Startups

Eugenia Kuyda saw the future of consumer AI before most. She founded Replika, the first major AI companion startup, in 2017 — years before ChatGPT launched. Today, it has 35 million users.  Now Kuyda is back with a new startup called Wabi, which she describes as YouTube...

MoEngage, a customer engagement platform that works with consumer brands across 75 countries, says it has raised new funding led by its existing investor, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, to ramp up global growth and infuse more AI into its platform.All...

Andreessen Horowitz is pausing its Talent x Opportunity (TxO) fund and program, according to four sources familiar with the matter, including more than one founder in the program. The firm announced TxO in 2020 to support founders who do not have access to traditional venture networks. Many...

Solo VC investor extraordinaire Elad Gil said onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 that AI has been one of the least predictable tech booms he’s ever seen.Gil is on the cap table of virtually every hit company of the past...

On Tuesday morning at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, our senior producer Maggie Nye rolled up her jacket sleeve to show me her new tattoo: a classic, pixelated cursor arrow. TechCrunch’s Becca Szkutak got a matching cursor, while Theresa Loconsolo got...

People are increasingly asking AI, not Google, to help them discover products. A recent shopping report says Americans, this holiday season, will likely turn to large language models to find gifts, deals, and sales instead of traditional search.Retailers could...

After a small startup exit and being turned down by every VC firm he applied to, Tim Chen began angel investing and eventually stumbled into raising his own fund.  Now, as the solo investor behind Essence VC, he just closed...

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 is here! If you’re still on the fence about attending in person, dive into the extensive schedule of speakers, networking opportunities, workshops, after-parties, and more that’s available here. There’s still time to get a last-minute ticket,...

Welcome to the third and final day of TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 at Moscone West in San Francisco! The excitement here is still in full swing, and there’s no slowing down.If you thought it was too late to join, think...

Teenagers are trying to figure out where they fit in a world changing faster than any generation before them. They’re bursting with emotions, hyper-stimulated, and chronically online. And now, AI companies have given them chatbots designed to never stop...