The demand for voice and speech recognition technologies is massive — and growing. An analysis by market research firm Markets and Markets found that the sector could be worth over $28.1 billion by 2027. There’s no shortage of vendors providing voice and speech recognition solutions, but some newer upstarts have managed to carve out niches.…
Category: Funding
AI, Apps, Enterprise, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Guidde, Software, startup, Startups, training videos
Guidde taps AI to help create software training videos
Creating corporate training videos for software is a time-consuming ordeal, especially if you’re an organization with a lot of software licenses. Training videos can help get employees up to speed, but they’re a big lift. They often take entire teams to produce. Tel Aviv-based entrepreneur Yoav Einav thought there might be an alternative, cheaper way…
blackbird ventures, EdTech, Funding, Gaming, Global IT News, Global Security News, Startups
Gamemaker Polymath aims to make learning math as enjoyable as Roblox
As gaming platforms like Roblox and Minecraft continue to grow in popularity among young children, and with platforms like YouTube consuming hours of their daily screen time, edtech companies face challenges in capturing their attention. Polymath aims to tackle this by combining gamified mechanics inspired by these popular games with adaptive math lessons to make…
AI, Elon Musk, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, In Brief, report, rumor, startup, Startups, xAI
Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, said to be in talks to raise $10B
Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, is said to be in talks to raise $10 billion in a round that would value xAI at $75 billion. Bloomberg reported Friday that xAI is canvassing existing investors, including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Valor Equity Partners for the round, which would bring xAI’s total raised to $22.4 billion,…
acquisition, AI, ai accelerator chip, AI chip, Funding, FuriosaAI, Global IT News, Global Security News, Hardware, In Brief, Meta, report, rumor
Report: Meta in talks to acquire AI chip firm FuriosaAI
Meta is reportedly in talks to acquire a South Korean chip firm as the social media giant looks to bolster its AI hardware infrastructure. Meta may announce its intent to purchase FuriosaAI, a chip startup founded by former Samsung and AMD employees, as soon as this month, per Forbes. FuriosaAI develops chips that speed up…
acquisition, AI, Drata, Enterprise, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Merger, SafeBase, Security, startup, Startups
Security compliance firm Drata acquires SafeBase for $250M
Drata, a security compliance automation platform that helps companies adhere to frameworks such as SOC 2 and GDPR, has acquired software security review startup SafeBase for $250 million. SafeBase co-founders Al Yang (CEO) and Adar Arnon (CTO) will retain their roles, and SafeBase will continue to offer a standalone product while bringing its core solutions to…
AI, cloud marketplaces, Enterprise, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Intel Capital, Salesforce, startup, Startups, sugar, Threshold Ventures
Suger helps companies list and scale up on cloud marketplaces
When cloud providers like Microsoft Azure and AWS launched cloud software marketplaces a decade ago, it opened up a new sales channel for software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies to get in front of potential enterprise customers. These marketplaces effectively enabled SaaS companies to bypass the traditional, lengthy sales cycles. But rarely is the seller-side experience a walk…
AI, contract lifecycle management, Enterprise, Exclusive, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, legal tech, legaltech, SpotDraft, startup, Startups
SpotDraft taps AI to help streamline contract management
More and more legal professionals are embracing AI, surveys show. Per a recent poll from legaltech company Clio, 79% of firms used some form of AI for casework last year, up from just 19% in 2023. Despite some skepticism of the tech, in-house counsel has shown an interest, as well, with one survey suggesting that…
AI, customer, customer value, Exclusive, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, startup, Startups, voyantis
Voyantis aims to help companies figure out their customers’ worth
How much is a customer worth to a company? That’s the eternal question. To arrive at an answer, customer and sales teams are often forced to use spreadsheets and other manual data analysis methods. The problem is, these methods tend to be slow and error-prone, leading to gaps in reporting processes. The challenge spurred two…
AI, Funding, Global IT News, Global Security News, Ilya Sutskever, In Brief, report, safe superintelligence, startup, Startups
Report: Ilya Sutskever’s startup in talks to fundraise at roughly $20B valuation
Safe Superintelligence, the AI startup founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, is in talks to raise funding at a valuation of “at least” $20 billion, according to Reuters. It’s not clear how much Safe Superintelligence — which has yet to generate any revenue — is looking to secure, but it could be substantial.…
AI, Funding, Fundraising, generative ai, Global IT News, Global Security News, In Brief, openai, report, startup, Startups
OpenAI said to be in talks to raise $40B at a $340B valuation
OpenAI may have billions of dollars in the bank. But it’s gearing up to raise billions more, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Per The WSJ, OpenAI is in talks to secure up to $40 billion in a funding round that would value the startup at $340 billion. SoftBank would lead the…
AI, ai infrastructure, data centers, databank, Enterprise, Funding, generative ai, Global IT News, Global Security News, Infrastructure
Data center operator DataBank nets $250M equity investment
The data center market is booming, driven by AI demand. Just last week, OpenAI said that it plans to team up with backers including SoftBank to spend at least $100 billion on data center infrastructure in the U.S. Microsoft aims to put around $80 billion toward AI infrastructure this year, and rival tech giants have…
cloud cost management, Enterprise, finops, Finout, Funding, Global IT News, Global Security News, Insight Partners
Finout raises $40M Series C for its cloud cost management service
Even just a few years ago, FinOps — a collection of best practices to manage the costs of cloud computing — wasn’t something that was top of mind for a lot of businesses. Since then, though, businesses have started tightening their purses. Today, FinOps is pretty much a standard discipline, and there are dozens of…
AI, China stock market, deepseek, Funding, Global IT News, Global Security News, stock market, VC
DeepSeek triggered a wild, baseless rally for some Chinese stocks
Hype around DeepSeek sent the stock price of several Chinese companies soaring, but proof of their ties to DeepSeek is non-existent. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Apps, Bluesky, Exclusive, fediverse, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Mastodon, nostr, open social, openvibe, Social, Threads
Automattic and others back Openvibe, an app that’s unifying the open social web
Openvibe’s clever app that integrates multiple open social networks including Bluesky, Mastodon, Nostr, and Threads, just got a boost toward its future development. The company on Tuesday announced that it has received outside investment of $800,000 in a round led by Czech Founders VC, which includes backing from WordPress.com and Tumblr parent company, Automattic, as…
cameras, Exclusive, fall detection, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Healthtech, SafelyYou, senior care, sensors, Startups
This founder was worried about his mother slipping — so he created sensors to detect falls
Falls are common for older people living semi-independently. According to the CDC, they’re the leading cause of injury for adults aged 65 and up. On average, about 10% of these falls are serious, requiring medical attention. Yet many fall victims don’t get the treatment they need. George Netscher, a software developer by training, watched his…
api, App, Dev, Exclusive, Fintech, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, method, startup, Startups
Method is helping fintech companies like SoFi build repayment functionality into their apps
It can be challenging for developers of fintech apps to integrate repayment, balance transfer, and bill pay functionality. Devs often have to deal with a patchwork of brittle screen-scraping APIs to extract data from users’ financial institutions — or worse, tools to process mounds of physical checks and paperwork. Three friends and entrepreneurs — Jose…
Enterprise, Exclusive, freight, freight tracking, Funding, Fundraising, Global Security News, logistics, shipments, startup, Startups, supply chain, Tive, tracking
Tive’s tools help companies track the status of their shipments in real time
The global supply chain is under strain, and one of the reasons is a lack of visibility into how shipments are being transported around the world. According to one recent survey, nearly half of the organizations polled reported having little-to-no visibility into their upstream supply chains. In search of a remedy, Krenar Komoni, who’d for…
AI, donations, Exclusive, Funding, fundraise up, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, nonprofit, startup, Startups
Fundraise Up claims its AI can boost nonprofit donations
Many nonprofits are stuck with outdated, expensive, and limited tech that hinders their ability to fund their mission or cause. While most consider adopting tech to be a priority, they’re faced with a number of blockers, including siloed data and issues with integration. Peter Byrnes, the co-founder of Fundraise Up, a Brooklyn-based fundraising platform for…
a16z, Andressen Horowitz, Apps, content creators, creator economy, Funding, Global IT News, Global Security News, Social, Startups
Livestream app Favorited, a new TikTok alternative, gets backing from a16z
This month, drama unfolded across mainstream social media platforms like TikTok, which briefly went dark in the U.S. before a rapid return. Instagram recently faced backlash after ending its third-party fact-checking program. At the same time, startups like Favorited are attracting attention from investors, creators, and viewers. On Wednesday, the livestream app announced its $1.3…
AI, Anthropic, Funding, Fundraising, generative ai, Global IT News, Global Security News, Google, In Brief, report, startup
Anthropic reportedly secures an additional $1B from Google
Anthropic has reportedly raised around $1 billion from Google as the AI company looks to deliver a number of major product updates this year. First reported by the Financial Times, Google’s fresh investment brings the tech giant’s total stake in Anthropic to around $3 billion. Google poured $2 billion into Anthropic late last year. Anthropic,…
AI, doti ai, Enterprise, Enterprise Search, Funding, Global IT News, Global Security News, Venture
Doti gives enterprises a flexible AI-powered search experience to unlock their data silos
As enterprises look at how they can best leverage AI to increase their employees’ productivity, search is an obvious use case. In most companies, after all, data lives in multiple disconnected silos and the combination of large language models, retrieval augmented generation (RAG) and enterprise-grade integration services now makes it easier than ever to not…
Enterprise, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Overhaul, startup, Startups, supply chain, supply chain security
Overhaul raises another $55M to help companies like Dyson and Microsoft fight supply chain theft
Businesses dependent on the physical supply chain — the network of facilities and transportation systems used to move materials from one location to another — chain face a number of challenges, from staff shortages to increasing customer expectations. The pressures aren’t easing up. According to a survey from Prologis, a real estate investment trust, two-thirds…
AI, Apps, Automation, Enterprise, Exclusive, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, gumloop, startup, Startups, workflow, workflow automation
Gumloop, founded in a bedroom in Vancouver, lets users automate tasks with drag-and-drop modules
Developers Max Brodeur-Urbas and Rahul Behal think that AI has the potential to automate lots of business-relevant tasks, but that many of the AI-powered automation tools on the market today are unreliable and costly. Part of the problem is that users expect too much of AI, Brodeur-Urbas told TechCrunch — for instance, they assume that…
AI, Anthropic, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, In Brief
Anthropic reportedly in talks to raise $2B at $60B valuation, led by Lightspeed
OpenAI rival Anthropic is in talks to raise $2 billion in new capital in a funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, according to The Wall Street Journal. The round, which The Journal reports would value Anthropic at $60 billion, would bring Anthropic’s total raised to $15.7 billion, going by Crunchbase’s data. It would also…
benefits, Enterprise, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, hr, OnPay, Payroll, people management, Software, startup, Startups
HR software startup OnPay was inspired by the founder’s family payroll business
In 2007, Jesse Burgess joined his family’s payroll business. He quickly noticed that the business’ six payroll clerks were getting bogged down by repetitive, monotonous tasks — and so he sought to streamline those tasks by creating workflow automation tools. Several years later, Burgess sensed an opportunity to bring the tools he developed for his…
AI, Exclusive, Funding, Fundraising, generative ai, Global IT News, Global Security News, pitchbook, Startups, trends, VC, Venture
Generative AI funding reached new heights in 2024
If there was any doubt, the generative AI bubble didn’t burst in 2024. Investments in generative AI, which encompasses a range of AI-powered apps, tools, and services to generate text, images, videos, speech, music, and more, reached new heights last year. According to data from financial tracker PitchBook compiled for TechCrunch, generative AI companies worldwide…
AI, Elon Musk, Enterprise, Funding, Fundraising, generative ai, Global IT News, Global Security News, startup, Startups, xAI
Elon Musk’s xAI lands $6B in new cash to fuel AI ambitions
Updated December 25, 12:21 p.m. Pacific: Added details of xAI’s valuation and Kingdom Holdings’ contribution. xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, has raised $6 billion in a Series C financing round. The company announced this week that Andreessen Horowitz , Blackrock, Fidelity, Lightspeed, MGX, Morgan Stanley, OIA, QIA, Sequoia Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Vy Capital, Nvidia,…
AI, Elon Musk, Enterprise, Funding, Fundraising, generative ai, Global IT News, Global Security News, startup, Startups, xAI
Elon Musk’s xAI lands $6B in new cash to fuel AI ambitions
xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, has raised $6 billion, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. Investors gave a minimum of $77,593, per the filing (97 participated, but the document doesn’t reveal their identities). xAI later announced (confirming some earlier reporting) that Andreessen Horowitz , Blackrock, Fidelity, Kingdom Holdings,…
AI, ai-powered search, Funding, Fundraising, generative ai, Global IT News, Global Security News, In Brief, Perplexity, report, rumor, Search, startup, Startups
Perplexity has reportedly closed a $500M funding round
AI-powered search engine Perplexity has reportedly closed a $500 million funding round, valuing the startup at $9 billion. Bloomberg, citing sources familiar, reports that the round was led by Institutional Venture Partners, and that it closed earlier in December. In an email to TechCrunch, a Perplexity spokesperson declined to comment. The mammoth tranche comes as…
accounting, accounting software, Aiwyn, CPA, cpa software, Enterprise, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, revenue cycle, revenue cycle management, Software, startup, Startups
A bad experience with an accounting firm spurred this founder to start Aiwyn
Accounting firms are struggling to adopt high-tech solutions. That’s according to a survey earlier this year from Rightsworks, which found that, while 88% of firms believe tech has had a positive impact on their efficiency, 60% are suffering from disconnected systems, inconsistent processes, and a lack of standardized workflows. Startups like Aiwyn are trying to…
AI, ai alignment, ai safety, Emmett Shear, Exclusive, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, scoop, startup, Startups
Ex-Twitch CEO Emmett Shear is founding an AI startup backed by a16z
Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, is launching a new AI startup, TechCrunch has learned. The startup, called Stem AI, is currently in stealth. But public documents show it was incorporated in June 2023, and filed for a trademark in August 2023. Shear is listed as CEO on an incorporation document filed with the…
Funding, Global IT News, Global Security News, Hardware, oura
Oura closes $200M round, bringing its valuation to $5.2B
Smart ring maker Oura announced on Thursday that it has closed a $200 million Series D funding round, bringing the company’s valuation to $5.2 billion. The round included participation from Fidelity Management and glucose device maker Dexcom. Oura says the new capital will allow it to expand its product offerings and further invest in product, science,…
AI, animation, Creative, Explorer, film, Funding, generative ai, Global IT News, Global Security News, Media & Entertainment, odyssey, Pixar, TC, tool, world models
AI startup Oddysee’s new tool can generate photorealistic 3D worlds
Odyssey, a startup founded by self-driving pioneers Oliver Cameron and Jeff Hawke, is developing an AI-powered tool that can transform text or an image into a 3D rendering. The tool, dubbed Explorer, is similar in some ways to the so-called world models recently demoed by DeepMind, World Labs, and Israeli upstart Decart. Given a caption like “A…
Access, App, Apps, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, new york city, nyc, restaurant industry, Restaurants, startup, Startups, subscription
Access bets people will pay thousands of dollars a year for guaranteed restaurant reservations
Once, not long ago, booking a table at a hot new restaurant didn’t entail a midnight dash to Resy. Truly, we didn’t know how good we had it then. Hours-long lines out the door are now the norm, not the exception, in major cities from New York to Los Angeles. One reason is that restaurants…
AI, Big Data, big data analytics, data, Databricks, Enterprise, Funding, Fundraising, Global Security News, In Brief
Databricks raises $10B as it barrels toward an IPO
Databricks, the data analytics platform, has raised $10 billion in a funding round that values the company at $62 billion (up from $43 billion). Backers include Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, GIC, and Iconiq Growth. The round is one of the largest venture rounds in history, and will drive future future mergers and acquisitions,…
Cloud, Enterprise, enterprise startups, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, M12, Mantis.VC, Nuon, SaaS, Startups, Uncork Capital, venture capital
Nuon helps companies deploy their software into their customers’ cloud accounts
Jon Morehouse launched PowerTools in 2019 to help companies ship static sites and serverless apps to their cloud accounts on providers like AWS and Azure. When a customer asked him if they could use PowerTools to deploy their software into one of their customer’s cloud accounts, Morehouse was skeptical. Morehouse told TechCrunch that after that…
AI, Artificial Intelligence, bot, bots, colin angle, familiar machines & magic, familiar machines and magic, Funding, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Healthcare, home robotics, home robots, iRobot, robotics, Startups
iRobot co-founder’s new home robot startup hopes to raise $30M
Colin Angle, one of the co-founders of Roomba maker iRobot, is raising cash for a home robotics venture. A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reveals that Angle’s new company, Familiar Machines & Magic, is trying to raise $30 million. So far, it has raised $15 million from a group of eight investors.…
acquisition, Arctic Wolf, BlackBerry, cyber, Cybersecurity, cylance, Enterprise, Funding, Global IT News, Global Security News, Security
BlackBerry sells Cylance for $160M, a fraction of the $1.4B it paid in 2018
Arctic Wolf has acquired Cylance, BlackBerry’s beleaguered cybersecurity business, for $160 million — a significant write-down from the $1.4 billion BlackBerry paid to acquire the company in 2018. Under the terms of the deal, which is expected to close in BlackBerry’s fiscal Q4, BlackBerry will sell its Cylance assets to Arctic Wolf for $160 million…
AI, amd, Enterprise, Funding, Fundraising, generative ai, Global IT News, Global Security News, In Brief, Liquid AI, liquid neural networks, startup, Startups
Liquid AI just raised $250M to develop a more efficient type of AI model
Liquid AI, an AI startup co-founded by robotics luminary Daniela Rus, has raised $250 million in a Series A led by AMD. Per Bloomberg, the round values Liquid AI at over $2 billion. Liquid AI aims to build general-purpose AI systems powered by a relatively new type of AI model called a liquid neural network. Liquid…