TechCrunch Startup News

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How Mill closed the deal with Amazon and Whole Foods Dec 29, 2025

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Matt Rogers's food waste startup will soon deploy its commercial food waste bins in grocery stores throughout the U.S. Here's how Rogers thinks about preparing a startup for success.

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Why ‘hold forever’ investors are snapping up venture capital ‘zombies’ Dec 26, 2025

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An investor explains the "buy, fix, and hold" model employed by Bending Spoons and similar companies that buy distressed startups.

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How a headphone site operator built loyalty startup Lantern to solve his own problems; plus, Deel hits $17.3B valuation after raising $300M from big-name VCs Dec 25, 2025

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After struggling to retain customers at his e-commerce site Headphones.com, founder Andrew Lissimore built his own loyalty solution — and it’s now a startup called Lantern. The Shopify-native platform helps brands boost retention through customizable loyalty, referrals, and account management tools.

Also, Deel says it's been profitable for three years and surpassed $1 billion in ARR, including having a month.

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How AI startups should be thinking about product-market fit; plus Immortality startup Eternos pivots to a personal AI that sounds like you Dec 24, 2025

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Two experienced investors share their tips for founders and operators hoping to nail product-market fit at their AI startups.

Also, Uare.ai, formerly Eternos, raised $10.3 million in seed funding led by Mayfield and Boldstart Ventures.

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The tooth fairy just got reimagined for the tech-savvy generation; also, Lemon Slice nabs $10.5M from YC and Matrix to build out its digital avatar tech Dec 23, 2025

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Move over, Santa. Now there’s another magical character for kids to track: the Tooth Fairy. After making a personalized Tooth Fairy video for his nephew, Oliver Finel noticed a gap. While there are plenty of Santa trackers, nothing similar existed for the Tooth Fairy.

Also, digital avatar generation company Lemon Slice is working to add a video layer to AI chatbots with a new diffusion model that can create digital avatars from a single image.

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As EU waters down 2035 EV goals, electric startups express concern Dec 22, 2025

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The future may be electric, but that future is being postponed. The European Commission, citing the need for flexibility, has softened its ambitious plan to ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035.

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Yann LeCun confirms his new ‘world model’ startup, reportedly seeks $5B+ valuation Dec 22, 2025

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Renowned AI scientist Yann LeCun confirmed on Thursday the worst-kept secret in the tech world: that he had indeed launched a new startup. Although he did say he will not be running the new company as its CEO.

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OpenAI is reportedly trying to raise $100B at an $830B valuation; also, Krafton hikes India bet with new $670M fund Dec 19, 2025

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The ChatGPT maker is aiming to raise the funding by the end of the first quarter in 2026, and the company may ask sovereign wealth funds to invest in the round.

Also, called the Unicorn Growth Fund, the investment vehicle is a collaboration between Krafton and South Korean internet conglomerate Naver, and investor Mirae Asset. It aims to deploy around $669.3 million over four years.

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Vibe-coding startup Lovable raises $330M at a $6.6B valuation Dec 18, 2025

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Lovable has seen its valuation more than triple just five months after the company's last funding round in July.

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Weeks after raising $100M, investors pump another $180M into hot Indian startup MoEngage Dec 18, 2025

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The deal valued MoEngage at "well over" $900 million post-money.

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