playground global

Playground Global closes Fund III with $410M for early-stage deep tech investments

The new fund invests across the computing, automation, infrastructure, logistics, decarbonization and engineered biology industries.

Boxbot pivots from last-mile trucks to robotical parcel storage

I love a good pivot story. It’s something most startups will confront at some point or other, if they’re going to make it long term. In a category where luck, timing and market forces are at least

Two days in the Bay

It was genuinely a bit surreal seeing deep green hills in the South Bay last week. Growing up in Fremont, I know the change from brown to green is about as close as we get to having seasons, but it’

With new funding, Atomic AI envisions RNA as the next frontier in drug discovery

The biotech industry is experiencing a rush of AI-powered tools for many aspects of the complex drug discovery process. But one that has flown under the radar, increasingly thought to be key to certai

Investing in the future of robotics

A short one this week, as I’m taking some time off. I didn’t want to leave you hanging, so I’ve spoken with some leading names in the field to keep Actuator chugging along. Last week

Ideon Technologies digs up $16M Series A to use particle physics to find critical minerals

The startup’s technology promises to significantly slash some of the the time and expense of mineral exploration while also allowing mining companies to be more targeted in their extraction efforts.

Here’s everything you missed at TC Sessions: Robotics 2022

In case you missed it, robots took over TechCrunch on Thursday, July 21. We played host to the robotic industry’s leading startups, researchers and academics at TC Sessions: Robotics. The event

Robotics scene continues to be bullish, but layoffs are looming

“In an economic downturn, the customers will be less willing to be experimental, so they're thinking about cutting costs and then economics just becomes so much more important.”

As it brings its bipedal robots to market, Agility announces a $150M round

Yesterday, Amazon announced that Agility Robotics is one of the five initial startups benefitting from the company’s $1 billion innovation fund. If I had to guess, I’d say that meant the retail gi

As the worm turns

Here’s something for you to mull over this fine Thursday morning: Do agtech robotics need a reset? Granted, we’re dealing with a small sample size here, but a string of news items over the past ye

TechCrunch+ roundup: Box unfolds a surprise, robotics pitch tips, BNPL growing pains

Growth is good, but like the James Brown song, Klarna is paying the cost to be the boss.

Daily Crunch: Hackers leak nearly 200 gigabytes of internal Samsung source code

Hello friends and welcome to Daily Crunch, bringing you the most important startup, tech and venture capital news in a single package.

Robotics founders: Build your pitch deck around problem-solving, not technology

In a recent episode of TechCrunch Live, Agility's Jonathan Hurst and Playground Global's Bruce Leak joined us to discuss the robotic company's journey from the lab to the commercial sector.

Putting the autonomous cart before the robotic horse

I’m writing this fresh off hosting TechCrunch Live this week with Jonathan Hurst of Agility Robotics and Bruce Leak of Playground Global. I’ll be posting more about the session later this week, bu

Agility Robotics and Playground Global join TechCrunch Live to speak on robotics fundraising

Warehouse logistics one of the fastest growing verticals for robotics investments amid pandemic-related shutdowns. There’s been plenty of interest in the category over the years, but COVID-19 has ac

Hear from these amazing investors and founders on TechCrunch Live this March

TechCrunch Live has an exciting slate of episodes scheduled for March. The speakers come from a variety of disciplines, backgrounds and locations. Like always, each episode features an entrepreneur pr

Join us today for Extra Crunch Live, as we speak with 1910 Genetics’ Jen Nwankwo and Playground Global’s Jory Bell

Extra Crunch Live gives you the chance to hear live from entrepreneurs who have successfully raised significant rounds of venture capital -- and from the investors who believed in them.

Discord buys Sentropy, which makes AI software that fights online harassment

The online chat platform Discord is buying Sentropy, a company that makes AI-powered software to detect and remove online harassment and hate. Discord currently uses a “multilevel” approac

Universal Hydrogen raises $20.5M Series A to help launch hydrogen aviation

The race to decarbonize aviation got a boost this Earth Day with the announcement of a $20.5 million Series A round by Universal Hydrogen, a Los Angeles-based startup aiming to develop hydrogen storag

Saltbox raises $10.6M to help booming e-commerce stores store their goods

E-commerce is booming, but among the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs of online businesses are finding a place to store the items they are selling and dealing with the logistics of operating. Tyle
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