TechCrunch Startup News

Mitti Labs is working with The Nature Conservancy to expand the use of climate-friendly rice farming practices in India. The startup uses its AI to verify reductions in methane emissions. In other news, Assort Health now valued at $750 million, is one of three that recently raised funding to use AI agents for helping healthcare practices answer patient calls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

Terraton sees promise in biochar, but the technology has struggled to scale. The startup thinks a franchise model could be what unlocks biochar's potential. Also, Uncaged Innovations is working with Hyundai to develop alternatives to leather with a fraction of the environmental impact. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Robomart's RM5 autonomous delivery robot can carry up to 50 pounds and deliver multiple customer orders at once. Also, OpenAI has started hiring in India as it looks to expand its presence in the fast-growing South Asian tech market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eyebot secured $20M Series A for 90-second prescription kiosk. Also, Pintarnya raised $16.7M to power jobs and financial services in Indonesia. The Indonesian startup, now backed by $16.7M in Series A funding, helps workers find full-time and side gigs while offering financial solutions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

FieldAI builds foundational AI models that help all kinds of robots learn and adapt to new environments using physics. Also, Y Combinator is asking the court to deny Apple’s appeal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Several Indian startups, including Dream Sports, MPL, and Zupee, are shutting down their real-money games after parliament passed a bill banning such games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The thousands of trucks zipping along U.S. highways are often only about half full -- something Oway wants to change with its 'ride-share for freight' software. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Berlin-based non-profit search engine Ecosia has asked a U.S. judge to turn Chrome into a foundation it controls, funding billions in climate projects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The battery materials startup raised significant Series D funding to expand its manufacturing capability. At the same time, it bought out partner SK's stake in a joint venture. The company helps automate complex enterprise workflows (like continuous integration and testing) — or, in other words, it makes DevOps capabilities more efficient as AI technology takes hold. Learn more about your ad choic...

Prices for hacking tools that allow governments to break into mobile phones keep going up, thanks to efforts by tech firms shoring up their cybersecurity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

FieldAI builds foundational AI models that help all kinds of robots learn and adapt to new environments using physics. Also, YC backed Garage is a marketplace that sells specialized equipment commonly used in local governments and public safety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new gadget called Dex allows kids to take pictures of objects and the AI translates the word into different languages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Firecrawl nabbed Shopify’s CEO Tobias Lütke as an investor from a gutsy email after they discovered he was using the product. Also, The round, which pushes Databricks' valuation to $100B, was co-led by Insight Partners and Thrive. CEO Ali Ghodsi says he's found an enormous untapped AI agent market to spend the funds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The sleep tech company raised from HSG, Valor Equity Partners, Founders Fund, Y Combinator and big F1 names like Charles Leclerc and Zak Brown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Petrou, founding member of Google Goggles and Google Glass, wants to enhance group chats with AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Les Amis is an app designed to make it easy for women to form friendships and attend local events. Also, why did Paradigm built a spreadsheet with an AI agent in every cell? The company raised a $5 million seed round and is releasing it's AI-powered spreadsheet to the general public. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is the premise of Focus Friend, a productivity app created by Honey B Games and Hank Green, the longtime online creator/entrepreneur/educator/sock salesman. Though the app was soft launched last month, Focus Friend is only now gaining momentum on the App Store charts — likely because Green and his brother, author John Green, are posting about it more — reaching No. 4 among all free apps and N...

It humorously calls this family the Model Zoo because one is like the size of a fly's brain and the other the size of a chicken's. Also, Ultrahuman acquires viO HealthTech to launch enhanced cycle and ovulation tracking. Cycle and Ovulation Pro is available starting Friday as a premium PowerPlug in the Ultrahuman app for $3.99 per month or $39.99 per year for users in the U.S., U.K., EU, Australia...

While an Anthropic spokesperson confirmed that the AI firm did not acquire Humanloop or its IP, that’s a moot point in an industry where IP lives in the brain. And what Humanloop’s team is bringing to Anthropic is experience developing the tools that help enterprises run safe, reliable AI at scale. Also, India’s Rapido begins testing food delivery to take on Swiggy, Zomato. Rapido's beta food deli...

Cohere has hired Joelle Pineau, Meta's former VP of AI research who previously oversaw the tech giant's fundamental AI research (FAIR) lab. In her newly created Chief AI Officer role, Pineau will oversee AI strategy across Cohere's research, product and policy teams. Also, Monarch Tractors won’t be built by Foxconn after Ohio factory sale. The tractors were the only vehicles being built by Foxconn...

Self-driving truck maker Waabi has hired autonomous vehicle industry veteran and Uber Freight CEO, Lior Ron, to step in as chief operating officer, as the startup looks to scale its commercial operations ahead of its planned launch of driverless trucks on public highways later this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Neuralink has been making serious progress. Soon Sam Altman and OpenAI could be backing a challenger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As more solid rocket motor suppliers are coming online, a supply chain chokepoint looms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ultraviolette aims to expand its electric motorcycles to 40 European countries, as well as Latin America and Southeast Asia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chowdeck, a Lagos-based food delivery startup that has stayed profitable in a notoriously tough and low-margin market, has raised $9 million in Series A funding to launch a quick commerce strategy and expand into more cities in Nigeria and Ghana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices