Author: TechBrunch

Uzum, an e-commerce startup providing online shopping, fintech and food delivery to millions of customers in Uzbekistan, raises $114 million in funding and becomes the country's first unicorn with a valuation of $1.16 billion It became. Uzbekistan is fertile ground for startups, given the fact that around 60% of the country's population of over 35 million people are under the age of 30. The country also boasts a near 100% literacy rate (according to the government), an internet penetration rate of over 76%, and a smartphone penetration rate of over 75%. In 2020, the Central Asian country had nearly 1,200…

Here's the hard truth behind personal care products: People mainly buy water and plastic. Water is by far the main ingredient in shampoo and shower gel bottles. Contains plenty of active ingredients. And because it's a “premix” product, companies spend a lot of money on plastic bottles to get those products down the toilet. French startup 900.care wants to try something new. Rather than buying a new bottle of shower gel every time you need it, this startup focuses on active ingredients. When you place your first order, you will receive an empty reusable plastic bottle with a pump. Place…

Last year, Salesforce, best known for its cloud sales support software (and Slack), led a project called ProGen that uses generative AI to design proteins. If his research moonshot, ProGen, comes to market, it could help find treatments that are more cost-effective than traditional methods, the researchers behind it say in his 2023 research moonshot. I made this claim in a blog post in January. ProGen culminated with the publication of research results in the journal Nature Biotech showing that AI can successfully create 3D structures for artificial proteins. But outside of the paper, the project didn't have much significance…

Maju Kuruvilla is no longer the CEO of one-click checkout company Bolt. He will be replaced as interim CEO by Bolt's head of global sales, Justin Grooms, according to Grooms' LinkedIn profile. Kuruvilla didn't say much about the change, but confirmed it on both LinkedIn and X by simply posting, “Checkout with one click.” @bolt! Forward,” he wrote with a rocket emoji. (He declined to comment further.) Commenting on his LinkedIn post, Arjun Sethi, co-founder of venture firm Tribe Capital, said he and the executive were “great to work with.'' It was wonderful.” The Bolt board of directors voted to…

There are countless reasons why home robots have had little success since Roomba. Price, practicality, form factor, and mapping all contribute to failure after failure. Even if some or all of them are resolved, the question remains: what happens when the system makes the inevitable mistakes? This is also a source of friction at the industry level, but large companies have the resources to respond appropriately when problems arise. But you can't expect consumers to learn programming or hire someone to help them whenever a problem arises. Thankfully, this is an excellent example of the use of his LLM (Large-Scale…

Noisy recordings of interviews and speeches are the bane of any audio engineer's existence. But a German startup hopes to solve this problem with a unique technological approach that uses generative AI to improve the clarity of audio in videos. Today, AI-coustics has emerged from stealth with €1.9 million in funding. According to co-founder and CEO Fabian Seipel, AI-coustics' technology goes beyond standard noise suppression and works across and in conjunction with any device or speaker. “Our core mission is to make every digital interaction – whether it's a conference call, a consumer device, or a casual social media video…

Global Screening Services (GSS), a London-based regulatory compliance platform that helps financial institutions meet global sanctions obligations, has raised $47 million in a funding round. The increase comes amid a surge in economic sanctions, with the United States imposing trade restrictions and asset blockades on countries including Russia, China, and Iran. execution Tom Scampion, co-founder and CEO of GSS, previously served as head of financial crime for Deloitte's EMEA division, leaving the firm in 2020 to become general partner at consulting firm AlixPartner. It became. GSS was originally founded there and spun out as an independent entity in 2021. In…

initial round table Sponsored by: 9point8 Collective and OrrickTime: April 24th, 4pm to 6:30pmDescription: Join 9point8 Collective and Orrick for a roundtable focused on accelerating early-stage startups. Attendees will hear from serial entrepreneurs and investors about various aspects of startup success, including going to market, cap table management, growth and expansion, and exit management. Roundtables will be held in conjunction with the main panel, along with audience Q&A and group participation.Register here Founders Happy Hour with Vouch, Remofirst and SVB Sponsored by: Vouch, Remofirst, SVBTime: April 24th from 6pm to 9pmDescription: If you're in town to attend TechCrunch Early Stage…

Last week's Reddit and Astera Labs IPOs consumed a lot of media oxygen. And for good reason: the two tech IPOs were priced high and traded even more actively. The discovery of two major multibillion-dollar products in the same week is part of a long-awaited victory for private market technology companies after a long shortage of technology products. I breathed a sigh of relief. But last week, Trump Media and Technology Group, the company behind Truth Social, offered a different service from a technology perspective. You can read more about it here on TechCrunch, but the gist is that after…

The British government blamed China for a 2021 cyberattack that compromised the personal information of millions of British voters. British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said in a statement to MPs in Parliament on Monday that the 2021 Electoral Commission data breach was the work of hackers working for the Chinese government. Mr Dowden told MPs that the UK government “will not hesitate to take swift and strong action when the Chinese government threatens our interests”. This is the first time the UK has revealed the cause of the breach since the cyberattack was first revealed in 2023. The Electoral…