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…
Category: Funding
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…