Quick mention that TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 2026 applications are officially open, and if you're a pre-seed to pre-Series A founder or you’ve funded one, we want to hear from you. It's free, we take no equity, and past participants have gone on to raise hundreds of millions (including Dropbox and Cloudflare). You'll pitch live at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco (October 13–15), so there's plenty of time to prep, but do yourself a favor and apply early. We get buried near the May 27 deadline, and the earlier you apply, the better chance you have of catching us before we go full deadline goblin. — CL

According to a report in Bloomberg, Anthropic has rebuffed investor offers that would value it at $800 billion or more even as its revenue has reportedly surged to $30 billion from $9 billion just months earlier. The company last raised $30 billion in February at a $350 billion pre-money valuation. TechCrunch has more here.

A jury found Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster illegally maintained monopoly power in the ticketing market, potentially opening the door to further damages and remedies. TechCrunch has more here.

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By Connie Loizos

Airwallex, the Australian fintech that has spent a decade quietly building global payments infrastructure, is moving into in-person payments. The move deepens its rivalry with Stripe across the payments stack, and enables the startup to directly aim at Square and Adyen on one of the last major battlegrounds in financial technology.

Airwallex is launching a point-of-sale product that it says does something its rivals’ offerings don’t: Allow businesses to accept in-person payments in multiple countries via a single platform, without onboarding local vendors in every market.

“When a business expands into a new market, they typically have to onboard a new local acquirer, navigate fragmented compliance, and manage yet another set of vendor relationships,” CEO and co-founder Jack Zhang told TechCrunch.

In 2019, Stripe offered to acquire Airwallex for $1.2 billion, when Airwallex had just $2 million in revenue. But Zhang decided to keep building. “I even said yes to the deal,” he said, recalling the months-long negotiation. “But what really got me to change my mind is when I actually flew back to Melbourne and went deep on what motivated me to build Airwallex.”

Zhang founded Airwallex in 2015 out of frustration with the friction and expense of moving money internationally, but took a different approach than most fintech: He spent years assembling its own underlying payment rails.

Today, Airwallex, valued at $8 billion by its investors, claims it generates annualized revenue of about $1.3 billion, and that the number is growing by roughly 85% every year. The startup says it now serves more than 46,000 U.S. businesses and processes $100 billion in annual volume.

The startup currently boasts close to 90 regulatory licenses across roughly 50 markets, direct connections to local payment networks in over 120 countries, and the ability to settle transactions in more than 90 currencies. It is the very infrastructure, Zhang says, that Stripe and Square lack in meaningful ways — particularly the local banking licenses that allow funds to be held, converted, and deployed within a given market rather than immediately repatriated.

Artemis, a six-month-old New York startup that aims to use an AI “brain” to replace rule-based security tools, raised a $70 million Series A round led by Felicis, with additional support from Theory Ventures as well as previous investors First Round Capital and Brightmind. Fortune has more here.

Flock Safety, a nine-year-old Atlanta startup that provides license plate–reading surveillance technology used by law enforcement, is in talks to raise a new funding round of undisclosed size after raising $275 million at a $7.5 billion valuation in 2025. Axios has the scoop here.

nEye, a six-year-old startup based in Santa Clara, CA, that develops optical switching chips that connect servers in data centers for AI workloads, raised an $80 million Series C round led by Sutter Hill Ventures, with CapitalG, M12, and Socratic Partners also participating. The company has raised a total of $152 million. More here.

Terremoto Biosciences, a five-year-old South San Francisco startup that develops small molecule drugs that selectively target AKT1 to treat cancer and rare diseases, raised a $108 million Series C round. Investors included RA Capital Management, Deep Track Capital, Osage University Partners, and BeOne Medicines as well as previous investors OrbiMed, Third Rock Ventures, Novo Holdings, and Cormorant. More here.

Turion Space, a five-year-old startup based in Irvine, CA, that builds maneuverable satellites and software to track and monitor objects in orbit, raised a $75+ million Series B round led by Washington Harbour Partners, with Aurelia Foundry, Forward Deployed VC, FoundersX, Center15 Capital, Magnetar Capital, HOF Capital, and Industrious Ventures also taking part. Space News has more here.

Wayve, an eight-year-old UK startup that uses end-to-end neural networks trained on sensor data rather than maps or fixed hardware to power autonomous driving systems, raised a $60 million Series D extension. Investors included AMD, Arm, and Qualcomm. The company has raised a total of approximately $2.8 billion. TechCrunch has more here.

Agriodor, a seven-year-old startup based in Rennes, France, that develops insect-repelling and attracting compounds to control crop pests without chemical pesticides, raised a $17.7 million Series A round. Crédit Mutuel Impact was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of approximately $27.1 million. The Next Web has more here.

Auctor, a one-year-old New York startup that records project discussions and generates implementation documents to manage enterprise software deployments, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Sequoia Capital, with M12, HubSpot Ventures, Workday Ventures, OneStream, Y Combinator, and Tercera also digging in. Tech Funding News has more here.

Donecle, an 11-year-old company based in Toulouse, France, that uses autonomous drones and AI to automate aircraft inspections, raised an $11.8 million round co-led by IRDI Capital Investissement and SWEN Capital Partners, with GSO Innovation and ARIS Occitanie also opting in. EU-Startups has more here.

Gizmo, a five-year-old London startup that turns notes and content into personalized study materials like flashcards and quizzes, raised a $22 million Series A round led by Shine Capital, with Ada Ventures, Seek Investments, GSV, and NFX also engaging. Tech.eu has more here.

Hilbert, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that connects data across teams and uses AI agents to analyze user behavior and recommend actions to drive growth, raised a $28 million Series A round. Andreessen Horowitz was the deal lead. More here.

Hyfix, a two-year-old startup based in Santa Clara, CA, that develops integrated chips that combine flight control, navigation, communications, and computing for drones, raised a $15 million seed round led by Craft Ventures, with Catapult Ventures, Multicoin Capital, Finality Capital, and Sky Dayton also chiming in. Dronelife has more here.

Keebler Health, a three-year-old startup based in Durham, NC, that uses LLMs to process unstructured clinical data and identify risk adjustment opportunities, raised a $16 million Series A round led by Flare Capital Partners, with Sands Capital and Aviano Ventures, Everywhere Ventures, Freestyle Capital, Hustle Fund, MBX Capital, New Stack Ventures, Tau Ventures, Tweener Fund, and Underdog Labs also piling on. The company has raised a total of $23 million. MobiHealthNews has more here.

Lightcast, a seven-year-old startup based in Cambridge, UK, that analyzes how individual cells function to support drug discovery and development, raised a $27 million round led by ARCH Venture Partners, with M Ventures, Illumina Ventures, +ND Capital, Longwall Ventures, and OMX Ventures also investing. The company has raised a total of approximately $78 million. More here.

NanoTech Materials, a seven-year-old Houston startup that develops coatings that reduce heat transfer and improve fire resistance in buildings and infrastructure, raised a $29.4 million Series A round led by HPI Real Estate & Investments, with Goose Capital and Milliken & Co. also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $34.4 million. More here.

Onto Health, a two-year-old Chicago startup that provides fertility care and longevity services using AI-driven diagnostics and treatment planning, raised a $20 million Series A round. Investors included Artis and Humania. More here.

Parasail, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that routes AI inference workloads across distributed data centers to lower compute costs, raised a $32 million Series A round co-led by Touring Capital and Kindred Ventures, with Samsung Next, Flume Ventures, and Banyan Ventures also contributing. TechCrunch has more here.

Paxos Labs, a 14-year-old New York company that provides software for companies to issue stablecoins and enable lending and borrowing in decentralized finance, raised a $12 million round led by Blockchain Capital, with Robot Ventures, Maelstrom, and Uniswap also anteing up. Fortune has more here.

Phonely, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that handles business phone calls using AI to improve customer interactions and efficiency, raised a $16 million Series B round led by Base10 Partners, with Y Combinator, Etech Global Services, TSA Group, and Engage CX also stepping up. More here.

Ratio, a five-year-old startup based in San Mateo, CA, that pays B2B sellers upfront while letting buyers pay over time, connecting proposals, payment terms, and collections in one workflow, raised a $15.8 million round. Investors included Streamlined Ventures, Cervin Ventures, HoneyStone Ventures, Monte Carlo Capital, Jarvis Investments, and Sandhill Angels. More here.

Spiral Therapeutics, a ten-year-old South San Francisco company that develops therapies and drug delivery systems for inner ear disorders, raised a $27 million Series B round led by Gund Investment and including Advanced Bionics and a global pharmaceutical company as well as previous investors Ferring Ventures and Uni-Bio Science Group also participating. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

Wamo, an eight-year-old Helsinki startup that provides business accounts, payments, and lending tools for small businesses in one platform, raised an $11.8 million Series A round led by TCEE Fund IV, with Oleka Capital also joining in. EU-Startups has more here.

BizScout, a two-year-old Austin startup that builds tools to help individuals find, evaluate, and buy or sell small businesses, raised a $5 million seed round. Investors included Valor Equity, Balaji Srinivasan, Sean Rad, and Bill Perkins. Inc. has more here.

Clean Food Group, a four-year-old London startup that produces sustainable oils and fats by fermenting yeast using waste feedstocks, raised a $6.1 million round co-led by Clean Growth Fund and New Agrarian, with previous investors Seed Innovations and Döhler Group also joining in. Green Queen Media has more here.

Gitar, a three-year-old startup based in San Mateo, CA, that deploys AI agents to review code, diagnose build failures, and generate fixes in software development workflows, raised a $9 million round. Venrock was the deal lead, with Sierra Ventures also contributing. TechCrunch has more here.

Modern Relay, a one-year-old Barcelona and San Francisco startup that builds a shared data layer that connects people, software, and AI agents to coordinate work across an organization, raised a $3 million round. Investors included Point Nine, Emerge, Amino Collective, and Common Magic. BeBeez International has more here.

Objection, a recently founded startup that uses AI to evaluate the factual accuracy of journalism and assign credibility scores, has raised a seed round of “multiple millions” from Peter Thiel, Balaji Srinivasan, Social Impact Capital, and Off Piste Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

Osteoboost Health, an eight-year-old San Francisco startup that has developed an FDA-approved wearable device that uses vibration therapy to treat low bone density in postmenopausal women, raised an $8 million round led by Ambit Health Ventures, with Emmeline Ventures and Disrupt Health Impact Fund as well as prior backers Esplanade Ventures and Portfolia also investing. Femtech Insider has more here.

Peak Quantum, a two-year-old German startup that is developing superconducting quantum chips designed to reduce errors at the hardware level, raised a $2.6 million round led by Cloudberry Ventures, with United Founders, QAI Ventures, and Golden Egg Check also participating. The company has raised a total of $5.9+ million. Quantum Insider has more here.

Pumpcade, a one-year-old startup that runs prediction markets where users can place short-duration bets that resolve automatically using real-time data APIs, raised a $5 million seed round co-led by Foundation Capital and Jump Crypto. Cryptonews.net has more here.

Ralio, a one-year-old London startup that provides a payments infrastructure that enables AI agents to execute transactions with built-in controls and audit trails, raised a $2.5 million seed round led by Sure Valley Ventures, with Seed X, Love Ventures, Plug and Play, rule30, Adeline Arts, Science, Endurance Ventures, Campus Fund, and Antler also taking stakes. UKTN has more here.

Sapient Perception, a one-year-old Copenhagen startup that offers AI-enabled camera sensors that capture wide-area imagery and deliver real-time insights for drone operations, raised a $3.3 million pre-seed round co-led by Balnord and FORWARD.one. More here.

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Accel has raised $5 billion in new capital, including $4 billion for its late-stage Leaders Fund, which is expected to invest an average of $200 million in about 20 AI-focused companies. TechCrunch has more here.

eToro, a 19-year-old Tel Aviv-based company that operates a multi-asset trading and social investing platform, has agreed to acquire Zengo, an eight-year-old Israeli startup that provides a crypto wallet enabling token swaps, staking, and access to decentralized finance applications, for about $70 million. Bloomberg has more here.

The farm equipment giant Caterpillar has acquired the assets of Monarch Tractor, an eight-year-old startup based in Livermore, CA, that built driver-optional electric tractors for farms. Monarch raised over $200 million from investors like Astanor Ventures and Foxconn. TechCrunch has more here.

X-energy, a nuclear startup backed by Amazon that is developing high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, has begun its IPO roadshow targeting $16 to $19 per share and up to about $814 million in proceeds amid rising power demand from AI data centers. TechCrunch has more here.

Andreessen Horowitz’s Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz have contributed $25 million to the pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future, boosting its war chest to more than $51 million as Silicon Valley ramps up spending to influence regulation ahead of the November midterms. Bloomberg has more here.

Meta has hired Joshua Gross, a founding engineer at Thinking Machines Lab, marking its fifth such hire from the $12 billion AI startup as competition for top talent intensifies. Business Insider has more here.

Snap is laying off about 1,000 employees or 16% of its workforce, claiming that AI efficiency gains coupled with a smaller workforce could lead to more than $500 million in savings by the second half of 2026. TechCrunch has more here.

Allbirds, formerly the favored shoe brand of the Silicon Valley vest-wearing set, is rebranding as NewBird AI and pivoting to a GPU-as-a-service business after selling its shoe brand and assets for $39 million and securing a $50 million investment. TechCrunch has more here.

A new Pew Research Center survey finds teens primarily use TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat for entertainment and connection but experienced more harassment and cyberbullying on Snapchat than other platforms. More here.

An analysis by Wired and Indicator finds reported cases of AI-generated deepfake nudes have impacted nearly 90 schools and more than 600 students globally, though the true scale may be far larger, with one estimate suggesting 1.2 million children were targeted last year. What’s worse, the trend shows no sign of slowing. More here.

A new report from ad industry research firm Omdia finds that social media advertising is growing much faster than both online and traditional ads, and Meta is capturing about 70% of social media advertising revenue via Facebook and Instagram. More here.

LinkedIn says hiring is down about 20% since 2022 but finds no evidence AI is responsible, instead pointing to higher interest rates as the primary driver. TechCrunch has more here.

Mercor, the AI hiring startup run by 23-year-old billionaire founders, is grappling with employee fraud and even suspected North Korean infiltration as it scales a vast global contractor workforce to train A.I. models. Forbes has more here.

Private equity firms are pouring money into high-end bagel chains like PopUp and Call Your Mother, betting new baking tech, social media buzz, and national demand can finally scale a product long seen as too artisanal to expand widely.

Why dogs tilt their heads when they’re listening to you.

The North Face has released a $280 zipperless sleeping bag with magnetic closures, dual insulated wings for temperature control, an integrated pad sleeve, and tactile design features aimed at easier use and more comfortable sleep.

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