TechCrunch Startup News

Not everyone believes that the metaverse — social, VR-centric worlds — has staying power. But MeetKai is among the steadfast optimists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s plenty of vendors in the managed database services market — and plenty that are well-financed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Food waste and food packaging take up a significant portion of the world’s landfills. AlterPacks is tackling both issues with technology that turns food waste into takeout boxes and other containers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Uber and Airbnb have long been the poster children for the sharing economy. In other realms of society, entrepreneurs are also trying to match demand with untapped assets and services. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SpaceX is poised to launch 114 payloads to orbit on a Falcon 9 tomorrow morning, the sixth mission of its smallsat rideshare program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Viva Republica, an operator of South Korean finance super app Toss, has finalized a $405 million Series G funding and it says it is now valued at 9.1 trillion won ( $7 billion), up from 8.5 trillion won in June 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Meta faces antitrust scrutiny over its acquisition of VR fitness developers Within, the tech giant is making another acquisition. Meta confirmed to TechCrunch that it is purchasing Luxexcel, a smart eyewear company headquartered in the Netherlands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fintech startup Vint thinks everyone should invest in wine and spirits and is hoping to facilitate such investments with the help of fresh seed funding. Fintech Vint hopes to turn wine and spirits into a mainstream asset class by Anna Heim originally published on TechCrunch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A few bright spots remain in the autonomous vehicle industry even amid macroeconomic headwinds that have nearly shut off the spigot of venture capital and led to further consolidation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Galaxy plans to acquire Argo’s bitcoin mining facility Helios for $65 million and provide a $35 million loan amid the miner’s restructuring. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For organizations that do a good chunk of their work through virtual meetings, simply hitting record or taking notes isn’t enough to capture everything that’s said. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As generative AI like ChatGPT and DALL-E 2 attract investor attention, startup entrepreneurs are looking to cash in with new business models built around them. One of the more interesting ventures to emerge from the space recently is Poly, which lets designers create video game and other virtual assets, including textures for 3D models, using […]Y Combinator-backed Poly uses AI to generate art ass...

Jakarta-based fintech Akulaku has raised $200 million from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), the largest bank in Japan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whether you’re singing “Take This Job and Shove It” while workin’ “9 to 5” or you’re a fledgling startup founder, TechCrunch Early Stage 2023 is the bootstrapping bootcamp designed just for you. The daylong founder-focused summit — on April 20 in Boston, Massachusetts — covers the essential building blocks you need to build a solid foundation […]TechCrunch Early Stage focuses on fledgling founder...

Indian fintech Money View said on Monday it has raised $75 million in a new funding round, its second this year, despite the market slump as it looks to scale its core credit business and build more products in the South Asian market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meet Vianova, a French startup that is building a data platform for shared mobility companies as well as local governments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reliance has backed Philadelphia-based AI and robotics startup Exyn, the Indian conglomerate disclosed in a stock exchange filing on Thursday, making further inroads in startups globally. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Software spend is becoming a prime target for cuts as it grows into a larger line item in enterprises’ budgets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park and various other media over the years, have raised $20 million to continue work on their professional deepfake studio for creators, Deep Voodoo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ImagenAI, a startup using AI to help professional photographers edit photos and automate post-production work, today announced that it raised $30 million in an all-equity growth investment from Summit Partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aviva uses AI and natural language processing to match customers’ spoken words with fields of a loan application. Within minutes, customers can qualify for up to $1,000.Early-stage Mexico fintech Aviva is making loans as easy as a video call by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Social collectibles platform Revel describes itself as 'a cross between Instagram and Robinhood, wrapped in social game economics.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever needed to read your credit card information on the phone to make a massage appointment? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wischoff Ventures closed a second fund of $20 million that will be 'leaning in heavily on B2B.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dropbox today announced that it’s acquired FormSwift, a cloud-based platform designed to help businesses build, edit, approve, share and print custom personalized and documents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices