Anthropic announced an expanded version of its Claude for Startups program during SF Tech Week, offering eligible companies a free year of Claude Team with up to five premium seats and $1,000 in API credits. Participants also gain access to the Claude Marketplace for building plug-ins and can schedule virtual sessions with Anthropic's Applied AI team. Eligibility requires companies to have been founded within the last five years or funded within the last two years.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-06
Defense technology companies such as Palantir, Anduril, and SpaceX are increasingly developing and retaining ownership of software and hardware built for the U.S. military, rather than ceding control to the government. This shift raises questions about how much leverage private firms hold over systems the Pentagon depends on.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-10-05
Blackstone N1 global head Jas Khaira will speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 on a panel titled 'Building the Next Generation of AI Giants,' discussing how the firm evaluates AI startups and how founders should approach capital decisions. The announcement highlights recent Blackstone deals, including up to $600 million in equity for Indian AI infrastructure firm Neysa and a $1.5 billion joint venture backing Anthropic's Ode implementation unit.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-02
Vertex Ventures Japan, a fund backed by Singapore's Temasek, has made an investment in Heartbeats, a Tokyo-based company building digital trading cards. The deal adds to a string of recent bets the fund has placed on Japanese startups.
wsj.com
· 2026-10-01
Peak XV Partners has increased the maximum per-company investment through its Surge seed program from $3 million to $5 million, applying the new ceiling for the first time to its latest batch, Surge 12. The firm put over $50 million into the 18-company cohort, which has raised more than $90 million in total seed funding, with at least three startups having secured outside capital before joining.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-29
A report from inside Kyiv's tech scene describes secretive startups, government engineers, and soldiers collaborating in ordinary-looking buildings and testing fields to rapidly develop new weapons technology. The reporting focuses on figures like Serhii Kupriienko, who is developing systems he says represent the next phase of warfare, built under wartime urgency and secrecy.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-25
Lightspeed is raising $250 million for its fifth India fund, Lightspeed India Partners V, aimed at early-stage AI startups, according to a letter sent to investors. The fund has already secured 80% of its target and is half the size of the firm's 2022 predecessor, with investments expected to begin within two months.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-25
A new commentary challenges the widespread assumption that innovation is the domain of startups and disruption comes only from smaller, nimbler players. It argues that large organizations can actually use their scale as an asset to strengthen their capacity for innovation rather than being held back by size.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-23
Khosla Ventures has recruited Tal Broda, who spent two years at OpenAI, to work on infrastructure investing. Broda will provide technical expertise to companies in Khosla's early-stage startup portfolio.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-22
Small companies are increasingly using AI tools to handle tasks once requiring new hires, allowing founders to expand their products while keeping payrolls flat or shrinking them. Some entrepreneurs are deliberately delaying hiring plans or cutting existing roles as AI systems take on more operational and technical work.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-22
TechCrunch is offering discounts of up to $200 on tickets for its Disrupt 2026 conference, set for October 13-15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, with the reduced pricing ending September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Buyers can also get a second ticket of the same type at half price, and the event will host over 10,000 attendees along with 200 early-stage startups in its Startup Battlefield program.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-21
TechCrunch announced another group of five venture capitalists who will judge the Startup Battlefield 200 competition at Disrupt 2026, held October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco. Among those named is Aditi Maliwal, a general partner at Upfront Ventures who invests in fintech, enterprise SaaS, AI applications, and developer tools, with a portfolio including Clair and Writer. Early-bird ticket discounts of up to $200 are available until September 25.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-16
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