Today's Entrepreneurship Pulse
Didit secures $6M seed to build AI-native identity infrastructure
Didit announced a $6M seed round, bringing its total capital to $7.5M. The round was backed by Y Combinator, Pioneer Fund and other investors. The startup’s AI‑native programmable identity platform now serves over 1,500 B2B customers via a single API.
Also developing:
By the numbers: abcoffee raises $7.35M pre‑Series B
Swedish Endform Raises €1.5 Million to Speed up Web Testing for AI-Era Development
Swedish startup Endform announced a €1.5 million (approximately $1.6 million) Series A round led by Alliance VC and other investors. The funding will accelerate its platform that slashes Playwright end‑to‑end test execution from roughly 30 minutes to under two minutes by running thousands of browsers in parallel. Endform is positioning itself as the default testing layer for web‑focused product companies, targeting the $8 billion QA infrastructure market. Early customers in Sweden and the United States, such as Lovable, already report faster CI feedback loops.
RepAir Carbon Opens a Luxembourg Office to Scale Its Electrochemical Carbon Capture Tech Across Europe
RepAir Carbon, an Israeli deep‑tech firm, opened a Luxembourg office to drive its electrochemical direct‑air‑capture (DAC) technology across Europe. The solid‑state system claims 70% lower energy use than conventional DAC and already backs projects with Shell, Mitsubishi, and C‑Questra. RepAir’s...
Credit Is Now a Primary Growth Lever: Flipkart Wholesale on the Future of B2B Commerce
Flipkart Wholesale says credit has shifted from a peripheral service to the primary growth lever for India’s kirana stores. The company highlights three concurrent trends—localized supply chains, range‑driven buying, and deeper credit penetration—fueling higher ticket sizes and repeat orders. GST...
Cedar and Myrrh Founder Discusses Nordstrom Partnership and Brand Building
The U.S. wellness market has surged to $6.8 trillion and is projected to reach $10 trillion by 2029, fueling demand for mindful lifestyle products. Cedar and Myrrh, a sustainably‑focused skincare and home‑goods brand, leverages ritual‑centred design to meet this demand. Founder Misun...
The Hidden Ecommerce Revenue Killers Eating Your Margins with DJ Sprague
In this episode, hosts David Shomer and Ken Wilson sit down with e‑commerce expert DJ Sprague to expose the "10 hidden revenue killers" that can drain up to 37.9% of a brand’s profit, from payment‑processor fees and false declines to...
Early-Stage Funding Value Ticks up 46 Pc, but Numbers Decrease
Early‑stage startup funding in India rose sharply in value, climbing 46% to $879 million in FY 2025‑26, even as the total number of deals fell from 192 to 129. The surge is driven by larger cheques in Series A and B rounds, which...
Why We Invested in Fanon
Kalaari Capital co‑led Fanon’s pre‑seed round, backing a platform that consolidates fragmented fan‑generated storytelling across text, comics, and video. The fan economy now exceeds $7 billion, with $2.7 billion in merchandise and $4 billion in advertising value, growing faster than the traditional studio...
From Pizza Delivery to £646M: Skill Compounding Wins
Ben Francis started Gymshark at 19 while delivering pizzas and sewing vests in his parents’ garage. He first ran a dropshipping site for supplements, learned fast, then built his own apparel brand. He sent free gear to fitness creators, built a community,...
Home Halo Kicks Off Franchise Push With 10–15 Location Goal In First Year
Home Halo, a non‑medical home‑care provider, is entering franchising with a goal of opening 10‑15 locations in the next year and scaling to 20‑30 new sites annually thereafter. The company’s first franchisee controls twelve territories in eastern Massachusetts, using a...
WNBA Player Lexie Hull Launches Forta, Aimed at Creating a New Category of Performance-Driven Makeup
WNBA star Lexie Hull and investor Bella Guller have launched Forta, a performance‑driven makeup line built around sweat‑resistant polymers. After two‑and‑a‑half years of formulation, the brand debuted direct‑to‑consumer, seeding products to athletes across the WNBA, gymnastics, soccer and volleyball. TikTok...
Exclusive: FreshToHome Set to Bag Another Debt Round Led by BlackSoil
FreshToHome is close to securing about $16 million in debt across two tranches, the latest led by BlackSoil with $7.2 million and Stride Ventures contributing $1.8 million via OCRPS. The round adds to a prior $9 million January debt and follows a $104 million Series D...
Seed Funding Demands New Rules Beyond Pre‑Seed
Founders raise $100k-$200k pre-seed easily But raising a $1-2M seed round is playing the game at another level with different rules I’m doing a webinar on the difference between raising pre-seed and seed tomorrow. Want the replay? DM me “RAISING SEED”
Richmond Startup Wellspoken Scales AI Speaking Coach to Thousands, Doubles Revenue Twice
Wellspoken, founded by 23‑year‑old Cornell graduate Liam Du, has attracted thousands of users and doubled its revenue twice in the past two months with its AI‑powered speaking coach. The startup’s rapid growth highlights a rising demand for tech‑driven personal communication...
Startup Battlefield 2026: Judges Seek Category‑Defining Ideas Over Polish
TechCrunch’s judges disclosed the criteria that will decide the next batch of Startup Battlefield 200 companies, emphasizing disruptive concepts, real‑world MVPs and compelling founder stories. The application deadline is May 27, with the competition slated for Oct 13‑15 at TechCrunch Disrupt in...
Legacy Media Fails Democracy; Democracy Docket Grows
Legacy media is failing democracy. Rather than complain, I did something about it. Six years ago, I started Democracy Docket from scratch. Now, it has more than 425,000 subscribers. The work has never mattered more. Help it grow by subscribing...
AI-Native Firms Reshape India‑US Startup Corridor
From the 2020 @HarvardHBS case study on @LogiNext to now: Great to be back to speak at Harvard Entrepreneurship Summit Discussed the rise of AI-native enterprises, structural shifts beyond chatbot-like AI, and scaling the 🇮🇳-🇺🇸 corridor with @srikrishmang, @anshu @amruthajalihal https://t.co/8nwPw9T5vN
AI-Generated Code Verification Startup Qodo Raises $70M
Qodo, operating as Codium Ltd., announced a $70 million Series B round, bringing its total capital to $120 million. The startup offers an AI‑driven code verification platform that inserts a governance layer into developers' CI/CD pipelines, using specialized agents to detect bugs, compliance...
Funding Gaps and Talent Shortage Cripple Indian AI Startups
Why Are Indian AI Startups Shutting Down? https://t.co/EsZZ11sDNY #StartupGrowth #StartupLife #startup #startupsoul #artificialintelligence #AI #startupindia #makeinindia
California Bars Green‑Card Holders From SBA Loans, Threatening $28 B Immigrant‑Owned Business Sector
The Small Business Administration has restricted its loan programs to U.S. citizens and nationals, ending eligibility for green‑card holders. The change could cut off financing for up to 220,000 California small‑business owners, representing 40% of the state’s entrepreneurial base and...
Orbital AI's Starcloud Raises $170M, Hits $1.1B Unicorn Valuation for Space‑Based Data Centers
Orbital AI’s Starcloud announced a $170 million financing round that lifts its valuation to $1.1 billion, making it Y Combinator’s quickest path to unicorn status. The funding fuels the launch of its next-generation satellite data center, Starcloud‑2, and underscores growing venture interest...
Outsourced Viewing Service Founded by Former Estate Agent Hits Major Milestone
Viewber, the UK‑wide on‑demand property service founded by former estate agent Ed Mead, has hit its 1,000,000th appointment milestone. Since its 2016 launch, the company has broadened from assisted viewings to inspections, marketing, tenant checks and fire‑door compliance, with estate‑agency...
Centralize Client Brand Assets with BrandChek
I built a web product called BrandChek to solve a very specific marketing problem- which client is on what platform, what’s their font, brand colors, and point of contact? BrandChek keeps all of that in one place…not scattered across emails,...
Flare Capital Expands the Team, Again…
Flare Capital announced the addition of Dr. Graham Gardner and Dr. Rochelle Walensky as Executive Partners, bolstering its healthcare expertise. Gardner, founder of Kyruus Health, brings a deep provider‑payer network, while Walensky adds public‑health policy insight from her CDC tenure. The...
Even AI Struggles With One‑Shot Real‑World Business Tasks
things that seem possible but are hard to one-shot* with the latest agents - come up a unique tee concept, design it, and sell at least 100 tee shirts for a profit - sell $1000 worth of drop shipped goods for a...
Acquisitions Accelerate Growth: Favor Mid‑Size M&A Deals
Solid thoughts Art… Compressing “time to scale” is always a good M&a model — as is “owning a loved brand” Facebook was quickly copying WhatsApp and instagram — but decided to accelerate through an acquisition (and got two more swings...
Carey Duo Targets Third Gold Medal with ‘Flourish in the City’ Garden at Chelsea Flower Show
Joe and Laura Carey are returning to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show with their ‘Addleshaw Goddard: Flourish in the City’ garden, aiming for a third gold medal. The small show garden will celebrate London’s urban greenery and will be inspected...
AI Startups Should Prioritize Infrastructure Over Competition
How do you survive as an AI startup competing with Anthropic and OpenAI Know when to retreat, says Harvey CEO Winston Weinberg. His advice for AI startups: focus on infrastructure, security and other defensible areas -- instead of getting "distracted" by...
Uber Acquires Berlin‑Based Blacklane to Expand Luxury Chauffeur Service
Uber announced the acquisition of Blacklane, a Berlin‑based chauffeur‑hailing startup, to deepen its luxury travel portfolio. The deal, pending regulatory clearance and slated to close by year‑end, adds Blacklane’s presence in 500 cities to Uber’s newly launched Uber Elite service,...
As a VC, I Can Predict a Startup’s Success in Minutes — And It Comes Down to 3 Traits (Not...
A veteran VC argues that a startup’s fate can be judged in minutes by assessing three founder traits—clarity, context, and chemistry—rather than relying on a polished pitch deck. He explains that clear, jargon‑free storytelling reveals true problem insight, while deep...
Would You Share Your Phone Calls With a Company to Make Money? This Startup Is Banking on It
Neon, a new app, pays users to record and sell their phone calls for AI training, quickly rising to the top of the App Store. An early security flaw exposed call metadata and transcripts, prompting a public backlash. After securing...
Base44: Bootstrapped AI Agent Platform Nets $80M Exit
The competition is nuts in AI Agent-running platforms. Am talking to a group of Tesla fans and everyone is catching wind that they need to get into this world. What is Base44? From the company... "Base44 is the AI agent platform...
Zero-Cost Builds Turn Every Idea Into a Bet
We are in an era of shipping products we would have killed in a meeting two years ago. Too niche, too small, team too busy. As the cost of building goes to zero every ignored idea becomes fair game. The...
A LatAm Fintech’s Guide to Florida and the US Market
LatAm fintechs eyeing the U.S. market face a choice between obtaining their own state money‑transmitter license—often starting in Florida—or partnering with Banking‑as‑a‑Service (BaaS) providers. A Florida license costs roughly $10,000‑$50,000, while a national rollout can exceed $250,000 in fees and...
Business Reality: Hard Work Beats Highlight Reel
Most people are underprepared for how hard starting a business actually is because social media sold you the highlight reel. Business is not always easy. It's pressure. It is uncomfortable. Always plan ahead and be flexible. Build a mindset and never...
Turn Social Posts Into Leads with a Simple System
Most founders waste hours on social media and have nothing to show for it. No leads. No pipeline. Just "engagement." I've been doing this for 10+ years and here's what I've learned: Posting more content is not the answer. The...
The Small Saskatchewan City Putting Big Money Behind Rural Tech Founders
Saskatchewan’s Southeast Tech Hub (SETH) in the 10,000‑person town of Estevan is reviving its annual pitch competition, offering a $20,000 CAD (≈$14,800 USD) seed prize to rural entrepreneurs. The event, held April 16 at Southeast College and livestreamed region‑wide, showcases startups from...
What We’re Looking for in Startup Battlefield 2026 and How to Put Your Best Application Forward
TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield 200, part of Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco (Oct 13‑15), invites early‑stage founders to apply by May 27. The program prioritizes truly disruptive, category‑defining ideas over polished traction, requiring only a working MVP and a compelling founder narrative. Diversity across...
Singaporean Builds Rum Brand in Africa
Rohan Shah, a Harvard‑trained development economist turned bartender, founded Umwero Terroir Spirits in Rwanda after the pandemic forced him back to Singapore. Leveraging his experience at a Southeast Asian bar, he registered the company in June 2022 to create a...
Guest Lecture: Sourmilk's Kiki Couchman
Kiki Couchman, co‑founder of Sourmilk, has spent the past 14 months building a gut‑health focused Greek yogurt brand that is now stocked in New York grocery aisles. She and partner Elan Halpern left tech and finance jobs in early 2025 to...
Beta Update (Mar 30) Beta Fund Hackathon Rewind & Raising Capital at AI Era without Getting Destroyes
Beta University’s latest update recaps a high‑energy Beta Fund hackathon that gathered 200 builders who shipped 68 projects in a 24‑hour sprint. The event featured a heavyweight judging panel with investors from a16z, Y Combinator, Nvidia and OpenAI, and awarded...
Hopper’s Tech Will Power RBC’s Travel Reward Program
Hopper’s B2B arm, Hopper Technology Solutions, has secured a long‑term partnership with the Royal Bank of Canada to run the Avion Rewards Travel platform, replacing Expedia. The agreement is expected to lift Hopper’s annual revenue by hundreds of millions of...
Mevo Raises $18M Round Led by Prosus
Brazilian digital prescription platform Mevo secured an $18 million funding round led by Prosus, with participation from Matrix, Jefferson River Capital and Floating Point. The capital will fund expansion of exam‑scheduling tools, patient‑support program integration, and growth of its online pharmacy...
Invences Empowers Small Businesses With Smart Telecom Networks
Invences, founded in 2023 by telecom veteran Bhaskara Rallabandi, delivers autonomous, low‑cost private 5G/6G networks for small businesses, farms, factories and universities, especially in underserved areas. The Texas‑based startup leverages Open RAN, virtualized RAN, digital twins and agentic AI to...
Build a $50M Company Outside Silicon Valley
You do not need Silicon Valley to build a $50M company. One founder (@MediaKing) did it from a city of 250,000 people. No venture capital. No hype. No tech scene. What helped? 1. Fewer distractions. No shiny object syndrome 2. Long-term focus. No pressure...
Payment Fees Are a Business Cost, Not a Complaint
The people surprised by this have yet to learn of the cost of doing business and just how much a payment provider does for them. $17k on $600k revenue isn’t something you complain about out. You price it in.
Top 15 YC Startups We’re Excited About
we draft 15 YC startups that we're most excited about in the latter half of the episode https://t.co/EIo61wt3KI
Entrix and GridBeyond Secure €55M for European BESS Expansion
European BESS route-to-market optimisers Entrix, GridBeyond raise €55 million #energysky -- via Energy Storage News: https://t.co/0vPiFdrlwz
AI Product Scaling Hides Costly Infrastructure Expenses
Building AI products today? The hidden cost crisis is real. I built an email triaging tool that costs me $1-2/day. Sounds cheap? Try scaling that to a $30/month SaaS - you'd be net negative before accounting for ANY people costs....
Planning Future S‑Tier Steaks with Galician Cattle
if im in your insta DMs im probably working out a deal to raise galician cattle in usa for s tier steaks (10yrs from now) https://t.co/AF4Ri493i6
Inclusive Shade Range Fuels Explosive Sales, Limited Options Stall
Fenty Beauty launched with 40 foundation shades, hitting $100M in sales in 40 days because they served a market everyone else ignored. Meanwhile you're launching with 3 shades and wondering why nobody buys.