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Why Harvey’s Hardest Problem Isn’t AI, It’s Multi-Entity Collaboration
Harvey, the legal‑AI startup founded by Winston Weinberg, has surged to over $100 million in annual recurring revenue, with corporate clients now accounting for roughly a third of its sales. The company’s growth hinges on solving a multi‑entity collaboration problem—building a multiplayer platform that respects ethical walls and permissioning across 63 countries—rather than merely advancing generative AI. Weinberg cites a former associate’s GPT‑3 experiment as the spark, and he pushes back against the “ChatGPT wrapper” critique, arguing that professional services will be disrupted more slowly than expected. The discussion underscores Harvey’s shift from serving law firms to becoming a broader enterprise legal‑tech solution.
How Founders Can Prepare for Their Late-Stage Fundraises From the Start
Founders are urged to plan for late‑stage fundraises from day one, targeting capital‑intensive growth paths such as asset‑backed credit cards. CEOs like Sadi Khan and investors including Lila Preston and Zeya Yang stress building relationships with future Series C‑E investors at...
VC Jennifer Neundorfer Explains How Founders Can Stand Out in a Crowded AI Market
January Ventures co‑founder Jennifer Neundorfer told TechCrunch’s Equity podcast that in the crowded AI‑driven market, investors are looking for founders who use AI to create entirely new experiences or workflows rather than incremental improvements. She emphasized the need for clear...
Sapphire Sport Spins Out, Rebrands as 359 Capital with $300M AUM
Sapphire Sport, the sports‑media‑entertainment venture fund of Sapphire Ventures, is spinning out and rebranding as independent firm 359 Capital. The new firm inherits the fund’s $300 million in assets under management, including a $181 million second fund that is halfway deployed, and will...
How Startups Can Lure Good Talent Fairly without Big Tech Bank Accounts
Startups can attract top talent despite being unable to match big‑tech salaries by adopting generous, fair, and flexible equity‑centric compensation frameworks, as discussed by founders and investors at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Pulley’s CEO Yin Wu advocates offering equity in the...
Vinod Khosla on Softening the Blow From AGI, and Other Future Bets
In a live TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 interview, Vinod Khosla argued that AI will turn every profession into a startup opportunity and warned that Fortune 500 extinction rates could triple by 2035. He advocated building AI workers rather than mere tools, urging...
SoftBank Is Back, and the AI Hype Cycle Is Eating Itself
SoftBank and OpenAI have formed a 50‑50 joint venture called Crystal Intelligence to market enterprise AI solutions in Japan, marking SoftBank’s first direct partnership with the OpenAI ecosystem. While the deal appears to be a straightforward expansion, analysts on TechCrunch’s...
Chris Sacca’s VC Firm Is Raising a Second Nuclear Fusion Fund
Lowercarbon Capital, the venture firm founded by Chris Sacca, announced at the SOSV Climate Tech Summit that it is raising a second nuclear‑fusion‑focused fund, which sources say will be larger than its 2022 $250 million debut. The firm’s portfolio includes leading...
Why Benchmark Made a Rare Crypto Bet on Trading App Fomo, with $17M Series A
Fomo, a consumer crypto trading app that launched in May, closed a $17 million Series A round led by Benchmark, bringing its total funding to $19 million. The founders secured 140 angel investors from a targeted list of 200, including Polygon Labs CEO...
Ventures Platform, One of Africa’s Most Active Early-Stage Investors, Has Raised Another $64 Million
Ventures Platform announced it has raised $64 million for its second fund, aiming for a $75 million final close, with investors that include the Nigerian government’s iDICE program – its first ever VC‑fund investment – alongside IFC, British International Investment, Standard Bank...
NVIDIA, Qualcomm Join U.S., Indian VCs to Help Build India’s Next Deep Tech Startups
NVIDIA has joined the India Deep Tech Alliance (IDTA) as a strategic technical advisor, while Qualcomm Ventures is contributing over $850 million in new capital alongside six Indian venture firms. The IDTA, launched in September with more than $1 billion in pledged...
Roelof Botha on Sequoia, Startup Building, and Washington — Days Before Stepping Down
In a live TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 podcast, Sequoia partner Roelof Botha outlines the firm’s method for spotting and backing outlier companies, emphasizing fierce internal debates and consensus voting on investments. He argues that venture capital is not a conventional asset...
Sequoia Names Alfred Lin and Pat Grady as New Co-Stewards as Roelof Botha Steps Down
Sequoia Capital announced that partners Alfred Lin and Pat Grady will replace Roelof Botha as co‑Stewards, ending Botha’s three‑year tenure as senior steward. Lin, who joined in 2010, has led investments in Airbnb, DoorDash and Kalshi, while Grady, a 19‑year...
A16z Pauses Its Famed TxO Fund for Underserved Founders, Lays Off Staff
Andreessen Horowitz announced it is pausing its Talent x Opportunity (TxO) fund, a program launched in 2020 to support underrepresented founders with a 16‑week curriculum and a $175,000 investment via a donor‑advised fund. The pause follows an email from partner Kofi Ampadu...
Elad Gil on Which AI Markets Have Winners — and Which Are Still Wide Open
Elad Gil, a veteran solo VC, told TechCrunch Disrupt that while AI’s rapid evolution makes many segments unpredictable, several markets now have clear leaders. Foundational model providers such as OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Meta, xAI and Mistral dominate the model space,...
Alphabet Is Increasingly Launching ‘Moonshot’ Projects as Independent Companies — Here’s Why
Alphabet’s X moonshot factory is moving toward spinning out ambitious projects as independent companies through Series X Capital, a $500 million fund where Alphabet is only a minority limited partner. The fund, run by former YouTube and Facebook executives, invests exclusively in X...
Sequoia’s Roelof Botha Warns Founders About Chasing Sky-High Valuations as the Firm Doubles Down on Its Selective Approach
At TechCrunch Disrupt, Sequoia Capital partner Roelof Botha cautioned founders against chasing sky‑high valuations, recounting a portfolio company that surged from $150 million to $6 billion in a year before collapsing. He urged startups to raise capital only when a twelve‑month runway...
What Is Bending Spoons? Everything to Know About AOL’s Acquirer
Bending Spoons, the Milan‑based tech conglomerate that now boasts four billionaire co‑founders, raised a $270 million round and a $440 million secondary share sale, pushing its valuation to roughly $2.8 billion and cementing its status as a European decacorn. The company, which runs...
Equity Live: From $300M Seed Rounds to Data Center Builds, AI Is Feeling Bubbly
During TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, the Equity podcast team hosted a live session on the Builders Stage to debate whether AI is in a bubble. They highlighted recent funding trends such as $300 million seed rounds and $100 billion of AI‑related commitments, and...
Startups Should Rethink How They Pursue Sales and Traction, According to VC Tim Chen
Tim Chen, after a modest startup exit and being rejected by every VC he approached, turned to angel investing and eventually founded Essence VC, which has just closed its fourth fund at $41 million “without even trying,” thanks to his technical...
Bending Spoons to Acquire AOL
Bending Spoons, one of Europe’s biggest mobile‑app developers, announced it will acquire AOL from Yahoo (backed by Apollo) using a $2.8 billion debt financing package, with the deal slated to close by year‑end pending regulatory approval. The company cites AOL’s roughly...
UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts on Pushing His University Into the AI Age
UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts outlined an ambitious strategy to make artificial intelligence the university’s guiding focus, merging the School of Data Science and Society with the School of Information and Library Science to dismantle academic silos. He acknowledged the loss...
Venture Capital Is Not an Asset Class, Says Sequoia’s Roelof Botha
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, Sequoia managing partner Roelof Botha argued that venture capital should not be treated as an asset class, noting that VC returns are essentially uncorrelated and represent a “return‑free risk.” He pointed out that the number of...
CEO of Alphabet’s X, Astro Teller, on What Makes a Moonshot
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, Astro Teller, CEO of Alphabet’s X, explained that a moonshot must tackle a huge world problem, propose a product that could eliminate it, and rely on a breakthrough technology, noting X’s 2% hit rate and "fail...
Roelof Botha Explains Why Sequoia Supports Shaun Maguire After COO Quit
Sequoia Capital managing partner Roelof Botha defended partner Shaun Maguire after Maguire’s July 4 X post calling NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani an “Islamist,” citing the firm’s commitment to free speech and opinion diversity. The remarks sparked a backlash, an open letter...
Accel and Prosus Team up to Back Early-Stage Indian Startups
Accel and Prosus launched a formal investment partnership to co-invest in Indian startups from day zero, marking Prosus’s first foray into formation‑stage deals. The firms will match checks ranging from $100,000 to $1 million (with potential to scale) and will...
David Sacks’ Craft Leads $42 Million Series A in Govtech Startup Starbridge
Starbridge, a govtech startup that aggregates fragmented public‑sector procurement and leadership data and applies AI scoring to surface sale opportunities, raised $42 million in a Series A led by David Sacks’ Craft Ventures, bringing total funding to $52 million. The...
The Last-Minute Pass Savings Are On! Only 5 Days Until TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 Ignites the Startup World
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 kicks off in San Francisco October 27–29, with last‑minute ticket discounts offering up to $444 off and 60% off a +1 pass ahead of price increases at the door. The conference expects 10,000+ founders, VCs and operators...
Sesame, the Conversational AI Startup From Oculus Founders, Raises $250M and Launches Beta
Sesame, the conversational‑AI and smart‑glasses startup founded by former Oculus executives, raised $250 million in a Series B and has opened a limited beta of its iOS app to selected testers. The company says its AI generates natural, expressive speech...
A16z-Backed Codi Launches AI Agent Office Manager
Codi, an a16z‑backed startup founded by Christelle Rohaut and Dave Schuman, launched an AI‑powered office management platform it says fully automates physical‑space logistics, moving beyond its original flexible‑space marketplace. The beta released in May signed 40 customers including TaskRabbit and...
The Full TechCrunch Disrupt Stage Revealed: Where the Future of Tech Breaks First
TechCrunch revealed the full Disrupt Stage lineup for Disrupt 2025, headlined by 200+ sessions across five stages and marquee appearances from Alphabet moonshot chief Astro Teller, Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott, Netflix CTO Elizabeth Stone, Vinod Khosla and Sequoia’s Roelof Botha....
This Top VC Has Bet Close to 20% of His Fund on Teenagers — Here’s Why
Veteran investor Kevin Hartz says his firm A* Capital has deployed close to 20% of its recent investments into companies founded by teenagers, up from about 5% two years ago, backing startups like AI prediction engine Aaru. The shift reflects...
Deel Hits $17.3B Valuation After Raising $300M From Big-Name VCs
Deel raised $300 million in a Series E round co-led by Ribbit Capital and Andreessen Horowitz at a $17.3 billion valuation, the company announced Thursday. Deel said it has been profitable for three years, surpassed $1 billion in annual recurring...
Save up to $624 on Your TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 Pass Before Prices Rise in Less than 4 Days
TechCrunch is offering significant discounts on passes for its annual Disrupt conference, with potential savings of up to $624 available until October 17 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Scheduled for October 27-29 in San Francisco, the event will host over 10,000...
Goldman Sachs Is Acquiring Industry Ventures for up to $965M as Alternative VC Exits Surge
Goldman Sachs has announced the acquisition of Industry Ventures for up to $965 million, marking a significant move in the alternative venture capital space amid a surge in exits. This transaction highlights the growing trend of consolidation in the private...