Author: TechBrunch

The fintech sector, which saw strong growth during and immediately after the pandemic, had a pretty rough year in 2024, ending with the sudden closure of accounting startup Bench and its subsequent unexpected acquisition. Although the rapid pace of fundraising has slowed, some fintech companies continue to grow and expand their teams. To better understand how many fintech companies fit into this category, a few months ago I called up some fintech companies that were hiring. A little over an hour later, I had more than a dozen replies. Over 60 companies contacted us within a few days. The sheer…

If there was any doubt, the generative AI bubble did not burst in 2024. Investment in generative AI, which includes a variety of AI-powered apps, tools, and services that generate text, images, video, audio, music, and more, reached new heights last year. Generative AI companies around the world raised $56 billion from VC funding in 885 deals in 2024, according to data from financial tracker PitchBook compiled for TechCrunch. This raw cash total is a new record for the sector. And that's a 192% increase from 2023, when investors poured $29.1 billion into generative AI startups through 691 deals. “Funding…

Microsoft has earmarked $80 billion in fiscal year 2025 to build data centers designed to handle artificial intelligence workloads, according to a company blog post. Specifically, the tech giant plans to build AI-enabled data centers to “train AI models and deploy AI and cloud-based applications around the world.” More than half of that $80 billion allocation will be spent in the United States, according to Microsoft Vice Chairman and President Brad Smith. The tech giant's 2025 fiscal year ends in June. “As we look to the future, it is clear that artificial intelligence is poised to become the GPT that…

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sponsored a review of accessiBe, a startup that claims to make websites more compatible with screen readers used by visually impaired people to access the Internet. The company was fined for posting false advertisements without disclosing the facts and for rewarding reviewers. In the proposed order, the FTC would require accessiBe to pay $1 million, which can be used to refund money to its customers, and prohibit accessiBe from exaggerating the capabilities of its tools. The order would also require accessiBe to “clearly and conspicuously” highlight its connections to supporters of its services. “Companies…

Welcome to Startups Weekly — a weekly roundup of must-sees from the world of startups. Want it delivered to your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. Welcome to 2025! The first half of the week was relatively quiet in terms of startup announcements, but activity is already starting to pick up. We are also preparing for CES. If your hardware startup is participating, be sure to let us know. This week's most interesting startup stories Image credit: Bench Unlike other transactions, M&A activity did not stop. It didn't stop, at least not on purpose. Last-minute savings: Canadian accounting startup Bench,…

Hydrogen startups are widely seen as a promising way to eliminate fossil fuels from heavy industry and long-distance transportation. But they have been stuck in limbo for several years now, waiting for formal guidance from the U.S. Treasury on lucrative tax credits. Today, the wait is over as the Treasury Department releases final regulations making hydrogen producers eligible for tax credits under section 45V of the Suppression of Inflation Act. “We are grateful for the final rule,” Beth Dean, Electric Hydrogen's chief legal officer, told TechCrunch. “Without that, the industry is really at a standstill.” The rules, which took more…

PayPal is being sued by Nisha Desai, founder of venture firm Andav Capital, who says she was excluded from the payments giant's diversity and equity program because she is Asian, according to a lawsuit filed this week. claims. In 2020, PayPal committed $530 million to support more Black and minority-led businesses in response to Black Lives Matter. In the new lawsuit, Desai claims that her application for funding consideration was ignored because she is Asian because the program sought to focus only on Black and Hispanic businesses. It is claimed that According to PitchBook, Desai launched Andav Capital in 2018…

The US government has sanctioned a Beijing-based cybersecurity firm for its alleged ties to a Chinese government-backed hacking group tracked as Flax Typhoon. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Friday announced sanctions against Integrity Technology Group for its involvement in “multiple computer intrusion incidents against U.S. victims” involving U.S. critical infrastructure. The sanctions come months after the US government accused Integrity Technology, also known as Yongxin Zhicheng, of running a botnet associated with the Flax Typhoon hacking group. The botnet was dismantled by the FBI in a court-authorized operation in September and consisted of more than…

According to TechCrunch, Electra has raised $76.3 million to clean up the dirty steel industry. The startup has developed a new way to extract pure iron from low-grade ore using electricity, opening the door to cleaner steel. The new funding round, disclosed in a regulatory filing, aims to raise a total of $256.7 million. Today's iron production is highly polluted. The majority of emissions from steelmaking come from steel, which itself generates 7% of global carbon emissions. The main process used to make iron today, which involves burning fossil fuels and melting ore in scorching blast furnaces, has changed little…

An online gift card store in the United States has secured an online storage server that was exposing hundreds of thousands of its customers' government-issued identification cards to the Internet. A security researcher who goes by the online handle “JayeLTee” said late last year that his driver's licenses, passports and other forms of identification belonging to My GiftCardSupply, a company that sells digital gift cards that customers can redeem from popular brands or online, were stolen. I discovered a public storage server where it was stored. service. My GiftCardSupply's website states that as part of its compliance with US anti-money…