Author: TechBrunch

The global assistive technology market was valued at over $22 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow significantly by 2030. Despite the potential for market size, many founders are projected to build technology to help people with disabilities struggle to secure the early funding needed to acquire the company first. Adaptation Ventures is a new angel group that hopes to bridge the funding gap by providing capital to early-stage startups building accessibility technologies. Help startups build technology specifically for people with disabilities and companies with products designed for the broader market. The company was co-founded by married couples Brittany…

South Loop Ventures, a Houston-based venture company, has announced a $21 million Fund I. Rice Management Company and Chevron Technology Ventures served as anchor investors. Launched in 2022, the company focuses on seeds and pre-seed companies, with an average check size of $400,000. I also want to focus primarily on supporting the founders of Color. Zac Ellis, the company's founder and managing director, spoke to TechCrunch about his final ending. He said the fund is common and will invest in founders across the country, but prefers sectors that “reflect Houston's industrial capabilities” such as healthcare, energy, space and climate. The…

“I have a pretty wild story to tell you,” early YouTube star Caspar Lee says on Tiktok. He goes on to talk about how the startup founder slipped into his LinkedIn DMS on a pitch about an eco-friendly deodorant called Wild. He initially ignored the message, but his cousin Sasha Karetzky (the Bridgepoint investor at the time) asked Lee if he and the other creators would like to join the seed round. In April this year, about five and a half years later, Wild was sold to Unilever for £233 million, or about $286 million. Wild is just the tip…

A federal judge is asking Apple to either approve Fortnite's filing in the US app store or return to court to explain legal grounds as to why it has not done so. In a new submission, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers confirms that the court has received the latest moves in the epic game, where Apple demands that Fortnite be approved for distribution in the App Store. The clearly annoyed judge asks Apple to show the court “the legal authority to assert that Apple can ignore this court's order.” Gonzalez Rogers also suggests that Apple will need to return…

Spotify announced on Monday that Apple will approve a new app update, allowing US iPhone users to purchase individual audiobooks directly within the app. Users can also view the audiobook prices and easily purchase additional listening time for the first 15 hours or more. “The change will lower the barriers to accepting the first or tenth audiobook for more users, allowing publishers and authors to reach fans and seamlessly access to new audiences,” the company wrote in its announcement. The much-anticipated update follows a recent US court ruling that ordered Apple to suspend claims for purchases made outside the App…

Current economic uncertainty and geopolitical challenges have made it more difficult recently to secure funding for Asian startups. Venture capital companies have also been affected by the recession, leading to a decline in the number of funds that have been closed. The VC market is “passing” [one of its] Akio Tanaka, co-founder and partner of Headline Asia, a VC company based in Tokyo and Taipei, told TechCrunch in an interview. However, funds are still closed. Headline Asia said Tuesday it completed Headline Asia Fund V, one of its biggest funds to date. (The headline previously said it targets the fund's…

Google officially released the NotebookLM app for Android one day before Google I/O 2025 and one day before the company said it would be deployed. Since its launch in 2023, AI-based note-taking and research assistants are only accessible via the desktop. Google is currently making its services available on the go. The iOS app is scheduled to launch on Tuesday. NoteBookLM is designed to help people better understand complex information through features such as smart summaries and the ability to ask questions about documents and other materials. Image credit: Google The Android app gives you access to an overview of…

The trio's phone surveillance app, which won spy on millions of people's phones earlier this year, has gone offline. Cocospy, Spyic, and Spyzie are three almost identical but different branded stalkerwear apps that allow you to plant one of the apps in your personal data on your target phone. This is usually without the person's knowledge, such as messages, photos, call logs, real-time location data. Stalkerware apps such as Cocospy and its clones are designed to remain hidden from the device's home screen, making apps difficult for victims to detect, but they allow the apps to be continuously available to…

Microsoft is removing onboarding fees for developers in the Microsoft Store on Windows, the flagship operating system's digital distribution platform. Starting in June 2025, individual developers will be able to sign up and publish apps to the Microsoft Store without paying to register an account. Previously, Microsoft would charge around $19 for registration. The release fee exemption for Microsoft Store apps is due to the face of intense legal pressure to eliminate certain developer fees that Microsoft rival Apple charges in the App Store. These fees are fees. Apple charges an annual fee of $99 for developers to publish on…

Microsoft launches a new API for Edge, a web browser, allowing developers to incorporate AI capabilities into their web apps using the built-in model in Edge. The AI ​​API announced at Build 2025 mirrors some of Google Chrome's features. It also offers “built-in AI” that allows developers to tap to power web applications. Microsoft's move suggests they are keen to offer competitors. Edge's new API provides website and Edge Browser extension access to the Phi 4 Mini, an AI model released by Microsoft in late February. Microsoft said the Phi 4 Mini is excellent at math problems and is therefore…