Space tech rockets higher
Joanna Glasner Contributor More posts by this contributor Corporate biotech venture funding rises again 2019 US VC funds take a more boutique approach Venture investment in space technology is hitting… Read more »
Category: Venture Capital
Dissecting what Lyft’s IPO means for Uber and the future of mobility
Extra Crunch offers members the opportunity to tune into conference calls led and moderated by the TechCrunch writers you read every day. This week, TechCrunch’s Kirsten Korosec and Kate Clark… Read more »
Startups Weekly: US companies raised $30B in Q1 2019
Let’s start this week’s newsletter with some data. Nationally, startups pulled in $30.8 billion in the first quarter of 2019, up 22 percent year-on-year, according to Crunchbase’s latest deal round-up…. Read more »
On balance, the cloud has been a huge boon to startups
Today’s startups have a distinct advantage when it comes to launching a company because of the public cloud. You don’t have to build infrastructure or worry about what happens when… Read more »
Africa Roundup: Jumia files for IPO, OneFi acquires Amplify, FlexClub expands in Mexico
Less than a decade ago IPOs, acquisitions, and global expansion by African startups were more possibility than reality. March saw all three from the continent’s tech scene. Pan-African e-commerce company… Read more »
Talking the future of media with Northzone’s Pär-Jörgen Pärson
We live in the subscription streaming era of media. Across film, TV, music, and audiobooks, subscription streaming platforms now shape the market. Gaming and podcasting could be next. Where are… Read more »
Femtech’s billion-dollar year
There are a lot of people who never thought they’d see the day venture capitalists would funnel millions into femtech businesses, direct-to-consumer tampon retailers no less. But that’s our new… Read more »
Andreessen Horowitz isn’t alone in leaving behind VC as we know it — and more company is coming
This morning, Forbes wrote a lengthy profile of Andreessen Horowitz, the now 10-year-old venture firm that its rivals love to hate but nevertheless tend to copy. It’s a great read… Read more »
Elvie raises $42M to become the go-to destination for women’s health
Elvie, the developer of femtech hardware including a silent wearable breast pump and a smart pelvic floor exerciser, is one of the boldest startups around. Led by co-founder and chief… Read more »
WTF are ISAs? (and can they transform education and spark a startup wave?)
Soaring college tuition prices have left Americans drowning in debt without a correspondingly enhanced set of professional skills to show for it. In the past 11 years, US student debt… Read more »
Ride-hailing, bike and scooter companies probably raised less money than you thought
Jason Rowley Contributor Jason Rowley is a venture capital and technology reporter for Crunchbase News. More posts by this contributor To get big faster, younger unicorns start buying startups sooner… Read more »
Startups Weekly: Why Lyft’s $2.2B IPO wasn’t “crazy land” or “nuts”
Lyft completed its long-awaited IPO this week, trading 21 percent higher Friday than its initial offering price of $72 per share. It closed its first day of trading at about… Read more »
WeWork backs New York tech clubhouse Betaworks Studios
Betaworks Studios, the brainchild of New York City seed-stage venture capital fund Betaworks, has amassed the support of WeWork, or The We Company, as they now call themselves. JLL Spark… Read more »
Lyft prices IPO at top of range
Lyft raised more than $2 billion Thursday afternoon after pricing its shares at $72 apiece, the top of the expected range of $70 to $72 per share. This gives Lyft… Read more »
Lyft increases IPO price
Lyft, expected to hit public markets in a landmark initial public offering Friday, has increased its share price range. In a new filing published Wednesday afternoon, the company outlined plans… Read more »
Mattress startup Casper said to be valued at $1.1B with new funding
Direct-to-consumer mattress business Casper has secured a $100 million Series D investment from existing investors Target, NEA and Norwest Venture Partners. The fresh infusion of capital values Casper at $1.1… Read more »
Former NEA partner Jon Sakoda takes the wraps off his new, Cisco-backed venture fund, Decibel
Jon Sakoda needed to decompress, he says. The founder-turned-venture investor had logged a dozen years with the investing heavyweight New Enterprise Associates after selling his last startup to Symantec in… Read more »
A look inside crypto firm Galaxy Digital, founded by “sidelined” Wall Street legend Mike Novogratz
Mike Novogratz, a former hedge fund manager who was once captain of Princeton’s college wrestling team, has been described as many things, including in just one New Yorker article in… Read more »
It’s not so obvious that this VC firm is focused on impact
Mary Ann Azevedo Contributor Share on Twitter Mary Ann Azevedo covers startups and tech at Crunchbase News. More posts by this contributor With these numbers, it’s no surprise SoftBank is… Read more »
Flying taxi startup Blade is helping Silicon Valley CEOs bypass traffic
One year after a $38 million Series B valued on-demand aviation startup Blade at $140 million, the company has begun taxiing the Bay Area’s elite. As part of a new… Read more »
Startups Weekly: A much-needed unicorn IPO update
As I’m sure everyone reading this knows, female-founded businesses receive just over 2 percent of venture capital on an annual basis. Most of those checks are written to early-stage startups…. Read more »
Equity Shot: Pinterest and Zoom file to go public
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. What a Friday. This afternoon (mere hours after we released our regularly scheduled… Read more »
Zoom, a profitable unicorn, files to go public
Zoom, the video conferencing startup valued at $1 billion in early 2017, has filed to go public on the Nasdaq as soon as next month. The company joins a growing… Read more »
Pinterest drops its IPO filing
Pinterest, the nearly decade-old visual search engine, has unveiled its S-1 as it prepares for an initial public offering expected in April. The paperwork emerged just hours after another tech… Read more »
To fund Y Combinator’s top startups, VCs scoop them before Demo Day
Hundreds gathered this week at San Francisco’s Pier 48 to see the more than 200 companies in Y Combinator’s Winter 2019 cohort present their two-minute pitches. The audience of venture… Read more »
Amify raises its first venture round on a promise: to boost revenue for third party sellers on Amazon
Small businesses have a complicated relationship with Amazon . While they fear the company because they have no control over it, Amazon’s platform is also a great way to reach… Read more »
Starbucks will anchor the new $400 million food-focused Valor Siren Ventures fund
Starbucks is serving up a steaming hot $100 million cash commitment to anchor a new food-focused fund in partnership with the consumer and tech-focused focused private equity firm Valor Equity… Read more »
South Africa’s FlexClub raises $1.2M, partners with Uber Mexico
FlexClub, a South African startup that matches investors and drivers to cars for ride-hailing services, closed a $1.2 million seed round led by CRE Venture Capital. The company will use… Read more »
General Catalyst just carved out an aggressive new seed-stage program — here’s what to know
General Catalyst is diving more seriously into the business of funding seed-stage startups. To wit, the venture firm is announcing today that it plans to invest at least $25 million… Read more »
Startups Weekly: Uber’s headline-grabbing week and sextech at SXSW
I spent the week at SXSW, Austin’s really, really huge technology, music, comedy and film festival. It’s my first year making the trek down here for the event, which I… Read more »