Mary Ann is back! Yes, after a short absence we have our third Friday host back where she belongs. Namely right in front of a microphone, talking to us.

Co-founder titles aren't a formality, they're a morality

The intersection of technology, startups, and venture capital touches everything now. That’s why Equity unpacks the numbers and nuance behind the headlines for entrepreneurs and enthusiasts alike.  Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, TechCrunch reporters Alex Wilhelm and Mary Ann Azevedo keep you up-to-date on the world of business, technology, and venture capital.

Equity is ranked the No.2  podcast in the Top 100 Venture Capital All time leaderboard on Goodpods—As well as No.17 for the Top 100 Finance All time chart and No.32 for the Top 100 Business News All time chart.

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Finally, some good news! This week, we were pleasantly surprised to see that FTX victims would be getting some money back – even if it’s not as much as they might have hoped.

That wasn’t all, though: Mary Ann Azevedo, Kirsten Korosec, and Alex Wilhelm had plenty else to talk about this week on Equity.

We discussed why investors are drawn to the fact that Amae Health is building an in-person approach to mental healthcare in an increasingly digital space and also how one North Carolina startup that started out by building drones to clean windows in tall buildings has also become a robotics company.

Kirsten helped us understand what was behind Motional’s decision to delay its commercial robotaxi plans amid restructuring, and the greater context around that.

We then dug into digital banking startup Mercury’s plans to branch out into software, and how it now fits into the increasingly crowded spend management landscape. And, we riffed on the fact that we covered three M&A deals this week (read about them here, here and here) and how refreshing that was considering M&A activity has been lighter than expected. (Spoiler alert: AI was involved in at least two of them).

Acquisitions are heating up, and Mercury eyes the fintech crown

This morning on Equity, not only do we have good news for crypto founders, we're also digging into Akamai spending $450 million for API security firm Noname, and billion dollar deals from Wiz and Wayve. We also saw Monzo snag $190 million more, bringing its full-year fundraising score to more than $600 million as TikTok fights a ban, and Oyo tries to raise new capital at a fraction of its prior worth. 

And to close, Haje is bringing Pitch Deck Teardown to Equity! We're kicking the segment off with a look at NOQX's deck, what worked, what didn't, and what's next.

$450M for Noname, two billion-dollar rounds, and good news for crypto startups

Today on Equity, we had to talk about the news that Jack Dorsey is out at Bluesky. After all, Dorsey is a former Twitter co-founder and CEO, so his investment of time into the rival social network carried weight. The decentralized social networking service said that it is looking for a new board member.

Beyond that and a busy earnings week ahead of us, we also dug into the latest employment news concerning China’s tech giants. Like many large U.S. tech shops, they are shedding staff. Tech shops around the world are showing that they can do more with less.

Sticking to China, the country is set to deliver another IPO, this time in the United States. Momenta could raise up to $300 million in its debut, meaning that its upcoming listing is is going to carry real weight. 

And to close out we took a look at new capital that the U.S. government is putting into digital twins, and why alt-clouds are making real progress but could run into growth speedbumps in time. Equity is back on Wednesday — we’ll chat with you then!

Dorsey leaves Bluesky, tech giants do more with less, and the next IPO

The Equity crew had a lot to parse this week. We had notes on wallet-as-a-service’ startup Ansa's latest fundraise, and how Alex initially misunderstood its business model. Then Kirsten talked us through a simply massive deal in the self-driving space, while Alex wanted to riff on Beehiiv and its own funding round. $33 million is no small Series B in 2024!

From there, we had a few minutes to discuss Anna Heim's recent reporting on disability tech and how AI is taking and industry and accelerating it. Even better, there appear to be a mix of business models approached by the startups we discussed. That means that there could be many avenues to making tech that works better for more folks into real, and large businesses.

To close out, Dominic-Madori Davis  joined us to chat about her reporting on Techstars. The company has been shaking up its operations for some time now, leading to certain departures from its ranks. TechCrunch's deep-dive into how it all went down is well worth your time.

Inside TC’s Techstars investigation and how AI is accelerating disability tech

This week on Equity, we dug into the Chowdeck round. It’s a Nigerian company that is putting up impressive growth with its food delivery business. Keep an eye on it, Nigeria is a big market and TechCrunch writes that no single company has its delivery business on lock. Yet, at least.

On this morning’s episode we also took a look at the recent Corelight round, which given its valuation and revenue growth, is one to chew on.

From the venture side of things, we discussed two stories. First, that Intuition is going after the consumer market. From Paris, the smaller fund is betting that going the opposite direction as most VCs is how to make the most money. And second, a new venture capital supergroup is forming. Axios reports that investors with backgrounds at a16z, Bessemer and Index are building a new firm.

Co-founder titles aren't a formality, they're a morality

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