Technology

Benchmark is raising its first-ever growth fund as part of a $2 billion capital raise

Benchmark is raising its first-ever growth fund as part of a $2 billion capital raise

โœจ Explore this must-read post from TechCrunch ๐Ÿ“– ๐Ÿ“‚ **Category**: Fundraising,Venture,Benchmark Partners ๐Ÿ“Œ **What Youโ€™ll Learn**: Benchmark Capital, the popular Silicon Valley venture capital firm known for its early investments in eBay, Snap, Uber and Twitter, is breaking with one of its signature traditions: keeping its money at around $425 million and backing only young startups. After more than two decades of restricting its vehicles to that amount or less, the firm has made $2 billion in commitments across two new funds, including a $1.25 billion vehicle designated for later-stage investments, according to the Wall Street Journal. While fund sizes…
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Google’s Dreambeans, the most bizarre AI tool yet, will turn your life into a cartoon

Google’s Dreambeans, the most bizarre AI tool yet, will turn your life into a cartoon

๐Ÿ’ฅ Explore this awesome post from TechCrunch ๐Ÿ“– ๐Ÿ“‚ **Category**: AI,Dreambeans,Google ๐Ÿ’ก **What Youโ€™ll Learn**: Google Labs, the tech giant's team dedicated to designing experimental products, has launched a new AI-powered app for iOS and Android that will literally spice up your life. Behold, Dreambeans. Why is it called that? We'll get to that later. First, what is it? Gozde Oznur, the product lead behind the new app, told TechCrunch that the idea is to use data collected from various Google services to create a curated list of AI-illustrated โ€œstories.โ€ These stories come in a variety of different shapes and…
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Substack’s new Reply Rules feature lets creators control how people respond

Substack’s new Reply Rules feature lets creators control how people respond

๐Ÿ’ฅ Discover this must-read post from TechCrunch ๐Ÿ“– ๐Ÿ“‚ **Category**: Apps,content moderation,Substack ๐Ÿ’ก **What Youโ€™ll Learn**: Substack on Wednesday announced a new feature called โ€œResponse Rules,โ€ designed to give creators greater control over how their audiences are able to respond. With this feature, creators can create specific guidelines for comments on their posts, in notes, or in chat. These guidelines may include requests to remove profanity or profanity used by the AI, or anything as silly as requesting responses only in the form of haiku. Substack explains that the system learns from users' actions, such as when they hide replies,…
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Rapid Trade FirstClub doubles its value to $255 million in nine months

Rapid Trade FirstClub doubles its value to $255 million in nine months

โœจ Read this insightful post from TechCrunch ๐Ÿ“– ๐Ÿ“‚ **Category**: Startups,Commerce,Exclusive,Sofina,Peak XV Partners,FirstClub โœ… **What Youโ€™ll Learn**: In a speed-obsessed commerce market, Indian startup FirstClub has convinced investors that quality could be a new opportunity, helping to double its valuation just nine months after its latest funding round. The Bengaluru-based startup has raised $55 million in a Series B round co-led by Peak XV Partners and Sofina, valuing the company at $255 million after the investment. That's up from $120 million when it last raised capital in September 2025. Existing investors Accel, RTP Global and Paramark Ventures also participated. The…
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The source says beloved brands have been leveraging Google Cloud over the years to increase usage 5x

The source says beloved brands have been leveraging Google Cloud over the years to increase usage 5x

๐Ÿš€ Check out this trending post from TechCrunch ๐Ÿ“– ๐Ÿ“‚ **Category**: AI,Startups,Anthropic,google cloud,Lovable โœ… **What Youโ€™ll Learn**: Lovable and Google announced an expanded multi-year collaboration on Wednesday. Lovable, a fast-growing biocoding startup in Stockholm, has been a long-time user of Google Cloud. Under the new agreement, it will be much bigger. While the companies did not disclose a dollar figure, a person familiar with the deal told TechCrunch that it includes a five-fold increase in Lovable's footprint on Google Cloud, including the use of artificial intelligence. This person tells us that as part of the deal, Lovable will get expanded…
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Meta has taken out the VR fitness game Supernatural instead of just killing it

Meta has taken out the VR fitness game Supernatural instead of just killing it

โœจ Read this awesome post from TechCrunch ๐Ÿ“– ๐Ÿ“‚ **Category**: Gaming,Hardware,fitness,Meta,supernatural,VR ๐Ÿ“Œ **What Youโ€™ll Learn**: Meta's attempt to pioneer the metaverse and make VR cool has failed, except for one shining diamond: Supernatural, a VR fitness game that made working out fun and accessible. Now, users can rejoice that Supernatural isn't shutting down after all. Meta went through the hassle of fighting an antitrust battle for eight months so it could acquire the game studio Inside, which made Supernatural, in 2023. The deal was reportedly worth about $400 million, plus the cost of fighting and winning an FTC lawsuit. However,…
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Uber is putting 500 data-collecting vehicles on the road this year

Uber is putting 500 data-collecting vehicles on the road this year

๐Ÿš€ Discover this awesome post from TechCrunch ๐Ÿ“– ๐Ÿ“‚ **Category**: Transportation,autonomous vehicles,AV Labs,avs,Exclusive,self driving cars,Uber โœ… **What Youโ€™ll Learn**: Uber on Wednesday unveiled a prototype of a car it plans to use to collect real-world driving data that can be used by its growing list of self-driving vehicle partners like Avride, Waymo and WeRide. The car is not a radical design. Rather, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is equipped with an incredible number of sensors on the top and sides, as the company first told TechCrunch in January. The sensor-laden car may not seem particularly groundbreaking, but it represents some major…
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Alphabet’s record $85 billion raise for Google’s AI business is a very good sign

Alphabet’s record $85 billion raise for Google’s AI business is a very good sign

๐Ÿ’ฅ Check out this awesome post from TechCrunch ๐Ÿ“– ๐Ÿ“‚ **Category**: AI,Enterprise,TC,Alphabet,capital expenditures,Google,IPOs ๐Ÿ’ก **What Youโ€™ll Learn**: If Alphabet's record-breaking $85 billion stock sale is any indication of investors' appetite for AI-related offerings โ€” and it is โ€” then we can safely say that investors are voracious. Google's parent company initially intended to sell a first tranche worth $40 billion of various equity instruments - two different classes of shares, plus smaller "depositary shares" that would be accessible to a wider range of investors. But the offering was so oversubscribed that it raised $45 billion instead, CEO Sundar Pichai said…
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Carvana is teaming up with Bezos-backed Slate Auto as it plans to sell new cars

Carvana is teaming up with Bezos-backed Slate Auto as it plans to sell new cars

๐Ÿ”ฅ Read this must-read post from TechCrunch ๐Ÿ“– ๐Ÿ“‚ **Category**: Transportation,Carvana,Exclusive,slate auto ๐Ÿ’ก **What Youโ€™ll Learn**: Carvana has been given the option to invest in Slate Auto, the electric vehicle startup backed by Jeff Bezos, according to documents obtained by TechCrunch. Papers filed with the Delaware Division of Corporations show that the online used car retailer obtained a warrant to buy shares in the startup in 2025 โ€” around the same time that Slate Auto began raising a $650 million Series C funding round. It is not clear whether Carvana has exercised this, or how many shares it is permitted…
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Ultrahuman says hackers gained access to customer health data via an internal tool

Ultrahuman says hackers gained access to customer health data via an internal tool

๐Ÿš€ Read this insightful post from TechCrunch ๐Ÿ“– ๐Ÿ“‚ **Category**: Hardware,Security,ultrahuman โœ… **What Youโ€™ll Learn**: Wearable health technology startup Ultrahuman said hackers gained unauthorized access to customer health data after employee credentials were stolen through malware. On Wednesday, the India-based startup notified affected customers of the incident via email, noting that the hack occurred on March 27 and involved a system used for internal analytics. The company said it immediately discovered the breach, stopped the affected system from working, and revoked all access to it. Founded in 2019, Ultrahuman sells smart rings and metabolic health trackers that enable users to…
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