Industry News
Disrupt 2024 speaker applications close at midnight
Act fast! Applications for our Call for Content close today, April 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT. If you’re a seasoned startup pro ready to lead a session at TechCrunch Disrupt on October 28-30, now’s your chance to apply! Send in your proposal to speak at TechC…
Pitch Deck Teardown: NOQX’s $200K pre-seed deck
Aside from the crucial omission of an Ask and Use of Funds slide, just about every slide in the deck felt almost very good — but then stumbled by overlooking an important detail.
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OpenAI Startup Fund quietly raises $15M
The OpenAI Startup Fund, a venture fund related to — but technically separate from — OpenAI that invests in early-stage, typically AI-related companies across education, law, and the sciences, has quietly closed a $15 million tranche. Accor…
Google’s new ‘Speaking practice’ feature uses AI to help users improve their English skills
Google is testing a new “Speaking practice” feature in Search that helps users improve their conversational English skills. The company told TechCrunch that the feature is available to English learners in Argentina, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, …
Area man, Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson, buys The Onion
Jeff Lawson, the co-founder and recently departed CEO of enterprise infrastructure software company Twilio, is the proud new owner of satirical online newspaper The Onion. “Alright, the news is out — yes, I bought The Onion,” Lawson w…
Despite complaints, Apple hasn’t yet removed an obviously fake app pretending to be RockAuto
Apple’s App Store isn’t always as trustworthy as the company claims. The latest example comes from RockAuto, an auto parts dealer popular with home mechanics and other DIYers, which is upset that a fake app masquerading as its official app…
Good news for Rubrik, bad news for TikTok, and medium news for Early Stage startups
Rubrik’s strong IPO pricing and warm reception by the public markets after its listing add more weight to the perspective that the public markets are not as closed to tech startups as some thought. If Rubrik’s result isn’t enough to break the logjam, w…
Thoma Bravo to take UK cybersecurity company Darktrace private in $5B deal
Darktrace is set to go private in a deal that values the U.K.-based cybersecurity giant at around $5 billion. A newly-formed entity called Luke Bidco Ltd, formed by private equity giant Thoma Bravo, has tabled an all-cash bid of £6.20 ($7.75) per share…
Global Founders Capital will deploy Rocket Internet’s cash instead of raising a new fund
Global Founders Capital, the Berlin-based early stage VC firm with close ties to the German startup factory Rocket Internet, is going to become the venture arm of Rocket Internet. The VC previously raised two $1 billion funds and, just a few years ago,…