Startups

Emm raises $9M seed to create one of the world’s first ‘smart’ menstrual cups

Biotech & Health /

Jenny Button first thought of Emm during the COVID lockdown. She was using an Oura ring and the Whoop monitoring band and getting insights about her body, but there wasn’t a device that could provide data about one of the most important aspects — reproductive and menstrual health.   “It seemed crazy to me, because these are things that every woman wants to be able to […]

Emm raises $9M seed to create one of the world’s first ‘smart’ menstrual cups Read More »

a16z leads $21M Series A into AI-native tax compliance software Sphere

Startups /

As Nicholas Rudder built his last startup, an educational marketplace called ScholarSite, he kept running into the same problem: tax.   “Marketplaces are liable for tax on their entire GMV (gross merchandise value) not just their take rate, so every new country meant a maze of registrations, filings, deadlines, and risk,” Rudder told TechCrunch. “It became a constant distraction.

a16z leads $21M Series A into AI-native tax compliance software Sphere Read More »

Boop’s new app turns social recommendations into bookable itineraries

Apps /

In a sea of AI travel-planning apps, a new startup called Boop aims to redefine the space with a new approach: turning social recommendations into bookable itineraries. Instead of getting a random AI-generated travel plan, the app offers users access to itineraries from real people who went on real trips.  When someone takes a trip, Boop uses AI to quickly turn

Boop’s new app turns social recommendations into bookable itineraries Read More »

Creator Tayla Cannon recieves $1.1 million investment from Slow Ventures’ creator fund to build PT software

Venture /

In 2023, Tayla Cannon moved from Australia to the U.S. for a job in a city she’d never seen before.   “No family, no friends, just a fresh start,” she told TechCrunch. A sufferer of chronic back pain,  she first started working in physiotherapy, thinking it was helping make a difference in the lives of others. Yet the traditional physiotherapy model never quite lit a spark in her.   She moved

Creator Tayla Cannon recieves $1.1 million investment from Slow Ventures’ creator fund to build PT software Read More »

The 10 companies that just launched from Betaworks latest startup camp

Startups /

Early-stage venture fund Betaworks announced the latest 10 companies launching from its prestigious Camp program, the 13-week biannual residence program launched in 2016 that has given way to names like Hugging Face and Graze Social.   The theme for this year’s Camp is Interfaces, as in companies that are designing products that impact how users experience AI. (Previous Camp themes focused on application layers and agents). Applications opened in June, and the camp began in August, with DemoDay being November

The 10 companies that just launched from Betaworks latest startup camp Read More »

How founders can prepare for their late-stage fundraises from the start

Startups /

Raising a $250 million Series D round may seem like a distant and unnecessary distraction to startup founders pitching investors for that first $1 million in seed money. But it shouldn’t be, according to several founders and venture capitalists. In their view, founders should be charting out a strategy for those later stage fundraises from

How founders can prepare for their late-stage fundraises from the start Read More »

VC Jennifer Neundorfer explains how founders can stand out in a crowded AI market

Venture /

January Ventures co-founder Jennifer Neundorfer stopped by the Equity podcast during TechCrunch Disrupt to chat about fundraising in this very AI-driven market.   Founders and investors alike are obsessed with AI, and even Neundorfer said her firm is looking at ways to use AI to make their work more efficient, such as helping to do due diligence on the market and competition.

VC Jennifer Neundorfer explains how founders can stand out in a crowded AI market Read More »

How startups can lure good talent fairly without big tech bank accounts 

Venture /

Startups have never been able to offer the same sizable salaries as big tech companies. Now with companies like Meta and OpenAI willing to pay million-dollar salaries amid the AI race — the compensation divide has grown even larger. Early-stage startups are not doomed though. If they develop a compensation strategy that is generous, fair,

How startups can lure good talent fairly without big tech bank accounts  Read More »

Tattd gave four TechCrunch writers tattoos at Startup Battlefield

Startups /

On Tuesday morning at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, our Senior Producer Maggie Nye rolled up her jacket sleeve to show me her new tattoo: a classic, pixelated cursor arrow. TechCrunch’s Becca Szkutak got a matching cursor, while Theresa Loconsolo got a smiling moon. I guessed that at some point during all the Disrupt hoopla, Maggie and

Tattd gave four TechCrunch writers tattoos at Startup Battlefield Read More »