When AI companion startup Friend revealed it had spent $1.8 million on buying the www.friend.com domain name last week, it set off a debate around what exactly branding is worth, and how startups should be spending cash. Founders of other companies like Loom and Public came forward to share stories of their own quests to […]
Maybe Friend wasn’t crazy for spending $1.8M on a domain after all Read More »
AI companies are gobbling up investor money and securing skyhigh valuations early in their lifecycle. This dynamic has many calling the AI industry a bubble. Nick Frosst, a co-founder of Cohere, which builds custom AI models for enterprise customers, recently said on TechCrunch’s Found podcast that he doesn’t think the AI industry is in a
Boston-based Flint Capital just closed its third fund at $160 million, four times the amount of its initial 2013 fund. The capital will be split evenly between early and late stage investments, with the firm doubling down on IT, cybersecurity, fintech and digital health startups. Its success is in large part because of a unique
Flint Capital raises a $160M through an unusual fund-raising strategy Read More »
Knowde, an online marketplace for chemicals and polymers, just closed on a Series C round, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. The San Jose-based startup raised $60 million in a round that values it lower than the $500 million valuation it garnered in its most recent round, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. This round
Sequoia-backed Knowde raises Series C at a valuation cut Read More »
More than 100 VCs, including Reid Hoffman, Vinod Khosla and Mark Cuban have pledged to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Mobilizing under the group VCsForKamala, the VCs are also soliciting donations for Harris’ campaign. But the organizers say the effort isn’t meant to align with any one political
Over 100 VCs pledge support for Kamala Harris Read More »
Farms produce a lot of data. From machines to irrigation systems, farms generate a lot of information that could be helpful to both them and the companies that serve them. Traditionally this data has been siloed across different formats making it hard to read and build off of. Leaf is trying to change that. New
Leaf helps farms decipher the troves of data they generate Read More »
Europe is routinely castigated by tech industry observers for having too little “growth capital” funds, and, compared to the U.S., that’s true. That said, it is nowhere near nonexistent on this front. To wit: Growth equity investor Kennet has just announced it’s raised €266 million for its largest fund to date, Kennet VI, which is
Hey, there ARE growth funds in Europe — Kennet raises $287M for its largest fund to date Read More »
Government websites aren’t known for cutting-edge tech. GovWell co-founder and CTO Ben Cohen discovered this while trying to help his dad, a contractor, apply for building permits. Cohen worked as a full stack engineer at Uber during the day and faxed documents for building permits at night. The difference in tech was stark. Years later,
GovWell is bringing automation and efficiency to local governments Read More »
Venture capital funding has never been robust for women or Black and brown founders. Alongside Crunchbase, we’ve been tracking funding levels to pinpoint moments of progress and regression for marginalized entrepreneurs. For example, Black founders saw record amounts of funding in the bull year that was 2021, but that amount dipped substantially as the market
Stay up-to-date on the amount of venture dollars going to underrepresented founders Read More »
Farmers have got to do something about pests. But nobody really likes the idea of using more chemical pesticides. Thomas Laurent’s company, Micropep, thinks the answer might already be in the plants themselves. Micropep is exploring how naturally occurring compounds, known as micropeptides, might work as an entirely new class of pesticides. If the startup
Micropep taps tiny proteins to make pesticides safer Read More »
