What the growing federal focus on ESG means for private markets

The increasing regulation of ESG (environmental, social, governance) disclosure reporting may have started in the public markets, but will almost certainly have downstream effects for private market actors — for founders, companies and investors. Since his confirmation as the chair of the U.S. Se

You can see fires, but now Qwake wants firefighters to see through them

When it comes to tough environments to build new technology, firefighting has to be among the most difficult. Smoke and heat can quickly damage hardware, and interference from fires will disrupt most forms of wireless communications, rendering software all but useless. From a technology perspective

Superhuman’s Rahul Vohra explains how to optimize your startup’s products for lasting growth

Superhuman co-founder and CEO Rahul Vohra joined us last week at technewss Early Stage to provide an in-depth look at how he and his company worked to optimize and refine their product early to create a version of “growth hacking” that would not only help Superhuman attract users, but

Nooks set to seed its own in the world of virtual HQs

After operating in beta for a year, Nooks, a virtual workspace space targeting distributed teams, has attracted thousands of users and millions of dollars in venture capital. The Stanford student-led upstart has raised a $5 million seed round led by Tola Capital, with participation from Floodgate a

Massachusetts startup OPT Industries is perfecting a 3D-printed nasal swab for COVID-19 tests

In 2020 and 2021, we all became well-acquainted with nasal swabs. But small sticks we stuck up our noses, it turns out, were harder to come by than anyone could have predicted. A May 2020 survey of 118 labs in the U.S. found that 60% reported limited swab supplies — making lack of swabs the m

Cybereason raises $275M at Series F, adds Steven Mnuchin to board

Cybereason, a U.S.-Israeli late-stage cybersecurity startup that provides extended detection and response (XDR) services, has secured $275 million in Series F funding.  The investment was led by Liberty Strategic Capital, a venture capital fund recently founded by Steven Mnuchin, who served as U.

Dear Sophie: Tell me more about the EB-1A extraordinary ability green card

Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies. “Your questions are vital to the spread of knowledge that allows people all over the world to rise above borders and pursue their dreams,” says

Acelerate raises $14.44M Series A to add cloud kitchens to existing restaurants

Acelerate, a software company looking to help restaurants make the most out of their infrastructure, is today announcing the close of a $14.44 million Series A financing led by Sequoia Capital. The startup was founded by George Jacobs, who grew up working in his family’s pizzeria. He attended

Former Nutanix execs launch new startup with $50M seed round

Today a new software company from two former Nutanix executives called DevRev emerged from stealth with a $50 million seed round from Mayfield Fund, Khosla Ventures and several industry luminaries. The company, which aims to bring the coding and revenue processes closer together, already has 75 emp

Ex-Plaid employees raise $30M for Stytch, an API-first passwordless authentication platform

There are far fewer annoying things than managing one's passwords. There are a bunch of companies out there to help you attempt to do that. And there's also a number of companies that want to go a step further and eliminate the password completely. One such company, Stytch,

Unybrands brings in $300M to acquire more e-commerce businesses

Unybrands is the latest e-commerce aggregator to pick up a significant investment, this time closing $300 million in growth capital from Crayhill Capital Management. The Miami-based company, which created a platform for e-commerce businesses looking to scale their operations on and off Amazon, was

Backed by $5M led by General Catalyst, Evvy launches a vaginal microbiome test to support women’s health research

Another U.S. femtech startup has joined the race to build up data sets to support research into and understanding of a range of health issues that can affect women. Evvy has today launched an at-home test kit for the vaginal microbiome. The user returns their swab to the startup for analysis —

Castor, a clinical trial process company, raises $45M to create more human-centered research

Castor is on a mission to make every clinical trial faster and patient-focused. The clinical trial software company announced Wednesday it raised $45 million in Series B funding to continue modernizing the process as the industry shifts to decentralized clinical trials. Eight Roads Ventures and F-P

Next Gen Foods to launch its plant-based chicken in the US after raising a $20M seed extension from investors like GGV

Singapore-based Next Gen Foods will bring its plant-based chicken alternative to the United States after raising a $20 million seed extension. Investors included GGV Capital, agriculture and food-tech-focused Bits x Bites, food and beverage company Yeo Hiap Seng, entrepreneur and “Blitzscaling”