Venture Capital News | TechCrunch

AI Friends, deepfake foes, and which Tiger Global partner is leaving now

Kirsten Korosec, Rebecca Bellan, Devin Coldewey — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 14:30:00 +0000

AI hardware has taken on a new shape with Friend’s $99 necklace — a pendant that gives you an AI friend to talk to and … that’s about it. Friend’s pitch is that its wearable can help combat loneliness, but other AI hardware products that have come to market lately – like Humane’s Ai Pin […]

Rediff, once an internet pioneer in India, sells majority stake for $3M

Manish Singh — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 11:08:24 +0000

Payments infrastructure firm Infibeam Avenues has acquired a majority 54% stake in Rediff.com for up to $3 million, a dramatic twist of fate for the 28-year-old business that was the first Indian internet firm to list on Nasdaq back in the year 2000. Founded in 1996, Rediff rode the initial dot-com wave to become one […]

A comprehensive list of 2024 tech layoffs

Cody Corrall, Alyssa Stringer — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 23:10:00 +0000

The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has already seen 60,000 job cuts across 254 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the first months of 2024. Smaller-sized […]

How filming a cappella concerts and dance recitals led Northzone’s newest partner Molly Alter to a career in VC

Rebecca Szkutak — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 19:03:39 +0000

Molly Alter wears a lot of hats. She’s a mocumentary filmmaker working on a project about an alternate reality where charades is big business. She’s a caesar salad connoisseur and documents her rankings of different restaurants’ attempts on a blog called JULIUS. She’s also Northzone’s newest partner. Alter’s path to venture capital was not an […]

Sequoia-backed Knowde raises Series C at a valuation cut

Rebecca Szkutak — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 17:03:56 +0000

The San Jose-based startup raised $60 million in a round that values it lower than the $500 million valuation it garnered in its most recent round, according to multiple sources.

Over 100 VCs pledge support for Kamala Harris

Kyle Wiggers — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 16:44:15 +0000

More than 100 VCs, including Reid Hoffman, Vinod Khosla and Mark Cuban have pledged to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Mobilizing under the group VCsForKamala, the VCs are also soliciting donations for Harris’ campaign. But the organizers say the effort isn’t meant to align with any one political […]

TechCrunch Minute: Investors pour money into non-alcoholic beverages

Anthony Ha — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Startups are attracting serious funding to provide fun, alcohol-free drink options at the bar and in other social contexts. Earlier this year, canned water company Liquid Death announced that it has raised $67 million in new funding at a $1.4 billion valuation. And Athletic Brewing Company, which describes itself as America’s largest non-alcoholic brewery, said […]

Global startup funding is picking up with AI still in the spotlight

Mary Ann Azevedo — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 14:10:00 +0000

Global startup funding was up 16% in the second quarter, according to Crunchbase data, led by an uptick in mega-rounds. That increase was led, unsurprisingly, by the AI sector. Funding to companies in AI made up 30% of all dollars invested and actually doubled quarter over quarter to $24 billion. On today’s episode of TechCrunch’s […]

Leaf helps farms decipher the troves of data they generate

Rebecca Szkutak — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 13:03:34 +0000

Farms produce a lot of data. From machines to irrigation systems, farms generate a lot of information that could be helpful to both them and the companies that serve them. Traditionally this data has been siloed across different formats, making it hard to read and build off of. Leaf is trying to change that. New […]

Tiger Global partner Alex Cook to leave firm, sources say

Manish Singh — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 03:50:48 +0000

Alex Cook, a partner at Tiger Global who oversaw some of its largest fintech investments and India deals, is departing the firm after a tenure of nearly seven years, three people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. Cook has briefed multiple people around him about his departure news in recent days, although he hasn’t explained […]

SEC charges BitClout founder Nader Al-Naji with fraud; says proceeds paid for L.A. mansion, gifts

Margaux MacColl — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:56:10 +0000

The founder of once-hyped crypto startup BitClout is facing trouble. On Tuesday, the SEC charged him with fraud and other offenses.

Hey, there ARE growth funds in Europe — Kennet raises $287M for its largest fund to date

Mike Butcher — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 15:53:41 +0000

Europe is routinely castigated by tech industry observers for having too few “growth capital” funds, and, compared to the U.S., that’s true. That said, it is nowhere near nonexistent on this front. To wit: Growth equity investor Kennet of London just announced it has raised €266 million for its largest fund to date, Kennet VI, […]

Moxxie Ventures, led by ex-Twitter media head, raises $95M third fund

Marina Temkin — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 15:00:00 +0000

The fundraising environment is challenging for emerging managers, defined as VC firms raising their first through third time. But Katie Jacobs Stanton, a former head of media at Twitter who founded Moxxie Ventures in 2019, said that she had a much easier time than she was expecting when raising funds for her third time. Moxxie, […]

Siddhi Capital grabs $135M for Fund II to invest in consumer packaged goods startups

Christine Hall — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 13:05:00 +0000

Siddhi Capital's second fund of $135 million is double the size of the venture capital firm's first fund and will go into CPG and food tech startups.

Zoe, a microbiome-focused nutrition company, raises $15M to expand in the US

Christine Hall — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Zoe sends customers at-home testing materials to collect blood or feces to test blood fat, blood sugar, and gut microbiome health. Following those results, the company scores every food (on a scale from 0 to 100), so people can make better choices of what to eat.

DEI backlash: Stay up-to-date on the latest legal and corporate challenges

Dominic-Madori Davis — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 16:38:18 +0000

It's clear that this year will be a turning point for DEI.

Stripe’s easy-peasy acquisition and why is Twitch still losing money?

Rebecca Bellan — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 16:37:37 +0000

Welcome back to another recap of Equity, TechCrunch’s flagship podcast about the business of startups. Today’s episode is packed with M&A talk, how one YouTuber succeeded at the creator economy, why Twitch is still losing money and an autonomous vehicle company that is making a comeback. First up, senior reporter Rebecca Bellan took a look […]

GovWell is bringing automation and efficiency to local governments

Rebecca Szkutak — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 13:01:04 +0000

Government websites aren’t known for cutting-edge tech. GovWell co-founder and CTO Ben Cohen discovered this while trying to help his dad, a contractor, apply for building permits. Cohen worked as a full stack engineer at Uber during the day and faxed documents for building permits at night. The difference in tech was stark. Years later, […]

Stay up-to-date on the amount of venture dollars going to underrepresented founders

Dominic-Madori Davis — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Stay up-to-date on the latest funding news for Black and women founders.

Alphabet is clearly looking to buy, so who’s selling, and why did Wiz say no?

Mary Ann Azevedo, Rebecca Szkutak — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:05:00 +0000

Welcome back to another recap of Equity, TechCrunch’s flagship podcast about the business of startups. This episode is packed with some significant fundraises, a potentially massive acquisition falling apart and looking at what happens when a fintech company suddenly stops serving certain customers. To kick things off, Mary Ann Azevedo walked everyone through Clio’s huge […]