Author: TechBrunch

Archon Biosciences, a biotech startup that uses AI to design new biomolecules, just emerged from stealth with an impressive $20 million in seed funding. The company aims to enhance antibody treatments using specially designed protein “cages” that double their effectiveness and open new opportunities for drug development. It is the first company to be formed independently of the Baker Institute, a research institute at the University of Washington directed by pioneering computational biologist and recent Nobel Prize winner David Baker. His team's research into generative protein design using AI and other means is fundamental to a rapidly evolving industry, and…

Swiggy, one of India's largest food delivery and quick commerce startups, is seeking a valuation of up to $11.3 billion in its initial public offering, which would represent a 57% discount to Zomato's market capitalization. The loss-making Bengaluru-based company has set an IPO price band of 371 to 390 rupees ($4.41 to $4.64) per share for next month's IPO. At the high end, this valuation represents only a small premium to the company's private market value of $10.7 billion in early 2022, and falls short of recent valuations by mutual fund investors Invesco and Baron. Swiggy aims to raise $1.34…

Meesho became India's first horizontal e-commerce company to generate positive cash flow, disrupting a market that had long remained unprofitable despite the emergence of new competitive threats. The SoftBank and Prosus-backed startup serves customers in India's smaller cities and towns and has a positive revenue of 232 million rupees ($27.6 million) in the fiscal year ending March 2024. Reported operating cash flow, operating revenue increased by 33% to 761.5 billion rupees ($905.6 million). Adjusted losses fell by 97% from Rs 1,569 billion to just Rs 53 billion. Meesho's growth still outpaces the surge in e-commerce in India. Analysts at Bank…

African venture capital firm Django Capital has closed its second fund with €73 million ($78 million), 20% more than its initial target of €60 million ($63 million). The firm has secured limited partners including the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), and achieved the fund's first close in 2022 at €26 million. Both anchor investors also participated in the fund's second closing, Janngo Capital founder Fatoumata Bâ told TechCrunch. Other institutional investors are also participating, including three with African mandates: the Mastercard Foundation African Growth Fund, Tunisia's Fund of Funds ANAVA, and Ghana-based university Assisi…

It's finally time to announce the five finalists of Startup Battlefield. It all started earlier this year, when the TechCrunch editorial team selected 200 companies from thousands of companies that applied. From there, the team selected 20 finalists who took to the stage this week at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 in front of a jury of investors and a packed audience. This year's finalists will follow in the footsteps of Startup Battlefield legends like Dropbox, Discord, Cloudflare, Mint, and more on the Disrupt Stage. With more than 1,500 alumni participating in the program, Startup Battlefield Alumni has collectively raised more than…

iPod developer Nest Labs founder and investor Tony Fadell attacked OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Tuesday during a lively interview at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 in San Francisco. Commenting on the long history of AI development prior to the LLM epidemic and understanding the serious issues surrounding LLM hallucinations, he said: Not Sam Altman, okay? ” The comment drew surprised “oohs” from the shocked crowd, amid a handful of applause. Mr. Fadel was on a roll throughout the interview, touching on topics ranging from what kind of “holes” can create great products to what's wrong with LLMs today. While he acknowledged…

Tony Fadell, the father of the iPod and founder of Nest, took to the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 on Tuesday to talk about how mission-driven a**holes are needed to build the next generation of deep tech startups. The entrepreneur and investor didn't hold back on stage to shout out Silicon Valley's rights and mock LLMs for being “know-it-alls,” sparking waves of laughter and applause throughout the packed venue. . Fadel explained why he believes “mission-driven a**holes are a good thing and, in fact, necessary to create and ship world-class technology products.” “People work with very difficult people, and they…

The rise of modern AI applications has once again emphasized the importance of supporting data. However, simply having data is not enough. You also need tools to manage and protect data and build pipelines that flow between applications. Watch our conversation with Datastax Chairman and CEO, NEA Partner Vanessa Larco, and Fivetran CEO George. Fraser, leaders working to build tools that enable new data pipelines. Subscribe for more on YouTube: https://tcrn.ch/youtube Follow TechCrunch on Instagram: http://tcrn.ch/instagramTikTok: https://tcrn.ch/tiktokX: tcrn.ch/xThread: https://tcrn.ch/threadsFacebook: https://tcrn.ch/facebookBluesky: https://tcrn.ch/blueskyMastodon: https://tcrn.ch/mstdnRead more: https://techcrunch.com/ Source link

A clear and compelling pitch presentation is critical to successful fundraising, but it's relatively rare for founders to get candid feedback about how they communicated their problem, solution, and path to success. is. During the pitch deck breakdown, Index Ventures Partner Sofia Dolfe, Lux Capital General Partner Deena Shakir, and Greycroft Partner Marcie Vu provided live feedback on decks submitted by viewers. Subscribe for more on YouTube: https://tcrn.ch/youtube Follow TechCrunch on Instagram: http://tcrn.ch/instagramTikTok: https://tcrn.ch/tiktokX: tcrn.ch/xThread: https://tcrn.ch/threadsFacebook: https://tcrn.ch/facebookBluesky: https://tcrn.ch/blueskyMastodon: https://tcrn.ch/mstdnRead more: https://techcrunch.com/ Source link

Ashton Kutcher's VC firm Sound Ventures (co-led by general partners Guy Oseary and Effie Epstein) is betting on AI, including an investment in Fei-Fei Li's World Labs. investors confirmed on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 on Tuesday. The startup, founded by Professor Lee of Stanford University, known as the “Godmother of AI,” has already raised $230 million from investors including a16z, NEA, and Radical Ventures, and is valued at more than $1 billion. It is evaluated as. The company aims to develop “big world models” that can understand and interact with 3D worlds, and is targeting game companies and movie…