At TechCrunch Disrupt, Peak XV's Shailendra Singh, Index Ventures' Jahanvi Sardana and Bessemer's Jenelle Teng Wade discussed how founders can raise a Series A in today's market. Singh warned that seed and venture funding is more dysfunctional than he's ever seen, citing deals closing with multiple prices at once, a phenomenon Sardana dubbed 'tranchopalooza.' The panel also outlined what they look for in pitches, including compelling founder narratives, strong hiring ability, and traction in sectors like defense, robotics and AI infrastructure.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-22
On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Index Ventures partner Shardul Shah discussed how surging concern over AI safety and rogue agents is driving cybersecurity stocks up and pulling large capital into startups building security for AI-native systems, citing nine-figure funding rounds for companies like Instinct and Simile. Shah, who backed cloud security firm Wiz through six funding rounds before its $32 billion acquisition by Google, said periodic, human-in-the-loop security models are struggling to keep pace with AI-driven threats.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-23
Israeli-Dutch AI startup Wonderful closed a $550 million Series C round that values the company at $5 billion, more than double its valuation from roughly six months ago. Insight Partners led the round again, joined by existing backers Index Ventures, IVP, Vine Ventures, 9Yards, and Bessemer, with Salesforce joining as a new investor. The company plans to use the funds to accelerate product development and expand its forward-deployed engineering teams.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-02
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