As cancer rates in the West, and globally, tack upwards due to lifestyle and environmental pollution, so does the need for the nuclear isotopes used in detecting those cancers in a medical setting. But with many reactors built in the 70s and the 80s scheduled for shut down, the materials used are becoming rarer and…
Category: Biotech & Health
Biotech & Health, Climate, cultivated meat, Global IT News, Global Security News, In Brief, lab grown meat, meatly, Startups
First lab-grown meat treats go on sale in the UK — for dogs
Cultivated chicken doggie snacks have gone on sale at a U.K. pet food retailer, Pets at Home. The retailer also happens to be a major investor in Meatly, the startup producing the meat ingredient contained in dog food brand The Pack’s Chick Bites, as the slaughter-free, low carbon treats are billed. (Other ingredients in the…
AI, avelios, Biotech & Health, EHR, Enterprise, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Healthcare, hospital records
Avelios nabs $31M led by Sequoia to fix the ailing world of healthcare IT
The race is on to build a new generation of healthcare software to replace legacy hospital systems that in some cases may not have been updated in decades. A startup out of Munich, Germany called Avelios has ambitions to build a new kind of end-to-end administrative system, leaning into more modern tooling using AI and…
Addiction, Biotech & Health, FDA, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Medical Devices, quit smoking, Seed
Miist, founded by a 25-year-old, wants people to vape their way out of smoking addiction and migraines
As a university student, Dalton Signor was troubled by how many people around him smoked or vaped, including his grandmother and 14-year-old sister. Signor (pictured center) felt that existing smoking cessation medicines, whether patches, gums, or lozenges, are not very effective because they take too long to start working. “They take about 30 minutes to…
AI, Apps, Biotech & Health, Crypto, Fintech, Gadgets, Global IT News, Global Security News, robotics, Space, Startups, TC, TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, Transportation, Venture
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: Secure your ticket at this year’s lowest rates
Missed the 2-for-1 deal for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025? No problem! Super Early Bird prices are still available, with savings of up to $1,130 on individual tickets and up to 30% on group passes. These savings are only good until the end of this month. Celebrate 20 years of TechCrunch Disrupt from October 27-29 at Moscone…
AI, Alphabet X, Biotech & Health, Global IT News, Global Security News, Google, Google X, heritable, heritable architecture, Startups
Google’s X spins out Heritable Agriculture, a startup using AI to improve crop yield
Google’s X “moonshot factory” this week announced its latest graduate. Heritable Agriculture is a data- and machine learning-driven startup aiming to improve how crops are grown. As the firm noted in an announcement post published Tuesday, plants are incredibly efficient and impressive systems. “Plants are solar powered, carbon negative, self-assembling machines that feed on sunlight…
Biotech & Health, employee wellness, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Hardware, Nutrix, Startups, stress
Backed by Mayo Clinic, Nutrix’s hardware monitors worker stress
Stress isn’t just bad for you — it’s also bad for your employer. Factoring in absenteeism, diminished productivity, turnover, medical costs, and accidents, the non-profit American Institute of Stress estimates that workplace stress costs U.S. businesses over $300 billion annually. One way to measure stress is by monitoring cortisol levels. Even influencers know this, with…
AI, Apps, Biotech & Health, Crypto, Fintech, Global IT News, Global Security News, Space, Startups, TC, TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, Transportation, Venture
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: Last 24 hours for 2-for-1 Pass
Final hours for 2-for-1 Passes! One of the best Super Early Bird Deals for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 will be wrapping up in just 24 hours for the rest of the year. The 2-for-1 Pass lets you bring a friend, colleague, or business partner, for nearly free. Buy one pass at the Super Early Bird rate…
23andMe, Biotech & Health, Founders Fund, genetics, Global IT News, Global Security News, Peter Thiel, Startups
Controversial genetics testing startup Nucleus Genomics raises $14M Series A
The company, founded by 25-year-old Kian Sadeghi, announced a $14 million Series A, bringing its total funding to about $32 million. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
AI, Biotech & Health, cancer, drug discovery biotech, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Reid Hoffman, Startups, Xaira
Reid Hoffman’s Manas AI raises $24.6M, a fraction of other AI drug discovery startups
LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and Siddhartha Mukherjee, cancer researcher and author of the book “The Emperor of All Maladies,” have co-founded an AI-powered drug discovery startup, Manas AI. The company, which will initially focus on breast cancer, prostate cancer, and lymphoma, has raised $24.6 million in seed funding from Hoffman, General Catalyst, and Greylock. Manas…
Allara, Biotech & Health, Global IT News, Global Security News, GV, hormones, Index Ventures, Startups, women's health
Allara lands $26M to expand women’s hormone telehealth
Growing up with an OB-GYN father, Rachel Blank assumed that most women received excellent gynecological care. She regularly witnessed her dad’s patients thanking him for delivering their child when they would bump into him around town. But Blank realized that not all women’s health issues are treated equally when, at the age of 21, she…
AI, Biotech & Health, body scan, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Healthcare, Neko Health, preventative healthcare, TC
Neko, the body-scanning startup co-founded by Spotify’s Daniel Ek, snaps up $260M at a $1.8B valuation
Stockholm startup Neko Health has made a big bet on consumers wanting to learn about their state of health and how to prevent things going wrong. Now, investors are making a big bet on Neko. The startup has raised a fresh $260 million in funding, a Series B that values Neko at $1.8 billion post-money,…
Biotech & Health, Global IT News, Global Security News, Hardware, smartglasses, wearables
Researchers develop a way to power wearables through human skin
The dream of battery-free devices has taken an unlikely turn, as Carnegie Mellon researchers debuted Power-Over-Skin. The technology allows for electrical currents to travel through human skin in a bid to power things like blood sugar monitors, pacemakers, and even consumer wearables like smartglasses fitness trackers. Researchers note the tech is still in “early stages.”…
accessibility, Android, Biotech & Health, gemini, Global IT News, Global Security News, Hardware, hearing aid, Samsung, samsung galaxy s25, samsung unpacked
Samsung Unpacked 2025: Google is bringing improved hearing aid features
Alongside a slew of announcements tied to Samsung’s Galaxy S25 launch at Samsung Unpacked 2025 on Wednesday, Google announced a pair of accessibility improvements for Android. This includes improvements to the screen reader, along with hearing aid functionality. The hearing aid updates arrive after Google expanded the offering as part of its Android 15 rollout.…
AI, AI drug discovery, Biotech & Health, clinical trials, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Lindus Health, Peter Thiel
Lindus Health raises $55M to ‘fix the broken clinical trial industry’
A four-year-old London startup backed by Peter Thiel has raised a $55 million Series B round as it sets about “fixing the broken clinical trial industry.” The announcement comes as artificial intelligence is shaping up to revolutionize drug discovery and development, in turn spurring demand for a streamlined clinical trial process to help get new…
AI, ai models, Biotech & Health, ChatGPT, Global IT News, Global Security News, human longevity, In Brief, openai, TC
OpenAI is trying to extend human life, with help from a longevity startup
OpenAI says it trained a new AI model called GPT-4b micro with Retro Biosciences, a longevity science startup trying to extend the human lifespan by 10 years, according to the MIT Technology Review. Retro, which is backed by Sam Altman, has been working with OpenAI for roughly a year on this research, according to the…
Biotech & Health, Fundraising, Future Ventures, Global IT News, Global Security News, Medical Devices, NeuroBionics
This MIT spinout wants to spool hair-thin fibers into patients’ brains
You can’t start a company without a healthy dose of daring, and that’s certainly the case with NeuroBionics. The MIT-spinout thinks it could one day improve the lives of millions of people who live with neurological conditions like depression, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. Famed investor Steve Jurvetson of Future Ventures said that if everything goes…
Biotech & Health, emerson collective, forerunner, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Teal Health, women's health
Teal Health raises $10M to create at-home cervical cancer screenings
The process of getting screened for cervical cancer is quite intimidating. It’s the once-a-year, sometimes life-changing treatment, that involves the bright lights of a doctor’s office and an uncomfortable insertion that always seems to last too long. It’s no wonder why Kara Egan and Dr. Avnesh Thakor saw the potential to make this process more…
Biotech & Health, Climate, Colossal Biosciences, CRISPR, de-extinction tech, Global IT News, Global Security News, Startups, synthetic biology
Colossal Biosciences raises $200M at $10.2B valuation to bring back woolly mammoths
Colossal Biosciences wants to bring back the woolly mammoth and has raised $200 million at a $10.2 billion valuation to do it. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
AI, Bioptimus, Biotech & Health, Global IT News, Global Security News
Bioptimus raises $41M to develop a ‘GPT for biology’
A fledgling French AI startup has raised $41 million to develop a foundational AI model for biology. Just as OpenAI’s ChatGPT has taken the world by storm for a super-smart generative AI tool capable of natural language conversation in text form, Bioptimus is taking that concept but training its model specifically for downstream biological applications…
AI, ai scribe, Biotech & Health, clinical research, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Healthcare, machine learning, qventus
More money comes to AI healthcare: Qventus nabs $105M at a $400M+ valuation
Healthcare is proving to be one of the more lucrative industries when it comes to building AI solutions to speed up how work is carried out across clinical, research and administrative operations. Today comes one of the latest examples of how that is playing out in terms of venture funding. Qventus, a startup that builds…
Biotech & Health, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Health, Healthcare
UK in-home healthcare provider Cera raises $150M to expand its AI platform
Around the world, public healthcare systems have struggled to reset post-pandemic, and in particular, the increasingly aged populations in Western countries are putting pressure on services, not least in the UK where ‘NHS in crisis’ is a regular headline in the media. As a result, private companies, many powered with technology, see a gap in…
accessibility, Biotech & Health, blind, CES, glidance, Glide, Global IT News, Global Security News, Hardware, visually impaired
These startups are making smarter canes for people with visual impairments
The white cane for the 21st century. While many tech companies have increasingly worked to make technology more accessible for the blind and visually impaired, canes haven’t benefitted much from these advances. London-born WeWalk takes a more traditional approach to the white cane. Beyond the bulkier handle, not much sets the company’s product apart visually…
a16z, AI, Biotech & Health, General Catalyst, Global IT News, Global Security News, Kleiner Perkins, nvidia, patients, Startups
Hippocratic AI raises $141M for creating patient-facing AI agents
Hippocratic AI, a startup building AI solutions that can handle non-diagnostic patient-facing tasks, secured a massive $141 million Series B at a valuation of $1.64 billion led by Kleiner Perkins, the company announced Thursday. The funding comes nine months after Hippocratic AI raised a $53 million round from General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz and five…
b capital group, Biotech & Health, Exclusive, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Innovaccer, Kaiser Permanente, M12, Startups
Innovaccer aims to become healthcare’s AI powerhouse with $275M Series F
Innovaccer has raised a $275M Series F from investors including B Capital Group, Banner Health, Danaher Ventures, Generation IM, Kaiser Permanente, and M12. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
biomanufacturing, biosphere, Biotech & Health, biotechnology, Climate, electrification, Exclusive, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Lowercarbon Capital, VXI Capital
Biosphere zaps germs with UV light to make biomanufacturing cheaper
Using LEDs has the potential to bring down the cost of biomanufacturing, allowing such processes to make materials that previously would have been too expensive. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
AI, Biotech & Health, clinical trials, Global IT News, Global Security News, Grove AI, seed capital, Startups
Grove cuts clinical trial enrollment time with AI
Tran Le was an engineering student at Stanford University when she tried to enroll in a clinical trial for her chronic condition. Although she identified several promising trials, she found the sign-up process daunting — she had to have extensive email exchanges with clinical sites and complete lengthy 20-page forms. All that paperwork was so…
a16z, Biotech & Health, General Catalyst, Global IT News, Global Security News, h1, M&A, Startups, venture-backed M&A
Healthcare analytics platform H1 has acquired Ribbon, backed by a16Z and General Catalyst
H1, a healthcare data analytics platform serving the pharmaceutical industry with data on over 10 million healthcare professionals, has acquired Ribbon, a startup that helps patients find doctors that are supported by their insurance. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. The last time that Ribbon — founded in 2016 and a Y…
Biotech & Health, diabetes, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, siren socks, wearables
Siren secures strategic funding for its socks that detect diabetic foot ulcers
After studying burn victims and war veterans, entrepreneur Ran Ma hand-made a sock that contained sensors to detect foot ulcers. Now, her company, Siren, has secured $9.5 million, with an $8 million check from lead investor Mölnlycke Health Care to further the development and adoption of its diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) prevention product. It’s now…
beatbot, Biotech & Health, CES, Global IT News, Global Security News, Hardware, robotics
This pool cleaning company made a robot turtle to track water quality
Beatbot makes robotic pool cleaners. In fact, the company is showing off a new one with a docking station this week at CES 2025. What really caught our eye on the show floor, however, is RoboTurtle, because, well, it’s a robot that looks like a turtle. The turtle, sadly, seems to very much be in…
Biotech & Health, ces 2025, Gadgets, Global IT News, Global Security News, ultrahuman rare, Ultrahuman Ring
Ultrahuman stakes a claim to luxury smart rings with trio of 18K gold and pt950 platinum bands
Smart ring maker Ultrahuman took the wraps off a trio of extra shiny high-tech trinkets at CES 2025 on Tuesday, adding a premium jewelry collection to its range of wellness wearables. It’s given the Ring line the brand name Rare, a neat verbal echo of the company’s mainstream smart ring, the Ring Air. The Indian…
agriculture tech, AgTech, AI, Artificial Intelligence, biotech, Biotech & Health, Computer Vision, Global IT News, Global Security News, Startups
Fermata uses computer vision to detect diseases and pests in plants
When Valeria Kogan started her Ph.D. program in bioinformatics, the scientific field that uses computation and software to analyze biological data, in 2017, she imagined her career would always be within the fields of mathematics, medicine, or biology. But after the first AI boom in the late 2010s, she got an intriguing opportunity in a…
Biotech & Health, bloodpressure, bpm vision, cardio check, CES, Gadgets, Global IT News, Global Security News, Hardware, withings
Withings launches BPM Vision, a $130 home blood pressure monitor, at CES 2025
Withings has made a name for itself by making clinical grade health technologies accessible to consumer. This week at CES 2025, the firm revealed two new products that fit the description nicely, one hardware and one software. BPM Vision is the more notable. It’s a travel size home blood pressure monitor, complete with interchangeable arm…
accessibility, Biotech & Health, CES, Global IT News, Global Security News, Hardware, solidddvision
Soliddd is building smart glasses for people with macular degeneration
For the past several years, the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center have been lousy with AR/VR/XR smart glasses. While the some of the biggest names in tech, like Apple and Google, have struggled to gain traction in the category, accessible tech remains relatively unexplored. There’s a lot of work to be done in…
Biotech & Health, CES, ces 2025, Global IT News, Global Security News, Hardware, omnia, withings
Withings’ Omnia is a full-size body-scanning health mirror
The Omnia is still very much in concept mode — a phenomenon popular in the automotive world that has since spilled over into consumer electronics. That is to say that Withings’ splashiest product of CES 2025 may never be a product. Among other things, a body-scanning smart mirror would likely be cost prohibitive for consumers.…
Biotech & Health, Global IT News, Global Security News, Hardware, Health, Healthtech, medtech, Startups, wearable devices, wearables
Proton’s device aims to help those with kidney disease, and cut heart failure risks
People with chronic kidney disease, or those at risk of heart failure, are greatly affected by potassium imbalances in the body. These can even be life-threatening. While wearable glucose monitors are now commonplace and have transformed the lives of diabetes patients, potassium monitoring is in its infancy as it’s hard to do. Now, startups are…
AI, Biotech & Health, Everywhere Ventures, Global IT News, Global Security News, Hardware, Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory
Tetsuwan Scientific is making robotic AI scientists that can run experiments on their own
LLM models are already capable of diagnosing scientific outputs, but, until now, had “no physical agency to actually perform” experiments. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.