Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly roundup of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Friday.
Hello, newbies! I spent much of this week in San Jose hanging out in the world of AI startups and tech giants at GTC, and I have a lot of fun stories in the works from there, so stay tuned for all of that. In the meantime… let’s take a look at the exciting goodness that was last week of TechCrunch’s startup coverage!
The most interesting startup stories of the week
Let’s talk about microbiomes… Image Credits: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images
In a dramatic turn of events, Microsoft has effectively absorbed Inflection, a promising artificial intelligence startup that raised a staggering $1.3 billion just nine months ago. The acquisition sees Inflection co-founders Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonyan, along with a significant portion of their team, move to Microsoft to spearhead the newly formed Microsoft AI division. The move leaves Inflection, led by Reid Hoffman and new CEO Sean White, in a precarious position as it tries to salvage what’s left of its co-founders’ ambitious project. Microsoft’s role in this saga is troubling, as it positions itself as both a savior and an opportunist, capitalizing on the struggles of its investments to cement its dominance in the AI space.
Meanwhile, in biotech land, the industry’s latest craze, the microbiome, has been hailed as the frontier for personalized health solutions, promising to treat everything from digestive problems to skin conditions. However, a recent report in Science casts a shadow over the burgeoning industry, suggesting that many microbiome companies may be operating with more enthusiasm than scientific rigor. Riding the wave of affordable genome sequencing and venture capital, these startups offer services that profile the unique microbial communities in our bodies to identify health problems and solutions. However, the report raises concerns about the lack of meaningful regulation and scientific consensus in this complex field, likening some practices to the modern-day snake oil trade. Despite the criticism, companies like Parallel Health, Tiny Health and Daye are defending their approaches, stressing their commitment to achieving scientific legitimacy.
- Investors are hungry for AI: Astera Labs IPO scores 72% on first day, showing investor demand for AI technology is high.
- Apple adds artificial intelligence to its shopping cart: Apple, the tech behemoth known for its sleek devices and tight announcements, has quietly added another jewel to its crown by acquiring DarwinAI, a Canadian startup that aims to make manufacturing smarter with vision-based AI technology. .
- Transactions: TipTop is expanding its ecosystem. Its new platform offers a seamless experience for buying new, unlocked and refurbished devices with cash and trade-ins, according to the startup’s founder Bastian Lehmann, who previously founded Postmates.
The most interesting fundraisers this week
Sneaking in some health care from the side door. Image Credits: Getty Images
Telegram, the messaging app giant with a user base north of 900 million, just flexed its financial muscle by securing $330 million through a bond sale, founder and CEO Pavel Durov announced. The bond bonanza was a big hit, attracting more cash than they had room for, with Durov boasting that he had grabbed “global capital of the highest calibre” on terms that made it the sweetest deal in Telegram’s history. While Durov played coy about exactly who threw his money into the ring, he was clear that these investors are betting big on Telegram’s growth trajectory. The company is targeting profitability next year and last raised $220 million in bond financing about a year ago.
- Would you like a side of health care with this?: Insurance Tech has had some false starts, but a new hero is emerging: “embedded insurance.” This genius idea of sneaking insurance into your shopping cart like an extra pair of socks you didn’t know you needed has given the industry a much-needed facelift. Not to be outdone, “integrated health” has burst onto the scene, with The CareVoice leading the charge from Shanghai, landing $10 million in Series B funding amid a dearth of venture capital in the industry.
- I see a red door and I want it green: In the big corporate push to paint everything green, from their logos to their carbon footprints, the big guns are flaunting net zero emissions goals like the latest fashion trend. But what about small children? Enter Greenly, the Parisian knight in shining armor armed with carbon accounting software that promises to make sense of the carbon mess without an army of analysts.
- The computer is dead — long live the browser: Browser Company, creator of the Arc browser, is riding high on a new $50 million investment wave, led by Pace Capital, valuing the startup at $550 million. With $128 million in total funding, this outfit is on a mission to redefine your digital life, starting with the browser.
Trend of the week: The higher they fall, the harder they fall
Fisker had a great run but has now stopped production. Image Credits: Fisher
It’s been a week of highs and lows. Where some startups meet their demise, others rise from the ashes, while others fill the void left by their fallen siblings. All very dramatic.
An example of this drama is between Google and the EU. The search giant is in hot water once again with France Autorité de la Concurrence, which has fined the tech giant €250 million (about $270 million) for misusing content from news publishers to train its AI model, Bard/Gemini, without proper notice. This latest fine is part of a long-running copyright dispute, with Google previously trying to circumvent EU digital copyright reforms by restricting access to its news services in France. The AutoritéGoogle’s investigation revealed that Google not only failed to inform publishers about the use of their content for AI training, but also had no mechanism for publishers to opt out without affecting their visibility on other Google services until late September 2023. Meanwhile, Midjourney thinks she has a plan to beat the copyright cops.
- From the ashes rise: As Mint says goodbye to the world of budgeting apps, Copilot is celebrating, heralding the end of Mint as a victory for its own finance app. With over 100,000 subscribers, Copilot is on a mission to prove that managing your personal finances can be less about annoying “big purchase” notifications (looking at you, Mint) and more about actually understanding where your money is going.
: Fisker once caught the eye of the public with its electric Ocean SUV, but now it’s hitting the brakes hard, announcing a six-week production hiatus as it desperately searches the sofa cushions for an infusion of cash. With the clock ticking and the cash burning, Fisker’s story is starting to look more like a cautionary tale than a success story.- Maybe if we change our name they won’t remember what we did: Lordstown Motors, now renamed Nu Ride, has risen from the ashes of bankruptcy with a vendetta against tech giant Foxconn, accusing it of playing the villain in the collapse of an American dream.
Other Unmissable TechCrunch Stories…
Each week, there are always a few stories I want to share with you that somehow don’t fit into the above categories. It would be a shame if you missed them, so here’s a random goodie bag for you:
- I will buy your shares for $0: SpaceX has hatched a cunning plan to keep its employees in check with some eyebrow-raising stock award terms. Imagine leaving the company only to find out that SpaceX can buy back your hard-earned shares at a bargain price, or worse, bar you from cashing out altogether if you’ve been deemed delinquent.
- Pull up your pants: Gumroad, the one-time e-commerce haven for creators of all kinds, has decided to crack down on NSFW content, leaving creators of the more dangerous variety to fight for their digital lives. The culprit behind this sudden frenzy? The ever-watchful eyes of payment processors like Stripe and PayPal.
- So on this topic of AI: When the sensationalist press asks for a timeline, it often baits AI professionals into putting a timeline for the end of humanity — or at least the current status quo. Needless to say, AI CEOs aren’t always keen on the topic, but Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang shared some thoughts this week.
- Robo-spam takes on a new dimension: OpenAI’s GPT Store, a marketplace filled with custom chatbots designed to tackle a myriad of tasks, seems to have turned into the Wild West of artificial intelligence, where moderation takes a back seat and copyright lines blur.
- Walk like this, talk like this: Pilot season has officially begun for the world of humanoid robotics. Last year, Amazon began testing Agility’s Digit robots in select fulfillment centers, while in January of this year, Figure announced a deal with BMW. Now Apptronik is getting in on the action, thanks to a partnership with Mercedes-Benz.
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