Eclipse Foods inks deal with Whole Foods for its plant-based ice cream

With demand for plant-based meat alternatives at an all-time high, Eclipse Foods is no doubt hoping to do for ice cream what companies like Impossible and Beyond have managed for the hamburger. Pre-pandemic, the company announced select retail availability in New York and its native San Francisco, and now it’s expanding coverage with a high-profile […]

Fintech startup Jeeves raises $57M, goes from YC to $500M valuation in one year

Last summer, Jeeves was participating in Y Combinator’s summer batch as a fledgling fintech. This June, the startup emerged from stealth with $31 million in equity and $100 million in debt financing.  Today, the company, which is building an “all-in-one expense management platform” for global startups, is announcing that it has raised a $57 million […]

Our favorite startups from YC’s Summer 21 Demo Day, Part 2

From beaming actors into the class room to plucking things out of space, the second day of Y Combinator’s S21 Demo Day was a fresh snapshot of what nearly 200 startup teams believe is the future of innovation. Yesterday, the TechCrunch team covered the first half of this batch, as well as the startups with one-minute […]

Our favorite startups from YC’s Summer 21 Demo Day, Part 1

Y Combinator kicked off its fourth-ever virtual Demo Day today, revealing the first-half of its nearly 400 company batch. The presentation, YC’s biggest yet, offers a snapshot into where innovation is heading, from not-so-simple seaweed to a Clearco for creators. The TechCrunch team stuck to its tradition of covering every single company live (but, you […]

BoldVoice wants to help nonnative English speakers find (and flaunt) their voices

When Anada Lakra and Ilya Usorov first moved to the United States, they struggled to find their voices. They both knew and understood English, but when it came time to speak up, their accents became a hurdle. Usorov, for example, watched his Russian-born parents struggle to advocate for themselves, which limited work opportunities. While Lakra, […]