News/Startups
Handshake lays off 96 employees while launching new AI division
Handshake, the college-to-career platform often called "LinkedIn for students," has laid off nearly 100 employees at its San Francisco headquarters as it pivots toward artificial intelligence. The cuts come as the company launches Handshake AI, a new division designed to connect academic experts with AI labs that need human feedback to train and validate models. Key details: The layoffs affect 96 positions across multiple departments and will be implemented over the next few months. Most departures take effect this week, with some continuing through November and December. The cuts impact software engineers, recruiters, marketers, and senior managers at the company's...
read Oct 14, 2025Moxi robots target $900B senior care market to address labor shortages
Diligent Robotics is piloting its Moxi robots in US senior living facilities to address chronic labor shortages in the sector. The Texas-based startup, which has already deployed Moxi robots for over 1.25 million deliveries across 25+ hospitals, is now targeting the $900 billion senior care market through its participation in the AARP AgeTech Collaborative, a program that helps technology companies develop solutions for aging populations. What you should know: Moxi robots are being adapted from hospital environments to meet the unique needs of senior living facilities, where both operational support and companionship are essential. The robots will be tested for...
read Oct 10, 2025AI spending report reveals which tools businesses actually use, “vibe coding” finding success
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture capital firms, recently published its first AI Application Spending Report in collaboration with Mercury, a fintech company serving startups. The report analyzed actual spending data from Mercury's customers to identify the top 50 AI-native companies—startups built specifically around artificial intelligence rather than traditional companies that have added AI features. This data provides a rare glimpse into which AI tools are actually driving business value rather than just generating headlines. While infrastructure providers show what capabilities companies are building, these application companies reveal where AI is being deployed in real products...
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a16z calls India office expansion reports “entirely fake news”
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has firmly denied reports claiming the venture capital firm plans to open an office in India, with general partner Anish Acharya calling the claims "entirely fake news" on X. The denial comes as multiple Indian media outlets reported Thursday that a16z was preparing to establish a Bengaluru office and hire local partners, highlighting the firm's limited presence in one of the world's largest startup ecosystems. What you should know: The fake news reports suggested a16z was actively planning a physical expansion into India's tech hub. Several Indian media outlets cited unnamed sources claiming the firm was setting...
read Oct 10, 2025Campus hires Meta’s former AI VP and acquires his 1.7M-user learning platform
Campus, a college startup backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, has hired Meta's former AI Vice President Jerome Pesenti as its chief technology officer and acquired his AI learning platform Sizzle AI for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition integrates personalized AI-generated educational content already serving 1.7 million users and accelerates Campus's development timeline by two to three years as the company works to disrupt traditional community college education. What you should know: Campus operates as an accredited online college offering associate degrees taught by professors from elite universities like Stanford, Princeton, and NYU. The platform...
read Oct 9, 2025Serve Robotics stock surges on DoorDash partnership for last-mile meal delivery
Serve Robotics stock surged in early trading after the sidewalk delivery robot company announced a multi-year strategic partnership with DoorDash to deploy autonomous delivery vehicles across the United States, beginning with Los Angeles. This expansion marks a significant step in the growing competition among food delivery platforms to integrate robotics technology for last-mile delivery automation. What you should know: The partnership will leverage Serve Robotics' existing autonomous delivery infrastructure to expand DoorDash's robotic delivery capabilities nationwide. Serve Robotics already operates restaurant delivery services in Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Chicago, and Atlanta through its partnership with Uber Eats. DoorDash currently uses...
read Oct 9, 2025The kids stay in the picture: Film talent launch startup that makes children stars in their own series
Film producers David Boies and Zack Schiller have launched CenterStage Technologies, an AI startup that creates personalized storytelling platforms allowing children to star in their own shows featuring popular characters. The company has secured intellectual property deals with PBS and Pete the Cat, with plans to launch its first product this fall targeting early childhood reading and entertainment. What you should know: CenterStage aims to address Hollywood's AI concerns by working directly with IP owners and employing industry professionals in its development process. The platform uses "highly controlled" training environments and safety protocols to protect licensed characters and ensure kid-safe...
read Oct 7, 2025Legal AI startup EvenUp levels up, raises $150M at $2B valuation
EvenUp, an artificial intelligence provider specializing in legal technology, announced Tuesday a $150 million Series E funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners that values the company at over $2 billion. Why this matters: The substantial funding and valuation highlight the increasing demand for AI solutions in the traditionally conservative legal industry. Legal technology represents a significant market opportunity as law firms seek to modernize operations and improve client outcomes. The $2 billion valuation places EvenUp among the most valuable companies in the legal AI space. This investment reflects broader investor confidence in AI applications beyond consumer technology. What you...
read Oct 7, 2025Job alert: Pigeon seeks lead engineer amid $3.5M raised for AI document processing
Pigeon, a Y Combinator-backed AI document automation startup, is actively hiring a Lead Full Stack Software Engineer for a remote position offering $120K-$180K salary plus 0.50%-2.00% equity. The company recently closed a $3.5M seed funding round and is positioning itself to scale its AI-powered document processing platform that automates collection, review, extraction, and syncing of business documents. What you should know: Pigeon (YC W23) eliminates manual document handling processes by automating the entire document lifecycle for businesses. The platform collects documents from clients, uses AI to review and extract data, then syncs with customer relationship management systems or storage systems....
read Oct 3, 2025Primo facie: Chinese robotics startup unveils hyperrealistic robot face with 25 micro motors
AheadForm, a Chinese robotics company founded in 2024, has unveiled the Origin M1, a hyperrealistic robotic face that uses 25 micro motors to create lifelike facial expressions, eye movements, and synchronized speech. The viral demonstration showcases technology designed to make human-robot interactions more natural by interpreting non-verbal cues and conveying emotions, representing a significant step toward mainstream humanoid robotics. The big picture: This development reflects China's aggressive push into humanoid robotics, with AheadForm positioning itself at the intersection of artificial intelligence and realistic human simulation technology. How it works: The Origin M1 integrates sophisticated facial actuation systems to achieve remarkably...
read Oct 2, 2025Talent Pull: AiSprouts VC launches referral-only bootcamp for early-stage AI startups
AiSprouts VC has launched its Founder Bootcamp program, a selective, referral-based initiative designed to support early-stage AI entrepreneurs building capital-efficient startups. The program emerges as the Silicon Valley firm deploys its Fund II, targeting pre-seed and seed-stage applied AI companies with a focus on founders who believe efficiency will determine the race toward artificial general intelligence. What you should know: The bootcamp represents a departure from traditional accelerator models, emphasizing personalized support over cohort-based programming. Unlike demo-day-driven accelerators, the program focuses on closed-door sessions, tactical frameworks, and trusted peer networks rather than public pitch events. Access is strictly referral-based, requiring...
read Oct 2, 2025Job alert: Y Combinator’s Liva AI offers $160K for ops lead in voice data collection
Liva AI, a Y Combinator S25 startup, is hiring a Founding Operations Lead to scale their human voice and video data collection operations. The San Francisco-based company aims to build "the world's richest library of human voice and video data" to power more realistic AI voices and faces that capture diverse ethnicities, accents, and professional backgrounds. What you should know: This is a demanding founding role requiring relocation to San Francisco and a commitment to working 12-hour days, six days a week.• The position offers $120K-$160K salary plus comprehensive benefits including free food, equipment, wellness support, and paid family leave.•...
read Oct 2, 2025“Squid Game” creator invests $3M in AI startup to unlock film archives
Hwang Dong-hyuk, creator of "Squid Game," has invested $3 million through his Firstman Studio in TwelveLabs, a San Francisco-based AI company specializing in video production technology. The partnership positions the entertainment industry to leverage AI for faster content creation while addressing concerns about technology replacing human creativity. What you should know: TwelveLabs focuses on enhancing existing video content rather than generating new material from scratch. The company's system "indexes and enriches video metadata down to the scene level, enabling editors, directors, and producers to work with unprecedented speed and precision while maintaining creative control." Co-founded by Jae Lee and Soyoung...
read Oct 2, 2025Korean AI startup quality surges as US infrastructure boom creates opportunities
JP Lee, CEO and managing partner of South Korean venture capital firm SBVA, says the quantity of Korean AI startups has decreased but their quality has dramatically improved. Lee views the massive US investment in AI infrastructure as a significant opportunity for Korean startups to capitalize on, particularly as SBVA focuses on investing across the broader AI ecosystem beyond just large language models and applications. What you should know: SBVA is positioning itself to leverage the AI infrastructure boom happening in the United States to benefit Korean startups. The venture capital firm is taking a strategic approach by investing across...
read Oct 2, 2025Universal Music and Warner near AI licensing deals with both tech giants and startups
Universal Music and Warner Music, two of the world's largest record labels, are nearing landmark AI licensing deals with multiple companies, including start-ups like ElevenLabs, Stability AI, Suno, and Udio, as well as tech giants Google and Spotify, according to a Financial Times report. These agreements could be finalized within weeks and represent a significant shift toward formal partnerships between major record labels and AI companies amid ongoing copyright disputes in the creative industry. Why this matters: The music industry has been embroiled in legal battles over AI companies using copyrighted material without permission to train their models, making these...
read Oct 1, 2025Everyone an Edison: Ex-OpenAI CTO launches Tinker to democratize AI model fine-tuning
Thinking Machines Lab, the heavily funded AI startup cofounded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, has launched Tinker, a tool that automates the creation of custom frontier AI models through fine-tuning. The product represents the company's bet that democratizing access to advanced model customization will be the next major frontier in artificial intelligence development. What you should know: Tinker allows businesses, researchers, and hobbyists to fine-tune cutting-edge AI models without managing complex infrastructure or specialized software tools. Users can currently fine-tune two open source models: Meta's Llama and Alibaba's Qwen through supervised learning or reinforcement learning methods. The tool abstracts...
read Sep 30, 2025Swedish legal AI startup Legora seeks $150M at $1.8B valuation
Legora, a Stockholm-based legal AI startup, is in talks to raise $100-150 million at a $1.8 billion valuation, just four months after its Series B round. The funding round, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, reflects the rapid growth in legal AI adoption as law firms increasingly turn to artificial intelligence to automate repetitive tasks and boost efficiency. Key growth metrics: Legora has experienced explosive revenue growth, jumping from $4 million to $23 million in annual recurring revenue, with projections to reach $40 million ARR by year-end.• However, only $1 million of current revenue comes from U.S.-based customers, suggesting significant untapped...
read Sep 30, 2025Eggs, basket: Y Combinator’s summer 2025 batch hits record with nearly 100% AI focus
Y Combinator's Summer 2025 batch reveals an unprecedented concentration in artificial intelligence, with 154 out of 170 startups focused on AI development—representing over 90% of the cohort. This dramatic shift toward a single technology area marks the most homogeneous batch in the accelerator's 20-year history, reflecting Silicon Valley's intense focus on AI since ChatGPT's launch in November 2022. What you should know: The AI gold rush has fundamentally transformed Y Combinator's startup landscape in ways never seen before. Of the 170 startups in YC's most recent summer batch, 154 are AI companies—a concentration level unprecedented in the program's history. Companies...
read Sep 30, 2025Open your mouth and say AI: Dental startups raise $10M to detect disease and boost access
AI startups are positioning themselves to revolutionize dentistry by using artificial intelligence to detect oral diseases early, streamline administrative processes, and expand access to care. The push comes as dental health crises intensify globally, with 3.7 billion people affected by oral diseases and millions lacking adequate access to preventive care, creating a massive opportunity for AI-driven solutions to transform reactive treatment into proactive prevention. The big picture: Traditional dentistry has been stuck in a reactive model of drilling and filling, but AI companies are betting they can shift the industry toward prevention and accessibility. Dr. Deepak Aulak, founder of Toothfairy,...
read Sep 30, 2025Kazakhstan launches first women’s venture fund at AI Week 2025
Kazakhstan has launched its first Women's Venture Fund, announced during AI Week 2025 in Astana by Women in Tech Kazakhstan, a local organization promoting female participation in the technology sector. The fund represents a significant milestone for the country's entrepreneurship ecosystem, offering women entrepreneurs access to capital, mentorship, and international opportunities while remaining open to investors of all contribution sizes. What you should know: AI Week 2025 is transforming Astana into a regional hub for artificial intelligence and digital innovation through a comprehensive week-long program. The event runs from September 26 to October 4 as part of the Digital Bridge...
read Sep 29, 2025Mamaya Health raises $3M for AI-powered women’s mental health platform
Nashville-based Mamaya Health has raised $3 million in Series A funding led by Florida's LFE Capital to expand its AI-powered behavioral health platform for women and families. The investment will enable the mental wellness startup to enhance its care platform, grow its clinical network, and scale partnerships with health systems—addressing a critical gap in accessible mental health care for women during major life transitions. What you should know: Mamaya Health provides a hybrid platform that integrates content, care navigation, and a provider network specifically designed to support women and families through life stages like pregnancy, postpartum, and perimenopause. The company...
read Sep 29, 2025Kansas City college student with hustle uses AI to turn dead leads into paying clients
Aaron Perry, a college student from Overland Park, has launched Misogi AI Solutions, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to convert unresponsive business leads into paying clients through automated text message conversations. The venture demonstrates how young entrepreneurs are leveraging AI tools to rapidly build scalable businesses while still pursuing their education. What you should know: Perry began studying AI in February and has since transformed that knowledge into a profitable business model focused on lead nurturing. Misogi AI Solutions specializes in turning "lost leads" into sales by handling text message conversations with potential clients on behalf of businesses. The...
read Sep 29, 2025London-based Vaire Computing’s Ice River chip cuts AI energy use by 30%
Vaire Computing has successfully tested its Ice River chip, which demonstrated a 30% reduction in energy consumption compared to standard processors by reusing energy rather than discarding it as heat. The proof-of-concept achievement addresses growing concerns about AI's escalating energy demands, though questions remain about whether hyperscale operators will adopt such technology over their own internal solutions. How it works: Ice River tackles processor inefficiency through two key innovations that fundamentally change how chips handle energy. The chip uses reversible logic gates that allow energy to flow in both directions, enabling calculations to reuse inputs for further operations rather than...
read Sep 29, 2025Yahoo alum Marissa Mayer shuts down $20M AI startup Sunshine after 7 rocky years
Marissa Mayer is shutting down her AI startup Sunshine after seven rocky years and transferring its assets to Dazzle, a new AI company she recently incorporated. The move signals Mayer's pivot toward developing a new kind of AI personal assistant, with 99% of shareholders approving the acquisition deal as of late September. What you should know: Sunshine, originally called Lumi Labs, struggled to gain traction despite raising $20 million in venture funding plus Mayer's personal investment since its 2018 founding. The startup's roughly 15 employees are expected to transition to new roles at Dazzle, according to sources close to the...
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