SoftBank’s stock abruptly plunged 10% today and shares of AI companies and chipmakers also tumbled, fueling fears that sky-high valuations have outpaced fundamentals and created conditions for an AI bubble reminiscent of late-dot-com mania. CNBC has more here.

Epic and Google struck a monumental settlement that forces Google to open Android app payments and cap fees at 9% or 20%, marking a landmark antitrust win that reshapes mobile app economics and puts pressure on Apple’s App Store business model. TechCrunch has more here.

In 2020, 437 startups made it into YC. Five years later:  

  -7 became unicorns 

-72 got acquired  

-142 raised Series A or beyond  

Introducing our new series, Batch Testing. A deep dive into every YC batch starting from 2020, tracking outcomes, trajectories and key metrics. Get the full scoop on YC 2020 here. 

By Ivan Mehta

A raft of voice-based hardware devices have emerged, aimed at companionship, productivity, or personal growth. These include card-shaped devices from Plaud and Pocket; pendants from Friend, Limitless, and Taya; and a wristband from Bee, which is now part of Amazon.

Now, two former Meta employees who worked on interface design have launched Sandbar, a startup that has created a ring called Stream for similar purposes. The company calls the ring “a mouse for voice” because it can take notes, help you interact with an AI assistant, and let you control music.

Sandbar’s CEO, Mina Fahmi, has an extensive background in designing human-computer interfaces. He worked at Bryan Johnson’s Kernel and later at smart glasses startup Magic Leap. Kirak Hong, Sandbar’s CTO, worked at Google before joining CTRL-Labs, where the duo met. Meta acquired the startup in 2019, and its work eventually led to neural interfaces for the tech giant’s smart wearables.Fahmi said that when large language models started emerging a few years ago, he built an experimental journaling app. However, he found that the app became a barrier to capturing his thoughts. Given his experience building hardware interfaces, he began exploring a conversational hardware interface instead.

“A lot of my ideas bubble up when I’m walking or when I’m commuting, and I don’t want to pull out my phone to interrupt that moment. I don’t want to shout into my earbuds where the world can hear me to talk through an idea. Kirak and I were trying to understand what it would take to actually capture a thought the moment it bubbles up. That’s how we came up with Stream,” Fahmi told TechCrunch in an interview.

Armis, a nine-year-old San Francisco startup that provides security software for critical infrastructure, raised a $435 million round at a $6.1 billion post-money valuation. Goldman Sachs Alternatives was the deal lead, with Evolution Equity Partners as well as previous investor CapitalG also taking part. TechCrunch has more here.

Crusoe, a seven-year-old Denver startup that provides AI infrastructure and data centers, is reportedly putting the final touches on a $120 million secondary sale at a $13 billion post-money valuation just one month after it closed a $1.38 billion round at a $10 billion valuation. Reuters has more here.

Giga, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that builds voice-based AI agents for customer support, raised a $61 million Series A round led by Redpoint Ventures, with Y Combinator and Nexus Venture Partners also participating. Fortune has more here.

MoEngage, an 11-year-old San Francisco company that helps consumer brands personalize marketing using first-party data and AI, raised a $100 million Series F round co-led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives and A91 Partners. The company has raised a total of $250 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Reevo, a startup that builds software to manage product launches, marketing campaigns, and sales planning in one system, raised a $70 million Series A round at a $500 million post-money valuation. The round was co-led by Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins, with Zhu Ventures also opting in. The startup has raised a total of $80 million. Bloomberg has more here.

Ripple, a 14-year-old San Francisco company that provides digital-asset infrastructure for payments, custody, and treasury and is behind the XRP cryptocurrency, raised a $500 million round at a $40 billion valuation. The deal was co-led by Fortress Investment Group, Citadel Securities, Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace. CNBC has more here.

Video Rebirth, a one-year-old Singapore startup that develops AI models for generating and editing video, raised a $50 million seed round co-led by Qiming Venture Partners and Actoz Soft. The startup was founded by a computer vision expert who previously led Tencent’s flagship AI model program. Bloomberg has more here.

Affect Therapeutics, a five-year-old startup based in McLean, VA, that provides a virtual clinic using contingency management and behavioral science to treat substance use and mental health disorders, raised a $26 million Series B round. The deal was led by Allumia Ventures, with additional participation from Artis Ventures, City Light Capital, LifeArc Ventures, and Limitless Ventures also participating. More here.

DeepJudge, a five-year-old Zurich startup that provides enterprise search software for law firms, raised a $41.2 million Series A round led by Felicis, with Coatue also participating. More here.

Parable, a one-year-old New York startup that provides an intelligence layer to measure how enterprises spend time across their software stack and quantify AI’s impact, raised a $16.5 million seed round led by HOF Capital, with InMotion Ventures, Story Ventures, Lasagna, Panache, Supercharge, and Tripe Impact Capital also pitching in. Forbes has more here.

Procurement Sciences, a three-year-old Boston startup that provides AI software to help businesses find, win, and deliver government contracts, raised a $30 million Series B round. Catalyst Investors was the deal lead, with Battery Ventures, Tower Research Ventures, K-Street Capital, Blu Ventures, Bosch Ventures, and Citi also stepping up. CityBiz has more here.

RAAAM, a four-year-old Israeli company that develops on-chip memory technology to improve density and power efficiency for AI processors, raised a $17.5 million Series A round led by NXP Semiconductors, with an unnamed multinational networking corporation, IAG Capital Partners, the European Innovation Council Fund, LiFTT, Alumni Ventures, J-Ventures, Silicon Catalyst Ventures, and Serpentine Ventures also piling on. CTech has more here.

Wabi, a San Francisco startup founded this year that lets users create and share mini apps using prompts, raised a $20 million pre-seed round. Investors included Naval Ravikant, Garry Tan, Justin Kan, Amjad Masad, Akshay Kothari, DJ Seo, and Sarah Guo. TechCrunch has more here.

Adaptronics, a three-year-old Milan startup that builds energy-efficient electro-adhesive robotic grippers with tactile sensing, raised a $3.4 million Series A round led by 360 Capital, with Galaxia and Obloo Ventures also participating. Tech Funding News has more here.

Cactus, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that provides an AI system that automates calls, scheduling, and follow-ups for home service businesses, raised a $7 million seed round. The round was co-led by Wellington Management and Y Combinator, with Pelion Venture Partners and Rebel Fund also participating. More here.

Fintary, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that streamlines commission and financial operations for insurance companies, raised a $10 million Series A round led by Infinity Ventures, with previous investor Sierra Ventures also investing. The company has raised a total of $12.8 million. More here.

Fit Collective, a three-year-old London startup that uses AI to help fashion brands improve sizing and reduce returns, raised a $3.9 million pre-seed round led by AlbionVC and including SuperSeed, True Global, January Ventures, and Innovate UK. Tech.eu has more here.

Kabilio, a one-year-old Barcelona startup that automates accounting and tax workflows for advisory firms, raised a $4.6 million pre-seed round co-led by Visionaries Club and Picus Capital. Tech Funding News has more here.

Malanta, a one-year-old Israeli startup that provides pre-attack prevention software to neutralize threats before they materialize, raised a $10 million seed round. Cardumen Capital was the lead investor, with The Group Ventures also joining in. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Mindsmith, a four-year-old startup based in Orem, UT, that uses AI to help organizations create e-learning content, raised a $4.1 million seed round led by Next Frontier Capital, with WndrCo and Grix also contributing. Citybiz has more here.

Planbase, a San Francisco startup that automates employee management for healthcare clinics, raised a $2.1 million seed round co-led by Y Combinator and LocalGlobe. More here.

Tsuga, a Paris startup that is developing an observability system that runs directly inside a customer’s cloud environment, raised a $10 million seed round. The deal was led by General Catalyst, with Singular also anteing up. Tech Funding News has more here.

The Ultimate Guide to AI in VC & PE breaks down how firms like BlackRock and OpenAI are using AI to spot market signals earlier, accelerate research, and win competitive deals. 94% of investors say AI-augmented approaches will define private capital’s future, and those adopting them now are already seeing the results. 
 
See what the next generation of investors is doing differently. 

MVP Ventures, a five-year-old San Francisco VC firm that backs early-stage startups at the intersection of AI, hardware, and software, raised its second fund in the amount of $125 million. More here.

OpenAI’s CFO tried to dampen IPO speculation by saying a listing is not on the near-term agenda as the company pours cash into massive data-center expansion and seeks possible government backstops while racing to scale revenue beyond its consumer base. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Lina Khan, former FTC chair and scourge of Silicon Valley, has been selected to lead New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team. TechCrunch has more here.

Lucid’s chief engineer Eric Bach has left after a decade, the latest in a string of senior departures that’s left the EV maker without a permanent CEO nine months after Peter Rawlinson’s exit. TechCrunch has more here.

Cluely founder Roy Lee admitted his viral launch strategy may have backfired, as the a16z-backed startup shifts focus from “cheating on everything” to AI note-taking. TechCrunch has more here.

Kim Kardashian is blaming her repeated failure to pass the California bar on ChatGPT, saying it often gave wrong answers and “talked back.”

Football legend and Colossal Biosciences investor Tom Brady revealed that his current dog, Junie, a budding social media star, is actually a Colossal clone of his previous pitbull mix, Lua, who died in 2023.

Apple is close to paying Google about $1 billion a year to use a custom AI model roughly eight times more complex than Siri’s current system as it races to overhaul the assistant and keep pace in the AI race. TechCrunch has more here.

Microsoft researchers built a simulated marketplace to study AI agent behavior and found that current models are easily manipulated, overwhelmed by choices, and struggle with collaboration, raising doubts about their near-term reliability. TechCrunch has more here.

Why it’s cool to have no followers now. The New Yorker has more here.

Team USA’s chief medical officer urges Olympians to obsess over plane hygiene to avoid blowing their shot at the 2026 Games, advising window seats, wipes, and simple airflow adjustments.

Tonight’s supermoon – known as the “beaver moon” – will be the biggest full moon of the year.

The Last Drop Distillers, the Sazerac-owned label known for bottling rare spirits, just released its first tequila, a $2,300 extra añejo blend aged up to 10 years and crafted by Casa San Matías master distiller Carmen Villarreal.

The best cookies we’ve had in a long time. (Not a paid endorsement, but feel free to remunerate us in kind.)

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