Welcome back to Found, where we get the stories behind the startups.
This week’s guest Shiv Rao founded Abridge after experiencing how unnerving it can be to go through a medical emergency with a loved one — even for a practicing doctor like himself. So he and the Abridge team created an app that doesn’t just transcribe a conversation between doctor...
Let’s talk about party rounds
When it comes to types of venture capital instruments, party rounds are as controversial as they come. A party round is an early-stage financing round, usually occurring between the pre-seed and Series A stages, that includes a laundry list – or “party” – of individual investors. It’s different from a more traditional round, which may look like it’s...
This dating app fought scammers with bots… hilarity ensued
You know the feeling; you’re on a dating app, and you start a conversation with someone, and things don’t seem like they add up completely. You’ve seen The Tinder Swindler on Netflix, and you’re suddenly wondering: Is someone about to ask me for money? The team at video dating site Filter Off decided to take a novel approach: Every detected scammer...
Bosch to invest $200M in US fuel cell production for electric commercial trucks
Bosch said Wednesday it will invest more than $200 million into its South Carolina factory to build fuel cell stacks that will power hydrogen-powered electric commercial trucks in the United States.
The South Carolina project is part of Bosch’s plan to invest more than $1 billion globally to develop fuel cell technologies by 2024.
Capital upgrades...
9 strategies that will help you overcome your fear of fundraising
Masha Bucher Contributor
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Masha Bucher is the founder and general partner of Day One Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm that backs customer-focused startups and leads their communications.
The contracting private tech markets are driving down the pricing and frequency of funding rounds, while inflation cuts into...
What we expect from Apple’s iPhone 14 event
Don’t you hate it when they give everything away in the headline? So, a belated spoiler warning that, indeed, the iPhone 14 is almost certainly going to be the big headline announcement at Apple’s September event. A few other things seem close to certain, as well, including...
Studio Ghibli films just became available to rent on major digital platforms Apple TV, Amazon and more
It’s an exciting day for Studio Ghibli fans — fans in the United States and Canada, that is. The majority of Studio Ghibli’s film catalog has just been released to major digital rental platforms, such as Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, Microsoft and Vudu, a report by Variety confirms. For the first time, Studio Ghibli’s films can finally be...
How gender-affirming health care startups are navigating legal miasma
Kate Anthony started in the Lone Star State.
It was there, in 2019, that she launched her app Euphoria, seeking to provide information and resources on gender-affirming care. She knew the stakes were going to be high, and as the state passed anti-trans legislation, she and her company were forced to flee.
Settling in Denver, Anthony made a plan on...
Crafting an XaaS customer success strategy that drives growth
Rachel Parrinello Contributor
Rachel Parrinello is a principal in The Alexander Group’s San Francisco office and is a leader in sales compensation, media sales and technology practices.
John Stamos Contributor
John Stamos, a principal in The Alexander Group’s Chicago office, has extensive experience leading large-scale sales transformation...
TechCrunch+ roundup: Gen Z VCs, choosing a GTM model, crypto crisis communication tips
I’ve always wondered who gets to name demographic cohorts.
My parents were pre-Baby Boomers, which made them part of the Silent Generation. (I’m Generation X, so feel free to ignore me entirely.)
Generation Z is stereotyped as being materialistic, mistrustful and extremely reliant...
A huge Chinese database of faces and vehicle license plates spilled online
A massive Chinese database storing millions of faces and vehicle license plates was left exposed on the internet for months before it quietly disappeared in August.
While its contents might seem unremarkable for China, where facial recognition is routine and state surveillance...
New rules for digital lenders in Kenya aim to weed out bad actors while bolstering sector growth
Fresh regulations are often met with skepticism from startup founders, but digital lenders in Kenya largely seem to be upbeat about the new Digital Credit Providers law, saying it will bring order to the sector.
The chairman of the Digital Lenders Association of Kenya, Kevin Mutiso, sounded optimistic about the impending new regulatory environment,...
Roku debuts a hilarious new trailer for ‘WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story’ starring Daniel Radcliffe
Al Yankovic, the 62-year-old parody artist known as Weird Al, is getting his own equally weird biopic this fall. The trailer for “WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story” gives a first look at the movie, exploring the wacky world of Weird Al, his hilarious cover songs and his Polka obsession.
“WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story” premieres on The Roku Channel on November...
Waymo opens up driverless robotaxi service in downtown Phoenix to vetted passengers
Waymo, the autonomous vehicle developer under Alphabet, is opening up its driverless robotaxi service in downtown Phoenix to vetted local residents.
People who have been accepted to Waymo’s “trusted tester” program are eligible to hail a driverless ride — meaning no human safety operator is behind the wheel — in a Jaguar I-Pace EV in downtown Phoenix....
Microsoft launches Arm-based Azure VMs powered by Ampere chips
Following a preview in April, Microsoft this morning announced the general availability of virtual machines (VMs) on Azure featuring the Ampere Altra, a processor based on the Arm architecture. The first Azure VMs powered by Arm chips, Microsoft says that they’re accessible in 10 Azure regions today and can be included in Kubernetes clusters managed...
Neurofenix puts on a new spin on home stroke rehabilitation with the NeuroBall
Millions around the world suffer strokes every year, and millions more are in recovery from one they’ve suffered. Regaining the use of affected limbs and capabilities is a long road, but one that can be shortened by intensive rehabilitation efforts — which Neurofenix has shown...
Meet the judges for the Minneapolis, Minn TechCrunch Live pitch-off
TechCrunch Live is hosting a special, extended event focused on the great city of Minneapolis, Minnesota on September 7. I hope you can join us. We have an agenda packed with insiders who can speak to the growing startup ecosystem in the Twin Cities. But for the pitch-off, we’ve recruited two outsiders to judge the local startups: Mahati Sridhar, Vice...
Meta now lets you post your NFTs on both Facebook and Instagram
Meta announced today that it will now let users post their NFTs across both Instagram and Facebook. Users can connect their wallets like Rainbow, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet and Dapper Wallet to post digital collectibles minted on Ethereum, Polygon, and Flow.
“As we continue rolling out digital collectibles on Facebook and Instagram, we’ve...
Nigerian YC-backed startup Anchor comes out of stealth with $1M+ to scale its banking-as-a-service platform
In 2015, the emergence of fintechs such as Flutterwave and Paystack changed the game for online businesses in Africa by making it easier to integrate payments into customer interfaces without building those features from the ground up or merging with tacky foreign software.
Amplify was another payment platform that launched during that period. However,...
