Startups

A slew of consumer tech and companies focused on consumer packaged goods (CPG) have gobbled up venture capital in the past year. Keychain, Harmonya, Highlight, Ramani, SupplyPike, Vividly and Turing Labs, just to name a few, captured investor attention for their technologies. Companies weren't

Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander is still operating on orbit, with the company saying there is “growing optimism” that the spacecraft could survive in space longer than the current estimate. The Pittsburgh-based startup has been releasing a series of updates to social media platform X si

A year ago, at CES, I broke out the snark-hammer at 444, a startup that was trying to make a “smart” pepper spray device. I came across the same company again at CES this year. To my surprise, it had landed a significant partnership, co-development and co-branding deal with Mace, one of

Memphis-based Dextrous Robotics is calling it a day. The news, noted by the Robot Report, was confirmed by the warehouse robotics firm's CEO, Evan Drumwright, on LinkedIn. The executive spells out the company's fate at the top of the post, noting, “Put simply, we adopted an aggressive tra

Video calls, while essential, often lack the naturalness of in-person conversations, causing fatigue and reduced engagement. There are a ton of tools out there that help you keep eye contact when talking with people online — some (Plexicam, CenterCam) place the camera in front of your screen.

Low-code dev platforms have gained momentum in recent years, in large part because they promise to shorten what’s otherwise typically a lengthy app development cycle. According to data from analytics firm GlobalData, there was a fivefold increase in VC funding into low-code dev platforms from

Tim Schaecker, a TikToker with 8.8 million followers and a member of the German boy band Elevator Boys, officially launched today a new social networking app in an effort to encourage other content creators to connect with their communities in a deeper way and rethink social media and the creator e

BlackRock has yet again cut the value of its holding in Byju’s, slashing the implied valuation of the Indian startup to about $1 billion from $22 billion in early 2022, according to disclosures made by the asset manager. At the end of October last year, BlackRock said it valued Byju’s

Just how backed up are the venture capital markets today? Imagine a traffic jam in which every car is worth a billion dollars of illiquid capital. Now imagine that there are 1,000 cars in that traffic jam. Finally, realize that the 1,000 billion-dollar cars in front of you are only part of the issu

Having a voice is important — figuratively and literally — and not being able to speak is a major impediment to communication. Whispp is working to change the game for individuals with speech disorders and voice disabilities, bringing voice boxes into the current millennium with its gro

Historically, vacation rental companies have managed homes for homeowners. While this model has proven popular, it also has its drawbacks. Customer complaints around quality get routed through the companies to the homeowner, and as such, the ability to offer a consistent guest experience is just no

I’ve been keeping an eye on the Rownd tabletop CNC lathe since it showed up on Kickstarter last year, and I was psyched to get the chance to see it in person at CES in Las Vegas this week. In an era where DIY culture and personal manufacturing are rising, Rownd Lathe is an exciting new player

Hyperexponential, a London-based insurance technology (insurtech) startup that serves the property-casualty (P&C) insurance industry with “decision intelligence” for pricing, has raised $73 million in a Series B equity round of funding. Boston-based venture capital firm Battery Vent

A founder's relationship with their investors should be about more than just financing. Investors bring expertise from their prior careers as COOs, CFOs, or other operational roles. Also, multiple board seats give them insights into how best-of-breed companies scale. Tapping into this knowledge