Daily Crunch: Starting today, personal Google Account holders can sign in without a password
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here. Wednesday is here, and we’re still getting excited about Disrupt later in the year. African startups: We’d love for you to apply to Startup Battlefield 200, and we’ve also opened our sale […]
Ask Sophie: Will I be allowed into the U.S. if my passport expires in 5 months?
Sophie Alcorn Contributor Share on Twitter Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives. More posts by this contributor Ask Sophie: My […]
AI-powered supply chain startup Pando lands $30M investment
Signaling that investments in the supply chain sector remain robust, Pando, a startup developing fulfillment management technologies, today announced that it raised $30 million in a Series B round, bringing its total raised to $45 million. Iron Pillar and Uncorrelated Ventures led the round, with participation from existing investors Nexus Venture Partners, Chiratae Ventures and […]
Bend is taking on Brex and Ramp with a green twist and a $2.5M seed round
When the SEC announced that it planned to require companies under its purview to disclose their climate-related risks and emissions, plenty of companies started publicly clutching their pearls. Tracking down the extent of their pollution would simply be either too expensive, too difficult or both, they said. No surprise there: Companies strike a similar tone […]
Four investors explain why AI ethics can’t be an afterthought
Billions of dollars are flooding into AI. Yet, AI models are already being affected by prejudice, as evidenced by mortgage discrimination toward Black prospective homeowners. It’s reasonable to ask what role ethics plays in the building of this technology and, perhaps more importantly, where investors fit in as they rush to fund it. A founder […]
Databricks acquires AI-centric data governance platform Okera
Databricks today announced that it has acquired Okera, a data governance platform with a focus on AI. The two companies did not disclose the purchase price. According to Crunchbase, Okera previously raised just under $30 million. Investors include Felicis, Bessemer Venture Partners, Cyber Mentor Fund, ClearSky and Emergent Ventures. Data governance was already a hot […]
Down rounds are prevailing as power shifts to VCs again
It appears things are not going well for startups these days. Down rounds, or a funding round in which a startup raises capital at a lower valuation than its last investment, have become more common than the venture community has seen in nearly half a decade. According to data from Carta, down rounds nearly quadrupled […]
Nova is building guardrails for generative AI content to protect brand integrity
As brands incorporate generative AI into their creative workflows to generate new content associated with the company, they need to tread carefully to be sure that the new material adheres to the company’s style and brand guidelines. Nova is an early-stage startup building a suite of generative AI tools designed to protect brand integrity, and […]
Former NBA star Rick Fox’s startup gets $10M pre-seed for concrete that removes CO2
No doubt that Rick Fox has had plenty of emotional moments in his life. There was the birth of his children, of course, and as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the early 2000s, he won three NBA championships. But last week, it’s clear that his third act — that of a startup […]
Microsoft launches Pegasus program for startups, awarding up to $350,000 in credits
Microsoft is extending the Startup Founders Hub, its self-service platform that provides founders with free resources including Azure credits, with a new incubator program called the Pegasus Program. Pegasus will select startups with products that “fill a market need” and give them up to $350,000 in Azure, GitHub and LinkedIn credits plus backing from advisors, […]
