Funded

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **3 days left to exhibit: Get your brand in front of VCs and high-value leads at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 ** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/16/3-days-left-to-exhibit-at-techcrunch-disrupt-2026/) - **Exclusive: Fintech Offers Startups Alternative To Venture Debt With A New Model To Finance Customer Acquisition Costs**...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **NeoLogic wants to build more energy-efficient CPUs for AI data centers** (TechCrunch Fundraising) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/13/neologic-wants-to-build-more-energy-efficient-cpus-for-ai-data-centers/) - **Sequoia unveils $950M in new early-stage funds as it strives to be ‘only as good as our next investment’** (TechCrunch Fundrais...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **Insight Partners’ Deven Parekh on why the firm is diversifying while everyone else bets the farm on OpenAI and Anthropic** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/13/insight-partners-devin-parekh-on-why-the-firm-is-diversifying-while-everyone-else-bets-the-farm-on-openai-and-anthropic/) - **A Hard Year For Software IPOs**...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **4 days left to exhibit at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/15/4-days-left-to-exhibit-at-techcrunch-disrupt-2026/) - **Dead Weight On The Cap Table: The Startup Equity Problem Causing Litigation And How You Can Fix It** (Crunchbase News) - [Read more](https://news.crunchbase.com/startups/cap...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: The Boring Co., Cognition And Motive Lead A Massive Week** (Crunchbase News) - [Read more](https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/biggest-funding-rounds-boring-co-cognition-massive-week/) - **Khosla Ventures is opening a New York office this fall — its first outpost outside Sand Hill Road** (TechCrunch Venture) -...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash debuts with $0.003/1M off-peak cached-input rate and benchmarks eclipsing GPT-5.6 Sol, Claude Opus 5** (VentureBeat) - [Read more](https://venturebeat.com/technology/deepseek-v4-1-flash-debuts-with-0-003-1m-off-peak-cached-input-rate-and-benchmarks-eclipsing-gpt-5-6-sol-claude-opus-5) - **Thrive Capital led VCs into pro sports o...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **How To Measure An Innovation Economy: South Korea** (Crunchbase News) - [Read more](https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/measure-innovation-ecosystem-south-korea-onetti-mind-the-bridge/) - **Doorstep raises $8M seed to help find missing food deliveries** (TechCrunch Fundraising) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/25/doorstep-raises-8m-seed...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **CloudNC raises $20M to automate manufacturing’s most pressing bottlenecks** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/08/cloudnc-raises-20m-to-automate-manufacturings-most-pressing-bottlenecks/) - **Nuclear startup Bluecore Energy raises $50M seed round, just two months after launch** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **Amazon backs programmable optics startup Lumotive** (TechCrunch Fundraising) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/22/amazon-backs-programmable-optics-startup-lumotive/) - **Companies are spending millions rewiring how AI gets used. Almost none can prove it's working.** (VentureBeat) - [Read more](https://venturebeat.com/orchestration/compan...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **AI voice company Hyper raises $6.3M to help automate 911 calls** (TechCrunch Fundraising) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/21/ai-voice-company-hyper-raises-6-3m-to-help-automate-911-calls/) - **Seed to Series C: What VCs actually want from AI startups** (TechCrunch Fundraising) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/podcast/seed-to-series...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **Why SecurityPal is choosing ‘nuanced capital’ over more VC rounds** (TechCrunch Fundraising) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/podcast/why-securitypal-is-choosing-nuanced-capital-over-more-vc-rounds/) - **Modelence raises $3M to smooth out the vibe-coding stack** (TechCrunch Fundraising) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/28/modelence-...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **Less than 24 hours to apply for your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Side Event** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/04/less-than-24-hours-to-apply-for-your-techcrunch-disrupt-2026-side-event/) - **A new search engine raises $1.1M to let obsessive fans dive down internet rabbit holes** (TechCrunch Fundraising) - [Read more](h...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **Superorganism raises $25M to back biodiversity startups** (TechCrunch Fundraising) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/13/superorganism-raises-25m-to-back-biodiversity-startups/) - **China-linked hackers backdoored executives' laptops via USB, exploiting a fix companies had but weren't using** (VentureBeat) - [Read more](https://venturebea...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **Former Apple Engineers’ Physical AI Startup Lyte Raises $165M At $1.6B Valuation** (Crunchbase News) - [Read more](https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/robotics-ai-startup-lyte-seriesc-raise-maverick/) - **a16z brings growth fund to $8.5B days after launching new $1.1B fund** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/31/a16z-...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **More than 100 new tech unicorns were minted in 2025 — here they are** (TechCrunch Fundraising) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/12/at-least-36-new-tech-unicorns-were-minted-in-2025-so-far/) - **The IPO Window Is Closing. Here Are 8 Startups To Watch.** (Crunchbase News) - [Read more](https://news.crunchbase.com/public/startups-to-watch-...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **NeoLogic wants to build more energy-efficient CPUs for AI data centers** (TechCrunch Fundraising) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/13/neologic-wants-to-build-more-energy-efficient-cpus-for-ai-data-centers/) - **A group funded by Andreessen, Horowitz, and Brockman plans data center ads to sway midterms** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **Biotech Startup Investment Held Steady Even As AI Funding Surged** (Crunchbase News) - [Read more](https://news.crunchbase.com/health-wellness-biotech/startup-investment-exits-steady-ai-2026/) --- *Sponsored by Ada, Ago Consulting, and Zen Semiconductor*

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **At TechBBQ, Europe’s AI conversations kept coming back to: Who’s actually in control?** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/29/at-techbbq-europes-ai-conversations-kept-coming-back-to-whos-actually-in-control/) --- *Sponsored by Ada, Ago Consulting, and Zen Semiconductor*

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **Capital F closes $17M debut fund with goal to back the future of the ‘female economy’** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/26/capital-f-closes-17m-debut-fund-with-goal-to-back-the-future-of-the-female-economy/) - **Cohere Parse 5 loses the benchmark on points. It wins on cost per page.** (VentureBeat) - [Read more](ht...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **Craft’s Ilya Levtov Never Learned To Code. He Built A Software Company Anyway.** (Crunchbase News) - [Read more](https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/supply-chain-nontech-founder-ilya-levtov-craft/) - **From the Spotify Mafia to the Lovable Mafia: inside Stockholm’s founder network** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/podcast/...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **What’s driving Sweden’s startup boom, from Lovable to Legora ** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/video/whats-driving-swedens-startup-boom-from-lovable-to-legora/) - **Startups Are Still Acquiring Startups, Led By Ultra-High-Valuation Unicorns** (Crunchbase News) - [Read more](https://news.crunchbase.com/ma/startup-unicorns-...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **Fiat Ventures combines venture and advisory divisions into new brand, raises $35M Fund II** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/25/fgv-capital-bets-on-a-new-venture-model-raises-35m-fund-ii/) - **Anthropic’s new Claude Tag update lets its Slack agent read the full conversation — and jump in unprompted** (VentureBeat) -...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **Hugging Face reportedly in talks to be acquired for $13B** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/24/hugging-face-reportedly-in-talks-to-be-acquired-for-13b/) - **Valor, Point72 back General Intuition at $6B valuation as AI startup pushes into robotics** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/24...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **Early Cerebras investor Adit Singh joins Mayfield as infrastructure partner** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/20/early-cerebras-investor-adit-singh-joins-mayfield-as-infrastructure-partner/) - **Will the DOJ’s investigation into a16z spook other VCs?** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2026/...

## Episode Summary In this episode, we cover: - **Redwood Materials raises another $350M to power up its energy-storage business** (TechCrunch Fundraising) - [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/23/redwood-materials-raises-another-350-million-to-power-up-its-energy-storage-business/) - **Moove raises $250M to become the backbone of the robotaxi industry** (TechCrunch Venture) - [Read more](h...