TechCrunch Startup News

The Jeff Bezos-backed startup finally revealed more pricing details for its debut EV, including a $29,950 starting price for the SUV variant, and boosted the base range to 205 miles. Plus, new details have emerged about Valor's latest fund, which last year announced it was raising an unspecified amount of capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fika Jobs announced on Tuesday a $4 million pre-seed round, which will be used to continue developing the platform, grow the team, and prepare for a wider launch later this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After 18 years of focusing on Europe, early-stage investor Seedcamp said that it has raised $320 million for its latest fund which will see it expanding its presence in the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

French serial entrepreneur and open-source legend Jean-Baptiste Kempf has been building Kyber, an infrastructure layer to control remote devices in real time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

World models are the next big thing in AI beyond LLMs and, with this round, Odyssey has cemented itself as one of the startups to watch. Also, General Intuition is in talks to raise around $300 million at a roughly $2 billion valuation from backers including Jeff Bezos. The startup trains AI agents on spatial-temporal reasoning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Critical Energy is turning rocket engines into geothermal power plants, and it wants to build 300 GW per year by 2045. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Instead of heating metals, Foundation Alloy beats them into submission. The startup has raised $22 million to scale up production of its alloys. Also, the company Probably wants to prevent hallucinations and factual errors from reaching users, and achieve accuracy on par with deterministic systems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The new round values the physical AI startup that aims to automate heavy engineering and drug design at $41 billion. Also, unlike humanoid robots designed around a fixed form — think Boston Dynamics — Theker's machines are built to be reconfigured. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SpaceX alumni Andrew Redd is betting the ocean has vast amounts of untapped geothermal energy. Also, the funding round was led by Norwest, with participation from S Capital VC, Cerca Partners, and Oceans Ventures. Snowflake Ventures also participated as a strategic investor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AI coding agent startup Niteshift has raised a $7 million seed round from a who's who of angels. It's betting companies will want power over, not lock-in, with model makers. Also, backed by Alexis Ohanian’s 776 and Kindred Ventures, Zest uses transaction data and AI to generate restaurant recommendations based on users’ real dining habits and the places they frequent. Learn more about your ad choi...

The startup is one of many entering the RV space, but it's banking on a hybrid power system that can go far beyond campsites. Also, with SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI all eyeing massive public debuts, the tech industry may soon have a new class of corporate overlords — and a new acronym to match. Say goodbye to FAANG and hello to MANGOS. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/a...

Fusion startup Helion is racing to complete a power plant for Microsoft by 2028. A fresh infusion of cash should help with that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The California startup released the fourth-generation of its home assistance robot, Stretch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Board, the startup building what it calls "together tech" designed to bring people into the same room, has closed a Series A led by Union Square Ventures. Also, a new AI compliance service sits between AI models and end users to flag and replace any messages that might present a compliance problem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pacific Fusion's sub-scale prototype delivered enormous amounts of power in a flash, setting the company up for its demonstration power plant. Also, engineering physical systems still depends on human talent, according to Impulse Space president Eric Romo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A group of 20 Snap alumni has come together to launch a fund called Ghost Angels to back the next generation of social media. Also, in a wild ride for 22-year-old founder and CEO Ethan Thornton, Mach Industries has raised another $300 million. It already has five autonomous vehicles in development and completed a major acquisition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoic...

South Korean chip startup Xcena is betting that AI's real bottleneck is not compute, but memory. Also, the enterprise AI search startup tripled its annual revenue even as tech giants entered the category. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Insurance tech Corgi announced today an $106 million Series B1 raise, valuing the company at $2.6 billion, just three weeks after announcing a $160 million Series B. Also, Anthropic has closed a $65 billion Series H round at a $965 billion post-money valuation, marking what could be the AI startup's final private fundraise before a highly anticipated IPO. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit po...

SOND, a startup led by Bose’s former head of sleep products, emerged from stealth with $7M in funding for its AI-powered sleep earbuds. Also, WeRoad, the Milan-based group travel startup, has raised a $58 million Series C round led by Airbnb as it prepares for its first major expansion outside Europe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stord offers a network of physical warehouses and inventory management software for e-commerce. It bills itself as a sort of anti-Amazon, giving brands "the speed to compete" while still owning their customer relationships. Also, OpenRouter has raised a $113 million Series B led by CapitalG. Its 5x growth in usage over six months indicates the multi-AI-model future is here. Learn more about your a...

Maka Kids is building a streaming app for children ages zero to six featuring content designed for healthy development. The startup has now raised $3 million in seed funding to scale its platform. Also, Peec, which helps brands track their presence in AI searches, offers proof of a key trend among European startups. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This young startup is taking on a fragrance industry that hasn’t changed in a almost half century Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Biotech company Imperagen announced on Thursday a £5 million ($6.7 million) seed round led by PXN Ventures, with participation from IQ Capital and Northern Gritstone. Also, beauty and wellness booking marketplace Fresha says it has raised $80 million investment from KKR’s Next Generation Technology Growth fund, KKR's growth equity arm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adc...

The Arlington, Virginia-based startup has raised $42 million to equip ships with sensors that blow the current AIS tech out of the water. Also, NanoCo, the company behind OpenClaw alternative NanoClaw, has raised a $12 million seed after a viral launch, the founders tell TechCrunch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Interactive social media site Status announced Tuesday $17 million in combined seed and Series A funding, with investors including General Catalyst, YC, LightShed Ventures, and Abstract. Also, Stilta announced Tuesday a $10 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Other investors in the round include YC and operators from companies like OpenAI, Legora, and Lovable. Learn more about your ad c...