In a new regulatory filing, Netflix revealed that it paid $587 million in cash for InterPositive, a startup co-founded by actor and director Ben Affleck. The streaming company announced the acquisition in March, with a statement from Affleck saying he wanted to “protect the power of human creativity.” According to Affleck, InterPublic’s AI tools help…
The window is almost shut. On August 19, eight startups will take the stage at Stripe Tour Sydney in front of investors, global press, and the Australian tech community. One startup walks away with automatic entry into TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco — no application, no further competition, a guaranteed spot on the world’s most…
One last chance to apply Due to overwhelming interest, we’ve extended applications for Startup Battlefield Australia to July 20. If you’ve been thinking about applying, do it now. There won’t be another extension. One application could change everything Since the first Startup Battlefield Australia in 2017, there have been 26 alumni companies that have collectively…
Over the last year, Elon Musk has jumped further into the artificial intelligence boom and refocused his rocket company, SpaceX, on building orbital data centers and manufacturing A.I. computer chips. On Tuesday, just four days after holding the largest initial public offering ever, SpaceX said it was completing a $60 billion deal to buy Cursor,…
In late November in Jamnagar, India, the scions of two of the most powerful families in the world stood face-to-face. On one side was 30-year-old Anant Ambani, son of one the richest men in Asia. On the other was Donald Trump Jr. For months, the Trump administration had been on the offensive against the sprawling…
After a very profitable decade on Microsoft’s board, Reid Hoffman is stepping down, the company announced Thursday. Hoffman joined the board after Microsoft bought his company LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in 2016. Hoffman was on Microsoft’s board when it invested its first $1 billion into OpenAI in 2019. Hoffman was one of OpenAI’s original investors…
Every founder who applies to Startup Battlefield wants the same thing: the Disrupt Main Stage. Six minutes to pitch and demo live, in front of top-tier Silicon Valley investors. A dedicated TechCrunch article published as you present. A shot at the $100,000 equity-free prize and the Disrupt Cup. And all of that could be yours,…
Foundation Future Industries, a start-up founded in 2024, aims to leverage humanoid robots for military and industrial work, rather than household tasks and the service sector. Foundation Future Industries As Silicon Valley races to build humanoid robots that can fold laundry and pour a latte, at least one start-up sees a very different use for…
Every year I read through thousands of Startup Battlefield applications. And every year, I see the same pattern: The founders who belong on this stage are often the ones who almost didn’t apply. They think they’re too early. They think they need more traction. They think the program is for companies further along than they…
Lachy Groom, one of Silicon Valley’s most closely watched solo investors, decided to back Indian startup Pronto just 20 minutes into his first meeting with its 24-year-old founder. The meeting, which took place in February through a mutual connection, led to Groom investing $20 million in Pronto as an extension of its Series B round,…
