a16z

SoftBank is back, and the AI hype cycle is eating itself

AI /

SoftBank and OpenAI announced a new 50-50 joint venture this week to sell enterprise AI tools in Japan under the brand “Crystal Intelligence.” On paper, it’s a straightforward international expansion deal. But SoftBank’s role as a major investor in OpenAI is raising questions about whether AI’s biggest deals are creating real economic value or just moving money in circles.  […]

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a16z pauses its famed TxO Fund for underserved founders, lays off staff

Venture /

Andreessen Horowitz is pausing its Talent x Opportunity (TxO) fund and program, according to four sources familiar with the matter, including more than one founder in the program.  The firm announced TxO in 2020 to support founders who do not have access to traditional venture networks. Many of TxO’s participants were women and minorities who, overall, receive very slim amounts of venture

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A16z-backed Codi launches AI agent office manager

Startups /

Codi, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup founded by Christelle Rohaut and Dave Schuman, is launching what it hails as the first AI-powered platform to fully automate office management.   Codi was founded in 2018, in a pre-pandemic world, with a mission to help companies find flexible office spaces. It was more of a marketplace, as TechCrunch previously reported, that matched companies

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Kalshi hits $5B valuation days after rival Polymarket gets $2B NYSE backing at $8 Billion

Cypto /

Kalshi, a prediction market that allows people to bet on future events, announced that it raised over $300 million at a $5 billion valuation. The company’s value has increased 2.5 times since its last fundraise just three months ago, when it was valued at $2 billion. The fresh capital came from Kalshi’s existing investor, Sequoia Capital

Kalshi hits $5B valuation days after rival Polymarket gets $2B NYSE backing at $8 Billion Read More »

Kalshi hits $5B valuation days after rival Polymarket gets $2B NYSE backing at $8B

Cypto /

Kalshi, a prediction market that allows people to bet on future events, announced that it raised over $300 million at a $5 billion valuation. The company’s value has increased 2.5x since its last fundraise just three months ago, when it was valued at $2 billion. The fresh capital came from Kalshi’s existing investor, Sequoia Capital, with

Kalshi hits $5B valuation days after rival Polymarket gets $2B NYSE backing at $8B Read More »

Andreessen Horowitz denies report of India office, calls it ‘fake news’

Venture /

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has pushed back on local media reports suggesting it plans to open an office in India, with a general partner calling the coverage “entirely fake news.” Earlier on Thursday, Indian media outlets reported that a16z was preparing to establish a physical presence in the country by setting up an

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This distributed data storage startup wants to take on Big Cloud

Fundraising /

The explosion of AI companies has pushed demand for computing power to new extremes, and companies like CoreWeave, Together AI and Lambda Labs have capitalized on that demand, attracting immense amounts of attention and capital for their ability to offer distributed compute capacity. But most companies still store data with the big three cloud providers, AWS, Google

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Sources: Naveen Rao’s new AI hardware startup targets $5B valuation with backing from a16z 

AI /

Naveen Rao, who was formerly the head of artificial intelligence at Databricks, is in talks to raise a $1 billion at a $5 billion valuation for a new startup, called Unconventional, Inc., that’s building a new type of computer, according to four people familiar with discussions.  Andreessen Horowitz has agreed to lead the investment, and

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