Seed-stage startups — and their investors — react to higher hurdles for Series A funding
The hurdle for Series A funding is a lot higher than it was a year ago — and investors in seed-stage companies are having to respond. They don’t have much choice if they want their startups to survive. When the market abruptly turned in the spring of 2022, late-stage companies
Read moreClimactic launches first fund as its partners eye looming M&A boom in climate tech
The venture capital firm's $65 million inaugural fund will back founders who are starting climate tech software companies. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read moreOpenAI thinks superhuman AI is coming — and wants to build tools to control it
While investors were preparing to go nuclear after Sam Altman’s unceremonious ouster from OpenAI and Altman was plotting his return to the company, the members of OpenAI’s Superalignment team were assiduously plugging along on the problem of how to control AI that’s smarter than humans. Or at least, that’s the
Read moreTemu’s latest lawsuit against Shein is wild
Besides making allegations of abusing legal systems and agressive contracts, Temu's lawsuit makes Shein's business practices look like they're from a mobster movie. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read moreSpotify confirms test of prompt-based AI playlists feature
Earlier this fall, Spotify was found to be developing a new feature that would allow its streaming app users to create playlists using AI technology and prompts. Now, that “AI playlists” feature has been spotted in the wild, as part of a test that to see how users will respond
Read moreElon Musk wants to open a university in Texas
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Image: Getty Images Elon Musk is planning to open up a university in Austin, Texas, according to a report from Bloomberg. A tax filing for Musk’s charity, The Foundation, reveals that the billionaire wants to contribute $100 million to build STEM-focused primary and
Read moreKapital secures $165M in equity, debt to provide financial visibility to LatAm SMBs
In 2023, Kapital’s customer base grew to 80,000 small businesses in Mexico, Colombia and Peru. It also acquired Banco Autofin Mexico S.A. in September. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read moreLolli raises $8M Series B to expand its bitcoin and cashback rewards to enterprises
Lolli, a bitcoin and cashback rewards application, has raised an $8 million Series B round, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read moreLinktree acquires link-in-bio platform Koji in its second investment of the year
Australia-based link-in-bio platform Linktree announced today that it has acquired competitor Koji from its parent company GoMeta for an undisclosed amount. Linktree said that Koji’s link-in-bio product will shut down on January 31, 2024. The company is offering Koji users three months of Linktree Pro plan as a trial. But
Read moreDistributional wants to develop software to reduce AI risk
Companies are increasingly curious about AI and the ways in which it can be used to (potentially) boost productivity. But they’re also wary of the risks. In a recent Workday survey, enterprises cite the timeliness and reliability of the underlying data, potential bias and security and privacy as the top
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