startup

Arzeda is using AI to design proteins for artificial sweeteners and more

Enterprise /

AI is increasingly being applied to protein design, the process of creating new proteins with specific, target characteristics. Protein design’s applications are myriad, but it’s a promising way of discovering drug-based treatments to combat diseases and creating new homecare, agriculture, food-based and materials products. One among the many vendors developing AI tech to design proteins, […]

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Greenlite, founded by an ex-Gopuff exec, automates construction permitting

AI /

Construction permitting often involves drafting lengthy applications, leading to unpredictable timelines for developers and businesses. There are tens of thousands of jurisdictions — each with their own different forms and application processes for building permits. Ben Allen knows a thing or two about permitting. While leading business expansion and strategy at Gopuff, Allen was charged

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Orb founders grew so frustrated dealing with billing at Asana, they built their own billing software

Startups /

Billing might not be something that the average person thinks about on a regular basis. But for companies — particularly those in the business of selling software — it’s massively important. They rely on billing systems to ensure that customers pay on time and have a range of ways to pay. The trouble is, configuring

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TeamBridge, founded by former Uber execs, raises $28M to build HR software for hourly workers

Enterprise /

Arjun Vora and Tito Goldstein were working on the corporate side of Uber when they realized that HR software largely wasn’t built to manage hourly staff. Many hourly workers lacked a way to complete basic self-service tasks, the pair perceived, like clocking in and changing payment accounts. After interviewing hundreds of Uber drivers, Vora, an

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Connectly, now backed by Alibaba, taps AI to personalize text messages to customers

Startups /

Stefanos Loukakos, formerly a director at Meta’s business-focused Messenger division and, briefly, the tech giant’s blockchain org, noticed several years ago that online retailers were struggling to connect with potential shoppers. The problem, in his opinion, was that their marketing campaigns weren’t tailored enough. Merchants were sending generic social media, text, and email blasts that failed to

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Smartcat secures $43M for its AI-powered translation platform

Fundraising /

Can AI ever fully replace translators? Not likely. AI translations tend to lack the lexical richness of their human-translated counterparts, mainly because AI models make choices based on probability — not lived experience. Certainly, AI can produce “accurate” translations, but the translations lack the spice of life, like a textbook version of the source text.

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Progress acquires file management platform ShareFile for $875M

Fundraising /

Progress, a Bedford, Massachusetts-based software firm, on Monday announced that it intends to acquire file management platform ShareFile for $875 million in cash and credit. Progress CEO Yogesh Gupta said that the deal, which is expected to close by November 30, will bolster Progress’ portfolio with tools to help businesses more efficiently share — and

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Salesforce acquires data management firm Own for $1.9B in cash

Enterprise /

Salesforce has acquired Own Company, a provider of data management and protection solutions, for $1.9 billion in cash. In a press release, Salesforce GM Steve Fisher said in a statement that Own “underscores [Salesforce’s] commitment to providing secure, end-to-end solutions that protect our customers’ most valuable data.” “Data security has never been more critical, and

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Sedric monitors the communications of employees at financial institutions to ensure compliance

Fundraising /

For financial institutions, complying with regulations is becoming a costlier proposition. According to a recent poll, 76% of financial services firms increased their compliance expenditure from 2022 to 2023, with most blaming new laws. With the cost of compliance averaging out to around $10,000 per employee these days, many firms are searching for ways to

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