvesting fish is an inherently messy business, what with being at sea, the slippery creatures wriggling around and everything else. Shinkei is working to improve it with an automated system that more humanely and reliably dispatches the fish, resulting in what could be a totally different seafood economy. On many fishing vessels, fish are left

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As VC firms invest more in B2B startups, Intuition is a new VC fund focusing on consumer tech

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In 2024, it’s hard to wake up without reading about yet another large funding round in an enterprise AI company. Intuition, however, a new VC firm based in Paris, is doing something radical by betting on consumer tech exclusively. Behind the scenes, Hugo Amsellem (pictured left) and Etienne Boutan (pictured right) will be the general

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Inside the ‘cold war’ at Techstars as CEO Maëlle Gavet hires, fires, fights to force change

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Last spring, founders from all over the world began their treks to Techstars’ Stockholm accelerator program. Their backdrop was solemn: A bank run was in the process of crushing Silicon Valley Bank, and the entire startup industry was on edge. The bank’s parent company, SVB Financial, was a major investor in Techstars and, like much

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Ethiopian plastic upcycling startup Kubik gets fresh funding, plans to license out its tech

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Kubik, a plastic upcycling startup, has raised a $1.9 million seed extension, months after announcing initial equity investment. The startup’s latest investment is from African Renaissance Partners, an East African venture capital firm; Endgame Capital, an investor with a bias for technologies around climate change; and King Philanthropies, a climate and extreme poverty investor. The

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Givebutter is turning a profit making tech for nonprofits

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Givebutter started in a George Washington University dorm room in 2016 as a software solution to make nonprofit fundraising more transparent and fun. Eight years later, the company is profitable and it just raised $50 million to scale as momentum for nonprofit-focused startups appears to be growing. The company’s co-founder and CEO, Max Friedman, fundraised

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