Author: TechBrunch
In the current funding environment, it's not every day you hear about a French startup raising a big funding round, but Neat, a Paris-based insurtech startup, has managed to raise €50 million (about $55 million at current exchange rates). There are some fine print, though: In addition to a traditional equity-for-cash financing deal, part of this funding round is a debt facility. The company says it's about 60% equity and 40% debt, so it's essentially a €30 million round with an additional €20 million in debt. Neat helps other companies sell insurance products to their own customers, focusing on affinity…
Hormones play a big role in when and how easily a woman can get pregnant, but there's a lack of research and resources in this area – something Mila wants to change. Mira is a palm-sized, at-home hormone testing device that women use to test hormone levels in their urine. Mira's companion app deciphers the test results and finds patterns, helping women better plan the right time to try to conceive or know when to consult a doctor about potential issues. Mira co-founder and CEO Sylvia Kang said on a recent episode of TechCrunch's podcast “Found” that she was inspired…
Apple's relationship with Google as its search partner has taken a new turn as Apple introduced visual search, or “visual intelligence” as the company dubbed it, at yesterday's iPhone 16 launch event. Apple already pays Alphabet roughly $20 billion per year to make Google the default search engine on its Safari browser. iPhone 16 users will now be able to access Google's search engine and its visual search capabilities with just a click of the device's new camera control button. OpenAI's ChatGPT, which will be accessible via Siri, was also featured as a third-party partner in the demo, allowing users…
Apple's relationship with Google as its search partner is taking a new turn with the company's introduction of visual search, or “Visual Intelligence,” as the company announced it at its “Glowtime” event on Monday. Apple already pays Alphabet roughly $20 billion a year to make Google the default search engine in its Safari browser. iPhone 16 users will be able to access Google's search engine, and its visual search capabilities, with a click of the device's new camera control button. OpenAI's ChatGPT, which will be accessible via Siri, was also featured as a third-party partner in the demo, allowing users…
Cities spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year on paratransit services, or public transportation for people with disabilities, but these services remain limited and unpredictable. Wheelchair users are often late for pick-ups and may miss work or medical appointments. As the population ages, the strain on these services and city budgets continues to grow. Vancouver-based startup Spare claims it is applying cutting-edge technology to improve cities' paratransit systems and add more on-demand services. The company's software-as-a-service platform integrates different types of local transportation services, such as wheelchair-accessible paratransit services, local on-demand microtransit operators, and even ride-hailing services like Uber…
In the pharmaceutical industry, companies aim to operate according to GMP guidelines, a set of production and manufacturing procedures to ensure drug standards. However, the reality is often quite different. “Officially, GMP stands for 'Good Manufacturing Practice,'” says Dr. David Schneider, founder and CEO of Qualifyze, “but some people joke that it actually stands for 'Give Me Paper,' because everything in the pharmaceutical industry is paper-based.” The quote and wry joke highlight a problem in the pharmaceutical industry and Schneider's efforts to solve it through Qualifyze. The Frankfurt-based startup has built a network of quality assurance experts and a large…
What does it take for a startup to have an impact on climate change? According to the new report, the most promising candidates tend to be hardware startups that have spent years developing and proving their technology, and also have an advantage because they specialize in energy or raw materials. The report, published by Congruent Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank, surveyed more than 50 experts from academia, finance and the private sector to compile a list of 50 North American companies across four categories: agriculture and food, energy, buildings and mobility, and manufacturing and materials. Of the 50 finalists, the…
Can AI completely replace human translators? Probably not. AI translations tend to lack the lexical richness of human-translated translations, mainly because AI models make choices based on probability rather than real-world experience. While AI can certainly produce “accurate” translations, those translations will lack the spice of life that a textbook version of the original might have. For many companies, accuracy is what they want, making the AI translation field an attractive field. Founded in 2016, Smartcat is one vendor that offers automated translation tools for businesses, and Ivan Smolnikov, co-founder and CEO of Smartcat, says business is booming. “We have…
The Threads team hasn't yet committed to developing a separate inbox or direct messaging system for the social network, despite user requests, and will continue to use Instagram's inbox, although the company may make it easier to send messages to Instagram from the Threads app. App researcher Adwaith Varma posted an unannounced Threads feature on Threads, highlighting a new message button on users' profiles: Tapping on that button will reveal a text box and send button, allowing you to quickly send a message to someone's Instagram inbox. Threads confirmed to TechCrunch that this is a public test with a limited…
A love of food, and of course cheese, has led co-founder Roman Plewka and his team at German fermentation startup Formo to secure a massive $61 million Series B funding round to continue scaling their climate-friendly, animal-free cheese production. The Berlin-based startup's first product is based on koji protein, a type of fungal microorganism that has been used for millennia in Asian dishes such as miso and soy sauce. While koji is an ancient ingredient, Formo claims to be the first fermentation startup that can use it to industrially produce dairy-free cheese. The problem is, the words “vegan cheese” can…