Startups · Top stories
Former NEA Partner Vanessa Larco Launches Premise VC to Focus on Early-Stage Founders
Vanessa Larco, previously a partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), co-founded Premise VC in early 2025 with Mercedes Bent to invest in early-stage technical founders. The new firm specializes in pre-seed and seed funding, addressing a gap Larco identified in larger funds' ability to prioritize smaller investments and early-stage founders.
Schneider Electric's VC Arm Focuses on AI's Impact on Industrial Investment Cycle
SE Ventures, Schneider Electric's $1 billion venture capital arm, is investing in startups that address the physical infrastructure demands of the AI economy, including data centers, power grids, and industrial automation. The firm believes AI's growth is creating a new industrial investment cycle, with energy capacity becoming a critical constraint.
Menlo Ventures' Matt Murphy Discusses Anthropic's Rapid Growth and Investment Strategy
Menlo Ventures' Matt Murphy observed Anthropic's rapid revenue growth to $47 billion by May, an unprecedented rate in his 25 years of investing. Murphy, whose firm led Anthropic's Series D, attributes this success to factors beyond just its AI model, highlighting the company's swift rise from pre-revenue to a highly valued startup.
Venture Capital's Shift from Innovation Funding to Oligarchic Control
The article argues that venture capital has transformed from its original purpose of funding innovation into a system controlled by a few wealthy individuals who use it to advance personal agendas. This shift has led to negative societal trends and a departure from VC's intended role as a high-risk, high-reward segment of the capital market.
Bootstrapped Businesses Offer a Sustainable Alternative to VC-Backed Startup Model
This article argues that bootstrapped businesses, which prioritize customer problems and profitability over external funding, are a more common and sustainable path to success than the venture capital model. It highlights that while VC-backed companies can achieve rapid growth, bootstrapped ventures build profitability from the start and can scale into significant businesses.
Boards should consider selling a company when performance is strong, not as a last resort
Many company boards view selling as a fallback option when growth declines or finances tighten, but this often reduces the company's leverage and valuation. Boards should instead explore acquisition opportunities when the company is performing exceptionally well, as this is when valuations are highest and strategic acquirers pay premiums for momentum.
Solitude is essential for developing great ideas, according to Sam Altman and artists
This article argues that solitude, rather than collaborative environments like coworking spaces, is crucial for nurturing fragile, great ideas, especially in the early stages of startup development. It highlights Sam Altman's perspective that coworking spaces can prematurely kill innovative concepts by exposing them to immediate peer judgment. The piece suggests that true creativity requires a "state of mind" akin to solitude, allowing ideas to develop without external pressure.
Prototypes Generated by AI are Not Products, Lacking Users and Market Validation
The article argues that many AI-generated prototypes are mistakenly considered products, despite lacking real users, market validation, or problem-solving capabilities. It highlights that true products require significant effort beyond initial AI-assisted creation and must serve a genuine user base to be considered successful.
AI Strategy Can Reduce Startup Exit Value by Increasing Complexity and Reducing Differentiation
Integrating AI into a startup's product or operations does not automatically increase its exit valuation and can, in some cases, decrease it. Over-reliance on AI can complicate architecture, increase vendor dependencies, and make a company less attractive to acquirers, especially if the AI features are easily replicable.
Every Electric offers free battery program for NYC residents to power AC units during peak demand
Every Electric, a New York City startup, provides free household batteries to approximately 1,000 residents, allowing them to power window air conditioners during peak demand periods while participating in utility demand response programs. This initiative enables users to maintain comfort and earn money without impacting the grid during high energy use times. The company, founded by former Columbia University researchers, pivoted from sodium-ion battery chemistry to deploying residential batteries as a virtual power plant.
Early NVIDIA Advisor Discovers Unexercised Stock Options from 1993
An early technical advisor to NVIDIA, granted 25,000 stock options in 1993, discovered that a significant portion of these options were never fully vested or exercised according to the original agreement. The advisor's work on biquadratic texture mapping influenced NVIDIA's early product development.
Incredible Health Co-founder Iman Abuzeid's Journey from Doctor to Tech Entrepreneur
Iman Abuzeid, a former doctor, co-founded Incredible Health, a healthcare hiring platform that has raised $97.5 million. The platform connects healthcare professionals with employers, aiming to address staffing shortages by reversing the traditional application process.
Michael Dell Shares 1984 Quarterly Report That Influenced His Career Path
Michael Dell, founder of Dell Technologies, shared his company's first quarterly earnings report from July 31, 1984, on X, highlighting its impact on his decision to continue building the company. The report showed nearly a million dollars in sales and a net income of over $134,000, which convinced his parents of the venture's viability.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 to feature new Smart Money Stage on fintech, payments, and AI
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will introduce a new Smart Money Stage focusing on fintech, payments, and AI, held from October 13-15 in San Francisco. This stage will cover topics such as stablecoins, instant payments, AI in financial decisions, and regulated financial infrastructure.
Great Question is hiring remote Product Engineers in Canada
Great Question, an AI customer research platform, is hiring its first remote Product Engineers in Canada. The company, which raised a $13M Series A, is expanding its engineering team to rebuild core product parts with an agent-first approach.
Lathoa Launches Math App for Kids Featuring an Intentionally Incorrect AI Assistant
Lathoa introduced "Lathoa," a math learning application for children where an AI companion named Errol deliberately makes mistakes in problem-solving. The app aims to teach critical thinking by having children identify and explain Errol's errors, rather than simply providing correct answers.
Cloudflare launches 'The Cold Start' startup pitch competition at Cloudflare Connect
Cloudflare is hosting "The Cold Start," a live startup competition at its Cloudflare Connect event in San Francisco this October. Five early-stage companies will present their ideas on stage, offering them a platform similar to Cloudflare's own launch at TechCrunch Disrupt.
Noble Carbon to showcase smart circuit breakers for EV charging at TechCrunch Disrupt
Noble Carbon will present its smart circuit breakers at TechCrunch Disrupt, which are designed to simplify the installation of EV chargers, heat pumps, and induction stoves by dynamically managing power draw. This technology addresses the high cost of electrical panel upgrades often required for new high-power appliances, potentially making EV adoption more accessible.
Radius Launches as a Meetup.com Alternative for Local Events and Groups
Radius is a new platform designed to help users find and create local events and groups based on shared interests. It allows individuals to post activities like coffee meetups or bike rides, enabling others nearby with similar interests to join.
Statichost.eu Launches European-Only Static Site Hosting Service
Statichost.eu has launched a new static site hosting service that uses only European infrastructure, including servers and CDN, and is operated by a European company. This service aims to provide an alternative for users concerned about data residency and compliance by avoiding American cloud providers like AWS and Cloudflare.
RonanRX (YC S26) Launches Personalized GLP-1 Care Service
RonanRX, a Y Combinator S26 startup, launched a service offering personalized GLP-1 treatments, including physician-reviewed dosing and patient-specific adjuncts. The service aims to address issues with standard GLP-1 plans, such as fixed dosing and lack of side effect management, by tailoring treatment to individual patient histories and responses.
Nori Robotics (YC S26) launches a low-cost humanoid robot for development
Nori Robotics, part of Y Combinator's S26 batch, has launched Nori, a low-cost humanoid robot designed for development. The robot is intended to assist with day-to-day home tasks and features a Skills Marketplace for sharing trained abilities.
SubSmith Converts User Videos into Language Learning Material with Subtitles and Flashcards
SubSmith is a new tool that allows users to convert their own video and audio files into language learning resources by generating accurate, synced subtitles. The platform integrates with Anki for flashcard creation and offers an instant dictionary feature, providing an alternative to traditional language learning methods.
Risklytics (YC S26) Launches Insurance Brokerage for Frontier AI and Robotics Companies
Risklytics, a Y Combinator S26 startup, launched an insurance brokerage specializing in commercial insurance for companies utilizing AI and robotics. The service aims to address the gap in traditional insurance policies for risks associated with AI agents and physical robots by connecting companies with carriers willing to underwrite these specific risks.
machine0 (YC S26) Launches Persistent CPU and GPU VMs with CLI Management
machine0, a Y Combinator S26 startup, has launched a service offering persistent CPU and GPU virtual machines that are managed via a command-line interface. The service provides dedicated resources, static IPs, and per-minute billing, targeting compute-heavy workloads and agent-driven operations.
Ballet Launches Workflow Automation Platform for API Integrations
Ballet, a new workflow automation platform from the creators of Brainfish, has launched to automate integrations against any API. It aims to address the challenge of connecting systems and building custom integrations without extensive engineering resources.
Keet (YC S24) launches a platform for generating interactive video courses
Keet, a Y Combinator-backed startup, has launched a new app that allows users to generate personalized, interactive video courses on any topic. The platform aims to provide a structured learning experience with short videos, quizzes, and games, similar to Duolingo.
ProvenMetal (YC S26) offers 7-day turnaround for US-made circuit boards
ProvenMetal, a Y Combinator S26 startup, launched a service to deliver circuit boards within seven business days, aiming to reduce hardware development cycles. The company manages the entire build process domestically, from sourcing to testing, to provide faster revisions and a single point of contact for customers.
RevenueCat Launches Shipaton Mobile Hackathon with Over $1 Million in Prizes
RevenueCat has launched its annual Shipaton mobile hackathon, running from August 1 to September 30, offering over $1 million in prizes for new apps that integrate the RevenueCat SDK for monetization. This event aims to encourage new app development, particularly for those utilizing AI coding tools.
is.team Launches AI-Native Project Management Platform with Infinite Canvas
is.team launched an AI-native project management platform in 2026 that integrates built-in AI and external agents with human collaboration on an infinite canvas workspace. This platform aims to simplify project management by replacing complex tools with a single visual interface and offering AI-powered task management and workflow automation.
Prized (YC S26) launches platform for non-engineers to build secure internal tools with AI
Prized, a Y Combinator S26 startup, launched a platform that allows non-engineering staff to build internal tools using AI, with a focus on security and data governance. The platform aims to enable operations, support, and finance teams to create tools by describing their needs, while ensuring data access is scoped and audited by administrators.