Venture Capital News | TechCrunch

Precursor’s Charles Hudson believes founders should test their investors

Dominic-Madori Davis — Sun, 17 Nov 2024 16:30:00 +0000

Charles Hudson, managing partner of Precursor Ventures, told an audience at AfroTech the basics of knowing when to invest: A company should have product-market fit and some form of traction. But the next thing he said garnered some surprised looks from the audience: Founders should test investors with a small issue to see how they […]

Consumer tech is bouncing back, and consumer founders like Brynn Putnam are bouncing back with it

Connie Loizos — Sun, 17 Nov 2024 01:14:09 +0000

When Brynn Putnam sold her last company, Mirror, to Lululemon for $500 million at the start of the pandemic, it looked to this editor like she’d sold the smart fitness company too soon. Instead, the timing proved brilliant. The home fitness craze crashed nearly as abruptly as it peaked during that first year of lockdowns. […]

Here’s the full list of 44 US AI startups that have raised $100M or more in 2024

Rebecca Szkutak — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 23:03:00 +0000

In the first half of 2024 alone, more than $35.5 billion was invested into AI startups globally.

Ben Horowitz’s tight ties with the Las Vegas Police Department — and why it matters

Theresa Loconsolo — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 15:55:20 +0000

Over the last few years, Andreessen Horowitz co-founder and famed VC Ben Horowitz has donated at least $7.6 million to fund purchases by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, including new drones from a16z-backed Skydio. Skydio is not the first of a16z’s portfolio companies to benefit from these donations, either. Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts […]

Angel investor Hannah Bronfman is ready to launch her own fund

Dominic-Madori Davis — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Early Thursday morning, excited AfroTech attendees shuffled into a conference room to see one thing: Hannah Bronfman, a noted angel investor who has more than 1 million followers on social media, in conversation with Blavity founder and CEO Morgan DeBaun. Bronfman is a wellness content creator, an author, and an investor in more than 70 […]

A Conversation with Ben Lerer and Brynn Putnam at Strictly VC NYC 2024

Yashad Kulkarni — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 03:15:40 +0000

Connie Loizos in conversation with Ben Lerer, managing partner at Lerer Hippeau and Brynn Putnam, founder and former CEO of Mirror at Strictly VC NYC 2024. Subscribe for more on YouTube: https://tcrn.ch/youtube Follow TechCrunch on Instagram: http://tcrn.ch/instagram TikTok: https://tcrn.ch/tiktok X: tcrn.ch/x Threads: https://tcrn.ch/threads Facebook: https://tcrn.ch/facebook Bluesky: https://tcrn.ch/bluesky Mastodon: https://tcrn.ch/mstdn Read more: https://techcrunch.com/

A Conversation with Marc Lore at Strictly VC NYC 2024

Yashad Kulkarni — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Connie Loizos in conversation with Marc Lore, founder, chairman and CEO of Wonder Group at Strictly VC NYC 2024. Subscribe for more on YouTube: https://tcrn.ch/youtube Follow TechCrunch on Instagram: http://tcrn.ch/instagram TikTok: https://tcrn.ch/tiktok X: tcrn.ch/x Threads: https://tcrn.ch/threads Facebook: https://tcrn.ch/facebook Bluesky: https://tcrn.ch/bluesky Mastodon: https://tcrn.ch/mstdn Read more: https://techcrunch.com/

A Conversation with Mark Rostick at Strictly VC NYC 2024

Yashad Kulkarni — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 02:00:00 +0000

Connie Loizos in conversation with Mark Rostick, senior managing director at Intel Capital at Strictly VC NYC 2024. Subscribe for more on YouTube: https://tcrn.ch/youtube Follow TechCrunch on Instagram: http://tcrn.ch/instagram TikTok: https://tcrn.ch/tiktok X: tcrn.ch/x Threads: https://tcrn.ch/threads Facebook: https://tcrn.ch/facebook Bluesky: https://tcrn.ch/bluesky Mastodon: https://tcrn.ch/mstdn Read more: https://techcrunch.com/

A comprehensive list of 2024 tech layoffs

Cody Corrall, Alyssa Stringer — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 17:30:00 +0000

A complete list of all the known layoffs in tech, from Big Tech to startups, broken down by month throughout 2024.

Altos Ventures, an early backer of Coupang and Roblox, raises $500M fund

Tage Kene-Okafor — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 17:01:28 +0000

Altos Ventures, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm that has backed the likes of Roblox, Coupang, PandaDoc, and Quizlet, has secured $500 million for its latest fund, according to SEC filings. The firm has been around for almost three decades and this is its largest fund to date. Altos Ventures declined to comment on the […]

SoftBank Vision Fund co-CEO Misra to leave firm

Manish Singh — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 08:24:56 +0000

SoftBank said the co-CEO of Vision Fund, Rajeev Misra, will soon step down from his leadership roles at the firm’s flagship technology investment vehicles, marking the departure of one of the Japanese group’s most prominent dealmakers. The company said on Tuesday that Misra, who helped steer the $100 billion Vision Fund through both its explosive […]

Indonesian VC firm Intudo raises $125M across two funds

Kate Park — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 01:00:00 +0000

Intudo, the Indonesia-only venture capital firm, said it has raised $125 million across two investment funds — $75 million for Intudo Ventures IV, and $50 million for another fund that will invest in downstream natural resources and renewable energy. Intudo said Fund IV will invest in Indonesian startups that take advantage of the country’s location, […]

VCs on how to ‘survive and thrive’ after a down round

Marina Temkin — Sat, 09 Nov 2024 14:35:00 +0000

Founders hope that their startups continually raise larger funding rounds at escalating valuations. But unexpected challenges, such as a global health crisis or a sudden surge in interest rates, can have a significant impact on a company’s ability to maintain its valuations. Some of these startups may have to resort to down rounds, which are […]

Ben Horowitz’s cozy relationship with the Las Vegas Police Department aided a16z portfolio company Skydio

Margaux MacColl, Sean O'Kane — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 22:07:03 +0000

When Skydio, a young maker of drones in San Mateo, California, sent a customer proposal in 2023 to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, its chief of staff, Mike Gennaro, forwarded the email to VC Ben Horowitz. “Which deployment are you looking to do?” Horowitz wrote back. “Whatever you want, Ben,” Gennaro replied, according to […]

Former Raya, Dispo exec has a new fund for the biggest out-of-favor tech: consumer

Dominic-Madori Davis — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 16:01:41 +0000

The idea of one day becoming a venture capitalist always loomed in the back of TJ Taylor's mind. After all, he had an extensive tech background.

AI-powered parenting is here and a16z is ready to back it

Margaux MacColl — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 22:31:07 +0000

AI wants to help us drive better, write better and diagnose diseases faster. Now imagine AI helping you be a better parent.

Faber launches third VC fund with $34M first close, aims for $64M

Mike Butcher — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 13:36:31 +0000

The startup ecosystem in the Iberian Peninsula — the region encompassing Spain and Portugal — has been on a roll the last couple of years. The value of Spanish startups surpassed €100 billion in 2023, according to Dealroom data, with venture investment of €2.2 billion across some 850 rounds. Meanwhile, Portugal has produced a slew of […]

AI startups will need ‘quality of revenue’ to raise in 2025, seed VCs warn

Julie Bort — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 15:00:00 +0000

To raise VC money next year, it won't just be about sales and growth, but about the "quality" of that growth, VCs say.

‘If you actually are solving a problem, you don’t talk about any of the hype,’ investor says

Amanda Silberling — Sun, 03 Nov 2024 15:00:00 +0000

The hype is palpable: As tech folks from near and far converge for TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 in San Fransisco — one of the only places where Waymo is available to the public — there’s ample chatter about the autonomous vehicle service. “If you think about AI hype and all, everyone gets excited about what 10 […]

Wesley Chan on what he looks for as he’s shopping for potential unicorns

Matt Rosoff — Sun, 03 Nov 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Investor Wesley Chan has shown a knack for making very early investments into multi-billion-dollar unicorns, such as Plaid, Gusto, Flexport, and, most recently, Canva. Chan comes from an unconventional background — he grew up in an immigrant family and had only middling grades in high school. But he landed a job washing test tubes in […]