• AI startup Blaize raises $106 million in funding

    AI computing firm Blaize said on Monday it has raised $106 million in funding, including from existing investors such as Mercedes-Benz and Temasek. Other existing investors such as Bess Ventures, Franklin Templeton and Denso, besides new investors such as Rizvi Traverse, Ava Investors and BurTech LP also participated in the fundraising, the company said in a statement, without disclosing the details on its valuation. The fundraise reflects the frenzy that had helped the AI sector attract a major...

  • OpenAI Startup Fund quietly raises $15M

    The OpenAI Startup Fund, a venture fund related to — but technically separate from — OpenAI that invests in early-stage, typically AI-related companies across education, law and the sciences, has quietly closed a $15 million tranche. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, two unnamed investors contributed the $15 million in […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

  • Agritech startup Ecozen raises $30 million in funding

    Pune-based agritech firm Ecozen on Friday said it has raised $30 million (about Rs 250 crore) in a mix of equity and debt from existing investors including US-based global investment manager Nuveen.The debt support in the deal was fulfilled by InCred Credit Fund and U.S. International Development Finance Corporation through Ecozen’s exclusive advisor Setuka Partners, said a company statement.Ecozen said it has grown fivefold over the past two years, with a threefold increase in profit. The maker...

  • OpenAI CEO Sam Altman talks AI development and society

    Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, addressed an audience of over one thousand people about his vision for the future of AI and its implications on society.

  • xAI, Elon Musk's AI Venture, Raises $6 Billion to Take on OpenAI

    xAI, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup aiming to rival ChatGPT developer OpenAI, is set to close a massive $6 billion funding round that values the 10-month-old company at a staggering $18 billion.

  • Why code-testing startup Nova AI uses open source LLMs more than OpenAI

    Enterprises still don't trust OpenAI, while open source AI models are cheaper and more than sufficient for targeted specific tasks, Nova AI founder says. Enterprises still don't trust OpenAI, while open source AI models are cheaper and more than sufficient for targeted specific tasks, Nova AI founder says.

  • Aurionpro Solutions to acquire fintech startup Arya AI for $16.5 million

    Financial services software firm Aurionpro Solutions on Friday said it will acquire banking and insurance focused startup Arya.ai for $16.5 million (about Rs 138 crore).Under the all-cash deal, NSE-listed Aurionpro Solutions is set to acquire 67% stake in the Mumbai-based company. Platform-as-a-service Arya.ai, founded in 2013 by IIT Bombay graduates Vinay Kumar and Deekshith Marla, had raised about $2 million from investors such as YourNest, DMI Sparkle Fund and Venture Nursery. Most of these...

  • Xaira, an AI drug discovery startup, launches with a massive $1B, says it's 'ready' to start developing drugs

    Advances in generative AI have taken the tech world by storm. Biotech investors are making a big bet that similar computational methods could revolutionize drug discovery. On Tuesday, ARCH Venture Partners and Foresite Labs, an affiliate of Foresite Capital, announced that they incubated Xaira Therapeutics and funded the AI biotech with $1 billion. Other investors […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

  • World's First AI Beauty Pageant 'Miss AI' Announced, AI Models Actually Compete for Prizes

    WAICA's pageant marks a significant milestone in the world of artificial intelligence, aiming to celebrate the accomplishments of AI creators globally.

  • Mohit Gupta, Mukesh Bansal’s omnichannel fashion startup Lyskraft raises $26 million in seed funding

    Former Zomato senior executive Mohit Gupta and Myntra founder Mukesh Bansal have raised $26 million in seed money for their omnichannel fashion startup Lyskraft, making it one of the largest early-stage rounds for an Indian startup amid the ongoing funding crunch.The round was led by Peak XV Partners, formerly Sequoia Capital India, Gupta told ET, adding that the seed money will help the partnership take forward the plan of building an omnichannel play as a marketplace for premium brands,...

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    AI Search Startup Perplexity’s Series B Funding Raises Nearly $63M, Launches Enterprise Pro

    Perplexity, a generative AI startup developing a search engine to rival Google, has secured nearly $63 million in Series B funding. This investment has propelled the 55-person startup to double its valuation in three months, now exceeding $1 billion, with total fundraising reaching $165 million. The round was led by investor Daniel Gross with participation from Y Combinator chief executive officer Garry Tan, Figma Inc. CEO Dylan Field and billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller. Previous backers,...

  • startup funding: ETtech Deals Digest: Startup funding falls 30% on year to $73 million this week

    Startup funding in the penultimate week of April 2024 declined by nearly 27.9% from the same period a year ago, totalling $74 million across 14 deals. However, deal density in the latest week improved to $5.3 million per deal, as per Tracxn data. From April 6 to April 12, 2023, startups had raised about $2.4 million per deal. Funding was down sequentially as well, from $103 million across 15 funding rounds in the previous week. Of the total corpus raised this week, fundraises of...