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Government email alert system GovDelivery used to send scam messages

Security /

An email notification system used by U.S. federal and state government departments to alert residents to important information, has been used to send scam emails, TechCrunch has learned. The U.S. state of Indiana said Tuesday that it is “aware of fraudulent messages purportedly sent by state agencies” to residents about unpaid tolls. TechCrunch has seen […]

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Insurtech Bestow lands $120M Series D from Goldman Sachs, Smith Point Capital

Fintech /

Melbourne O’Banion co-founded insurtech Bestow with Jonathan Abelmann in 2017 after struggling to secure his own life insurance policy. His goal was to make it easier for people to obtain life insurance and make the process more tech-enabled. Initially, Bestow operated as a direct-to-consumer insurance provider — selling, underwriting, and servicing life insurance policies. In

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Slate Auto crosses 100,000 refundable reservations in two weeks

Transportation /

Buzzy new EV startup Slate Auto has racked up more than 100,000 reservations for its customizable low-cost electric pickup truck, the company has confirmed to TechCrunch. Slate crossed the milestone over the weekend, just a little more than two weeks after coming out of stealth mode and unveiling the truck at an event in Los

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InventWood is about to mass produce wood that’s stronger than steel

Climate /

It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it actually comes from a lab in Maryland. In 2018, Liangbing Hu, a materials scientist at the University of Maryland, had devised a way to turn ordinary wood into a material stronger than steel. It seemed like yet another headline grabbing discovery that wouldn’t make it

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The Department of Labor just dropped its investigation into Scale AI

Startups /

The U.S. Department of Labor has dropped its investigation into Scale AI’s compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to a source directly familiar with the matter.  The FLSA is a federal law that regulates misclassification of employees as independent contractors and unpaid wages. TechCrunch first reported that Scale was the subject of such

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Sequoia leads $1.5B tender offer for sales automation startup Clay

Venture /

It took seven years of hard work for Kareem Amin, co-founder and CEO of sales automation startup Clay, to see the company’s product finally take off in 2022. Since then, the startup has experienced explosive growth, reached a valuation exceeding a billion dollars, and expanded its employee count from low double digits to over 200.

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Why Hims & Hers turned to the autonomous vehicle industry to find an AI-savvy CTO

Biotech & Health /

Hims & Hers, the telehealth and wellness company, has hired a veteran of the autonomous vehicle industry as its next chief technology officer. The move, according to Hims & Hers co-founder and CEO, Andrew Dudum, was intentional. Hims & Hers on Thursday said its next CTO would be Mo Elshenawy, the former president and CTO

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Fastino trains AI models on cheap gaming GPUs and just raised $17.5M led by Khosla

AI /

Tech giants like to boast about trillion-parameter AI models that require massive and expensive GPU clusters. But Fastino is taking a different approach. The Palo Alto-based startup says it has invented a new kind of AI model architecture that’s intentionally small and task-specific. The models are so small they’re trained with low-end gaming GPUs worth

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Tesla’s  ‘Robotaxi’ and ‘Cybercab’ trademarks hit roadblocks ahead of June launch

Transportation /

Tesla’s attempt to trademark the term “Robotaxi” in reference to its vehicles has been refused by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for being too generic, according to a new filing. Another application by Tesla to trademark the term “Robotaxi” for its upcoming ride-hailing service is still under examination by the office. In addition, applications

Tesla’s  ‘Robotaxi’ and ‘Cybercab’ trademarks hit roadblocks ahead of June launch Read More »

BluSmart investors propose $30M in new funding to revive the Uber rival

Startups /

A group of investors are considering a plan to inject another $30 million into BluSmart in a bid to revive the Indian cab-hailing startup that abruptly halted operations last month, TechCrunch has learned. The proposal from these existing investors has a catch: its contingent on BluSmart co-founder Anmol Singh Jaggi agreeing to resign. The proposed

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