AI investments surged 62% to $110B in 2024 while startup funding declined 12%, says Dealroom
Venture capitalists are gobbling up term sheets for startups peddling artificial intelligence, but they’re remaining picky when it comes to funding the wider spectrum of technology. According to new figures from analytics firm Dealroom, AI startups raised $110 billion last year, 62% more than the year before. At the same
Read moreGhanaian fintech Affinity bags $8M to scale digital banking in a mobile money-driven market
Africa’s top digital banking platforms typically come from high-growth, populous markets like Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt. But Affinity Africa, an upstart from Ghana, wants to join the conversation. The startup has raised $8 million in seed funding to expand its financial products further across the country, where mobile money
Read moreInstagram is introducing teen accounts with new safety features in India
Instagram said Tuesday that the platform is introducing its teen accounts feature, which has extra protective measures for safety for users in India, one of its biggest markets with over 350 million users. The company introduced Teen Accounts last year in The U.S., U.K, Canada, and Australia. Meta migrated accounts
Read moreCommvault Debuts New Cloud Platform
Commvault debuts the Commvault Cloud Platform which can be easily deployed from major cloud marketplaces utilizing CIS-hardened images. These CIS-hardened images, pre-configured with CIS-recommended settings and controls, will be available in the following marketplaces: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and VMware. CIS-hardened images are software files
Read moreEU looks to the private sector to help fund ‘AI Gigafactories’, eyeing the frontier AI race
The European Union is courting the private sector as it looks to step up compute capacity for training large AI models. Giving a speech at the AI Action Summit in Paris on Monday, the EU’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, talked up the potential of homegrown AI startups but said
Read more“In the short term, more chaos”: What’s next for API design
Sagar Batchu, CEO and cofounder of API tooling company Speakeasy, talks with Ryan about the evolving API landscape, AI integration, the role of human technologists in an increasingly automated environment, and what people building APIs right now should keep in mind.
Read moreQED leads $11M investment in Nigerian fintech Raenest
As Africa’s tech ecosystem booms, more local talent is landing remote jobs with Big Tech firms and global startups. But getting paid remains a challenge for many of these freelancers and remote workers. They struggle to open accounts that accept US dollars, with foreign employers using incompatible payment platforms, and
Read moreTwo senior partners are leaving Peak XV amid strategy shift
Two senior partners are leaving Peak XV, the largest India-focused venture capital firm, four sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. Shailesh Lakhani, a 17-year veteran of the firm, and Abheek Anand, who co-led Southeast Asian investments, are departing, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing private
Read moreGoogle changed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Maps
Google Maps officially updated the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Monday. Among many other executive orders, President Donald Trump decreed on the day of his inauguration that the Gulf of Mexico would be renamed the Gulf of America. This executive order also reverses
Read moreZeta valued at $2B in new funding
Zeta, a provider of banking software to banks and fintech startups, has raised $50 million from a strategic investor at a $2 billion valuation. The new investment from American healthcare company Optum marks a 70% increase in the Bengaluru-based startup’s valuation from the $1.15 billion price tag (pre-money) it earned
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