Welcome back to another recap of Equity, TechCrunch’s flagship podcast about the business of startups. This episode is packed with deals, antitrust musings, AI and more. To kick things off, Kirsten walked us through a recent court decision that provided a bit of relief for Elon Musk. Earlier this week, one of the many lawsuits […]
There’s always something happening to OpenAI’s board Read More »
By now, we’re all pretty familiar with cybersecurity for computers. But what would happen if a robotic arm on a production line was hacked and instructed to kill its human co-worker? That “device security” is the kind of thorny problem that Rome-based startup Exein is tackling. The IoT cybersecurity company has now raised €15 million
Exein raised $15M Series B to stop robotic arms going haywire Read More »
European regulation is turning ESG reporting from a nice-to-have to a must. This creates new tailwinds for startups such as Paris-based Apiday, whose platform targets private equity funds and blue-chip companies needing to track and pilot sustainability practices. Asset management firms have been a key target for Apiday, especially European ones. Because of the Sustainable
Europe is still serious about ESG, and Apiday is helping companies comply Read More »
Welcome to our 100th pitch deck teardown! This week, I’m taking a look at MegaMod’s seed-stage pitch deck. MegaMod seems to be the latest darling of the gaming industry and just pocketed a cool $1.9 million, bumping its post-money valuation to $27 million. With a mission to revolutionize the game creation process, MegaMod says it
Pitch Deck Teardown: MegaMod’s $1.9M seed deck Read More »
Outside of AI, few startups have drawn venture investments like climate tech. And like AI, companies in the sector need large infusions of cash, sometimes well beyond what a typical venture investor might offer, to reach a size where they’ll be able to make a mark. A new deal involving Rondo Energy, which makes thermal energy
Rondo Energy funding shows a new way across the climate startup ‘valley of death’ Read More »
When Ironspring Ventures launched in 2020 to back startups in industrial sectors like construction and manufacturing, it was one of very few early-stage venture firms paying attention to those capital-intensive sectors. Now, the firm is doubling down. The Austin, Texas-based firm raised $100 million for its second fund to focus on industrial startups. This is
Austin-based Ironspring Ventures raised $100M to invest in the industrial revolution Read More »
When Bowery Capital general partner Loren Straub started talking to a startup from the latest Y Combinator accelerator batch a few months ago, she thought it was strange that the company didn’t have a lead investor for the round it was raising. Even stranger, the founders didn’t seem to be looking for one. She thought
In 2024, many Y Combinator startups only want tiny seed rounds — but there’s a catch Read More »
It’s not often that you hear about a seed round above $10 million. H, a startup based in Paris and previously known as Holistic AI, has announced a $220 million seed round just a few months after the company’s inception. It has managed to raise so much money so quickly because it’s an AI startup
French AI startup H raises $220M seed round Read More »
Longtime New York-based seed investor, Contour Venture Partners, is making progress on its latest flagship fund. The firm closed on $42 million, raised from 64 backers, for Contour Venture Partners Fund V, according to an SEC filing from May 17. The firm is targeting $90 million for its fifth flagship fund and started fundraising in
The brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022 took businesses that depended on oil and gas energy by surprise. Suddenly, renewable energy became crucial to survival. But how best to buy it? That was the germination of the idea behind trawa, a Berlin-based renewable energy supplier that recently raised €10 million in a seed
Berlin-based trawa raises €10M to use AI to make buying renewable energy easier for SMEs Read More »
