Author: TechBrunch
Brian Onell's father was a locksmith. As for One, he described himself as a digital equivalent. Ethical hacking was growing in One's hobby. He studied AI in college and changed his hacking hobby into a profession. “I spent 10 years with over 150 companies in all sectors,” One told TechCrunch, adding that it continues to easily infiltrate businesses that have passed security checks. One has noticed that security often falls within two parentheses. He said it was painful but effective, or it was painless but ineffective. Most companies did the bare minimum in cybersecurity and compliance, as they often required…
Sheel Mohnot, co-founder and general partner of Better Tomorrow Ventures (BTV), has one simple answer for those who claim that Fintech's investment has lost some of its appeal. “The financial world is huge. Approximately 20% of global GDP is financial services, and yet not digital,” he told TechCrunch. Many financial transactions are still being processed manually, and Better Tomorrow Ventures, led by Mohnot (a former general partner at 500 startups) and co-founder of Nerdwallet, Jake Gibson, is looking to help change that. “The opportunities for digitalization at scale are still ahead of us,” Monot told TechCrunch. The company's limited partner…
Earlier this year, Anker, a Chinese company that manufactures eufy security cameras, provided money to users in exchange for packages and video of theft of cars. The popular internet-connected security camera maker said paying customers $2 per video to train their AI systems will help them better detect thieves stealing cars and packages. “We are looking for videos of both real and stage events to ensure sufficient data. “You can also create events by pretending to be a burglar and donate those events,” the website reads. “You can complete this quickly. Maybe it's efficient and easy as you can capture…
On Tuesday, the new SPAC of VC and all-in-podcast host Chamath Palihapitiya became the public company. Called the lofty name “American Exceptionalism,” it raised $345 million on its mission to acquire one or more startups in the fields of energy, AI, cryptography/defi or defense, and convert those companies into publicly available entities. However, Palihapitiya wants retail investors to know. He strongly recommends not buying shares despite booking just 1% to trade in the open market for retail investors, but 98.7% is already sold to large, hand-picked institutions. “I want to ease retail investors' involvement in Spack,” he posted to X,…
Exit planning is no longer an option. This is an essential conversation during the publication stage of TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, which will take place in Moscon West, San Francisco from October 27th-29th. Whether you're already focusing on liquidity events or beginning to expand, this is your chance to hear what top VCs and operators are looking for, and how to set up a company for long-term success. The best three people in the business – Renegade partner Roseanne Wincek, Jai Das of Sapphire Ventures and Dan Springer, former CEO of Docusign and longtime Silicon Valley operators, will destroy the decision-making…
Last month, pay and HR software company Gusto announced it had agreed to obtain guidelines, a startup offering retirement plans to small businesses. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, but Gusto paid around $600 million, according to sources familiar with the transaction, but TechCrunch couldn't confirm how much cash or how much stock of this was. The guidelines were last valued at $115 billion when they raised a $200 million Series D funding round in 2021. Since its founding in 2015, it has raised a total of $340 million. While the acquisition price is below the startup's…
AI doesn't just crunch data. It helps humans dream bigger. In 2025, three leaders from TechCrunch, Twelvelabs, Wonder Dynamics (Autodesk Company) and Pocket Entertainment will explore how machines are co-creators in storytelling, film and media at the intersection of creativity and AI. Together, they dive into how AI blurs the line between artists and algorithms, shapes storytelling, and opens new creative frontiers. Join us in this AI-focused discussion. Only participate in the AI stage with over 10,000 startup leaders, VCS and Tech Innovators, and only in the AI stage of Disrupt. Get a 20% discount on your group pass by…
Mike Plitkov said he knows what it's like to carry on your life in stress. He said he worked long hours and gained weight while building his first company. After leaving his company (Adtech company called Appness), he said he tried a lot to lose the pound: extreme training, calorie tracking, fasting. “Consistency was a difficult part while it was working,” he told TechCrunch. What he really wanted was a coach to hold him accountable, he said. So in 2019 he launched Simple, a health coaching app with AI to help people lose weight. Then, in 2023, he added that…
According to the financial era, where British officials allegedly filed a new secret order requesting the construction of a backdoor, the UK government is trying to gain access to encrypted iCloud data. On Wednesday, a British newspaper reported that the Home Office had sent an order to Apple in the beginning of September, requesting that the tech giant create a system that would allow officials to access encrypted cloud backups of British citizens. Privacy activists warn that compliance with such orders is a mistake, and that anything that affects the privacy of users around the world is a mistake. Apple…
Westjet, Canada's second-largest airline, said the personal information of 1.2 million passengers was stolen earlier this year in cyberattacks and data breaches. The airline has revealed the number of passengers affected by a submission to the Maine Attorney General. According to the notice, the stolen data may include passenger names, date of birth, postal address, and travel documents including passports and government-issued identity documents, as well as other passenger accommodations such as requests and complaints. Westjet said information related to customer compensation may also be taken, such as point balances and other information related to compensation accounts. The Canadian airline…