Author: TechBrunch
Belgium-based Odoo decided to use open source tools as a way to attack the enterprise resource planning (ERP) software market against giants like SAP. Decades later, the company has now raised 500 million euros (approximately $527 million at current exchange rates) in secondary investment from CapitalG (Alphabet's venture fund), Sequoia Capital, and other investors . The new funding is expected to raise its valuation to 5 billion euros ($5.26 billion). Yes, that's right. With over 5 million users and 40% annual growth, Odoo's business is actually so good that it hasn't had to raise any primary capital in eight years.…
When Brandon Contino and co-founder Dan Chi were developing Four Growers' produce-harvesting robot, they essentially lived in a greenhouse for a year. They coded at a small desk in the back corner and discovered that a fertilizer bag made a comfortable bed. “We actually just started doing everything on a laptop and I was participating in line coding. [Chi] We will make changes mechanically,” current CEO Contino told TechCrunch. “You run it, and then you change the code, you redevelop it, and you go back and run it again. So it was a really fun time just basically living on…
Manufacturing is one of the hottest venture categories this year, but there are still many innovative materials and processes that have yet to be scaled up. One example is thermosetting composite materials. This material is widely used in aerospace and defense because of its high temperature resistance and light weight, but it typically comes with long lead times and high prices for customers. Raven Space Systems, a Kansas City, Missouri-based startup, announced it has developed a new process that enables scalable 3D printing of commercially available, off-the-shelf thermoset composite parts for the first time. “We're basically making the entire field…
Insurance is fertile ground for artificial intelligence innovation, working at the nexus of huge data sets, risk assessment, predictive analytics, fintech, and customer service. Riding on that momentum, startup Federato has now raised $40 million to expand its AI-powered underwriting platform that helps insurers better understand and respond to risks. Stepstone Group is leading the round, with participation from previous backers Emergence Capital, Caffeinated Capital, and Pear VC. The startup has now raised a total of $80 million. The company did not disclose the valuation, but CEO and co-founder Will Roth acknowledged in an interview that it was a “significant…
AI is permeating every corner of biotech and pharmaceutical research, but like other industries, implementation is not as easy as it seems. Converge Bio has built tools to help companies put biology-focused LLMs to work, from “enriching” data to explaining answers. The company raised $5.5 million in a seed round to expand its products. “A model is just a model. It's not enough,” said Dov Gertz, CEO and co-founder. “We need to create a pipeline so that companies can actually use the models in their own R&D processes. We want to be able to integrate it and use it anywhere.We…
AI labs on the path to superintelligent systems are beginning to realize they may have to take a detour. According to several AI investors, founders, and CEOs who spoke to TechCrunch, the “laws of AI scaling” — the techniques and expectations labs have been using to improve the power of their models over the past five years — are: The company is currently showing signs of declining profits. Their sentiment reflects recent reports that model improvements within major AI labs are slower than in the past. Everyone agrees that you can't pre-train large language models while using more compute and…
London-based financial software company Finastra, which serves most of the world's top banks, says it is investigating a data breach after hackers claimed to have compromised its internal file transfer platform. I admitted it. In a statement given to TechCrunch, Finastra spokesperson Sofia Romano said the fintech giant announced on Nov. It admitted that it had detected “suspicious activity.” News of the breach was first reported by cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs, but someone sold stolen files purportedly belonging to Finastra's largest banking customers on a known cybercrime forum. It was announced after claiming that In a forum post that has…
Dual-use drone startup Tekever has raised €70 million ($74 million) for product development and expansion into new markets, particularly the United States. The news is part of a trend of small technology-driven startups moving into markets typically dominated by large “defense primes.” It also shows that unmanned drones are becoming much more sophisticated, due in part to the pace of development caused by the Ukraine war. Just last month, another European drone startup, Origin, raised funding for a precision attack drone system currently operating in the country. Tekever's funding round comes from Scottish investment firm Baillie Gifford & Company (which…
The UK no longer has a supercomputer in the top 50, according to new data from the Top500 project, which ranks the world's 500 most powerful non-distributed computer systems. Currently, the country's national supercomputer system, Archer2, is scheduled to reach the end of its useful life in 2026. According to the latest statistics, the system currently ranks 62nd in the world, down from 49th place in June and 38th place last November. The downturn comes shortly after the New Labor government shelved the previous government's plans to invest £800 million (about $1 billion) in a new “exascale” supercomputer at the…
The UK government has not ruled out further tightening existing online safety rules by adding an Australian-style social media ban for children under 16, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle has said. Back in the summer, the government may tighten laws on tech platforms following riots believed to have been fueled by online disinformation following the death of three girls in a knife attack. he warned. It has since emerged that some of those charged in the riot were minors, raising concerns about the influence of social media on sensitive and developing minds. Appearing on BBC Radio 4's Today program on Wednesday,…