Author: TechBrunch

Last week was a tumultuous one for the fintech world, as Bolt stunned the industry with leaked term sheets revealing it was seeking to raise $200 million in equity and an unprecedented additional $250 million in “marketing credits.” As part of the deal, Bolt wanted a $14 billion valuation, bolstered by an aggressive takeover-style enforcement that would force existing investors to either pay more cash or essentially lose their shares in a deal worth 1 cent a share. The industry responded unanimously, “We'll look into that.” Brad Pamnani, the investor spearheading the proposed $200 million equity deal, told TechCrunch on…

Venture capitalists, eager to get their hands on some of the hottest companies, including AI companies, are increasingly buying shares of late-stage startups on the secondary market, but also through financial instruments called special purpose vehicles (SPVs). Some of these SPVs have become very popular and are commanding premium prices. That's good for the VCs selling the SPVs, but a riskier proposition for the buyers — and all of this is another sign that AI startups are brewing a bubble. In the secondary market, existing shareholders, such as employees of a startup or VCs who bought shares directly from the…

Startups across the board continue to face significant headwinds when it comes to venture capital funding, which only improved slightly in the second quarter from lows in the previous two quarters, according to Crunchbase. But there's one category that still seems to be opening doors and checkbooks: AI. The United States currently leads the world with nearly 30 artificial intelligence-related investments worth more than $100 million through 2024. But Europe is not far behind: According to our research, there were 14 $100 million-plus investments in European AI companies as of August, with one company attracting two investments. AI is a…

Mical Jeanlys-White founded WealthMore out of frustration. She spent years on Wall Street, developed products at American Express and was a Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase, where she realized the financial industry still had challenges when it came to helping consumers build and understand wealth. “70% of Americans can't afford a wealth advisor because of high account minimums and fees, yet those who have one grow their wealth 2x,” she told TechCrunch. “When I tried to find a wealth advisor, I had the same frustrating, underwhelming experience.” Her answer was to launch WealthMore, an investment platform that requires only a…

It’s been exactly two months since our last post on robotics jobs, and the world of automation continues to inspire and amaze with the rise of generative AI opening new avenues for human-robot collaboration. Judging by the situation, it seems like companies in this field can't hire enough people. This is a good problem for you, the robotics job seeker. If this is the way you choose to live your life, give yourself a pat on the back: there are people who want to hire you. As always, the most interesting thing about putting together this list is the breadth…

Tech billionaires are launching a “California Forever” project to build a new utopian city on land in the northern Bay Area. The project has been put on hold until 2026 and will likely be put to a local vote that year, but TechCrunch has learned that this isn't the only development project techies are working on. Marc Andreessen, an investor in the California Forever project, is also tied to another nearby development. His wife, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, is the daughter of Silicon Valley real estate mogul John Arrillaga Sr. and left land to her children in the same area where California…

Disappearing posts on social networks are useful if you're in the habit of deleting posts with third-party tools, or if the context of your post is short-lived. Earlier this month, Threads said it was only testing ephemeral posts as an internal prototype. But now the company told TechCrunch that it's testing posts that disappear within 24 hours with a limited number of users on the social network. The company didn't provide a statement, but a spokesperson said it's a new, casual way to share on Threads, and didn't clarify whether the experiment was geo-limited or who could enable such posts.…

Neel Mehta, the venture capitalist behind a series of property acquisitions on San Francisco's upscale Fillmore Street, made waves earlier this week when it was reported he was forcing a string of long-established local restaurants to close in order to make way for upscale retailers. For example, the San Francisco Chronicle spoke to the owner of Tenichi, a nearly 50-year-old neighborhood sushi restaurant that is being forced to vacate next month. “This is the exact opposite of what San Francisco does with long-established tenants,” the restaurant owner told the paper. “This guy is [Mehta] They are pushing us out.” But…

Colorful Capital, which was founded in 2022 to focus on investing in founders who identify as LGBTQIA+, is ending its fundraising efforts, according to an email reviewed by TechCrunch. It's unclear if the firm is shutting down for good. Colorful Capital co-founders William Burkhart and Megan Kashner declined to comment. A former employee who previously worked on the investment team, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, told TechCrunch that the fund was meant to be the firm's first, but Colorful has struggled to raise capital since it launched two years ago. At the time, the firm…

Andrew Ng is stepping down as CEO of Landing AI, the computer vision platform he founded in 2017. Former COO Dan Maloney will take over, and Ng will become chairman of the board, continue to help drive the technology and assist with “key decisions.” Ng, formerly of Google Brain, Coursera, and Baidu, has hardly stayed in the same position, and it's probably no coincidence that his AI Fund just announced plans to raise another $120 million. Perhaps he's just choosing to focus on investing for now, but these executive shakeups often precede other big news, so keep an eye out…