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Electra found a cheap, clean way to purify iron, and it’s raising $257M to make it happen Jan 03, 2025

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Electra has raised $76.3 million to clean up the dirty ironmaking industry, TechCrunch has learned. The startup has developed a novel method of using electricity to coax pure iron out of low-grade ores, opening the door to cleaner steel.

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2025 will be the year climate tech learns to love AI Jan 03, 2025

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As 2025 dawns, it’s a good time to look at the trends that are likely to define the coming 12 months.

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After ups and down, food delivery startup Epicery closes shop Jan 01, 2025

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French food delivery startup Epicery will cease operations Tuesday, after one last holiday season hurrah for its clients and the local food businesses that were using the platform during its nine years in business in exchange for a 25% commission.

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Calo raises $25 million to expand its ready-to-eat meal service beyond the Middle East Jan 01, 2025

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A business built around increasingly customized ready-to-eat meals has netted Middle Eastern startup Calo a sizeable funding injection as it looks to expand both what it can offer its time-strapped customers and where it delivers its growing range of just-heat-to-eat dishes.

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Backed by a16z and QED, Brazilian startup Carecode puts AI agents to work on healthcare Dec 31, 2024

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AI holds huge promise for healthcare, but not just on the medical side; many startups are convinced machine learning-based systems can do a lot of good on adjacent tasks such as appointment scheduling and confirmations. Brazilian startup Carecode is among these AI believers.

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The trends that shaped EVs, robotaxis, and electric flight in 2024 Dec 31, 2024

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If there was one phrase that captured the vibe and theme of 2024 — at least in the transportation sector — it was business whiplash. Legacy automakers changed direction on their all-EVs-or-bust strategy, startups pivoted, and some Silicon Valley VCs and executives adjusted their views to a changing political landscape

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AI sales rep startups are booming. So why are VCs wary? Dec 30, 2024

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When you really probe venture capitalists about investing in AI startups, they’ll tell you that businesses are experimenting wildly but are very slow to add AI solutions into their ongoing business processes. But there are some exceptions.

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After causing outrage on the first day of Y Combinator, AI code editor PearAI lands $1M seed Dec 30, 2024

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On the first day of Y Combinator the founders of PearAI got “cancelled." They used the hate to launch a new product, raise $1 million.

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British university spinoff Mindgard protects companies from AI threats Dec 23, 2024

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AI creates a dilemma for companies: Don’t implement it yet, and you might miss out on productivity gains and other potential benefits; but do it wrong, and you might expose your business and clients to unmitigated risks.

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Access bets people will pay thousands of dollars a year for guaranteed restaurant reservations Dec 23, 2024

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Once, not long ago, booking a table at a hot new restaurant didn’t entail a midnight dash to Resy. Truly, we didn’t know how good we had it then. Hours-long lines out the door are now the norm, not the exception, in major cities from New York to Los Angeles.

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