Emblem, a relatively new European VC firm based in Paris, is announcing the final closing of its first fund. Eighteen months after the first closing, the Emblem team managed to secure €80 million in total (around $85 million at current exchange rates). This is no small feat in the current funding environment. According to Atomico’s […]
European VC firm Emblem raises $85 million for its initial fund Read More »
A clearer picture of Bench’s downfall is emerging thanks to newly-released bankruptcy filings. The records show that the Canada-based startup, which ironically enough offered cloud accounting software for small businesses, consistently struggled to reach profitability. It burned through $135 million from its founding in 2012 to September 2024. By the time of its collapse, Bench
Bench burned through $135 million before shutting down Read More »
Jen Keane’s claim to fame is that she grew a shoe using bacteria, coaxing the microbes to deposit their nanocellulosic materials in the shape of a sneaker. But she’s kind of over that. “I feel like that sort of misses the point,” she told TechCrunch. “The fiber produced by bacteria — like, that’s not a
Modern Synthesis is making compostable materials that last a lifetime Read More »
Hitachi Ventures secured $400 million for a fourth fund, the firm exclusively told TechCrunch. The size of the new fund is a vote of confidence in a range of deep tech verticals. The corporate VC’s sprawling portfolio mimics that of its limited partner’s, including energy, manufacturing, biotech, and AI. “We are open to other breakthrough
Hitachi Ventures raises $400M fund to invest in everything from fusion to AI Read More »
Israeli spyware maker Paragon Solutions confirmed to TechCrunch that it sells its products to the U.S. government and other unspecified allied countries. Paragon’s executive chairman John Fleming said in a statement to TechCrunch on Tuesday that, “Paragon licenses its technology to a select group of global democracies — principally, the United States and its allies.”
Spyware maker Paragon confirms U.S. government is a customer Read More »
September 11 left a lasting impression on Stephen Beaton, and like many others of his generation, he joined the military. But at the U.S. Air Force academy, his journey took a bit of a turn. There, his chemistry studies deepened his interest in liquid fuels. “As a product of September 11, seeing the spike in
E-fuels startup will make diamonds before powering jet planes Read More »
Autonomous vehicle company Cruise is laying off “nearly” 50% of its workforce — cuts that extend to the CEO and several other top executives — as it prepares to shut down operations. What remains of Cruise will move under parent company General Motors as the automaker directs its resources towards improving its hands-free driver assistance
Cruise to slash workforce by nearly 50% after GM cuts funding to robotaxi operations Read More »
DSTLRY, a venture-backed digital comic books marketplace, on Tuesday added a pair of features designed to bring customization to the platform. The first feature, dubbed Commissioned Digital Remarques, allows creators to add personalized sketches and signatures to digital comics. The second, Unlimited Digital Covers, expands platform-wide access to alternative comic book covers. Commissioned Digital Remarques
DSTLRY, the comic books marketplace, launches new customization features for artists Read More »
Swiss startup LogicStar is bent on joining the AI agent game. The summer 2024-founded startup has bagged $3 million in pre-seed funding to bring tools to the developer market that can do autonomous maintenance of software applications, rather than the more typical AI agent use-case of code co-development. LogicStar CEO and co-founder Boris Paskalev (pictured
LogicStar is building AI agents for app maintenance Read More »
On a clear spring evening in Michigan, the stars aligned — just not in the way Upfront Ventures partner Nick Kim expected. He’d just led a $9.5 million seed round for OurSky, a software platform for space observational data, and was eager to see what its telescope partner PlaneWave Instruments could do. But when they
Two space startups have merged to create the next generation of telescopes Read More »
