TechCrunch Startup News

Honeyjar believes AI can actually make PR better. Also, WindBorne is a startup that uses weather balloons and AI to predict the weather won a US military contract worth almost $50 million. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Efferon has developed blood-purification tech to save children. Sepsis, an acute inflammation triggered by infection, is a leading cause of childhood mortality, claiming roughly 3 million children under the age of five annually. Also, Petra Power says its fuel cells are super efficient and cut fuel costs during a time when the tech industry can’t get enough electricity. Learn more about your ad ch...

Richard Bronson, a former Stratton Oakmont partner who served time in federal prison for securities violations, has launched Commissary Club, a startup that uses AI to help people leaving prison find jobs, housing, community and even dates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As it turns out, the cure for stuffy, chemical-infused office air might be a tower of leafy greenery. Also, Mecka AI pays people to record everyday tasks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sigil Wen, backed by a Silicon Valley's who-who, has built an on-device AI assistant that promises to be free, fully private, and capable for everyday tasks. Also, Melius crossed over $1 million in annualized revenue within two months of its post-pivot launch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Founded by two sisters, Hot Girl Hotline uses AI to give young women personalized dating and relationship advice, with an emphasis on safety and avoiding emotional dependency. Also, days after Vinod Khosla called Factory a struggling also-ran, Menlo has shown up with a check and a glowing blog post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Photon helps developers build AI agents that work over iMessage, SMS/RCS, email, and other messaging platforms. It's a bet that consumers will increasingly use agents instead of downloading apps. Also, Kevin Mandia, best known as the founder of Mandiant, has a new startup that is using agent swarms to test and protect enterprises. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoice...

Fervo Energy completed its first power plant in less than two years. The next phases promise to connect to the grid even quicker. Also, MyMonthlyCar is a platform that lets dealers rent out their idle used cars month to month (with an option to buy), and it's now one of the startups showing off at this year's TechCrunch Disrupt, running October 13 to 15 in San Francisco. Learn more about your ad c...

VC Chris Degnan and former board advisor to Factory AI has taken a job as chief revenue officer for Cognition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Atomic's agentic supply chain software is now being used by companies like DoorDash and HelloFresh. EliseAI raises $350M, doubles valuation in a year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The acquisition will see World Labs founder Fei-Fei Li join AMD as executive vice president and chief scientist. Also, SiMa. AI, the edge computing startup, raised a $150 million Series C led by Fidelity and Amplify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The tech enables real-time awareness for what Quartermaster calls the “largest blind spot on Earth.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nexterity's robot can tighten or loosen four bolts at a time, and it fits in a Pelican case. Feather is betting on a customizable, $30,000 platform built for software developers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Modal Motors is working on small, light motors with no rare earth magnets that are suited for drones, fans, and robots. Also, PitPro says its automated system can change four tires in under 15 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This academy for promising high school grads is somewhere between a trade-school, Y Combinator and Peter Thiel's Fellowship Program. Autonomy-1 will have a small, transformer-based AI model taking charge of a space probe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brynn Putnam and Tristan Walker have already done something that most founders only dream about: created companies so compelling that bigger outfits bought them. And now they're both at it again with the same north star; bringing people together, offline, in the same room. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Comp AI, a cybersecurity and compliance startup, announced a $34 million Series A round led by Roo Capital and Grand Ventures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fluxnium's fibers can extract uranium directly from seawater, which has enough of the nuclear fuel to power thousands of generations. Also, Hang Ten is a Palo Alto startup and says it has landed multiple seven-figure enterprise contracts within months of launch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Their startup, Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company (AIUC) has raised $40 million in a Series A round led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from First Harmonic. Also, Thatch is a five-year-old startup and the company raised $108 million from The General Partnership, Index Ventures, General Catalyst, and Andreessen Horowitz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adc...

Fathom said that it has over 400,000 monthly active users. Also, Glass Imaging was founded by a pair of former Apple engineers who previously led the team that developed Apple's Portrait Mode. And Cornelis, a company creating networking technology to help AI chips communicate more effectively, announced Monday that it has raised $205 million. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices....

Fusion startups are inking defense-related deals, reigniting the relationship between fusion and national security that might have gone dormant, but never completely disappeared. Also, the round for Mecka is coming together months after Mecka announced its Series A. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mach Industries is a buzzy startup that raised $600 million in its Series C round. AlsoMaven Robotics emerged from stealth Thursday with a $100 million Series A and active deployments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

UK-based manufacturing software startup CloudNC announced Wednesday a $20 million B extension round, bringing its lifetime total raised amount to $128 million. Also, Cymphony was valued at more than $100 million in a $25 million Series A co-led by Sequoia and SMBC Fin Atlas Beyond Fund. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-Founder Kofi Asante wasn’t planning on fundraising this year, but calls kept coming after their pre-seed launch.  -Poseidon is embracing autonomy and remote piloting, but it’s not bothering with the vertical takeoff and landing tech that is de rigueur among so many aviation startups.  -Stoke is one of a handful of startups attempting to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the low-cost ro...

-Atoms is reportedly preparing for a hiring spree, as well as acquisitions, that could make it a major player in the autonomous vehicle industry. -Krafton is a South Korean gaming company behind titles including PUBG and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), plans to invest another $250 million in India over the next three to four years as it pushes beyond gaming into AI, robotics, and deep tech. Lea...