Approximately 80 European deep tech university spinouts will reach $1 billion valuation or $100 million in revenue in 2025
Universities and research institutes have long been the repositories of deep technology in Europe. Academic spinouts are now being consolidated into robust startup funnels worth $398 billion, and VC funding is following suit. According to Dealroom’s European Spinout Report 2025, 76 of these deep tech and life sciences companies have reached valuations of $1 billion, […]
12 investors dish on what 2026 will bring for climate tech
This was supposed to be the year that climate tech died. President Donald Trump and the Republican Party have done their best to dismantle the Biden administration’s hallmark industrial and climate policies. Even the European Union has begun to ease off its most aggressive goals. And yet, as the year closes, the receipts provide a […]
Best AI-powered dictation apps of 2025
In a sense, 2025 was the year that AI dictation apps really took off. Dictation apps have been around for years, but until now they’ve proven time-consuming and inaccurate unless you pronounce them clearly with a specific accent. However, advances in large-scale language models (LLMs) and speech-to-text models have improved systems that can better decode […]
Venture capital predicts companies will increase spending on AI in 2026 due to fewer vendors
Businesses have been piloting and testing various AI tools over the past few years to understand what their adoption strategies will look like. Investors believe the experimental period is nearing its end. TechCrunch recently surveyed 24 enterprise-focused VC firms and predicted that the vast majority will increase their AI budgets in 2026, but not all. […]
Meta acquired Manus, the AI startup everyone was talking about.
Mark Zuckerberg has struck again. Meta Platforms acquires Singapore-based AI startup Manus. Manus has been the talk of Silicon Valley since it was brought to life in the spring with a highly slick demo video that went viral. The clip showed an AI agent that can screen job applicants, plan vacations, analyze stock portfolios, and […]
Social media follower counts are more important than ever, creator economy executives say
As social media becomes increasingly reliant on algorithmic feeds, creators are navigating a new normal. Just because you post something doesn’t mean your followers will see it. “I think 2025 was the year that algorithms completely took over, so followers became completely irrelevant,” LTK CEO Amber Venz Box told TechCrunch. This isn’t new to creators […]
2025 was the year AI did a mood check
Money was not an issue for the AI industry in early 2025. In late 2025, a mood check crept in. OpenAI raised $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation. Safe Superintelligence and Thinking Machine Labs raised a separate $2 billion seed round before shipping a single product. Even first-time founders are raising money on a […]
Why your power grid needs more software
One of the nicest comments people made about the power grid was, “There’s nothing.” Grids work best when they fade into the background. That obscurity has changed in recent years, as fires in California and freezes in Texas have heightened awareness of the power grid. But it wasn’t until 2025 that concerns about the power […]
How to use new ChatGPT app integrations like DoorDash, Spotify, Uber, and more
OpenAI offers app integration with ChatGPT, allowing you to connect your account directly to ChatGPT and ask your assistant to take action. For example, when you integrate with Spotify, you can tell it to create personalized playlists that appear in the Spotify app. To get started, make sure you’re logged in to ChatGPT. Then, enter […]
32 Top Enterprise Technology Startups in Disrupt Startup Battlefield
TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield pitch contest attracts thousands of applicants each year. These entries will be narrowed down to the top 200, and the top 20 will compete on the big stage to win the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000 in prize money. However, the remaining 180 startups all surprised us in their respective categories and […]