Author: TechBrunch
Raising $250 million in a Series D round may seem like a distant and unnecessary distraction for startup founders pitching their first $1 million in seed money to investors. But that shouldn't be the case, according to some founders and venture capitalists. In their view, founders need to develop a strategy for late-stage funding from the beginning. Aven co-founder and CEO Sadi Khan said on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt that startup founders should start thinking about subsequent rounds before raising their first round of funding. This strategy allows founders to determine the amount of capital they will need throughout their…
January Ventures co-founder Jennifer Neundorfer stopped by the Equity podcast during TechCrunch Disrupt to talk about raising money in this very AI-driven market. Founders and investors alike are excited about AI, and even Neundorfer said her company is looking at ways to use AI to make its work more efficient, such as helping with market and competitive due diligence. When it comes to companies that are starting up, I prefer founders who want to create something entirely new. “What excites me is when I see someone using AI to do something that’s not 10 times better, because it’s actually creating…
Gamma, a startup that creates AI-generated presentations, websites, and social media posts, on Monday announced a $68 million Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz at a valuation of $2.1 billion. Co-founder and CEO Grant Lee posted on X that the company had 70 million users and $100 million in ARR, making it profitable. Lee previously posted that the startup made $50 million in profits in its first two years. Gamma last raised a $12 million Series A round led by Accel in 2024. Gamma isn't exactly a new AI startup (at least by AI standards). According to Lee's LinkedIn,…
Almost seven years after announcing its first fund, Sapphire Sport, a venture fund focused on sports, media and entertainment, has been spun out of Sapphire Ventures. The fund will be rebranded as an independent venture company, 359 Capital. The company's new name pays homage to the feat of breaking the four-minute mile, once thought to be impossible by humans, but ultimately accomplished through sheer dedication and perseverance. Spirito said the name reflects the company's core principle of helping portfolio founders achieve the impossible. Michael Spirito, managing partner and co-founder of 359 Capital, said the separation from Sapphire Ventures, an investment…
For more than a decade, makers of government spyware have defended themselves from criticism by insisting that their surveillance technology is intended to be used only against serious criminals and terrorists and in limited cases. However, evidence gathered from dozens, if not hundreds, of documented cases of spyware abuse around the world shows that none of these arguments are true. Journalists, human rights defenders, and politicians have been repeatedly targeted in both repressive regimes and democracies. The latest example is a political consultant working for a left-wing politician in Italy, who has been revealed as the country's most recently identified…
This week, Slow Ventures hosted a three-hour “Etiquette Polishing School,” covering topics like the perfect handshake, public speaking, and office etiquette. There was a fashion show where models showed off different looks in different scenes, followed by a closing lesson on caviar and wine. Hundreds of founders applied to the free program, held at the Four Seasons in San Francisco's financial district, and 50 were accepted, the San Francisco Standard reported. Most of the participants were men. Apparently the idea started as a joke, with Slow Ventures expressing interest at Y Combinator's Demo Day. YC CEO Garry Tan also reportedly…
Start-ups couldn't offer the same high salaries as big tech companies. Now, with companies like Meta and OpenAI willing to pay multi-million dollar salaries in the midst of the AI race, the compensation gap has become even wider. However, early-stage startups are not doomed. Founders and experts speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 say creating a generous, fair and flexible compensation strategy will allow you to offer a competitive compensation package and give you room to adjust your approach as you grow. In any case, startups shouldn't try to compete with big tech companies, Yin Wu, co-founder and CEO of stock…
In this episode recorded live at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, TechCrunch Editor-in-Chief Connie Loizos speaks with Vinod Khosla about entrepreneurship in the age of AI and the massive disruptions ahead. Loizos and Khosla discuss why he believes every job is a startup opportunity, his investment thesis of building AI workers rather than tools, and first and foremost why he challenges entrepreneurs to imagine their companies in 2030. Khosla also talked about his prediction that the rate of extinction of Fortune 500 companies will triple by 2035, the controversial idea of sharing corporate wealth through a national pool, and why he thinks…
The Washington Post reported that the company was one of the victims of a hacking campaign related to Oracle's suite of enterprise software apps. Reuters first reported the news on Friday, citing a statement from the paper that said the company was affected “by a breach of the Oracle E-Business Suite platform.” A spokesperson for the Post did not immediately respond to TechCrunch's request for comment. Reached via email, Oracle spokesperson Michael Egbert told TechCrunch he mentioned two previously published advisories, but did not respond to our questions. Last month, Google announced that the ransomware group Clop was targeting businesses…
SoftBank and OpenAI this week announced a new 50-50 joint venture to sell enterprise AI tools in Japan under the “Crystal Intelligence” brand. In theory, this is a simple international expansion deal. But SoftBank's role as a major investor in OpenAI raises questions about whether the biggest AI deals are creating real economic value or just circulating capital. On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Kolosek, Anthony Ha, and AI editor Russell Brandom explain why people are skeptical about this deal and what it suggests about the sustainability of AI's current investment model. Listen to the full episode to hear: What Box…