Voodoo bets on play-to-earn crypto mobile games

French startup Voodoo has announced that it plans to make a significant investment in blockchain-powered mobile games. The company estimates that it represents a $200 million investment over the coming years. 2021 has been an important year for crypto gaming, with Axie Infinity popularizing the play-to-earn model. Some companies, such as Mythical Games, raised massive […]

AI-powered VFX startup Wonder Dynamics raises $10M A round

Wonder Dynamics aims to make “blockbuster-level” visual effects achievable by living-room-level creators using AI and cloud services, though it has kept its product closely under wraps. The secretive company, which boasts a star-studded set of advisors, has raised a $10M A round ahead of a planned launch later in 2022. The company was founded by […]

SQream acquires no-code data platform Panoply

SQream, a well-funded Israel-based data analytics platform, today announced that it has acquired no-code data platform Panoply in an effort to expand its cloud services. At the core of SQream’s service is its GPU-centric “data acceleration platform,” which promises to speed up SQL queries and enable users to run their queries on more data. Panoply, on […]

Nucleus Genomics announces $3.5M seed round for a fresh take on genetic tests

When COVID-19 closed down most of society in 2020, Kian Sadeghi, like many of his then-classmates at the University of Pennsylvania, found himself holed up in his bedroom. He prefers it that way.  During those months at home in Brooklyn, Sadeghi filled eight spiral notebooks with research on genetic sequencing, computer science and statistics. The […]

Kalendar AI wants its sales bots to win your next customers

Kalendar AI, a San Francisco-based startup that’s been building on top of GPT-3‘s language model — developing a SaaS for automating lead generation and sales outreach to make it easier for companies to get initial meetings with prospective customers — has raised $3.2 million in pre-seed funding from 500 Startups; The Lean Startup author, Eric […]

AvantStay, a platform for kitting out — and then renting out — high-end vacation rental homes, raises $160M

Another travel startup that found itself scrambling to pivot as the COVID-19 pandemic took off is now announcing a huge round of funding after finding its feet and proving that it can grow, even under adverse circumstances. AvantStay — which has built a platform where it decorates and then lists properties owned by others for […]