The European Data Protection Board wants Meta and other large platforms to offer their services for free, without targeted advertising.
Mental health startup Cerebral has been fined $7 million by the FTC for sharing the sensitive data “of nearly 3.2 million consumers” with third parties like LinkedIn, TikTok, and Snapchat through trackers on its website or apps. (This is the same company that sent antidepressants to a 17-year-old without his parents' consent, per a 2022 WSJ story.) The Verge has more here.
Speaking of "cerebral," Colorado has just enacted a law aimed at protecting the "neural data" of its citizens.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has fined Bloomtech -- a for-profit coding bootcamp previously known as the Lambda School -- for false claims and banned it from consumer lending and its CEO, Austin Allred, from student lending for a period of 10 years. TechCrunch has more here.
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Is it time to refresh your approach to portfolio support? Affinity’s new guide features five tried-and-tested strategies to improve the way you offer portfolio support. See what your approach could be missing, and learn how leading firms are effectively using their extensive networks to connect portfolio companies with talent, and support and facilitate future growth opportunities.
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Iceye, a ten-year-old Helsinki company that operates a constellation of satellites that can monitor natural disasters, environmental changes, and infrastructure, raised a $93 million round. Solidium led the transaction, with Move Capital and Blackwells Capital also taking part. The company has raised a total of $438 million. Space News has more here.
Ramp, a five-year-old New York startup that offers a corporate card and financial management platform aimed at helping businesses control their spending and improve their financial efficiency, raised a $150 million Series D extension at a $7.65 billion post-money valuation. Khosla Ventures and previous investor Founders Fund co-led the deal, with Sequoia Capital, Greylock, and 8VC as well as prior backers Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, Sands Capital, D1 Capital, Lux Capital, Iconiq Capital, Definition Capital, and Contrary Capital also piling on. TechCrunch has the scoop here.
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Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings |
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Cynomi, a four-year-old Tel Aviv startup that provides service providers and consulting firms with the means to assist in assessing their customers' security risks and regulatory compliance, raised a $20 million round led by Canaan, with Flint Capital, s16vc, and Aloniq also contributing. SiliconANGLE has more here.
Found Energy, a two-year-old Boston startup that create modular fuel packs that generate hydrogen and heat when exposed to water, raised a $12 million seed round from KOMPAS VC, Munich Re Ventures, Good Growth Capital, the Autodesk Foundation, J-Impact, GiTV, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, and Glenfield Partners. TechCrunch has more here.
Kontakt.io, an 11-year-old New York company that provides technology for tracking and managing assets, people, and spaces in real-time within buildings or facilities, raised a $47.5 million Series C round. Goldman Sachs was the lead investor. MobiHealthNews has more here.
NeuBird, a San Francisco-based startup that says its technology, dubbed Hawkeye, acts as an AI ITOps engineer, enabling enterprise IT, DevOps, and site reliability operations teams to quickly identify and resolve software and infrastructure issues, just raised $22 million in seed funding led by Mayfield. TechCrunch has more here.
Pliant, a Berlin startup that offers both physical and virtual corporate credit cards with features like flexible spending limits, real-time expense tracking, and integration with accounting systems, raised a $19+ million Series A extension led by PayPal Ventures, with additional participation from previous investors SBI Investment, Motive Ventures, and Alstin Capital. More here.
Red Rover Interactive, a video game studio based on Newcastle, UK, and Oslo, Norway, raised a $15 million Series A round led by KRAFTON, with Tirta Ventures and Overwolf as well as previous investors The Games Fund, Behold Ventures, GEM Capital, Lifelike Capital, and Acequia Capital also pitching in. EU-Startups has more here.
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BreachRX, a six-year-old San Francisco startup that offers a platform designed to automate and streamline the process of managing cyber incidents for organizations, raised a $6.5 million seed round led by SYN Ventures, with Overline also chipping in. More here.
Claimscore, a startup based in Pompton Lakes, NJ, whose automated system for evaluating and managing claims in class action settlements aims to identify fraudulent submissions, raised a $3.2 million seed round led by ROC Venture Group. More here.
Condoit, a four-year-old startup based in Birmingham, AL, that provides digital tools for the electrical industry, focusing on simplifying the collection and management of electrical data on job sites, raised a $4.25 million seed round led by The Westly Group, with additional investors including Fontinalis Partners, Navitas Capital, C2 Ventures, Studio Management, Overline, and Southwire. More here.
The Folklore, a six-year-old New York startup that operates an online B2B wholesale platform focused on promoting diversity in the fashion and design industries, raised a $3.4 million seed round. The deal was led by Benchstrength, with Slauson & Co, Techstars, and Black Tech Nation Ventures also stepping up. The company has raised a total of $6.2 million. TechCrunch has more here.
GovDash, a two-year-old New York startup whose platform assists government contractors in managing the process of bidding for government contracts, raised a $10 million Series A round led by Northzone, with previous investor Y Combinator also contributing. The company has raised a total of $12 million. TechCrunch has more here.
Miggo, a one-year-old Tel Aviv startup that is creating a system designed to identify and counteract sophisticated cyber threats automatically, raised a $7.5 million seed round led by YL Ventures and including Cyber Club London. SecurityWeek has more here.
NightVision, a two-year-old startup based in Bradenton, FL, that provides a platform that integrates advanced web and API security testing directly into development processes, raised a $5.4 million seed round. Danu Venture Group was one of the investors. SecurityWeek has more here.
Toku, a four-year-old startup based in Santiago, Chile, whose platform helps businesses streamline the process of collecting payments on a regular schedule, raised a $9.3 million Series A round led by Gradient Ventures, with previous investors F-Prime, Clocktower, Y Combinator, Funders Club, and Wollef also stepping up. The company has raised a total of $20 million. LatamList has more here.
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The 6th Annual Enterprise Tech 30 list is out now. What AI newcomers made the list? What companies do the most successful founders and CEOs hail from? What business and growth models do the leading startups use? Learn it all and much more in the 2024 report: read the report.
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Maven Ventures, a 15-year-old Palo Alto, Ca.-based venture firm whose early bets include Cruise and Zoom, raised $60 million for its fourth fund focused on seed stage investments in consumer tech startups, including personalized healthcare and climate and sustainability. TechCrunch has more here.
SpringTide Ventures, a six-year-old healthtech VC firm that focused on investments in health-focused software, hardware, and tech-enabled services, has raised a second fund in the amount of $65 million. Business Insider has more here.
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According to a new filing spied by the WSJ, Anne Wojcicki is seeking to take her DNA-testing company 23andMe private after three years in public markets during which time the company's valuation collapsed.
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When a Park City newspaper criticized Cloudflare cofounder and CEO Matthew Prince's plans to build an 11,000-square-foot mansion, Prince found an easy fix to the problem: he bought the paper. Bloomberg has more here.
Paul Cristiano, a former OpenAI researcher and renowned "AI doomer," has been appointed head of the US AI Safety Institute, which is part of the U.S. government's National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Tesla is asking its shareholders to approve a jaw-dropping $56 billion pay package for its CEO, Elon Musk, only days after Tesla fired 10% of its employees.
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One day after retiring its hydraulic robot, Boston Dynamic has released an all-electric version that positively purrs. TechCrunch's Brian Heater has more here.
It turns out that there are just 77 ships that lay and maintain the underwater cables that transfer data all around the world.
Worldcoin isn't just scanning eyeballs; it's building its own blockchain.
Seven Waymo robotaxis blocked a freeway onramp last night. (We are unable to print the comments of the drivers behind them.)
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