How do investors ensure that the startups in which they invest responsibly apply AI?
News aggregator SmartNews raises $230 million, valuing its business at $2 billion
SmartNews, a Tokyo-headquartered news aggregation website and app that’s grown in popularity despite hefty competition from built-in aggregators like Apple News, today announced it has closed on $230 million in Series F funding. The round brings SmartNews’ total raise to date to over $400 million and values the business at $2 billion — or as […]
Creative adtech is on the cusp of a revolution, and VCs should take note
Here are five reasons why VCs should consider ratcheting up their investment into adtech startups building the next generation of creative tools:
Vector.ai’s productivity platform for freight forwarders raises $15M A round led by Bessemer
With supply chains under constant stress because of the pandemic, freight forwarding has become one of the hottest startup sectors in the last two years. Indeed, international freight forwarding is now a $199 billion market. And the evidence is mounting. In November last year, digital freight forwarder Forto raised another $50 million in a round led […]
Trade promotion management startup Cresicor raises $5.6M to keep tabs on customer spend
The company focuses on providing small to mid-size CPG companies with an automated way to manage their trade promotion in retail stores.
DataRobot CEO Dan Wright coming to TC Sessions: SaaS to discuss role of data in machine learning
Just about every company is sitting on vast amounts of data, which they can use to their advantage if they can just learn how to harness it. Data is actually the fuel for machine learning models, and with the proper tools, businesses can learn to process this data and build models to help them compete […]
Affinity, a relationship intelligence company, raises $80M to help close deals
Affinity is focused on industries like investment banking and venture capital, where there aren’t CRMs or networking platforms that cater to the specific needs of the long-term relationship.
Fin names former Twilio exec Evan Cummack as CEO, raises $20M
Fin’s software captures employee workflow data from across applications and turns it into productivity insights to improve the way enterprise teams work and remain engaged.
Microsoft launches a personalized news service, Microsoft Start
Microsoft today is introducing its own personalized news reading experience called Microsoft Start, available as both a website and mobile app, in addition to being integrated with other Microsoft products, including Windows 10 and 11 and its Microsoft Edge web browser. The feed will combine content from news publishers, but in a way that’s tailored […]
Speech recognition works for kids, and it’s about time
Speech recognition holds tremendous promise for something desperately needed in the era of COVID-19: technology that can significantly improve reading outcomes and tackle the global literacy crisis in a real and profound way.