Startup Fortell, founded by Matthew de Jonge, has raised $163 million from investors including Founders Fund, Thrive Capital, and Valor Equity Partners CEO Antonio Gracias. The company is developing hearing aids that use AI to identify important sounds in real time and suppress background noise, rather than simply amplifying everything at once as most current devices do. De Jonge discussed the six-year effort behind the product on TechCrunch's Equity podcast.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-16
Collaborative Fund, a $1 billion New York venture firm known for early investments in Lyft, Reddit, Sweetgreen and Olipop, has acquired a stake in Major League Soccer's D.C. United and its home venue, Audi Field. The move follows a broader pattern set by Thrive Capital, whose Thrive Eternal vehicle recently bought stakes in the San Francisco Giants and acquired the Los Angeles Lakers outright for $12.5 billion with Bob Iger as co-owner.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-10
Palo Alto Networks acquired Console, a two-year-old startup using AI agents to automate IT help desk tasks, for roughly $500 million in cash and stock, according to people familiar with the deal. The company had only raised $29 million and was last valued at $157 million, meaning investors—including Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora, an early angel backer—saw a swift and substantial return. Neither company disclosed financial terms publicly.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-02
Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner issued a statement defending his firm's involvement as lead investor in FIFA's now-abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise plan, which would have sold private investors a 20% stake in FIFA's commercial rights for $4.2 billion. The plan collapsed after European and North American member associations objected to outside private-equity influence, and FIFA scrapped the proposal before it could go to a vote. Kushner said he still believes the underlying concept was sound but would not have gotten involved had he anticipated the fallout.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-01
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