Venture

Our venture capital news features interviews and analysis on all the VCs, the VC-backed startups, and the investment trends that founders, investors, students, academics – and anyone else interested in the way that tech is transforming the world – should be tracking.

As venture capitalists continue to pour money into defense tech startups, they’re turning to a new hiring pool: ex-military officials.  

More ex-military officials are becoming VCs as defense tech investment reached $35B

After securing $14 million for its second fund in 2023, early-stage VC firm Kearny Jackson is back with a third fund.

Marc Andreessen, Sequoia again back Kearny Jackson, this time in $65M Fund III

Mike Maples Jr. is a prolific angel investor and co-founder of early-stage venture firm Floodgate. Over the years, he’s taken a lot of bets. Some…

Floodgate’s Mike Maples explains how startups that most people ‘don’t like’ are the best ones to back

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From Facebook to the face of crypto: Inside Anthony Pompliano’s wild career

He’s known by a single-syllable name: Pomp. But his story is of an unconventional rise to success that almost ended two years after it began.

From Facebook to the face of crypto: Inside Anthony Pompliano’s wild career

SaaS founders trying to figure out what it takes to raise their next round can refer to Point Nine’s famous yearly SaaS Funding Napkin. (The term refers to “back of…

Deep tech startups with very technical CEOs raise larger rounds, research finds

Iceland’s startup scene is punching above its weight. That’s perhaps in part because it kept the 2021 hype in check, but mostly because its tech ecosystem is coming of age.…

Iceland is dodging the VC doldrums as Frumtak Ventures lands $87M for its fourth fund

Index Ventures is announcing $2.3 billion in new funds to finance the next generation of tech startups globally. These new funds are spread across different stages with $800 million dedicated…

Index Ventures raises $2.3B for new venture and growth funds

Hebbia, a startup that uses generative AI to search large documents and respond to large questions, has raised a $130 million Series B at a roughly $700 million valuation led…

AI startup Hebbia raised $130M at a $700M valuation on $13 million of profitable revenue

Since AI started its historic rise in prominence in 2022, the conversations around how the industry could be regulated have swelled at a similar rate.…

Why the AI industry should want regulation now, not what could come later

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A comprehensive list of 2024 tech layoffs

The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has already seen 60,000 job cuts across 254 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the…

A comprehensive list of 2024 tech layoffs

Running a small business means doing more with less. AI agents can help, but building custom agents for specific workflows remains challenging, even with today’s low-code/no-code tools. The idea behind…

With $6M in seed funding, Enso plans to bring AI agents to SMBs

Seae Ventures is acquiring Unseen Capital after the death of founder Kayode Owens in 2021. The combined firm will continue to invest in healthcare for minorities and underserved populations. Owens,…

Seae Ventures acquires Unseen Capital after founder death

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Valuations of startups have quietly rebounded to all-time highs. Some investors say the slump is over. 

Generative AI businesses aside, the last couple of years have been relatively difficult for venture-backed companies. Very few startups were able to raise funding at prices that exceeded their previous valuations.   Now, approximately two years after the venture slump began in early 2022, some investors, like IVP general partner Tom…

Valuations of startups have quietly rebounded to all-time highs. Some investors say the slump is over. 

On today’s episode of Equity, we’re taking a look at news you might’ve missed over the holiday weekend here in the U.S., starting with the…

A new trend for seed VCs and the scariest part about OpenAI’s data breach

TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 is set to welcome an impressive lineup of judges for the Startup Battlefield 200 competition, presented this year by Google Cloud. These judges will decide which company…

Mayfield’s Navin Chaddha is coming to TechCrunch Disrupt 2024

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Seed VCs are turning to new ‘pro rata’ funds that help them compete with the big firms

Three companies with new funds deploy capital to support seed and Series A VCs looking to exercise their pro rata rights.

Seed VCs are turning to new ‘pro rata’ funds that help them compete with the big firms

We’re about four months away from TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, taking place October 28 to 30 in San Francisco! We could not bring you this world-class event without our world-class partners…

Meet Brex, Google Cloud, Aerospace and more at Disrupt 2024

According to a recent Dealroom report on the Spanish tech ecosystem, the combined enterprise value of Spanish startups surpassed €100 billion in 2023. In the latest confirmation of this upward trend, Madrid-based…

Spain’s exposure to climate change helps Madrid-based VC Seaya close €300M climate tech fund

Forestay, an emerging VC based out of Geneva, Switzerland, has been busy. This week it closed its second fund, Forestay Capital II, at a hard cap of $220 million. The…

Forestay, Europe’s newest $220M growth-stage VC fund, will focus on AI

J2 Ventures, a firm led mostly by U.S. military veterans, announced on Thursday that it has raised a $150 million second fund. The Boston-based firm invests in startups whose products…

J2 Ventures, focused on military healthcare, grabs $150M for its second fund

With increasing competition for what is, essentially, still a small number of hard tech and deep tech deals, Sidney Scott realized it would be a challenge for smaller funds like…

Why deep tech VC Driving Forces is shutting down

What’s the common thread between Tesla, building startups, General Motors venture capital and Lyft?  Jon McNeill, co-founder and partner of DVx Ventures, joins TechCrunch editor…

Jon McNeill on VC 2.0 and creating startups in house

Samyr Laine and Ayanna Alexander-Laine now put their grit and determination to work for founders wanting to launch and scale consumer brands.

Husband-and-wife former Olympians target $50M for new fund to invest in influencer-led consumer brands

The venture fundraising trend in 2024 is fairly clear by now: Large, established VC firms are continuing to attract capital from limited partners, while smaller, newer funds are finding it…

Industry Ventures raises a $900M fund for investing in small, early-stage VCs and their breakout startups

The amount of waste produced by the construction industry adds up to more than a third of the overall waste produced each year in the European Union. And it’s no…

Sensorita uses digital twins to help waste management companies streamline construction waste

A group of senators has banded together to urge Synapse’s owners and bank and fintech partners to “immediately restore customers’ access to their money.” As part of their demands, the…

Senators urge owners, partners and VC backers of fintech Synapse to restore customers’ access to their money

Identity.vc writes checks that range from €250,000 to €1.5 million into companies from the pre-seed to Series A stages.

Identity.vc is bringing capital and community to Europe’s LGBTQ+ venture ecosystem

We live in a very different world since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. With global military expenditure reaching $2.4 trillion last…

Defense tech and ‘resilience’ get global funding sources: Here are some top funders

Matrix is rebranding its India and China affiliates, becoming the latest venture firm to distance its international franchises. The U.S.-headquartered venture capital firm will retain its name, while Matrix Partners…

Matrix venture firm distances from India and China affiliates

Many VC firms are struggling to attract new capital from their own backers amid a tepid IPO environment. But established, brand-name firms are still able to raise large funds. On…

Kleiner Perkins announces $2 billion in fresh capital, showing that established firms can still raise large sums