As crypto unicorns multiply, the US stands out as ground zero for blockchain winners

The market for crypto-focused investing is growing rapidly. News that Paradigm put together a $2.5 billion fund the other day is a reminder of the scale of funds now available to startups looking to build on the blockchain. Andreessen Horowitz has a mega-fund in the market as well, while Coinbase Ventures is setting a blistering […]

Sudowrite’s powerful tools put writer’s block on notice once and for all

The skyline of the city is a mass of brightly lit office buildings, industrial factories and skyscrapers, the endless hash of lights and shadows making the night seem as if it is teeming with life. Within that urban jungle, we find Amit Gupta, our dastardly hero. He smelled of fresh laundry, hair gel and a […]

Key executives resign after Pony.ai combines trucking and passenger car R&D units

Pony.ai, the self-driving startup that operates in both the U.S. and China, has lost at least two executives from its trucking team following the combination of the company’s passenger car and self-driving truck R&D teams. The development, initially detailed by two sources familiar with the internal restructure that happened quietly in September, was later confirmed […]

Co-founder titles aren’t a formality, they’re a morality

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. Good news, everyone: Mary Ann is back! Yes, after a short absence we have our third Friday host back where she belongs. Namely right in front of a microphone, talking to us. And […]

Sequoia, 120 angel investors back former Google execs’ consumer finance startup Arbo Works

A team of Google executives, many of whom worked with one another for years, left the company earlier this year to launch a startup. The fintech firm, Arbo Works, has raised a financing round led by Sequoia Capital India, the two said Thursday. Arbo Works, spearheaded by Caesar Sengupta, said on Thursday 120 angel investors, […]

VR glove startup says Meta’s recently unveiled prototype is ‘substantively identical’ to their own device

Facebook, errr Meta, showed off a new prototype haptic feedback glove yesterday, which they detailed could eventually bring a new generation of AR/VR users closer than they’ve ever been to digital content. Today, a VR startup with that same mission called HaptX (which we’ve covered here before) released a fairly aggressive statement accusing Meta of […]

Airwallex raises $100M at a $5.5B valuation to expand its business banking and payments platform globally

E-commerce and other online businesses are becoming increasingly global in their operations and customer bases, and a startup called Airwallex — which has built a banking solution that addresses the opportunity to provide cross-border financial services — has been seeing a massive surge of activity. To capitalize further on that opportunity, today the company is […]