Tue.Feb 21, 2023

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Soylent acquired by Starco Brands as nutrition company shifts into its ‘natural next stage’

TechCrunch

Soylent Nutrition is joining public company Starco Brands as part of an acquisition that will keep the plant-based food technology company operating as a separate unit under its current CEO Demir Vangelov. As part of the transaction , Vangelov told TechCrunch that he will join Starco’s board and is getting shares in the new company, while himself and Soylent’s shareholders will become the largest single voting block in Starco.

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Ukraine One Year Later: Insights and Entrepreneurship in Action

Entrepreneurs' Organization

Since February 2022, the UN High Commission on Refugees reports that nearly 14 million people have been displaced from their homes in Ukraine—most of them seeking safety and shelter in other countries. More than 9 million of them crossed the border into Poland alone. Dawid Adach, a co-founder of technology company MDBootstrap and former EO Poland president from 2021-22, partnered with fellow EO members Szymon Boniecki, Jakub Szalaty and many others across Europe and North America to fundraise, c

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European VC firms Amadeus and Apex partner for €80m early-stage ‘deep tech’ fund

TechCrunch

U.K.-based Amadeus Capital Partners and Austria’s Apex Ventures are pooling their collective venture capital (VC) resources for a new fund specifically targeted at early-stage deep tech startups. The duo have raised an initial €28 million ($30 million) for the Amadeus Apex Technology Fund, with plans to close it out at €80 million ($85 million).

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Changing The Face(s) of Venture Capital, Screendoor Hires Lisa Cawley, Our First Managing Director, to Scale Further

Hunter Walk

An Economic Vehicle With a Societal Mandate, Screendoor Backs Emerging Managers from Underrepresented Groups My hope for Screendoor is clear, if not simple: we’re going to be the largest, and most impactful, investor in emerging managers. Our strategy for accomplishing this is to focus on new firms led primarily by underrepresented VCs, back them meaningfully, and support them via a community of peers, advisors, and institutional LPs.

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From Curiosity to Competitive Edge: How Mid-Market CEOs Are Using AI to Scale Smarter

Speaker: Lee Andrews, Founder at LJA New Media & Tony Karrer, Founder and CTO at Aggregage

This session will walk you through how one CEO used generative AI, workflow automation, and sales personalization to transform an entire security company—then built the Zero to Strategy framework that other mid-market leaders are now using to unlock 3.5x ROI. As a business executive, you’ll learn how to assess AI opportunities in your business, drive adoption across teams, and overcome internal resource constraints—without hiring a single data scientist.

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Daily Crunch: Pentagon locks down unsecured email server that exposed sensitive military data

TechCrunch

To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PST, subscribe here. Hello! If you had the day off for President’s Day, we hope it was a peaceful transition into work today. Please send good vibes to Haje as he figures out what to do with his damaged car (it’s a long story). Meanwhile, today’s Black History Month recommendation comes from Henry on “ Blues Legacies and Black Feminism ” by Angela Davis.

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SaaS leaders: Use customer insights to accelerate growth during a downturn

TechCrunch

Caroline Hogan Contributor Share on Twitter Caroline Hogan is senior director of vendor marketing at Gartner Digital Markets , where she helps software providers accelerate growth. Many startups are feeling the pressure in today’s uncertain economic climate, but for SaaS companies, the next 12 months could present major opportunities for growth: 70% of small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) globally are reporting higher investments in technology this year, according to Gartner Digital Markets.

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#67. From High-Flying Corporate Career To Creator With Sold-Out Courses w/ Dave Kline

Entrepreneur's Handbook

Learn from the founder of MGMT Accelerator Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook »

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Amazon backs Indian meat startup FreshToHome in $104 million funding

TechCrunch

Indian startup FreshToHome, which sells fresh fish and meat to consumers in the South Asian market and the Middle East region, has courted a new backer: Amazon. Amazon, through its India-focused Smbhav Venture Fund , has led a $104 million Series D financing round in the Bengaluru-headquartered startup, the two said Tuesday. The new round for the startup, which also counts the development arm of the American government among its backers, also saw participation from the government of Dubai and Ir

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What Does “Native” Mean

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

When a new technology comes to market, we often look for “native” applications of that technology. What is a “native” AI application? What is a “native” Web3 application? I have not seen a better articulation of “native” than my partner Albert’s post from 2009 on native mobile applications. He started out by laying out the new primitives that mobile smartphones made available to developers.

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State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

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Replicate wants to take the pain out of running and hosting ML models

TechCrunch

Replicate , a startup that runs machine learning models in the cloud, today launched out of stealth with $17.8 million in venture capital backing; $12.5 million of the total came from a Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Y Combinator, Sequoia and angel investors including Figma CEO Dylan Field and Vercel’s Guillermo Rauch, while the rest was from a previously undisclosed seed round.

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Investing in Replicate

Andreessen Horowitz

It’s very rare to see a new building block emerge in computing. If aliens landed on earth and decompiled our software, every app would look roughly the same: some combination of networking, storage, and compute. The way developers consume these … The post Investing in Replicate appeared first on Andreessen Horowitz.

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Tracksuit raises $5M to make brand tracking more accessible

TechCrunch

Tracksuit , a New Zealand-based brand tracking startup, wants to take on traditional market research players by offering a more affordable, accessible brand insights tool. “Market research and brand tracking has been around for a long time, and it usually consists of a consultant coming in on a quarterly or biannual basis with a 100-page slide deck and a lot of complex data that looks behind not forward,” Matt Herbert, co-founder and co-CEO of Tracksuit, told TechCrunch, noting that

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Why would you start a startup in an economic downturn?

Y Combinator

There will likely be a recession in 2023, and the major downsides to starting a startup are obvious: There is less money in the system so selling and fundraising are harder; investors have less money to invest and companies have less money to spend on products. But these are also reasons it’s an especially good time to start a startup, especially with YC.

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15 Modern Use Cases for Enterprise Business Intelligence

Large enterprises face unique challenges in optimizing their Business Intelligence (BI) output due to the sheer scale and complexity of their operations. Unlike smaller organizations, where basic BI features and simple dashboards might suffice, enterprises must manage vast amounts of data from diverse sources. What are the top modern BI use cases for enterprise businesses to help you get a leg up on the competition?

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TechCrunch+ roundup: Optimizing acquisition, parental leave tips, riding the downturn express

TechCrunch

I try to keep things fresh, so I was dismayed to realize that I’d used the word “downturn” in two different headlines this morning. Despite the quickening pace of layoffs, there is some good news for SaaS startups: 70% of SMBs plan to increase IT spending in 2023, and the procurement process is getting faster. According to Caroline Hogan, senior director of vendor marketing at Gartner Digital Markets, this means companies can boost growth and revenue just by studying buyer deci

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Why Do Most Venture Funds Chase After the Same Types of Startups?

Entrepreneur's Handbook

Understanding VC groupthink and how to use it to your advantage Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook »

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OpenAI’s Foundry will let customers buy dedicated compute to run its AI models

TechCrunch

OpenAI is quietly launching a new developer platform that lets customers run the company’s newer machine learning models, like GPT-3.5 , on dedicated capacity. In screenshots of documentation published to Twitter by users with early access, OpenAI describes the forthcoming offering, called Foundry, as “designed for cutting-edge customers running larger workloads.” “[Foundry allows] inference at scale with full control over the model configuration and performance profile,&

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The Pros and Cons of Asking Investors to Sign Your NDA

Entrepreneur's Handbook

What kinds of risks do founders take when they pitch their startups?

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The GTM Intelligence Era: ZoomInfo 2025 Customer Impact Report

ZoomInfo customers aren’t just selling — they’re winning. Revenue teams using our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform grew pipeline by 32%, increased deal sizes by 40%, and booked 55% more meetings. Download this report to see what 11,000+ customers say about our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform and how it impacts their bottom line. The data speaks for itself!

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5 tactics for managing paid customer acquisition during a downturn

TechCrunch

Brian Rothenberg Contributor Share on Twitter Brian Rothenberg is a partner at Defy , a two-time former founder and growth executive. More posts by this contributor 5 factors that can make or break a startup’s growth journey From 2011 to 2021, Facebook’s average revenue per user (ARPU) shot up at a nearly exponential rate. Companies across every sector were paying more per “eyeball” than ever as customer acquisition costs (CAC) rose at an unsustainable rate.

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The best side hustles ideas for people who have been laid off

Founder Bounty

Being laid off can be a difficult experience, but it can also be an opportunity to explore new income streams through side hustles. Here are some of the best side hustles for people who have been laid off: Freelance work: If you have skills in writing, design, programming, or other fields, you can offer your services as a freelancer through online platforms such as Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer.

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VCs should want to hold early-stage companies more accountable

TechCrunch

If the last year has taught us anything, it’s that VCs let their portfolio companies get away with a lot. No balance sheet? No problem ; here’s a $32 billion valuation. No proven product-market fit and your last venture cost investors billions? Here’s a check worth more than all Black founders raised in 2021’s otherwise record-breaking year.

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10 Ethical Reframes Successful Entrepreneurs Already Know and Do

Entrepreneur's Handbook

Persuade your readers to take action—without being sleazy.

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How Top Tech CFOs Solve Annual Planning’s Biggest Challenges

Gearing up for 2025 annual planning? Our latest eBook from the Operators Guild is your ultimate guide. Discover real-world solutions and best practices shared by top CFOs, drawn directly from discussions within OG’s vibrant online community. Learn from senior executives at high-growth tech startups as they outline financial planning strategies, align CEO and board goals, and coordinate budgets across departments.

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5 key metrics that help edtech startups improve profitability

TechCrunch

Roman Kumar Vyas Contributor Roman Kumar Vyas , CEO and founder of Refocus , is a serial entrepreneur with over 12 years of experience in fintech, edtech, startups and digital transformation. He is also a mentor at 500 Startups and an angel investor. While some experts expect a second honeymoon period for edtech, founders in the space need to change their tactics and learn how to get more results with less money.

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[Alpha Tau in GlobeNewswire] Alpha Tau to participate in Citi’s 2023 Healthcare Services, Medtech, Tools & HCIT Conference

OurCrowd

JERUSALEM, Feb. 21, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Alpha Tau Medical Ltd. (Nasdaq: DRTS, DRTSW) (“Alpha Tau,” or the “Company”), the developer of the innovative alpha-radiation cancer therapy Alpha DaRT™, announced today that the Company plans to participate in Citi’s 2023 Healthcare Services, Medtech, Tools & HCIT Conference on March 1, 2023 taking place at Citi HQ Conference Center in New York City.

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Nestment raises $3.5M to help friends and family buy homes together

TechCrunch

For many segments of the population, home ownership is as elusive as ever. A recent report by the National Association of Realtors found that 26 percent of homebuyers are first-time buyers, and of this group, an overwhelming majority – 88 percent – are white. The problem is exacerbated in certain markets, such as the San Francisco Bay Area, where housing costs are among the highest in the nation and many people can only afford to rent.

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The Ins and Outs of Reselling: From Extra Cash to a Side Hustle

StartupNation

With inflation rates still naggingly high and recession fears creeping across cable news and social media, it seems… The post The Ins and Outs of Reselling: From Extra Cash to a Side Hustle appeared first on StartupNation.

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5 Ways You Can Win Faster with Gen AI in Sales

Incorporating generative AI (gen AI) into your sales process can speed up your wins through improved efficiency, personalized customer interactions, and better informed decision- making. Gen AI is a game changer for busy salespeople and can reduce time-consuming tasks, such as customer research, note-taking, and writing emails, and provide insightful data analysis and recommendations.