TechCrunch Startup News

The startup was started earlier this year by Yang Fan Yun and Charlie Deane. Yun is a former product manager at Uber, while Deane founded a company selling server proxies. When he was at Uber, he realized that a lot of people around him were doing grunt work in their browsers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Periodic Labs was founded by Ekin Dogus Cubuk and Liam Fedus. Cubuk led the materials and chemistry team at Google Brain and DeepMind, where one of his projects was, for instance, an AI tool called GNoME. Researchers say that tool discovered over 2 million new crystals in 2023, materials that could one day be used to power new generations of technology.  Whoop Advanced Labs offers health-screening blood tests from Quest Diagnostics that cover a variety of markers, from calcium to white blood cells. The platform integrates those results with the band’s continuous monitoring of activity, sleep, respiratory rate, and blood pressure to offer more personalized wellness advice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

CommanderAI launched in early 2024 as a customer relationship manager and sales prospecting platform built for waste management — and other industrial services like dumpster rentals and industrial recyclers – to fill that gap.   Also, Silicon Valley-based Cerebras announced it raised a $1.1 billion Series G round on Tuesday that valued the AI hardware company at $8.1 billion. The round was co-led by Fidelity and Atreides Management with participation from Tiger Global, Valor Equity Partners, and 1789 Capital, among others.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s no secret that vibe coding — using AI-powered coding tools to build apps and websites via natural language prompts — is exploding in popularity. In July, Swedish vibe coding startup Lovable hit $100 million in annual recurring revenue just eight months after launch, plans to close the year at $250 million ARR and thinks it will hit $1 billion ARR within the next 12 months. Meanwhile, Replit said earlier this month that its ARR soared from $2.8 million to $150 million in less than a year. Also, job seekers in all fields can expect to soon be doing a lot more initial screening interviews. While that may sound like positive news, it doesn’t mean that there will suddenly be more open positions. Instead, recruiters, often bogged down with determining which applicants are qualified for the next round, will outsource the routine screening tasks — like checking backgrounds, salary needs, and availability — to (you guessed it) AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Polars, the Amsterdam-based company behind the popular open source project of the same name, has raised about $21 million in a Series A round led by Accel, with participation from Bain Capital Partners and angel investors. But while raising this kind of money is the dream of many developers, its creator Ritchie Vink didn’t set out to do so. Also, making democracy work isn’t easy, as recent events have made clear. Some critics would argue that technology is making it worse. But one startup is hoping that AI could help bridge some differences instead of widen them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Paid just closed an oversubscribed $21.6 million seed round led by Lightspeed. With the €10 million pre-seed round it raised in March, London-based Paid has already raised $33.3 million and hasn’t even hit its Series A yet. A source familiar with the deal says the startup’s valuation is over $100 million. Also, despite millions spent on financial software, many finance teams still rely on Excel to close their books and reconcile numbers while preparing them for audit. Two former Microsoft executives view it as a problem — and they have started Maximor to replace spreadsheets with AI agents for the grunt work finance teams perform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Y Combinator startup, Burnt, is revolutionizing the food supply chain with AI agents aimed at automating back-office tasks, receiving backing from Steph Curry’s VC firm. Meanwhile, Doorstep is tackling the frustrating issue of missed food deliveries by using phone sensors to track drivers indoors, raising $8M in seed funding to enhance its tech. With a focus on real-time validation and privacy, both startups are poised to reshape the logistics of food distribution in a trillion-dollar market.

Starpath has launched its Starlight solar panels, boasting prices nearly 90% lower than the industry standard. The innovative production process is automated, potentially exceeding current space-rated solar supply. Their ambitious goals include supporting extraterrestrial cities on the Moon and Mars, where conventional options fall short. Savings are significant, allowing satellite power systems to be built for a fraction of the cost. With a scalable roadmap aiming for 40 gigawatts a year, Starpath is poised to revolutionize space energy.

A hardware startup is spinning off its affordable device brand, CMF, into an independent entity based in India, focusing on low-cost tech like earbuds and smartphones. Meanwhile, Y Combinator introduces a new track called Early Decision, allowing students to secure funding for their startups while still in school. Rather than dropping out, students can defer participation until after graduation, aiming to shift the startup narrative away from the dropout myth and attract a diverse pool of aspiring founders.

Cohere has hit a remarkable $7 billion valuation after raising another $100 million. The AI model-maker is now partnering with AMD, enabling its models to run on Instinct GPUs. Meanwhile, Waymo is venturing into corporate travel with its new 'Waymo for Business' service, which allows companies to set up accounts for employee access to robotaxis. The service comes with features like subsidized rides and geographic monitoring, aiming to compete head-to-head with traditional transportation services like Uber and Lyft.