TechCrunch Startup News

Latest Episodes:

Colossal Biosciences reportedly in talks to raise new capital at $20B–$30B valuation; plus, Passionfroot raises $15M to expand its B2B creator marketplace to the US Jul 23, 2026

Show notes

Colossal Biosciences is in talks to raise new funding at a $20 billion to $30 billion valuation, Axios reported.

Also, Passionfroot, a German startup building a marketplace connecting B2B creators with brands, has raised $15M in a Series A round led by Insight Partners.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gritt exits stealth with $34 million for robots to build solar plants; Bluecore Energy raises $10M to build portable nuclear reactors Jul 22, 2026

Show notes

Gritt is coming out of stealth with $34 million and plan to automate the hardest tasks on construction sites.

Also, maritime nuclear energy startup Bluecore Energy has raised $10 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Slauson & Co.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nuclear startup Valar Atomics in talks to raise new funding at $6B valuation; plus, Databricks hits $188B valuation, extending its run as AI’s favorite second act Jul 21, 2026

Show notes

The potential deal highlights a growing trend of complex, multi-stage funding rounds that mask true entry prices.

Also, Databricks has remade its image into an AI company and has published research on the cost savings of open weight AI models for coding.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Applied Computing wants to give oil and gas operators an AI model for the entire plant, plus, AI-powered travel agency Fora hits unicorn status Jul 20, 2026

Show notes

Applied Computing has raised a $20M Series A to build a foundation AI model for the oil, gas and petrochemical industry.

Also, travel agency Fora announced a $60 million Series D round led by Forerunner and Tactile Ventures, valuing the company at $1 billion.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why AMI Labs’ Alexandre LeBrun won’t call his AI ‘AGI’ or ‘superintelligence’; plus, Lululemon backs nylon recycling startup Syntetica Jul 17, 2026

Show notes

While everyone in AI is chasing "superintelligence." Alexandre LeBrun, CEO of Yann LeCun’s world model startup, AMI Labs, dismisses the word.

Also, Syntetica, a French startup that has developed a novel approach to recycling nylon, has already obtained big-name partners and investors.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rime picks up $24M Series A to help enterprises field customer calls; plus, the next trillion-dollar AI business is implementation, not models Jul 16, 2026

Show notes

Rime is handling over 100 million calls each month across multiple companies

Also, Anthropic-backed Ode launches as AI labs bet that embedding forward-deployed engineers inside enterprises is the key to accelerating enterprise AI adoption.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hermes agent maker Nous Research in talks for new funding at $1.5B valuation; plus, Pinwheel launches a retro-inspired landline phone for kids Jul 15, 2026

Show notes

The company is raising at least $75 million, led by Robot, with significant participation from USV and other prominent investors.

Also, kid-friendly tech company Pinwheel announced the launch of a new landline phone designed to let children stay connected without the distractions of a smartphone.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Phia accused of ‘cookie stuffing,’ an AI agent startup just let its agent run its $100 million fundraise, plus, Oratomic to build a viable quantum computer that needs only 20K qubits Jul 13, 2026

Show notes

Phia, the shopping startup founded by Bill Gates’ daughter, Phoebe, and her friend, Sophia Kianni, is under fire for a practice known as “cookie stuffing,” which helped the product receive commissions and credit for sales it did not actually generate, per a Bloomberg investigation.

Also, Lyzr, a startup that builds AI agents for enterprises, used its own AI agent to raise a $100 million round — proof, evidently, that the product actually works.

Plus, the new startup raised $300 million co-led by ARCH Venture Partners, Spark Capital, and Khosla Ventures.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AI chip maker SambaNova raises $1B at $11B valuation, 5 months after last mega round; plus, popular open source AI developer tool Ollama raises $65M Jul 10, 2026

Show notes

AI chip maker SambaNova has raised at an $11 billion valuation months after Intel was rumored to be trying to buy it for about $1.6 billion.

Plus, Benchmark-backed Ollama has amassed 176,000 stars, and nearly 17,000 forks on Github by helping developers easily run AI on their PCs.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Venus Aerospace raises $90M Series B to build a new kind of rocket engine; plus, Blue Origin reportedly raising $10B at $130B valuation Jul 09, 2026

Show notes

Build a new kind of rocket engine, and the world will beat a path to your door.

Also, Blue Origin is raising $10 billion at a $130 billion pre-money valuation from Coatue Asset Management, Bezos himself and other big-name investors, the New York Times reported.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected