Fundings and Exits

The world of WordPress, one of the most popular technologies for creating and hosting websites, is going through a very heated controversy. The core issue is the fight between WordPress founder and Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg and WP Engine, which hosts websites built on WordPress. WordPress technology is open source and free, and it powers

A billion dollars of venture capital will be invested into European defense technology in 2024, a first for the continent, and a five-fold increase since 2018. The investment comes as a result of both increasing geopolitical unrest and the brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia.  The data, contained in a new Dealroom report, shows that

Japan has always been a strong market for bringing technology into the experience of consuming food, and now one of the startups leading on this idea is attracting investors from across the ocean. Dinii, which lets diners order food from restaurants and shops through a mobile platform, has raised $48 million (7.46 billion JPY). Bessemer

Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan wants to bring the famed accelerator’s Demo Day presentations back as in-person events by the end of the year. During Tan’s opening remarks during Wednesday’s YC summer cohort Demo Day, he said this week’s Demo Day presentations will, “knock on wood,” be the final ones held entirely online. Tan added

Getting healthy is big business these days. Now a startup that’s come up with a unique approach leveraging tech to help people with their exercise regimes is announcing a big round of funding, putting some weight behind its own push for growth.  Munich-based EGYM — a maker of connected fitness equipment and personalized training tech

It must be M&A season. Commvault, a publicly traded data protection and management software company, announced Tuesday that it intends to acquire data backup and recovery provider Clumio for an undisclosed sum. The deal is expected to close in early October. Commvault says it’s not material to its earnings and that it’ll be funded with

Isabella Vincenza, one of CloudKitchens’ earliest employees, never imagined she would be suing her now-former employer. Hired as a full-time salesperson in 2018, she became a mainstay at President’s Club dinners hosted by CEO Travis Kalanick at his Bel Air home throughout 2020 and 2021. These dinners were prized, invite-only events for top salespeople at

The countdown to TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 is on, and so are rebooted ticket prices! Save up to $600 on individual ticket types before September 27. Take advantage of these huge last-minute discounts while you still can. Disrupt 2024 is where the startup ecosystem converges. Taking place at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 28-30,

From Keith Rabois to Ethan Kurzweil, a lot of VCs have switched firms or spun out of storied VC institutions to launch their own funds this year. These employment changes are surprising because unlike in many other fields, venture capitalists don’t traditionally move around very much — especially those who reach the partner or general

Two of the industry’s most famous sisters, Erin and Sara Foster, sit down alongside business partner Phil Schwarz at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 to talk about consumer investing, culture curation, and what it means to be a creator in the modern age.  Moderated on the Disrupt main stage, the conversation will surround the creator economy, consumer

French startup Jump, a modern take on the concept of umbrella companies in France, has raised €11 million (around $12 million at current exchange rates) in a Series A funding round. Jump offers full-time contracts to freelancers looking for some stability and the benefits involved with a full-time job. It only acts as an administrative

The IPO market has not roared back in 2024 as many investors hoped it would — not yet, at least. Elevated interest rates (this week’s 50 bps rate cut notwithstanding) and uncertainty related to the U.S. election have prompted many companies to stay private and wait for better market conditions. But a handful of companies

One of India’s largest startups, budget hotel company Oyo, has reached a deal to acquire G6 Hospitality, which operates Motel 6. Oyo says it will pay Blackstone Real Estate $525 million in an all-cash transaction. The acquisition also includes the Studio 6 extended stay brand and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of

As the startup landscape evolves, so do hiring strategies. With Big Tech downsizing and the labor market tightening, founders must navigate a conservative job market to attract and retain top talent.  The hiring landscape in 2025 will offer challenges and opportunities for those who can adapt. Founders now hold increased leverage, but respect for staff

Flow, Adam Neumann’s co-living startup, opened a compound with 238 apartments in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, and Forbes has some details. The opening included an Aztec-themed hot chocolate ceremony and tote bags with the words “holy s— I’m alive” on them. The rent for the furnished units starts at $3,500 a month and includes hotel-style

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. This week brought reassuring signs that dealmaking is still happening on both sides of the table. New unicorns are being minted, and more capital is flowing into

Physics Wallah, an Indian edtech startup, has secured $210 million in fresh financing amid a tough funding environment for edtech companies in the country following the collapse of Byju’s, once the biggest company in the space. Physics Wallah said on Friday the Series B round was led by the hedge fund Hornbill Capital, a venture

I recently adopted a kitten from a local animal shelter. The modern, well-staffed three-story facility relies almost entirely on donations to operate. It’s just one of the 1.8 million nonprofits in the U.S. that need to continually solicit contributions from donors to maintain its services. But Virtuous founder and CEO Gabe Cooper says that many

In a world where innovation knows no borders, a new trend is rising in the tech ecosystem: national-interest startups. From aerospace and defense to critical infrastructure, these firms are ensuring that innovation directly supports national growth, security, and prosperity. As we approach an inflection point in Silicon Valley’s evolution, the question arises: Can startups rebuild

Bankrupt EV startup Fisker is reversing course just a few days after telling owners that they would have to pay labor costs for recall repairs. The company edited the FAQ page on its website to say “Fisker will provide the necessary parts (including the labor) at no cost to you.” Fisker originally broke the bad

Ashraf Hebela, J.P. Morgan’s Head of Startup Banking, may sit on the finance side of startups these days. But he once sat in the founder seat. It’s been his experience in these two worlds — as a founder and a decades-long finance career including a 13-year stint at Silicon Valley Bank — that informs his

Luminate’s wearable device for hair retention during chemotherapy treatment is getting the testing it needs for commercial release, but the startup is already looking ahead to its next goal: powering at-home cancer care. A new $15 million funding round should help it make a start on it. The startup is one of the most unusual,

As part of a new, joint pilot program by U.K. startup Apian, Alphabet’s drone company Wing, and the U.K.’s National Health Service, drones will soon be used to fly urgent blood samples between two hospitals in London.  As part of the six-month pilot program, drones will deliver urgently required blood samples for surgery patients —

Ursa Major, a startup that produces rocket motors through 3D printing, announced today that it received a $12.5 million contract from the Department of Defense’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) and the U.S. Navy to develop new solid-fuel rocket engines. The company, which has raised $274 million according to PitchBook, will match the funding, bringing

We’re incredibly excited to announce the final agenda for our dedicated Fintech Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. It joins Space, SaaS, AI and Builders as the other industry-focused stages — all under one big roof. As the fintech industry evolves, new opportunities abound for founders, investors, and customers. Areas such as mobile banking, global payroll, digital

Flink, a quick-commerce startup out of Berlin that was an acquisition target of Gorillas, Getir, Amazon, and Gopuff, is spelling out how it plans to go forth on its own. TechCrunch has exclusively learned that the company has raised $150 million, which it will use to double down on business in Germany and the Netherlands

As EV startup Fisker prepares to enter the fourth month of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, existing owners have received some bad news: they will have to pay labor costs to resolve two of the five outstanding recalls on their Ocean SUVs. Fisker broke the bad news Sunday night in an FAQ posted to its

11xAI, a startup that builds AI bots for process automation, aka automating end-to-end workflows, just raised a fresh $24 million Series A led by Benchmark. It also one of the growing crowd of AI startups relocating its headquarters to San Francisco, Hasan Sukkar, the company’s founder and CEO, told us. It was founded in London.

Alex Parmley has been thinking about building his latest company, ORNG, since he was working on his last company, Phood.  Launched in 2018, Phood was a payments app that let students use dining dollars to order food from third-party apps and merchants anywhere in the world. It built the first campus-integrated debit card and worked

Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator will expand the number of cohorts it runs each year from two to four starting in 2025, Bloomberg reported Thursday. Y Combinator president Garry Tan told the site that approximately the same number of companies will go through YC each year, despite the change. This means each cohort will