Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week was full of news, likely because it is also the last “real” week of 2024. Which is another way for us to say goodbye for…
Category: Fundraising
AI, AI startups, Artificial Intelligence (AI), evergreens, Fundraising, Global Security News, megarounds, Startups, Venture, venture capital
Here’s the full list of 49 US AI startups that have raised $100M or more in 2024
In the first half of 2024 alone, more than $35.5 billion was invested into AI startups globally. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Exclusive, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Lerer Hippeau, SEC
Lerer Hippeau files to a raise Fund IX
Lerer Hippeau, one of New York’s most prolific and A-list VC firms, has filed to raise its ninth fund, according to an SEC filing made Wednesday. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
AI, Enterprise, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Mindgard, Security, spinouts, Startups
British university spinoff Mindgard protects companies from AI threats
AI creates a dilemma for companies: Don’t implement it yet, and you might miss out on productivity gains and other potential benefits; but do it wrong, and you might expose your business and clients to unmitigated risks. This is where a new wave of “security for AI” startups come in, with the premise that these…
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…
agentic ai, AI, boon ai, Enterprise, fleets, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, logistics
Boon raises $20.5M to build agentic AI tools for fleets
Logistics is the name of the game during the holiday season: Companies that can seal the deal and get people and things to the places they need to be, on time, rake it in this time of year. But behind that demand lies a huge amount of inefficiency and fragmentation. Are logistics businesses ready for…
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…
Fifth Wall Ventures, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, interest rates, PropTech, Real estate, real estate investing, Venture
Real estate VC Fifth Wall is raising $500M for a new fund
Real estate venture firm Fifth Wall is raising a new $500 million fund called Fifth Wall React, according to a regulatory filing. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, travel, Venture
Hotel booking platform Safara raises $14M, acquires rival Skipper
Doug Schuessler has always been a founder. This passion, which has been with him since childhood, saw him launch two startups, move to San Francisco, and take a job at Square to see what a “real rocket shop looked like.” He later became chief revenue officer at restaurant booking platform Resy, before becoming a founder once…
Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Healthcare, medtech
Culina Health nabs $7.9M to provide virtual access to registered dietitians
As a dietitian, Vanessa Rissetto’s main goal is to help people stay healthy. She also knew that there were some roadblocks to achieving that. For example, the Black community deals with pressing health concerns, in addition to a disproportionate lack of access to care. More than 80% of registered dietitians in the U.S. are white,…
AI, Benchmark, decart, Fundraising, Gaming, GenAI, generative ai, Global IT News, Global Security News, LLM, oasis, Startups
Decart adds another $32M at a $500M+ valuation
A young startup that emerged from stealth less than two months ago with big-name backers and bigger ambitions to make a splash in the world of AI is returning to the spotlight. Decart is building what its CEO and co-founder Dean Leitersdorf describes as “a fully vertically integrated AI research lab,” alongside enterprise and consumer…
AI, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Quantum, Software
BlueQubit raises $10M to take Quantum software into real-world applications
Integrating quantum computing into real-world computer applications is an ongoing problem, as the platforms are architected fundamentally differently. BlueQubit, a San Francisco-based quantum software startup founded by Stanford alumni, thinks it might have the answer. Its Quantum Software as a Service (QSaaS) platform attempts to tackle the above problem by providing end-users with access to…
Fintech, funding societies, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Southeast Asia
‘We want to pay it forward’: Funding Societies raises $25M to boost capital for SMEs in Southeast Asia
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for nearly 50% of Southeast Asia’s GDP, contributing to job creation, innovation, and overall economic expansion. Nevertheless, as in other parts of the world, SMEs in Southeast Asia face challenges when it comes to sufficient working capital. In a nutshell, SMEs are typically deemed too risky for traditional banks…
AI, Exclusive, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Gusto, Hauler Hero, SaaS, servicetitan, Startups, TC, waste management
Hauler Hero wants to bring waste management software into the 21st century
After nearly four years of working in sales at tradesperson software company ServiceTitan, Mark Hoadley (pictured above) was looking for a change and to potentially start something of his own in a similar industry. Hoadley’s brother-in-law, and now co-founder, Ben Sikma, was working on M&A in the waste management space at the time. Sikma discovered…
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, Databricks, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, IPOs, Venture
‘It’s dumb to IPO this year’: Databricks CEO explains why he’s waiting to go public
Databricks just closed one of the largest funding rounds ever, raising a staggering $10 billion in fresh capital. Naturally, technology investors were quick to ask what this means for the company’s highly anticipated IPO. During an event in San Francisco on Tuesday night, Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi explained why he’s waiting until at least 2025…
Fintech, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, India, Mobikwik
India’s MobiKwik surges 82% in market debut
Shares in digital payments firm MobiKwik surged 82% to ₹507.5 ($6) on their first day of trading, as the Indian fintech company made its market debut amid fierce competition from larger rivals. The listing pushed MobiKwik’s market value to $464 million, well above its initial target of $250 million for the public offering. The valuation…
AI, Cassava Technologies, Enterprise, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Google
Google joins $90M investment into Cassava to bolster Africa’s digital infrastructure
With cloud spend continuing to surge, tech companies are scrambling to meet demand for the necessary infrastructure, with the growing need for AI compute only adding fuel to the fire. By way of example, Microsoft and BlackRock have created a $30 billion fund to support new data centers and energy infrastructure for the burgeoning AI…
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…
Fintech, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, payments, volume
While some account-to-account payments players falter, Volume raises fresh cash
Online merchants can usually pay up to 8% of every sale on an item to companies like PayPal, Apple Pay, and Stripe — and those costs are usually passed to consumers. So-called ‘account-to-account’ or ‘A2A’ payments can cut transaction fees to below 1%, saving merchants and consumers quite a bit of cash. The difficulty has been…
Airbnb, Commerce, Fundraising, general atlantic, Global Security News, hostaway, Real estate, tourism, travel, Vacation Rentals
Travel is back: Hostaway raises $365M at a $925M valuation
The tourism and travel industries — after several tough years that included not just a global health pandemic but economic and geopolitical upheaval — are finally back on track, expected to make a “full recovery” to pre-pandemic levels of activity, the UN said earlier this month. As an indicator of that, Hostaway, one of the…
Agave Games, casual games, casual gaming, Find the Cat, Fundraising, Gaming, Global IT News, Global Security News, Peak
Agave, the startup behind Find the Cat, finds $18M
A startup out of Turkey that has built a hit casual mobile game where you have to find cats in Where’s Wally-style drawings of increasing complexity has found something else: $18 million in funding. Agave Games, the creator of Find the Cat, will be using the Series A to build out the team and to…
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.…
Cybersecurity, Enterprise, enterprise startup, Exclusive, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, Prequel, startup, Startups, venture capital
Prequel is building a community-driven approach to finding software bugs
Cybersecurity practitioners take a community-driven approach to solving problems. Security researchers share the vulnerabilities they find with the broader cybersecurity community, which allows companies to patch up their security holes before something catastrophic happens. Prequel is looking to bring that same approach to software. The startup is building a database of software failure patterns or…
Enterprise, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News
Databricks is on track to raise a record $9.5+ billion round at $60B valuation
Databricks is close to finalizing a $9.5 billion round at a $60 billion valuation, including a secondary sale for employees that could climb even higher before it closes, Reuters reports. Just 17 days ago, Reuters reported that the deal was at $8 billion and a $55 billion valuation. Thrive Capital is leading the deal with…
Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News, newsletter, Startups, Startups Weekly
What failed before might succeed now — or fail again — and other startup bets
Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week in startup news, we have some contrarian bets, funding rounds from all around the world, new VC funds, and a final word of warning. Most…
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…
AI, disinformation, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News
As AI-fueled disinformation explodes, here comes the startup counterattack
With disinformation on the rise, especially given the explosion of AI, companies are just as vulnerable to its effects as individuals. Refute is a London-based startup that detects and responds to disinformation on behalf of these commercial entities. It’s now raised a £2.3 million ($2.9 million) pre-seed round led by UK investors Playfair and Episode 1.…