[[{“value”:” While funding for Italian startups has been growing, the country still ranks eighth in Europe by VC investment, according to Dealroom. Newly created Italian Founders Fund (IFF) hopes to help with the catching up, both in quantity and in quality. With €50 million to invest into 25 companies, it also positions itself as a sector […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
William Anders, astronaut who took the famous ‘Earthrise’ photo, dies at 90
[[{“value”:” William A. Anders, the astronaut behind perhaps the single most iconic photo of our planet, has died at the age of 90. On Friday morning, Anders was piloting a small plane that dove into the water near Roche Harbor, Wash. His son Greg confirmed his death. Anders retired from the Air Force Reserve as a […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Startup Battlefield 200 applications close tomorrow
[[{“value”:” You’re running out of time to join the Startup Battlefield 200, our curated showcase of top startups from around the world and across multiple industries. This elite cohort — 200 companies strong — absolutely owns (and slays) the exhibition floor at TechCrunch Disrupt. Tomorrow is the last day to apply to Startup Battlefield 200 We’re […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
New York moves to limit kids’ access to ‘addictive feeds’
[[{“value”:” New York’s state legislature has passed a bill that would prohibit social media companies from showing so-called “addictive feeds” to children under 18, unless they obtain parental consent. The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act defines an addictive feed as one where the content is recommended or prioritized based on information about the […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Cat-sitting startup Meowtel clawed its way to profitability despite trouble raising from dog-focused VCs
[[{“value”:” Dogs are the most popular pet in the U.S.: 65.1 million households have one, according to the American Pet Products Association. But while cats are not far off, with 46.5 million households with one, a lot of innovation in the pet category has focused exclusively on dogs. And even if the service serves both species, […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Anterior grabs $20M from NEA to expedite health insurance approvals with AI
[[{“value”:” Anterior, a company that uses AI to expedite health insurance approval for medical procedures, has raised a $20 million Series A round at a $95 million post-money valuation led by NEA, according to two people familiar with the deal. Existing investors Sequoia, which led Anterior’s $3.2 million seed round last September, and Neo, an accelerator […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
How India’s most valuable startup ended up being worth nothing
[[{“value”:” Welcome back to TechCrunch’s Week in Review — TechCrunch’s newsletter recapping the week’s biggest news. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. There’s more bad news for Byju’s. In a research note, HSBC estimates that the Indian edtech giant, once valued at $22 billion, is now worth nothing. The write-down in its […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Bereave wants employers to suck a little less at navigating death
[[{“value”:” If death and taxes are inevitable, why are companies so prepared for taxes, but not for death? “I lost both of my parents in college, and it didn’t initially spark this interest to go start a business around my experience,” said Bereave co-founder Elijah Linder. In the immediate aftermath of Linder’s loss, founding a company […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Apple needs to focus on making AI useful, not flashy
[[{“value”:” Google and Microsoft have made their developer conferences a showcase of their generative AI chops, and now all eyes are on next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference, which is expected to mark the debut of Apple Intelligence. The Cupertino-based company is facing a lot of pressure. Apple has fallen behind its peers in the AI race, […] © 2024 TechCrunch….
Deal Dive: Human Native AI is building the marketplace for AI training licensing deals
[[{“value”:” AI systems and large language models need to be trained on massive amounts of data to be accurate but they shouldn’t train on data that they don’t have the rights to use. OpenAI’s licensing deals with The Atlantic and Vox last week show that both sides of the table are interested in landing these AI-training […] © 2024 TechCrunch….