Investments in generative AI startups — those that are creating AI-powered products to generate text, audio, video and more — aren’t slowing down. But they’re being consolidated into a shrinking number of early-stage ventures. In the first half of 2023, from January to July 16, 225 startups raised $12.3 billion from VCs, according to Crunchbase […]
VCs are still pouring billions into generative AI startups 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 »
Goodreads‘ co-founder Otis Chandler is back to build the next big app community. But this time, his focus isn’t on books; it’s on the content you can find online, including news articles, blog posts, social media posts, podcasts and more. With Smashing, an AI and community-powered content recommendation app, now launching into an invite-only beta,
Ashley Beckwith spent years of her academic and professional career focused on the intersection of biology, materials and manufacturing to build medical solutions more efficiently. When she realized the tech could be applied to plants and plant-based materials, an area that desperately needed it, she decided to switch gears. “Life on earth is only as
Foray Bioscience is breaking down the barriers of bringing biomanufacturing to plants Read More »
When former YouTube product manager Kevin Xu, known as “Sir Jack A Lot” on Reddit, turned $35,000 into $8 million trading stocks between 2020 and 2022, many people thought his fortunes, and his way of investing, had peaked, just like 2021’s memestock craze had. Xu doesn’t agree, though, and he’s now building a startup for
Sir Jack A Lot returns with a startup for retail traders Read More »
The U.S. is facing an accountant shortage. Fewer first-time candidates took the CPA exam in 2022 than in 2006, according to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. One possible reason people aren’t as interested in the field is the large amount of drudge work involved: Accountants have to rifle through large amounts of unstructured
Materia looks to make accountants more efficient with AI Read More »
We all know the feeling when we send a funny TikTok video, anticipating a response from a friend, only to receive a basic laughing emoji or, worse, no reaction at all. Seen aims to solve this with its new social app, where friends record a live video reaction to content you send them. The video
Meet Seen, a new app for friends to record reactions to TikToks and other content Read More »
Steve Case is no stranger to how policy can help aid innovation. His former company AOL would have been dead in the water if not for the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which required telecoms companies to open access to their tech. Now, Case is hoping the federal government will look to take the same stance
Golf has exploded in popularity in recent years thanks to the pandemic and the popularity of Netflix’s Full Swing documentary series. More than 531 million rounds of golf were played in the U.S. in 2023 alone, according to the National Golf Foundation. Because of this surge in interest, golfers are finding that nabbing a tee
Loop Golf looks to take the stress out of booking a tee time Read More »
StepStone raised the largest fund dedicated to investing in venture secondaries ever, the firm announced last week. This fundraise doesn’t just say a lot about StepStone’s venture secondaries investing prowess, but also about how LPs are thinking about the current venture market. The fund, StepStone VC Secondaries Fund VI, raised $3.3 billion. This marks a
