TechCrunch Startup News

The company is tapping the terahertz band of the electromagnetic spectrum to bring out the best qualities of more common lidar and radar sensors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Arya.ag, an Indian agritech company offering storage facilities near farms and offering lending services to hundreds of thousands of farmers, has drawn investor interest and remained profitable even as global crop prices continue to fall in a volatile commodities market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AI founders are increasingly using their "dropout" status as a credential during YC pitches. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At TechCrunch Disrupt, three investors took the stage to dissect what makes — and breaks — a pitch deck. They shared with the crowd their candid views on what works in a pitch deck — and what doesn’t. Their biggest pet peeve? Buzzword overload. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Investors share what founders should remember if looking to raise a Series A. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt Rogers's food waste startup will soon deploy its commercial food waste bins in grocery stores throughout the U.S. Here's how Rogers thinks about preparing a startup for success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An investor explains the "buy, fix, and hold" model employed by Bending Spoons and similar companies that buy distressed startups. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After struggling to retain customers at his e-commerce site Headphones.com, founder Andrew Lissimore built his own loyalty solution — and it’s now a startup called Lantern. The Shopify-native platform helps brands boost retention through customizable loyalty, referrals, and account management tools. Also, Deel says it's been profitable for three years and surpassed $1 billion in ARR, including hav...

Two experienced investors share their tips for founders and operators hoping to nail product-market fit at their AI startups. Also, Uare.ai, formerly Eternos, raised $10.3 million in seed funding led by Mayfield and Boldstart Ventures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Move over, Santa. Now there’s another magical character for kids to track: the Tooth Fairy. After making a personalized Tooth Fairy video for his nephew, Oliver Finel noticed a gap. While there are plenty of Santa trackers, nothing similar existed for the Tooth Fairy. Also, digital avatar generation company Lemon Slice is working to add a video layer to AI chatbots with a new diffusion model that...

The future may be electric, but that future is being postponed. The European Commission, citing the need for flexibility, has softened its ambitious plan to ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Renowned AI scientist Yann LeCun confirmed on Thursday the worst-kept secret in the tech world: that he had indeed launched a new startup. Although he did say he will not be running the new company as its CEO. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ChatGPT maker is aiming to raise the funding by the end of the first quarter in 2026, and the company may ask sovereign wealth funds to invest in the round. Also, called the Unicorn Growth Fund, the investment vehicle is a collaboration between Krafton and South Korean internet conglomerate Naver, and investor Mirae Asset. It aims to deploy around $669.3 million over four years. Learn more abo...

Lovable has seen its valuation more than triple just five months after the company's last funding round in July. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The deal valued MoEngage at "well over" $900 million post-money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Radiant Nuclear is developing a small modular reactor to replace diesel generators. The startup previously raised $165 million in May. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last Energy will use the funds to build its 5 megawatt pilot reactor in Texas, which it hopes to turn on next year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The next consumer tech revolution may require an introduction of a new personal device. Plus, the food waste startup founded by Nest alumnus Matt Rogers also received an investment from Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mirelo, a German startup that is building AI to add synced sound effects to videos, has raised a $41 million seed round led by Index Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. Also, First Voyage has raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round from a16z speedrun, SignalFire, True Global, and other investors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thea Energy says that its planar-coil fusion power plant could be cheaper and easier to build thanks to AI-powered control software. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The biotech startup is betting that owners of abandoned oil wells will use the tech to squeeze energy out of their wells. Also, Spinny is set to be valued at about $1.8 billion post-money in its latest funding round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Goldman Sachs has led Harness's Series E round, with participation from IVP, Menlo Ventures, and Unusual Ventures. The new valuation is a 49% jump from its $3.7 billion valuation in a $230 million round in April 2022. With this funding, the startup has raised $570 million of equity to date. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spoor's computer vision software can help wind farms, and other industries, track bird populations and migration patterns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On Me raises $6 million for its digital gift card platform that lets users purchase cards categorized by interests rather than being restricted to specific retailers. Also, Port offers a proprietary alternative to Spotify's popular devtool catalog Backstage, but with a valuable addition: it can be used to manage AI agents, too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tavus has launched a new experience where you can chat with an AI Santa that asks personal questions and remembers your interests. Oboe has raised $16 million in funding for its learning app. The company now lets users generate unlimited courses for free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices