TechCrunch

TechCrunch Startup News

Technology EN ↓ 3902 episodes

Listen to select TechCrunch articles on startups coverage—who's raising, who's exiting, who's changing the world.

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Figma introduces a whiteboard tool called FigJam 22.04.2021 3:44

Figma spent years in stealth before launching its web-based collaborative design tool. Since coming into the light, the company has been iterating quickly. Today, Figma launches its biggest product update to date. Meet FigJam, Figma’s new whiteboarding tool. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tom Brady and Salesforce Ventures pour millions into Class, a Zoom-friendly edtech startup 21.04.2021 4:51

Class, an edtech startup that integrates exclusively with Zoom to make remote teaching more elegant, has raised $12.25 million in new financing. The round brings Salesforce Ventures, Sound Ventures and Super Bowl champion Tom Brady onto its capital table. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Druva raises $147M at a valuation north of $2B as the cloud rush continues 21.04.2021 5:23

Druva, a software company that sells cloud data backup services, announced today that it has closed a $147 million round of capital. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a group that manages Quebec’s pension fund, led the round, which also saw participation from Neuberger Berman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a decade of bootstrapping, Octopus Deploy raises $172.5M from Insight Partners 20.04.2021 3:48

Founded almost a decade ago, Octopus Deploy has grown to serve 25,000 organizations, including Microsoft, NASA, Xero, Disney and Stack Overflow, through bootstrapping. Today the company announced its first outside investment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zoom launches $100M Zoom Apps investment fund 20.04.2021 4:17

When Zoom launched Zoom Apps and the Marketplace as a place to sell them last year, it was a big signal that the company wanted to be more than just a popular video conferencing application. It wanted to be a platform, which developers could use to build applications on top of Zoom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Squarespace files for a direct listing on the NYSE 19.04.2021 5:31

Today Squarespace, a well-known software-and-hosting provider for SMB websites, released its S-1 filing. The company is pursuing a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE. It will trade under the ticker symbol “SQSP.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Level raises $27M from Khosla, Lightspeed ‘to rebuild insurance from the ground up’ 19.04.2021 4:42

Level, a startup that aims to give companies a more flexible way to offer benefits to employees, has raised $27 million in a Series A funding round led by Khosla Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Operator Collective and leading angels also participated in the financing, along with previous backers First Round Capital and Homebrew. The […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoi...

Sunday raises $24 million seed round to build a fast restaurant checkout flow 16.04.2021 5:52

Meet Sunday, a new startup that is going to attract some headlines as it has raised a $24 million seed round at a $140 million post-money valuation. That’s a lot of money for a company that started just a few months ago but that’s because Sunday wants to move quickly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Feels is a new dating app with profiles that look more personal 16.04.2021 5:09

Meet Feels, a new French startup that wants to change how dating apps work. According to the company, scrolling through photos and reading descriptions tend to be a boring experience. Feels want to improve profiles so that navigating the app feels more like watching TikTok videos or browsing stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Challenger bank N26 to offer insurance products 15.04.2021 4:21

Fintech startup N26 is launching N26 Insurance as it plans to offer insurance products that you can access from the company’s mobile app and website. The first insurance product is a smartphone insurance plan for German customers. But the startup doesn’t plan to stop there. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zeta in talks with SoftBank to raise at over $1 billion valuation 15.04.2021 3:35

Banking tech startup Zeta is inching closer to the much sought-after unicorn status as it talks to investors to finalize a new round,Â sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 is in talks to lead a ~$250 million Series D round in the five-year-old startup, the sources said. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

PlexTrac raises $10M Series A round for its collaboration-centric security platform 14.04.2021 4:43

PlexTrac, a Boise, ID-based security service that aims to provide a unified workflow automation platform for red and blue teams, today announced that it has raised a $10 million Series A funding round led by Noro-Moseley Partners and Madrona Venture Group. StageDot0 ventures also participated in this round, which the company plans to use to […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...

Willo launches its tooth-brushing robot for kids 14.04.2021 3:40

Are you 100% sure that your children are brushing their teeth properly? A New York-based startup called Willo has been working for several years on a device that should transform the tooth-brushing experience for children. Willo isn’t a new toothbrush — electric or not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bloomscape’s Justin Mast explains how he built a thriving garden startup in Detroit 13.04.2021 4:43

Justin Mast has a simple reason for starting his plant retail startup Bloomscape in Detroit. “This is home,” he told me. “This is where I have a really strong network and I knew I’d be able to find a lot of support.” = Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When wildfires rage close, Perimeter wants to tell you where to go 13.04.2021 5:11

Out the window, a fire is raging — and it’s moving ever closer. Confusion. Fear. A run for the car. Roads open and then suddenly closed by authorities. Traffic jams. A fire break that stalls the flames and then suddenly the flames jump, changing direction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wonder Dynamics raises $2.5M seed to equip indie filmmakers with AI-powered VFX 12.04.2021 6:14

Practically every film production these days needs some kind of visual effects work, but independent creators often lack the cash or expertise to get that top-shelf CG. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elior acquires food delivery startup Nestor 12.04.2021 3:03

Corporate catering company Elior has acquired French startup Nestor for an undisclosed amount. Nestor originally started with a simple idea to differentiate itself from food delivery giants, such as Deliveroo, Uber Eats and others. Every day, the startup offered a single menu for lunch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Vybe raises $2.9 million for its challenger bank for teens 09.04.2021 3:23

French startup Vybe has raised a $2.9 million funding round (€2.4 million) to build a challenger bank for teens. The company is currently testing its product with a soft launch. Users get a Mastercard payment card paired with an e-wallet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Realworld raises $3.4M to help Gen Z navigate adulthood 09.04.2021 4:41

Realworld has a big vision — founder and CEO Genevieve Ryan Bellaire told me her goal is “simplifying adulthood.” And the New York startup has raised $3.4 million in seed funding to make it happen. Apparently that’s something Ballaire struggled with herself in her early twenties. Despite being a lawyer with an MBA, she said […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spend management startup Ramp confirms $115M raise at a $1.6B valuation 08.04.2021 5:46

This morning, Ramp, which provides corporate cards and spend management software, announced that it has closed $115 million across two investments, the latter of which valued the company at $1.6 billion. The Information first reported that Ramp was raising new capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Authentic Artists is building virtual, AI-powered musicians 08.04.2021 4:28

Chris McGarry, who previously led music integration at Facebook’s Oculus, is taking a new approach to bringing music into the virtual world with his startup Authentic Artists. McGarry pointed to virtual celebrities like Lil Miquela and virtual concerts like Travis Scott’s giant event in Fortnite as setting the stage for Authentic Artists. In a sense, […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit pod...

Plaid raises $425M Series D from Altimeter as it charts a post-Visa future 07.04.2021 4:46

Plaid, a unicorn that helps connect consumers’ bank accounts to financial applications, has raised a $425 million Series D, it announced this morning. TechCrunch understands that the new capital infusion, led by Altimeter Capital, values the company at around $13.4 billion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aporia raises $5M for its AI observability platform 07.04.2021 5:02

Machine learning (ML) models are only as good as the data you feed them. That’s true during training, but also once a model is put in production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hipmunk’s founders launch Flight Penguin to bring back Hipmunk-style flight search 06.04.2021 5:04

Hipmunk’s founders are building a successor to their now-defunct flight search service. The startup was acquired by SAP-owned travel and expense platform Concur in 2016, and its CEO Adam Goldstein departed in 2018. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ConductorOne raises $5M in seed round led by Accel to automate your access requests 06.04.2021 5:39

Over the course of their careers, Alex Bovee and Paul Querna realized that while the use of SaaS apps and cloud infrastructure was exploding, the process to give employees permission to use them was not keeping up. The pair led Zero Trust strategies and products at Okta, and could see the problem firsthand. For the […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices