Apple plans to release a new set of AI products and frameworks at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this June, including tools that’ll let third-party developers create software using Apple AI models, per a Bloomberg report.  Apple’s hope is that expanding its AI tech in this way will draw more attention — and users — […]

South Loop Ventures, a Houston-based venture firm, announced a $21 million Fund I, with Rice Management Company and Chevron Technology Ventures serving as anchor investors.  The firm, which launched in 2022, focuses on seed and pre-seed companies, with $400,000 as the average check size. It also primarily hopes to focus on backing founders of color.  […]

Work-Bench, whose portfolio includes unicorns Spring Health and Socure, just raised a $160 million Fund IV to quadruple down on backing companies in New York City. The firm announced the raise in a blog post on Monday, saying the latest fund will support seed-stage founders building enterprise software. Checks will range from $2 million to […]

Yuga Labs, known as the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club and other notable NFTs, sold its iconic CryptoPunks to the nonprofit NODE Foundation, which focuses on preserving digital art. The deal details are undisclosed, and a representative declined to comment. Back in April, NODE announced it received a $25 million grant to “build the […]

Microsoft is about to trim its worldwide workforce by 3%, CNBC reports. The company had around 228,000 employees worldwide as of June, it says, meaning more than 6,500 could be affected by the cuts. It would be one of the company’s largest staff reductions since it cut 10,000 people in 2023. A Microsoft spokesperson told […]

On Monday, Google announced the launch of its AI Futures Fund, a new initiative that seeks to invest in startups that are building with the latest AI tools from Google DeepMind, the company’s AI R&D lab.  The fund will back startups from seed to late stage and will offer varying degrees of support, including allowing […]

For the first time, the FDA has just approved a device that lets people screen for cervical cancer from home. Known as the Teal Wand, from the company Teal Health, the prescription device lets patients self-collect samples and mail them to a lab to receive the same testing as would be done at a doctor’s […]

Kapor Capital’s managing partner Ulili Onovakpuri said yesterday that she is leaving the firm.  Onovakpuri started as a principal at Kapor Capital more than a decade ago, and rose through the ranks to become managing partner, and eventually (with Brian Dixon) took over the reins from the firm’s co-founders Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein.  […]

Hasan Sukkar, the founder of AI startup 11x, is stepping down from his role as CEO, Sukkar announced on LinkedIn this morning. Prabhav Jain, 11x’s CTO, has been named the company’s new CEO.  Sukkar will move into a “non-executive chairman” position, where he will work with Jain on “strategic direction, product vision, industry relationships, and […]

CaaStle, the embattled fashion startup whose board of directors accused its founder, Christine Hunsicker, of financial misconduct, is starting to face lawsuits from a partner and a supplier over missed payments and more allegations of fraud. As first reported by Axios and by suits seen by TechCrunch, CaaStle is being sued by P180, a vehicle […]

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, walked into the sunlit hotel conference room in Brooklyn on Thursday to meet with a dozen youth leaders working in tech safety, policy, and innovation. The young adults chatted away at black circular tables, many unaware of his presence until he plopped down at a table and started talking with […]

Khloe Kardashian has formerly launched her new food company, Khloud, and its first product, a protein popcorn, set to hit Target starting April 29. Back in December, TechCrunch reported that Kardashian and her mother, Kris Jenner, were looking to raise at least $10 million for a business called Khloud. Jessica Bixby, an associate partner at […]

Popular social network and forum site Reddit reported significant outages on Monday morning.  The connection errors started at around 11:20 a.m. ET, according to the website Downdetector, which collects anecdotal reports from impacted users globally. At its peak, more than 90,000 users logged an outage report with the downtime tracking website.  At 11:52 a.m. ET, […]

Reshma Saujani, founder of the non-profit Girls Who Code, got straight to the point.  “If I had applied to be the CEO of Girls Who Code, I wouldn’t have gotten the job,” she told Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, on the latest episode of the duchess’ podcast, “Confessions of a Female Founder.” “I didn’t code,” Saujani […]

Meghan Markle is stepping further into the world of business and entrepreneurship.  In an interview with Fortune, Meghan revealed that she is an angel investor in the healthcare company Midi, which provides a virtual platform to help treat women experiencing menopause and other health-related concerns.  She joined the company’s $63 million Series B round last […]

Glossier is reportedly fundraising again, aiming to raise $100 million with a valuation “south of a billion dollars,” according to Puck.  Glossier, still one of the more popular beauty brands, was last valued at $1.8 billion nearly four years ago, but has struggled with profitability and scale these past few years. Glossier did not immediately […]

Symphonic Capital announced today in a blog post that it raised $13.5 million for its inaugural fund to invest in early-stage companies.  Sydney Thomas launched the firm in 2022 after leaving Charles Hudson’s Precursor Ventures, where she was the first hire.  Thomas said her fund will focus on founders outside of the Bay who are […]

Grace, an insurance company for luxury goods, announced on Wednesday a $6.4 million (€5.9 million) seed round led by FinTech Collective and Speedinvest.  An insurance company for luxury goods, Grace works with luxury brands to protect purchased consumer goods. If an item is stolen or damaged, a consumer can create a claim through the Grace […]

The venture capital firm is reportedly in talks to invest in TikTok as part of a bid led by Oracle and other American investors looking to buy out TikTok from ByteDance, according to the Financial Times.  TikTok is once again slated to be banned in the U.S. on April 5 unless its Chinese-based owner sells […]

Accounting software company Open Ledger has launched a new product in time for tax day.  Meet PokéTax, a game that helps make tax filing quite fun. Instead of tax forms, users take on Tax Trainers — gym leaders — representing different parts of a tax form, such as income, deductions, and credits. Each leader asks […]