Stress isn’t just bad for you — it’s also bad for your employer. Factoring in absenteeism, diminished productivity, turnover, medical costs, and accidents, the nonprofit American Institute of Stress estimates that workplace stress costs U.S. businesses over $300 billion annually. One way to measure stress is by monitoring cortisol levels. Even influencers know this, with
Month: January 2025
DeepSeek, DeepSeek, DeepSeek. We couldn’t escape the headlines around the Chinese AI lab this week. The startup lit a fire under Silicon Valley after releasing its R1 “reasoning” model and displacing ChatGPT as the App Store’s top app. While DeepSeek claims to have built its models more efficiently and at a fraction of the cost
Apple’s AI suite, Apple Intelligence, will soon be available in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and simplified Chinese, along with localized English versions for India and Singapore. During the company’s Q4 2024 quarterly results call on Thursday, CEO Tim Cook said that the company will roll out support for these additional languages in
Cushion, a fintech startup that described itself as the “Plaid for buy now, pay later (BNPL),” has shut down. On Thursday, founder and CEO Paul Kesserwani posted on LinkedIn about the decision to wind down the company at the end of 2024. In the post, Kesserwani said that “despite bringing multiple new fintech products to
Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. The aftermath of DeepSeek’s launch was arguably the biggest tech story of the week, especially for anyone keeping a close eye on public markets. But private companies,
Apple’s AI suite, Apple Intelligence, will soon be available in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and simplified Chinese, along with localized English versions for India and Singapore. During the company’s Q4 2024 quarterly results call on Thursday, CEO Tim Cook said that the company will roll out support for these additional languages in
Last week, Founders Fund partner Delian Asparouhov realized he hadn’t checked on his genetics in a while. He clicked open a dashboard created by Nucleus Genomics, a Founders Fund-backed startup that gets saliva samples sequenced and then compares the DNA results to extensive data linking health issues to genes. Within seconds, he concluded that he
OpenAI may have billions of dollars in the bank. But it’s gearing up to raise billions more, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Per The WSJ, OpenAI is in talks to secure up to $40 billion in a funding round that would value the startup at $340 billion. SoftBank would lead the
Microsoft announced Thursday that it’s buying over 7 million tons of carbon credits from Chestnut Carbon. The 25-year deal would enable Chestnut Carbon to reforest 60,000 acres of land across Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, Axios reported. Recently, the tech company has struggled to rein in its carbon emissions as AI has driven a surge in
Amazon is the latest company to announce a price hike for its music streaming subscriptions. The company revealed this week that the price of an Amazon Music Unlimited Individual plan for Prime members is going from $9.99 per month to $10.99. As for subscribers without a Prime membership, the price of their subscription is going
Web-based party games are making a comeback, now with the infusion of generative AI. Among the startups joining the trend, the current forecast looks good for one startup, Little Umbrella, which leverages AI for its social party games. The company announced on Thursday its $2 million seed funding round. Little Umbrella plans to use the
Talk to many architects, and they’ll likely tell you that Autodesk’s software, including AutoCAD and Revit, has been indispensable to their work for decades. But despite their widespread use, Autodesk’s former co-CEO and chief product officer Amar Hanspal says that the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is using 20th century tools to design 21st
If you talk to a fintech entrepreneur about their business, chances are they’ll end up talking about ledger issues at some point. A ledger is a record of money movements that serves as the source of truth for financial assets, but when a company starts having multiple bank accounts, payment processors and funds spread across
French startup Swan has raised another €42 million (around $44 million at current exchange rates). The company considers this round as the second part of the Series B round that was originally announced in September 2023. Swan helps other companies offer financial products at scale. The company can generate both virtual and physical cards that
Martin Fengler knows a lot about the weather. Fengler got his Ph.D. in mathematics, focused on numerical weather prediction, before working for Meteomedia AG, a network of weather stations in Switzerland and Germany. But while he knew a lot about weather forecasting from the prediction side, he realized the gaps that remained on the consumption
After MoviePass’s historic implosion, subscribers to the “Netflix for movie theaters” were already cautious around the company’s 2023 relaunch. These moviegoers may grow even more skeptical after MoviePass sent out an email blast on Wednesday, which surveyed customers about their interest in web3. “Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain technologies are transforming the business landscape at an unprecedented
Only 3 days remain to score the ultimate deal for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 — two of the same ticket types for the price of one! Don’t wait to take advantage of these massive savings. This limited-time offer ends this Friday, January 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT — after that, these 2-for-1 Passes will be gone.
Lily Vittayarukskul was studying aerospace engineering when her aunt was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer. Her aunt had lived under the same roof as Vittayarukskul while she was growing up and helped raise her. “We went all in on her care,” she recalled. Post-chemotherapy, Vittayarukskul’s aunt “became very frail,” so her family – originally from
Climate change increased the likelihood of the recent Southern California wildfires by 35%, according to a new study published by World Weather Attribution, a decade-old international group of climate scientists and other experts. The study comes as Los Angeles residents start to rebuild their lives in the wake of catastrophic fires that erupted earlier this
Netflix announced on Wednesday that it’s giving iOS users a new feature that allows them to download an entire season of their favorite TV show with one tap. The feature first became available to Android users. The Season Download button is available in the Netflix app, located next to the Share button on a show’s
You might have noticed a lot of the online services and websites you’re using are kind of getting … worse. Google search results are cluttered with sponsored links, dating apps have a pay wall, and that article you’re trying to read keeps reloading to deliver unwanted programmatic ads. Author and journalist Cory Doctorow has coined
With its 700,000 customers, Alan could be considered as a mature company. But the health insurance company that wants to become a digital companion for your health is still growing like a startup. On Wednesday, the company shared some financial metrics. The most impressive one is its top-line revenue. In 2024, the company generated €505
When Edoardo Dellepiane and Raffaele Sertorio founded Niko Energy in 2023, they saw ample opportunity in Mexico’s underdeveloped solar market. Despite the fact that many parts of the country are bathed in sunlight, it has strikingly few solar installations. After more than a year of helping solar installers sell, plan, and finance panels for residential
While the adoption of IP (intellectual property) blockchain and tokenization of assets is still in its early stages, more creatives in the entertainment industry are embracing what is called “tokenized storytelling.” This approach enables fans to participate in story development, contributing elements — such as characters and plot — that can be tokenized and owned
If you’ve ever tried to book a venue for a company event, you’ll know how onerous a task it can be. You have to contact multiple vendors, wait for quotes, evaluate them, see if you can get a good deal, and then get all that approved. So it makes sense that depending on the size
Swedish shared micromobility giant Voi had its first profitable year in 2024, according to preliminary unaudited results the company shared exclusively with TechCrunch. Voi, which offers shared e-scooters and e-bikes across more than 100 markets in Europe, recorded €132.8 million ($138 million) in net revenue in 2024. On an adjusted basis, Voi earned €17.2 million
Indie bookstore backer Bookshop.org launched an e-book platform on Tuesday, making it easier for readers to buy e-books without padding Jeff Bezos’s pockets. For years, Amazon’s chokehold and sway in the publishing industry have been so strong that authors and booksellers have accused the company of operating a monopoly. Amazon is dominant in the sale
Falls are common for older people living semi-independently. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they’re the leading cause of injury for adults aged 65 and up. On average, about 10% of these falls are serious, requiring medical attention. Yet many fall victims don’t get the treatment they need. George Netscher, a
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week we’re looking at the story behind the sale of Divvy Homes, Ramp’s new product, some notable fundraising deals, and more! To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. PT, subscribe here. The big story Image Credits:Divvy
Audio streaming company Spotify said Tuesday that it paid $10 billion to the music industry last year. The company added that it has given nearly $60 billion in industry payouts since its inception. This is another effort from Spotify to dispel reports that the company doesn’t reward artists properly for their work. The key point
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