Eric Schmidt
Eric Schmidt-backed Augment, a GitHub Copilot rival, launches out of stealth with $252M
Augment, a startup developing an AI-powered platform similar to GitHub’s Copilot, has launched out of stealth valued at nearly $1 billion.
This nation has been the pacesetter of the digital era, but America’s infrastructure needs a serious upgrade.
Innovation Endeavors closes $630M for Fund V to invest at intersection of science, tech
The firm intends to deploy capital to between 30 and 35 companies with this new fund.
Sam Altman backs teens’ AI startup automating browser-native workflows
Sam Altman, Peak XV, and Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman’s AI grant are among backers of an AI startup, founded by two teenagers, that’s aiming to assist businesses in automating…
Eric Schmidt backs Keeta, a startup working to make cross-border payments ‘as easy as Venmo’
The core technology is a proprietary ledger capable of processing more than 50 million transactions per second and a network of interconnected real-time payment rails.
Eric Schmidt backs former Google exec’s digital family office platform in $90 million funding
Caesar Sengupta has worked on, and overseen, several category-defining projects in the past decade and a half. As a product lead at Google, he was in charge of ChromeOS, the…
Sardine raises $51.5M led by a16z to sniff out fishy fintech transactions
As fintechs become more efficient, so too do fraudsters. “Faster instant payments mean faster fraud,” Sardine CEO and co-founder Soups Ranjan told TechCrunch. That’s the thesis behind his startup, which…
Peek raises $80M as its travel experiences software and marketplace business passes $2B in bookings
Travel and tourism are slowly starting to move again in the wake of COVID-19 crashing over the world and sending us to shelter in place. Today a company focused on…
Controversial former Uber exec Emil Michael has registered plans for a $250M SPAC
SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies, are all the rage right now, and people are emerging from all corners to raise them. Among the latest entrants — and someone who…
Learning how to ask questions is an essential skill for startup founders
As I interviewed founders about the most valuable learning resources that allowed them to grow into the leaders they are today, I realized that many leaned heavily on carefully-crafted approaches…
RealityEngines.AI, the machine learning startup co-founded by former AWS and Google exec Bindu Reddy, today announced that it is rebranding as Abacus.AI and launching its autonomous AI service into general…
The last two decades have ushered in significant change and transformation. I believe the 2020s will be dispositive in redefining the pillars of our economy, and COVID-19 magnifies this greatly.
Rocket startup Astra emerges from stealth, aims to launch for as little as $1M per flight
There’s yet another new rocket launch startup throwing its hat in the ring — Astra, an Alameda-based company that’s actually been operating in stealth mode (though relatively openly, often referred…
RealityEngines.AI, an AI and machine learning startup founded by a number of former Google executives and engineers, is coming out of stealth today and announcing its first set of products.…
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Nebia’s co-founder talks about finding product/market fit
Finding the right product/market fit is challenging for any company, but it’s just a little harder for hardware startups. I recently visited the San Francisco offices of Nebia to chat with co-founder and CEO Philip Winter, whose eco-friendly hardware startup has received funding from Apple CEO Tim Cook, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Fitbit…
Listen to top VCs discuss the next generation of automation startups at TC Sessions: Robotics+AI
Robotics, AI and automation have long been one of the hottest categories for tech investments. After years and decades of talk, however, those big payouts are starting to pay off.…
China nears completion of its GPS competitor, increasing the potential for internet Balkanization
On Friday, China announced that it would complete its competitor to the U.S.-operated global positioning system network by the first half of next year, increasing the pace of its decoupling…
AlphaSense, a search engine for analysis and business intel, raises $50M led by Innovation Endeavors
Google and its flagship search portal opened the door to the possibilities of how to build a business empire on the back of organising and navigating the world’s information, as…
RealityEngines.AI raises $5.25M seed round to make ML easier for enterprises
RealityEngines.AI, a research startup that wants to help enterprises make better use of AI, even when they only have incomplete data, today announced that it has raised a $5.25 million…
Eric Schmidt and Diane Greene are leaving Alphabet’s board of directors
Google’s parent company Alphabet announced that two board members, Eric Schmidt and Diane Greene, will not be seeking re-election when their terms expire on June 19. Schmidt has been on…
Innovation Endeavors debuts Deep Life, an incubator focused on the intersection of life science and computer science
Innovation Endeavors, the fund backed by Google’s Eric Schmidt, has for years now been taking a novel approach to working on difficult and still-evolving problems, like cybersecurity and food shortages:…
Investment platform Ellevest raises $33M from Melinda Gates’ Pivotal Ventures, Valerie Jarrett & PayPal
Ellevest, a digital investment platform specifically focused on helping women meet their financial goals, has raised an additional $33 million in a new round led by Rethink Impact and PSP…
Flying taxi startup Blade is helping Silicon Valley CEOs bypass traffic
Blade, backed by Lerer Hippeau and Airbus, has begun chauffering the Bay Area’s elite.
The ‘splinternet’ is already here
There is no question that the arrival of a fragmented and divided internet is now upon us. The “splinternet” is no longer just a concept, but now a dangerous reality.
The popular image of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy might be a large company like Enron failing, or maybe some lazy drifter trying to shirk their financial responsibilities. The reality is…
Shareholder suit alleges Google covered up its sexual harassment problems with big payouts
A new lawsuit may require Andy Rubin to return his $90 million payout.
Village Global’s accelerator introduces founders to Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, Eric Schmidt and more
The VC fund backed by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and other tech luminaries is offering early-stage startups access to its killer network.
Investors like Walmart and Microsoft back Team8’s cybersecurity venture studio with $85 million
The Israeli cybersecurity venture studio Team8 has raised $85 million in new financing from a clutch of new and returning strategic investors including Walmart, Airbus, SoftBank, and Microsoft’s investment arm, M-12. The…
When former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was asked about Elon Musk’s warnings about AI, he had a succinct answer: “I think Elon is exactly wrong.” “He doesn’t understand the benefits…
The American South may not be the first region that comes to mind when you hear the phrase “hotbed of tech entrepreneurship,” but, slightly misguided perceptions aside, it’s home to…
