TechCrunch Startup News

The manufacturer of a vegan collagen, Geltor, has raised a new round of financing — $90 million, according to people familiar with the company. It’s another sign of the newfound viability of sustainability and cell-based, vegetarian replacements for animal products. Sustainable bio-products, whether plant-based, genetically modified or cell-cultured, are having a big year. In the […] Learn more ab...

Berlin -based cargo.one, which runs a marketplace for booking air freight, has closed an $18.6 million Series A round of funding led by Index Ventures. Next47 and prior backers Creandum, Lufthansa Cargo and Point Nine Capital also participated in the round, along with a number of angel investors — including Tom Stafford of DST Global […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/a...

Fintech startup Revolut just announced that it has raised $80 million as part of its Series D round that it had already announced in February. The new influx of funding comes from TSG Consumer Partners. In February, Revolut raised a $500 million led by TCV at a $5.5 billion valuation. Today’s new funding extends that […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One little-known home and retail automation startup might seem like an unlikely candidate to help combat the ongoing pandemic. But its founder says its technology can do just that, even if it wasn’t the company’s original plan. Butlr, a spin-out of the MIT Media Lab, uses a mix of wireless, battery-powered hardware and artificial intelligence […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoi...

As we move deeper into the pandemic, companies are looking for ways to digitize processes that previously required in-person meetings with manual approaches. Investors appear to be rewarding companies who can achieve this. iObeya, a French company that helps digitize management planning processes like lean and agile, announced a $17 million Series A today. Red […] Learn more about your ad choices....

Glimpse is giving Airbnb hosts a way to make extra money while also supplying their accommodations with new products. The startup was founded by CEO Akash Raju, COO Anuj Mehta and CPO Kushal Negi, who all recently graduated from Purdue University. It’s part of the current batch of startups at accelerator Y Combinator — where, […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I assumed most investors were jerks in pitch meetings, but my white colleagues told me the level of disrespect and dismissiveness I received was not typical. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the ongoing protests for racial justice, people have been looking for different ways to contribute, which in turn has led tech companies to launch new features and campaigns. Now there’s a new fundraising platform called Project Bento, created by chef and restauranteur Marcus Samuelsson (best […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...

Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten has decided not to renew its contract with WeWork when it expires next month, according to a report in the Japan Times. Rakuten had leased about 700 desks in Tokyo, but is now planning to move employees from its fintech division into its own new offices. Both WeWork and Rakuten declined […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Part one of a three-part series that offers a framework for objectively considering post-IPO or concentrated stock holdings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today Jamf, a software company that helps other firms manage their Apple devices, raised its IPO price range. The company had previously targeted a $17 to $19 per-share range. A new SEC filing from the firm today details a far higher $21 to $23 per-share IPO price interval. Jamf still intends to sell up to […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Call it what you will — startup bootcamp, founders’ masterclass or the mother of all how-to events — we’re just days away from TC Early Stage 2020. But you don’t have to wait another minute to start making essential connections. CrunchMatch, our AI-powered networking platform, is now open for business. Wait up. You don’t have […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A U.S. federal court judge ruled on Thursday that WhatsApp and parent company Facebook’s lawsuit against Israeli mobile surveillance software company NSO Group can go forward. Phyllis Hamilton, Chief Judge of the United Stated District Court of the Northern District of California, denied most of the arguments NSO Group made when it filed a motion […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcast...

Can one minute really make a difference in your startup success? If we’re talking about your 60-second pitch (and we are), then heck yeah!   A crisp, concise and compelling pitch opens doors to opportunity, and we’re here to help you pump up your pitch. Join us online for the next Pitchers & Pitches competition on […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Qumulo, a Seattle storage startup helping companies store vast amounts of data, announced a $125 million Series E investment today on a $1.2 billion valuation. BlackRock led the round with help from Highland Capital Partners, Madrona Venture Group, Kleiner Perkins and new investor Amity Ventures. The company reports it has now raised $351 million. CEO […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit po...

Meet Waldo, a new product that wants to make mobile testing both faster and easier. The New York-based startup lets you record tests in your browser by interacting with your app like you’d normally do. Every time you compile a new build, Waldo runs the same tests you previously recorded on multiple software and hardware […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last year, Gartner found that Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the fastest growing category in enterprise software. So perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that UIPath, a leading startup in the space, announced a $225 million Series E today on an eye-popping $10.2 billion valuation. Alkeon Capital led the round with help from Accel, […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices....

Virtual classes might make it easier to work out anywhere, anytime, but not for anyone. Mainstream fitness tech often targets the young and fit, in advertisements and cardio-heavy exercises. It effectively excludes aging adults from participating. This gap between mainstream fitness and elders is where Mighty Health, a Y Combinator graduate, comes in. Mighty Health […] Learn more about your ad cho...

BlueOcean is a new startup offering companies a relatively fast and affordable way to see how their brands are performing and what they can do to improve. CEO Grant McDougall and COO/President Liza Nebel (the pair founded BLueOcean with Chief Data Scientist Matthew Gross) told me that they’ve been developing the technology for two years. […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.c...

As expected, BigCommerce has filed to go public. The Austin, Texas, based e-commerce company raised over $200 million while private. The company’s IPO filing lists a $100 million placeholder figure for its IPO raise, giving us directional indication that this IPO will be in the lower, and not upper, nine-figure range. BigCommerce, similar to public […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podca...

The stakes keep getting higher for American discount brokerage Robinhood, which today disclosed that it has added hundreds of millions of dollars to its previously disclosed funding round. Including the $280 million that the company had already announced, Robinhood said that it was “pleased to share” that it “raised an additional $320 million in subsequent […] Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...

After going private in 2016 after accepting a $32 per share, or $4.3 billion, price from Apollo Global Management, Rackspace is looking once again to the public markets. First going public in 2008, Rackspace is taking second aim at a public offering around 12 years after its initial debut. The company describes its business as […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoice...

As expected, fintech company nCino has raised its IPO price range. The North Carolina-based banking software firm now expects to sell its shares for between $28 and $29 per share, far more than its initial price range of $22 to $24 per share. At its $28 to $29 per-share price interval, nCino is worth $2.50 […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yamo, a self-described “foodtech” startup that produces and sells healthier food for babies and young children, has raised €10.1 million in Series A funding. Backing comes from European food and agriculture tech investor Five Seasons Ventures, Swiss Entrepreneurs Fund, Ringier Digital Ventures, Müller Ventures, btov Partners, Polytech Ventures, BackBone Ventures, and Fundament. It brings total […]...

Amie, a new productivity app from ex-N26 product manager Dennis Müller, has picked up $1.3 million in pre-seed funding to “kickstart” development and hiring. Backing 23 year-old Müller is Creandum — the European VC best known for being an early investor in Spotify — along with Tiny. VC and a plethora of angels. They include Laura […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adcho...