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6 new tech unicorns were minted in January 2025

20 February 2025 at 14:00

Despite a still tight venture capital market, new unicorns are still being created every month. Using data from Crunchbase and PitchBook, TechCrunch tracked down the newly VC-backed startup minted unicorns so far this year (as of the end of January). These include healthcare companies like Hippocratic AI and satellite space companies like Loft Orbital.  This […]

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Cherryrock Capital raises new $172M fund from all-star investors to back diverse founders

20 February 2025 at 09:35

Cherryrock Capital, founded by ex-TaskRabbit CEO Stacy Brown-Philpot, announced Wednesday the closing of its $172 million Fund I with an all-star limited partner list that includes JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, MassMutual, Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal Ventures, Reid Hoffman, Mellody Hobson, and Sheryl Sandberg.  Brown-Philpot told Bloomberg that the fund actually closed in January.  The firm launched […]

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Brand-new women’s focused Swizzle Ventures skyrockets past its fundraising target

19 February 2025 at 13:15

Swizzle Ventures has closed its Fund I at $6.6 million, bypassing its initial $3 million target, Jessica Kamada, the firm’s founder, told TechCrunch.  Back in December, TechCrunch reported that the firm, which quietly launched in 2023, was raising and has already bypassed $5 million, per its SEC filing. The thesis of Fund I will focus […]

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Mark Zuckerberg’s charity U-turns, ends DEI efforts 

19 February 2025 at 13:15

Mark Zuckerberg’s charity has eliminated its DEI programs and efforts just weeks after assuring staff it would continue supporting DEI efforts, The Guardian reports.  The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), co-founded by Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, will end internal DEI programs and no longer provide “social advocacy funding,” which provided grants for racial equity […]

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OpenAI scrubs diversity commitment web page from its site

13 February 2025 at 09:54

OpenAI has eliminated a page on its website that used to express its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The URL “https://openai.com/commitment-to-dei/” now redirects to “https://openai.com/building-dynamic-teams/,” a page that talks about people with “different backgrounds” with no use of the word “diversity.” The previous page stated that the company’s “investment in diversity, equity and inclusion” […]

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VC industry reacts to Trump nominating a16z’s Brian Quintenz for regulatory role

12 February 2025 at 14:05

Brian Quintenz, who leads policy for Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto team, announced on Wednesday that he’s being tapped to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), according to his X post. And many in the VC industry appear to be thrilled about it. The CFTC regulates the trading of commodity futures, options, and swaps, otherwise known […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Google says it removed cultural events from its calendar last year

11 February 2025 at 12:05

Google has removed events such as Black History Month and Pride Month from being listed on the calendar by default.  Other events that were removed from the default calendar include Jewish Heritage, Indigenous People Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and Hispanic Heritage Month.  Google spokesperson Madison Cushman Veld confirmed the changes to TechCrunch, saying that in […]

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Amazon deletes ‘inclusion and diversity’ language in latest filing

7 February 2025 at 09:12

Amazon is the latest tech company to remove references to “inclusion and diversity” from its 10-K report. The filing has removed reference to diversity and inclusion as it pertains to the workplace. In its 2023 10-K form, the company had a sentence that read, “As we strive to be Earth’s best employer, we focus on investment and […]

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Pinterest lists DEI attacks as possible business risk in latest filing

7 February 2025 at 06:25

Pinterest listed the latest attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion as a possible business risk in its latest 10-K filing.  The company wrote in its filing to investors that if its efforts around DEI “are perceived as insufficient or overdone,” then it “may not be able to attract and retain talent” and that the company […]

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Early Meta employee sues for sexual harassment, gender discrimination  

One of Meta’s earliest employees is suing the company for sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and retaliation, according to a lawsuit filed this week in the state of Washington. Kelly Stonelake, who spent 15 years at the company and rose to the rank of director, alleges in the lawsuit she faced a cycle of gender-based discrimination […]

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Mark Zuckerberg’s charity insists it’s not abandoning its DEI efforts

6 February 2025 at 09:45

Mark Zuckerberg’s charity has told its employees it will remain committed to DEI even as Meta eliminates its DEI programs, The Guardian reports.  Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), founded and co-led by Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, reassured its employees after many began expressing concerns about recent changes at Meta as the company scales back […]

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a16z stands by decision to hire Daniel Penny

6 February 2025 at 06:45

Andreessen Horowitz is defending its decision to hire Daniel Penny, according to an investor memo seen by The New York Times.  The venture capital firm caused a stir earlier this week after it announced it would hire Penny, who was acquitted last year after choking a homeless man to death in the New York City […]

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Google ditches DEI hiring goals

5 February 2025 at 14:00

Google will no longer have diversity hiring targets and will review its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, according to an email sent to employees that was seen by The Wall Street Journal.  Google now joins other tech companies rolling back DEI practices, especially as DEI practices come under fire from conservative groups. Amazon and Meta […]

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Archive raises $30M to solve fashion’s pollution problem with online resales

4 February 2025 at 05:00

The fashion industry has concerned Emily Gittins since adolescence.  The sector is, after all, one of the most polluting in the world. According to some sources, it is responsible for nearly 10% of the earth’s CO2 emissions and more than 20% of all water waste.  Yet people still want more, fast.  “The way we consume […]

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Ontario cancels, then restores, $68 million Starlink contract after protesting US tariffs

3 February 2025 at 17:00

On Monday, Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, one of Canada’s most populous provinces, announced on X that the province’s government would be “ripping up” its $68 million ($100 million CAD) contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service. The news came soon after President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on nearly all Canadian […]

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Sam Altman’s ousting from OpenAI has entered the cultural zeitgeist

The lights dimmed as five actors took their places around a table on a makeshift stage in a New York City art gallery turned theater for the night. Wine and water flowed through the intimate space as the house — packed with media — sat to witness the premiere of “Doomers,” Matthew Gasda’s latest play […]

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Serial founder DIVINE launches creator app with hip-hop legend RAKIM

30 January 2025 at 13:35

Serial entrepreneur and former recording artist Victor D. Lombard, also known as DIVINE, announced this week the launch of a new company, in partnership with RAKIM, one of hip-hop’s most influential emcees.  The company is called Notes, a fintech specifically for independent urban musicians and creators. It provides the knowledge and tools to help artists […]

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a16z has venture scouts scattered across Europe

30 January 2025 at 12:21

Despite news that Andreessen Horowitz closed its London crypto-focused office, the VC reportedly still has dozens of scouts in Europe looking for startups.

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Geek Ventures, a fund that specializes in backing immigrant founders, is raising a second fund

28 January 2025 at 11:00

Geek Ventures is raising a Fund II, according to a recent SEC filing.  The firm, founded in 2021 by Ihar Mahaniok, focuses on investing in early-stage immigrant founders. Mahaniok immigrated to the U.S. from Belarus and spoke to TechCrunch a few years ago about how hard the venture ecosystem can be for immigrants.  “Talent is […]

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Documents show UK wooed a16z for five years

28 January 2025 at 11:00

U.K. documents show that the U.K.’s Department of Business and Trade spent five years convincing Andreessen Horowitz to create a presence in London, only for the U.S. firm to leave 18 months after launching an office, according to government documents obtained by Sifted.  In 2023, a16z launched a crypto office in London, deeming the crypto […]

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