TechCrunch Startup News

Any DevOps team can use Porter to manage applications in the cloud, delivering the full flexibility of Kubernetes through a Heroku-like experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Catch is working to make sure that every gig worker has the health and retirement benefits they need. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just half a year after leading SODA’s Series B, SoftBank Ventures Asia is raising its bet on the Tokyo-based sneaker resell platform. The early-stage venture capital arm of SoftBank Group announced today it has returned to lead SODA’s Series C, which currently totals $56.4 million. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One year after voice-based AI technology company ConverseNow raised a $3.3 million seed round, the company is back with a cash infusion of $15 million in Series A funding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The startup runs a marketplace that links college-age talent to companies in need of their services. Social media and web developer work are popular on the Pangea platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Queen's Gambit Growth Capital, the women-led SPAC in charge of the deal, called Swvl 'a disruptive platform that solves complex challenges and empowers underserved populations.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The company's digital therapy platform works to measure and improve someone’s ability to walk after they have experienced a neurologic injury or disease. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Blameless’ platform provides the context, guardrails and automated workflows so engineering teams are unified in the way they communicate and interact while building their software systems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Now that you have that COVID dog, Embark Veterinary wants to help him or her be in your life for a long time by offering DNA testing with the goal of increasing their lifespan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reusable rocket startup iRocket has entered into a new partnership with NASA in its quest to reach commercialization in just two years. The partnership will give iRocket access to testing facilities and engineering support, chiefly at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The company is hoping that it will conduct its first […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcas...

Meet Sproutl, a marketplace for gardeners living in the U.K. The startup founded by former Farfetch executives has raised a $9 million seed round. It wants to make gardening more accessible by providing a curated list of items, relevant advice as well as inspiration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Open-source framework startup Serverless Stack announced Friday that it raised $1 million in seed funding from a group of investors that includes Greylock Partners, SV Angel and Y Combinator. The company was founded in 2017 by Jay V and Frank Wang in San Francisco, and they were part of Y Combinator’s 2021 winter batch. Serverless […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adch...

Not every startup wants to raise venture capital. And then there are those that do want to raise VC money but don’t want to use it for specific things. In recent years, a number of firms have emerged looking to meet the credit needs of such venture-backed and growth startups: i80 Group is one of […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This morning Mural, a startup that builds digital collaboration software with a focus on visual presentation, announced that it has closed a $50 million Series C. The new capital, co-led by prior investors Insight Partners and Tiger Global, values the startup at more than $2 billion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

French startup Spendesk has announced earlier today that it has raised a $118 million funding round (€100 million) led by General Atlantic. Overall, the company has raised $189 million (€160 million) since its inception. Existing investors Index Ventures and Eight Road Ventures participated once again in today’s funding round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While direct-to-consumer growth has exploded in the past year, some brands are finding there’s still plenty of room to forge ahead in building a more direct relationships with their customers. Sydney-based Okendo has made a splash in this world by building out a popular customer reviews systems for Shopify sellers, but it’s aiming to expand […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...

The quest to disrupt the traditional baby food aisle continues as more of today’s parents seek out nutritional food for their children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fabric8Labs this morning announced that it has raised $19.3 million. The Series A was led by Intel Capital and features Lam Capital, TDK Ventures, SE Ventures, imec.xpand, Stanley Ventures and Mark Cuban. It follows $4 million in seed funding raised in mid-2018. The San Diego-based startup specializes in metal 3D printing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Founded in 2014 as an in-person rowing studio, CityRow was relatively early to adopt the at-home connected model. The New York-based company launched a digital platform in 2018, two years before the pandemic completely transformed the way many of us work out. Of course, things have been trending that way a while, but 2020 accelerated […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/a...

Youth sports are an integral part of our communities, bringing families together and helping kids all over gain confidence and skills. Most of us don’t think about all the work that goes into setting up, growing and maintaining these leagues. It’s a lot. Today, LeagueApps, which aims to be the operating system for youth sports […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoice...

As more consumers embrace plant-based diets and sustainable food practices, Rise Gardens is giving anyone the ability to have a green thumb from the comfort of their own home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Halla wants to answer the question of how people decide what to eat and now has $4.5 million in fresh Series A1 capital from Food Retail Ventures to do it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It seems like everything is being pushed online now, but network procurement stubbornly has remained an in-person or phone-based negotiation. Lightyear, an early stage New York City startup decided to change that last year, and the company announced a $13.1 million Series A today. The round was led by Ridge Ventures with participation from Zigg […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastch...

Walking into an auto repair shop can sometimes feel like taking a step into the past. The handwritten notes and receipts, the clunky point-of-sales system and scheduling tools — if those are even there — can make customers feel like they’re in the 1990s, not the 21st century. Shopmonkey is trying to change that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meet Gourmey, a new French startup that recently raised a $10 million founding round in equity and debt. The startup is working on meat grown in laboratories from animal cells. In particular, the company is focusing on poultry and aims to convince chefs that they should use the company’s products in their restaurants. “We’ve been […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adcho...