Today, we’re bringing you a conversation TechCrunch senior reporter Dominic Madori-Davis had with Sara and Erin Foster along with their advisor at Oversubscribed Ventures, Phil Schwarz. Across their careers, the Foster sisters have co-founded the clothing line Favorite Daughter, co-led creative for Bumble Bizz and Bumble BFF, and currently co-host their own podcast Listen to the full episode to hear: How the Foster sisters made their pivot to VC. Which investments excites Oversubscribed Ventures...
Dec 26, 2024•20 min
This week, the Equity pod gang — which included newcomer Max Zeff, Margaux MacColl, and Kirsten Korosec — noticed an emerging trend: the worlds of AI and defense tech are colliding. Listen to the full episode to hear about: A new fund is in town. And surprise, surprise, Humba Ventures' $40 million fund is focused on deep tech and defense . How enterprise AI startup Cohere is unlike all the other AI startups out there, and why they've been so quiet. Particularly in this new deal with Palantir . D...
Dec 20, 2024•31 min
This week on Equity Wednesday, Rebecca Bellan is joined by Louis, co-founder of America's Frontier Fund, to discuss the pressing trends in tech innovation. From robotics and AI reshaping manufacturing to Silicon Valley's embrace of defense technology, plus Louis shares his main predictions for 2025. Listen tot he full episode for a deeper conversation on: Silicon Valley's deep roots in defense tech The advantages and challenges facing founders seeking government contracts rather than VC funding ...
Dec 18, 2024•33 min
Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha and Margaux MacColl are unpacking the week’s news, including GM’s decision to give up on self-driving startup Cruise . The choice initially came as a shock considering the $10 billion GM pumped into the company over the years, but it became clearer when examining Cruise’s tumultuous 2023 and 2024 . Listen to the full episode to hear about: Freysa.ai’s public challenge and what’s motivating users to make the AI chat bot fall...
Dec 13, 2024•36 min
While the idea that the government “should be run like a business,” is by no means a new one, with Elon Musk in charge of government efficiency, it's worth taking a closer look at whether business principles can be applied to government. Today on Equity , Rebecca Bellan is discussing the intersection of tech, business and politics with Columbia Business School Professor Michael Morris . Morris is also the author of Tribal, how the cultural instincts that divide us could help bring us together, a...
Dec 11, 2024•31 min
AI agent startup /dev/agents announced a massive $56M seed round , putting the company’s valuation at a whopping $500 million. The amount is impressive given the company won’t have a first version of its product available until at least early next year. The reason behind investors’ trust, however, becomes a bit clearer when you consider the founders’ pedigree: /dev/agents’ co-founders were both on Google’s Android team during the early days of the smartphone era. The round, as well as whether or...
Dec 06, 2024•30 min
How can founders scale frontier tech? Today on Equity , Rebecca Bellan is finding out with Tom Biegala and Ben Hemani , the co-founders of early-stage venture firm, Bison. Bison invests in what they call 'frontier tech' companies building in the material science, robotics, biotech, climate, and sustainability verticals. Listen to the full episode to hear Rebecca and Bison's founding team discuss: Why AI isn't a 'silver bullet' for biotech companies, although it is central to modern drug discover...
Dec 04, 2024•31 min
We hope those of you in the U.S. had a Happy Thanksgiving! And as a holiday treat this week, Equity is bringing you an episode of our sister show, Found . AI startups are everywhere, but there can't be any innovation without proper computing power. Found hosts Becca and Dom sat down with Gavin Uberti, co-founder and CEO of Etched , an AI chip startup focusing on developing specialized chips. Gavin shares the bold bet his startup is making on transformer models for AI chips, aiming to take on ind...
Nov 29, 2024•40 min•Ep. 909
At this year's TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, President and CEO of the Aerospace Corporation Steve Isakowitz and Agency Chief Technologist at NASA A.C. Charanya Charania took the stage to discuss a literal moonshot : how to build a thriving lunar ecosystem. Today on Equity, we’re taking you behind the scenes of TechCrunch Disrupt once again, this time with Devin Coldewey at the helm. For those keeping track, Devin’s kept the Equity podcast crew up to date on space startups over the past fe...
Nov 27, 2024•12 min•Ep. 908
Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Devin Coldewey and Margaux MacColl dig into the week’s tech and startup news, including what a new scaling method could mean for AI startups if it works and for chip providers if it fails. Listen to the full episode to hear about: The DOJ’s latest proposal for Google : it should divest its Chrome browser. While we wait for a break in the monopoly case and a better search alternative to arise, the Equity crew thinks that Wiz might’ve b...
Nov 22, 2024•30 min•Ep. 907
Late last week, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler said that he was “proud to serve” the agency, which some are taking as a hint at an upcoming resignation. Gensler has faced heavy criticism for his crackdown on crypto, including a recent lawsuit from 18 states, and is likely to be replaced under President-Elect Donald Trump who has vowed to oust Gensler. On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is meeting with Brian Armstrong, the CEO of crypto exchange Co...
Nov 20, 2024•20 min•Ep. 906
Over the last few years, VC Ben Horowitz has donated at least $7.6 million to fund police department purchases - including the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s new drones from a16z-backed Skydio. Skydio is not the first of a16z’s portfolio companies to benefit from these donations, either. Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Devin Coldewey and Margaux MacColl dug into the implications of Horowitz’s approach and why others in the VC world should maybe hold off ...
Nov 15, 2024•27 min•Ep. 905
Today on Equity, TechCrunch Editor Julie Bort is sitting down with Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce and one of the tech industry’s biggest hype men, about his latest work with Time Ventures and Salesforce Ventures, and why he thinks AI agents are the next big thing for enterprise software. Listen to the full episode to hear about: The impact of AI on customer experience The application of AI agents in the healthcare space - and what it could mean for data privacy Marc's thoughts on Salesforce...
Nov 13, 2024•34 min•Ep. 904
A tech regulation shakeup is on the way with President-elect Donald Trump set to take office in January. Trump has made it clear that he plans to dismantle Biden’s AI policies on "day one," aligning himself with those who’ve pushed back against regulation . Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Devin Coldewey and Margaux MacColl dove into what Trump’s win could mean for AI policy and innovation moving forward. While AI is always on the mind these days, there was so much mo...
Nov 08, 2024•30 min•Ep. 903
Today on Equity , we’re taking you backstage at TechCrunch Disrupt. Rebecca Bellan caught up with Rebecca Gevalt, Managing Partner at Dcode Capital following their onstage discussion about the boom in national interest startups . Also on the panel was Topher Haddad, CEO of satellite imagery startup Albedo , and Kai Klepfer, CEO of biometric gun startup Biofire . Tune in to hear Bellan and Gevalt dive deeper into how startups can get a foot in the door of government contracts. Check out the full ...
Nov 06, 2024•21 min•Ep. 902
As the founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, Peter Beck is a familiar face to anyone in the space industry. But the company's ambitions go far beyond its popular Electron launch vehicle. Today, we're bringing you an interview from TechCrunch Disrupt when Devin Coldewey sat down with Beck to discuss his belief that to thrive, perhaps even to survive, space companies will have to become fully integrated one-stop shops. Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts ever...
Nov 01, 2024•24 min•Ep. 901
The Equity crew was live at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 ! Hosts Kirsten Korosec , Devin Coldewey and Margaux MacColl took over the Builders Stage to kick off day 2 of Disrupt with no shortage of conference highlights, startups deals and venture news to chew through. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Devin’s plans to go to space thanks to his chat with Rocket Lab Founder Peter Beck . What Sierra, the AI startup co-founded by Bret Taylor, plans to do with its fresh $175 million funds. Waymo’s ...
Oct 30, 2024•29 min•Ep. 900
It’s no secret that Stripe has doubled down on its crypto offerings, enabling crypto purchases in the EU back in July and announcing a Pay with Crypto feature earlier this month. This week, the fintech giant made its dedication to crypto even clearer with its largest deal to date: its acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge for an eye-popping $1.1 billion. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha and Devin Coldewey kicked off the show with their thoughts on the d...
Oct 25, 2024•31 min•Ep. 899
“It's a bit too early to say that the race is over,” said Philippe Botteri when asked about European startups’ AI progress. “I think we're just at the very early innings of this race.” Botteri is a partner at early-stage investment firm Accel with over 13 years under his belt at the firm, leading investments in DocuSign, UiPath and more recently Snyk and Chainalysis. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, host Rebecca Bellan caught up Botteri to dive deep into Accel’s Euroscape 2024 Report . Tapp...
Oct 23, 2024•26 min•Ep. 898
Today on Equity, Devin, Margaux and Anthony Ha are rounding up the week's startup and venture news, kicking things off with a look at the $400 million raised by Lightmatter , and the importance of fast networking within the fast growing datacenter industry today — not just in years to come — makes the impressive round a little more understandable. Our Deals of the Week continue with Paladin's drone play for first responders and police, and Abel aiming to reduce the substantial paperwork backlog ...
Oct 18, 2024•37 min•Ep. 897
At Tesla’s robotaxi reveal event last week, several Optimus humanoid robots mingled with guests, pouring drinks and cracking jokes. Impressive technology, but the vocals and some of the gesticulations appear to have been remotely controlled by humans , something Tesla did not disclose. Today on Equity, Rebecca Bellan chatted with TechCrunch’s hardware editor Brian Heater about Tesla’s Optimus bots, the market opportunity for humanoid robots, and other companies that are leading the charge in thi...
Oct 16, 2024•28 min•Ep. 896
Did OpenAI really ask its investors to avoid backing rivals like Anthropic and xAI? That’s what hosts Devin Coldewey, Margaux MacColl and special guest Anthony Ha wanted to know on today’s episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast. The team kicked off the show with a look at OpenAI's $6.6 billion round , which is being called the ‘largest VC round of all time’. Devin broke down what the funding could mean for the company’s path to profitability, and debunked some of the rumors floating around post-...
Oct 11, 2024•30 min•Ep. 895
Today on Equity, Rebecca Bellan sat down with Zander Brumbaugh, the 22-year-old founder of Gamebeast , a startup that offers Roblox developers tools like A/B testing and LiveOps to modify games without needing to release a new version or interrupt a user’s ongoing game. Gamebeast recently raised a $3.7 million pre-seed round , led by J2 Ventures with participation from a16z’s Speedrun accelerator, which Brumbaugh graduated from in March. Brumbaugh said everything from his experience consulting f...
Oct 09, 2024•28 min•Ep. 894
Kirsten Korosec , Devin Coldewey , and Margaux MacColl are unpacking another busy week in the tech world, kicking things off with Governor Newsom’s veto of SB 1047 , the controversial AI bill aimed at stopping real-world disasters caused by AI systems before they happen. This may not be the last we'll see of the bill, however, as its author has plans to return with a revamped SB 1047 next year. What else went down this week, you ask? Kirsten had us looking to the skies with Joby Aviation’s $500 ...
Oct 04, 2024•31 min•Ep. 891
HR software is big, big business. And no one understands that better than Parker Conrad the CEO and co-founder of Rippling, a global HR company that offers global payroll, onboarding, time tracking, benefits management and more. This week, Equity is bringing you an episode of our sister show, Found . The Found crew talk with Conrad about what goes into building a leading HR tech company—from what it’s like building out features companies love, to dealing with fierce competition in this ever grow...
Oct 02, 2024•50 min•Ep. 890
Equity is closing out the week as always with a round up of the week's top startup and venture news. Kirsten, Devin and return guest host Margaux McColl had no shortage of themes to cover: VC karaoke, the SpaceX economy, no moats for AI, OpenAI versus open source. To kick things off, we weighed in on Caroline Ellison's sentencing and deals of the week from Reflect Orbital and Pyka . Of course, we had to dive deep into Y Combinator's Summer 2024 Demo Day cohort from there - including a highlight ...
Sep 27, 2024•29 min•Ep. 889
Today on Equity, Rebecca Bellan sits down with Lisa Coca from Toyota Ventures during Climate Week NYC to discuss a key part of Toyota Ventures' $800 million portfolio - their Climate Fund. The fund's $300 million is laser-focused on climate innovation, but Coca says it casts a wide net beyond just mobility, backing startups from seed to Series A. So far, they’ve invested in companies like AM Batteries, which is cutting battery manufacturing costs by 40%, and Ecoletro, pioneers in green hydrogen ...
Sep 25, 2024•22 min•Ep. 888
This week on Equity, the podcast crew discusses several weird things and at least one cool thing. Kirsten Korosec, Devin Coldewey, and Rebecca Bellan first talked about the least weird thing of the week, how nice it is that Cohere co-founder Nick Frosst has a band that people really like . Then we get weird. First the good weird: a helmet that squeezes your head, but for a really good reason. It prevents hair loss from chemotherapy. Devin covered Luminate’s latest fundraise and news, and everyon...
Sep 20, 2024•26 min•Ep. 887
Today on Equity, Kirsten Korosec is joined by J.P. Morgan’s Head of Startup Banking, Ashraf Hebela . Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Hebela spent 13 years at Silicon Valley Bank, a bulk of those years dedicated to serving as SVB's head of banking. With over a decade in the startup world, he’s got some serious insights to share. Following the recent release of J.P. Morgan’s Startup Insights report, Kirsten wanted to dive into what it really takes to build a unicorn in 2024, and what parts of the st...
Sep 18, 2024•33 min•Ep. 886
What could be more frightening than Friday the 13th? How about a realization that AI is in its awkward tween stage? At least, it was for the TC Equity pod crew, which this week included hosts Devin Coldewey and Kirsten Korosec along with TC reporters Tim de Chant and Dominic Madori Davis. AI is often a topic over here at Equity Pod; and this week was no different. It seems to be everywhere — and nowhere — all at once. Take Apple, for instance. As Coldewey noted on the show Apple has punted on AI...
Sep 13, 2024•34 min•Ep. 885
