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Why a16z VC believes that Cluely, the ‘cheat on everything’ startup, is the new blueprint for AI startups

techcrunch.com Marina Temkin 2025-08-26 07:06:44

When Cluely, a startup claiming to be building a product that helps people “cheat” on everything, announced that it raised a $15 million Series A financing from Andreessen Horowitz, some people on X criticized the VC firm for backing the controversial company. After all, Cluely isn’t just offering a product that may have questionable uses, but the startup has become famous for using what many people call rage-bait marketing. But Cluely’s ability to grab attention is precisely what attracted a1

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Blacklisted by the U.S. and backed by Beijing, this Chinese AI startup has caught OpenAI's attention

cnbc.com Dylan Butts 2025-08-28 05:34:18

OpenAI is putting a spotlight on an under-the-radar artificial intelligence startup that it believes is on the "front line" of China's race to lead the world in AI — and its not DeepSeek. In a blog post on Wednesday, the company wrote that Beijing-backed Zhipu AI has made "notable progress" in the AI race, as global competition ramps up. Zhipu AI, founded in 2019, has been referred by domestic media as one of China's "AI tigers" — a class of large language model unicorns seen as key to Beijing

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Indian drone startup Raphe mPhibr raises $100M as military UAV demand soars

techcrunch.com Jagmeet Singh 2025-08-28 05:00:00

Indian drone startup Raphe mPhibr has raised $100 million in an all-equity Series B round led by General Catalyst, as the startup aims to boost its R&D and local production capabilities amid growing demand for drones in battlefields and for border surveillance. Drones are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in global military operations. In recent and ongoing conflicts, countries have turned to drones for rapid infiltration and high-impact strikes. The recent India-Pakistan war is a prime example,

Topics: drone drones mphibr raphe startup

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Winning capital for your AI startup? Kleida Martiro is leading the conversation at TechCrunch All Stage

techcrunch.com Techcrunch Events 2025-08-29 19:30:00

AI-native startups are rewriting the rules of what early traction looks like — and too often, investors are still playing by the old ones. At TechCrunch All Stage, happening in Boston on July 15, Kleida Martiro, partner at Glasswing Ventures, will lead a breakout that cuts straight to the core of this disconnect. Her session, “Winning Capital in a Competitive Market: How to Fund Your AI-Native Startup,” on the Foundation Stage, explores how early stage AI founders can frame their growth story i

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India’s GoKwik raised a small $13M round for a hefty leap in valuation

techcrunch.com Jagmeet Singh 2025-08-30 23:05:12

GoKwik, an Indian startup that offers a suite of integrated e-commerce products, has raised a small round of $13 million, which it calls a “growth” round, that has boosted its valuation to $450 million pre-money. While the new funding round, led by RTP Global, is 63% smaller than its Series B of $35 million, announced in May 2022, it has valued the New Delhi-based startup 43% more than its last pre-money valuation of $315 million. The fresh funding also included participation from the startup’s

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Thanks to Fidelity and our amazing sponsors, TechCrunch All Stage is where startups rise

techcrunch.com Cindy Zackney 2025-08-31 23:30:00

At TechCrunch All Stage, we’re proud to spotlight our partners — not only for their support, but also for the invaluable expertise they bring to the conversation. Their sessions deliver front-line insights into the startup ecosystem and are must-attend moments for anyone looking to navigate and thrive in today’s dynamic entrepreneurial landscape. We sincerely thank Fidelity, whose support is powering this year’s TC All Stage programming. Their commitment to startup success helps fuel the knowled

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Last day to save on your TechCrunch All Stage pass — prices go up tonight

techcrunch.com Techcrunch Events 2025-09-03 22:00:00

It’s now or never — this is your final day to lock in savings for TechCrunch All Stage, happening July 15 in Boston. Prices increase tonight, June 22, at 11:59 p.m. PT. If you’ve been thinking about attending, now’s the time to commit. Register here. TC All Stage brings together founders, investors, and operators from across the startup landscape for one high-intensity day of strategy, storytelling, and startup momentum. Whether you’re building something new or backing what’s next, this is the

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Week in Review: Meta reveals its Oakley smart glasses

techcrunch.com Karyne Levy 2025-09-03 16:08:39

Welcome back to Week in Review! Lots in store for you today, including Wix’s latest acquisition, Meta’s new smart glasses, a look at the new Digg, and much more. Have a great weekend! Smart specs: Meta and Oakley have teamed up on a new pair of smart glasses that can record 3K video, play music, handle calls, and respond to Meta AI prompts. They start at $399 and have double the battery life of Meta’s Ray-Bans. A $499 limited-edition Oakley Meta HSTN model will be available starting July 11. U

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AI Startup That Raised $81 Million to Detect Wildfires Bamboozled by Clouds, Still Relies on Humans

futurism.com Unknown 2025-09-03 17:45:31

It's boom time for AI startups. Across the world, enterprising tech types are being rewarded with millions for forcing AI into all kinds of gadgets, like an autonomous lawnmower, an AI-powered robo-mattress, and even an AI-enabled toilet. While the vast majority of even the most well-funded AI startups tend to collapse like houses of cards, VC spending on outlandish techno slop — like the Lemonflow, a "voice-based AI agent for charging infrastructure" — isn't slowing down. In the first three mo

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Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab closes on $2B at $10B valuation

techcrunch.com Rebecca Bellan 2025-09-04 07:59:33

In Brief Thinking Machines Lab, the secretive AI startup founded by OpenAI’s former chief technology officer Mira Murati, has closed a $2 billion seed round, according to The Financial Times. The deal values the six-month-old startup at $10 billion. The company’s work remains unclear. The startup has leveraged Murati’s reputation and other high-profile AI researchers who have joined the team to attract investors in what could be the largest seed round in history. According to sources familiar

Topics: ai murati openai round startup

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Startups Weekly: Fast and furious

techcrunch.com Anna Heim 2025-09-04 23:30:00

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. Some startups accrued value at lightning speed this week, and we got confirmation that defense tech is red hot. Most interesting startup stories from the week Image Credits:Kelly Sullivan / Getty Images Many startup stories this week occurred in Y Combinator’s orbit in some way. Also, Israel once again lived up to its “Start-Up Nation” repu

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Meta tried to buy Ilya Sutskever's $32 billion AI startup, but is now planning to hire its CEO

cnbc.com Kate Rooney 2025-09-06 07:55:12

At the Meta Connect developer conference, Mark Zuckerberg, head of the Facebook group Meta, shows the prototype of computer glasses that can display digital objects in transparent lenses. When Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg poached Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang last week as part of a $14.3 billion investment in the artificial intelligence startup, he was apparently just getting started. Zuckerberg's multibillion-dollar AI hiring spree has now turned to Daniel Gross, the CEO of Ilya Sutskever's star

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4 days left: Lock in your TechCrunch All Stage pass — or miss $210 in savings

techcrunch.com Techcrunch Events 2025-09-07 19:00:00

If you’re serious about traction, scale, and funding, you have 4 days left to secure your pass to TechCrunch All Stage — and save up to $210 while you’re at it. Prices rise after June 22 at 11:59 p.m. PT. This is not just another startup event. It’s your tactical launchpad and the fuel to scale to the next level. On July 15 in Boston, join 1,000 founders and investors at all stages for one day packed with real scaling strategies, live investor feedback, and conversations that move the needle.

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Stripe’s former growth lead helps African diaspora invest in startups, real estate

techcrunch.com Tage Kene-Okafor 2025-09-08 13:30:00

When Joe Kinvi joined Touchtech Payments in 2017 as head of finance, the Irish startup couldn’t afford his full salary. So he negotiated for stock to make up the difference. Eighteen months later, Stripe acquired the company, and that equity converted into Stripe shares, enough to let Kinvi leave his job, bootstrap a side project, and eventually found a startup. That startup, Borderless, is now helping Africans in the diaspora collectively invest in startups and real estate back home. Since lau

Topics: borderless diaspora kinvi startups stripe

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Six-month-old, solo-owned vibe coder Base44 sells to Wix for $80M cash

techcrunch.com Julie Bort 2025-09-09 03:25:21

There’s a lot of talk in the startup world about how AI makes individuals so productive that it could give rise to a generation of “solo unicorns” – one-person companies worth over $1 billion. While an actual solo unicorn remains a mythical creature, Israeli developer Maor Shlomo provided compelling evidence Wednesday that the concept might not be impossible. Shlomo sold his six-month-old, bootstrapped vibe-coding startup Base44 to Wix for $80 million deal, Wix announced Wednesday. And the dea

Topics: base44 shlomo startup vibe wix

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Police shut down Cluely’s party, the ‘cheat at everything’ startup

techcrunch.com Julie Bort 2025-09-10 23:09:59

The latest San Francisco startup culture drama happened on Monday night. And it centered around “the most legendary party that never happened,” Cluely founder and CEO Roy Lee tells TechCrunch. Cluely had hoped to throw an after-party for a Y Combinator event occurring on Monday and Tuesday called AI Startup School. The event drew crowds thanks to scheduled speakers like Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, and Elon Musk. Cluely is an AI startup born of controversy and rage-bait comedy marketing. True to

Topics: cluely lee party startup techcrunch

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Last call to volunteer at TechCrunch All Stage 2025

techcrunch.com Techcrunch Events 2025-09-12 02:00:00

TechCrunch All Stage, our founder-focused summit, is gearing up to return to Boston on July 15! We’re doing a last call for exceptional volunteers to join us in bringing this event to life. If you’ve ever wondered about the inner workings of tech events, now’s your chance to get involved. Volunteer spots are limited, so don’t miss out! Apply before the July 1 deadline to be considered. As a volunteer, you’ll gain exclusive access to the behind-the-scenes action, witnessing firsthand how these

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Observability startup Coralogix becomes a unicorn, eyes India expansion

techcrunch.com Jagmeet Singh 2025-09-12 19:00:00

Coralogix, an Israeli startup offering a full-stack observability and security platform, has raised $115 million at a pre-money valuation of over $1 billion, almost doubling in three years from its last round in 2022. With the influx of cash, the startup is looking to expand its engineering base in India and develop its AI agent. The all-equity and all-primary Series E round is led by California-based venture growth firm NewView Capital, with participation from the Canada Pension Plan Investme

Topics: ai coralogix customers engineering startup

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Microsoft Accidentally Replaces Windows 11 Startup Sound With Vista Chime

cnet.com See Full Bio 2025-09-13 22:26:00

Microsoft has temporarily transported users back to 2007 this week when the company mistakenly swapped Windows 11's familiar startup chime with the iconic Windows Vista boot sound. The mix-up appeared in a recent Windows 11 Insider Preview build in the Dev Channel. Users who rebooted their systems noticed that instead of the modern Windows 11 tone, they were greeted by Vista's distinct (and now nostalgic) startup sound. Microsoft has since acknowledged the issue, calling it an unintentional ch

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Microsoft Accidentally Replaces Windows 11 Startup Sound with Vista Chime

cnet.com See Full Bio 2025-09-14 03:26:24

Microsoft briefly transported users back to 2007 this week when the company mistakenly swapped Windows 11's familiar startup chime with the iconic Windows Vista boot sound. The mix-up appeared in a recent Windows 11 Insider Preview build in the Dev Channel. Users who rebooted their systems noticed that instead of the modern Windows 11 tone, they were greeted by Vista's distinct (and now nostalgic) startup sound. Microsoft has since acknowledged the issue, calling it an unintentional change and

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Deadline day: Startup Battlefield 200 applications close at midnight

techcrunch.com Techcrunch Events 2025-09-14 03:00:00

These are your final hours to apply to the most iconic pitch competition in tech — Startup Battlefield 200. Battle it out in front of 10,000+ startup leaders, investors, and media at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. It’s your moment to be seen, funded, and remembered — and maybe even walk away with $100,000 in equity-free funding. This isn’t your average pitch. It’s where the bold go to break out. If your startup has traction, vision, and grit, you’ve got until 11:59 p.m. PT tonight to enter. Submit

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A comprehensive list of 2025 tech layoffs

techcrunch.com Cody Corrall 2025-09-14 08:48:36

The tech layoff wave is still kicking in 2025. Last year saw more than 150,000 job cuts across 549 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. So far this year, more than 22,000 workers have been the victim of reductions across the tech industry, with a staggering 16,084 cuts taking place in February alone. We’re tracking layoffs in the tech industry in 2025 so you can see the trajectory of the cutbacks and understand the impact on innovation across all types of companies.

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College Dropout Entrepreneur Boasts That Peter Thiel's Book Is "Probably the Best Book I've Read, and I've Only Read a Few Pages"

futurism.com Unknown 2025-09-15 01:45:16

Ever since college dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak began pedaling the romantic tale of founding Apple in Jobs' parents' Los Altos garage, college-age tech bros have longed to follow in their footsteps. But there's just one tiny thorn: the "founder's story" of late-night struggles and coffee-fueled breadboarding is mostly a capitalist fairy tale. Still, it's a mythos tech billionaire overlord Peter Thiel is all too eager to stoke. His empire is built on image — even the stereotypical "evil

Topics: college startup startups tech thiel

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AI agent startups at Y Combinator’s Spring ’25 Demo Day

news.ycombinator.com Samantha Stokes 2025-09-14 22:41:12

Priyanka Shrestha of Galen AI, Xavier (Tianhao) Chi of Mbodi AI, and Vaibhav Dubey of Plexe. Priyanka Shrestha of Galen AI, Xavier (Tianhao) Chi of Mbodi AI, and Vaibhav Dubey of Plexe. Galen AI, Mbodi AI, Plexe lighning bolt icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. lighning bolt icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. Impact Link Have an account? Log in . This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Christmas ca

Topics: ai batch spring startups yc

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Startups Weekly: No sign of pause

techcrunch.com Anna Heim 2025-09-16 02:05:00

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. You’d think WWDC would cause a lull in startup news. But not in June, when everyone is eager to announce their latest deals — or even to go public. Most interesting startup stories from the week Image Credits:Nasdaq This week brought us many reminders that no startup journey is linear — but the next billion-dollar idea may only be one click

Topics: capital million raised series startup

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How AI sales startup Landbase nabbed Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures to lead its $30M Series A

techcrunch.com Julie Bort 2025-09-19 11:45:00

When Daniel Saks was working as a co-CEO of the previous startup he co-founded, AppDirect, billionaire Michael Dell sent him a LinkedIn message asking for a meeting. Dell famously likes to cold-contact founders of startups he finds interesting. “I thought it was fake,” Saks tells TechCrunch. But he replied anyway. “So I’m getting ready for this call, thinking there’s no way it’s Michael Dell. And I’m almost kind of laughing about it. It actually was Michael.” That interaction taught him a less

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Three reasons every founder and VC should be at TechCrunch All Stage 2025

techcrunch.com Techcrunch Events 2025-06-04 15:00:00

From idea to IPO — where are you on your startup journey? Are you a pre-seed founder seeking your next VC investment? A late-stage startup preparing to go public? Still in the idea phase and looking for insights to bring your vision to life? Or are you a VC eager to back the next breakthrough innovation? If any of that sounds like you — or if you’re in between stages and ready to level up — TechCrunch All Stage 2025 (formerly Early Stage) is the place to be. Join 1,200 founders to exchange

Topics: big right scaling stage startup

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How automotive exec Crystal Brown founded CircNova, an AI drug discovery biotech

techcrunch.com Julie Bort 2025-06-04 17:00:00

Tiny Michigan biotech startup CircNova has raised a $3.3 million seed round for its technology that uses AI to target “circular RNA.” The development holds promise as a new method to quickly develop therapies for conditions that currently have no drug treatments. The new funding is also a victory lap for co-founder and CEO Crystal Brown, who took an unconventional path to becoming a biotech founder. RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is a key molecule that helps convert genetic information into protein

Topics: brown founder like rna startup

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Augury and Hightouch joined the unicorn club

techcrunch.com Anna Heim 2025-06-04 18:05:00

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. Startup life is a story of births and deaths. This week confirmed this, and it confirmed that unicorn rounds are not dead. Most interesting startup stories from the week Image Credits:Natalie Christman / Humane As happens often in the startup world, it’s been a week of beginnings and endings. Thinking machines: Thinking Machines Lab, the n

Topics: ai billion million round startup

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Pre-seed firm Afore Capital has a fresh $185M fund and a new program to help founders discover ideas

techcrunch.com Marina Temkin 2025-06-04 13:00:00

Afore Capital, a firm that claims to be the largest dedicated pre-seed investor, was founded on the idea that the first check into a new startup should be larger than what most accelerators and early-stage investors were offering. When Afore raised its third $150 million fund in 2022, the firm wrote checks ranging from $1 million to $2 million, which general partners Anamitra Banerji and Gaurav Jain argued helped companies grow faster. The firm’s strategy worked. Today, its 200-company portfoli

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Latest Tech News

Why a16z VC believes that Cluely, the ‘cheat on everything’ startup, is the new blueprint for AI startups

Blacklisted by the U.S. and backed by Beijing, this Chinese AI startup has caught OpenAI's attention

Indian drone startup Raphe mPhibr raises $100M as military UAV demand soars

Winning capital for your AI startup? Kleida Martiro is leading the conversation at TechCrunch All Stage

India’s GoKwik raised a small $13M round for a hefty leap in valuation

Thanks to Fidelity and our amazing sponsors, TechCrunch All Stage is where startups rise

Last day to save on your TechCrunch All Stage pass — prices go up tonight

Week in Review: Meta reveals its Oakley smart glasses

AI Startup That Raised $81 Million to Detect Wildfires Bamboozled by Clouds, Still Relies on Humans

Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab closes on $2B at $10B valuation

Startups Weekly: Fast and furious

Meta tried to buy Ilya Sutskever's $32 billion AI startup, but is now planning to hire its CEO

4 days left: Lock in your TechCrunch All Stage pass — or miss $210 in savings

Stripe’s former growth lead helps African diaspora invest in startups, real estate

Six-month-old, solo-owned vibe coder Base44 sells to Wix for $80M cash

Police shut down Cluely’s party, the ‘cheat at everything’ startup

Last call to volunteer at TechCrunch All Stage 2025

Observability startup Coralogix becomes a unicorn, eyes India expansion

Microsoft Accidentally Replaces Windows 11 Startup Sound With Vista Chime

Microsoft Accidentally Replaces Windows 11 Startup Sound with Vista Chime

Deadline day: Startup Battlefield 200 applications close at midnight

A comprehensive list of 2025 tech layoffs

College Dropout Entrepreneur Boasts That Peter Thiel's Book Is "Probably the Best Book I've Read, and I've Only Read a Few Pages"

AI agent startups at Y Combinator’s Spring ’25 Demo Day

Startups Weekly: No sign of pause

How AI sales startup Landbase nabbed Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures to lead its $30M Series A

Three reasons every founder and VC should be at TechCrunch All Stage 2025

How automotive exec Crystal Brown founded CircNova, an AI drug discovery biotech

Augury and Hightouch joined the unicorn club

Pre-seed firm Afore Capital has a fresh $185M fund and a new program to help founders discover ideas

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