Episode 3 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, valuations, covering 12 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem.

Stories featured in this episode:

1. The Non-Humanoid Robot Startups Are Rising Too (Crunchbase News)

2. Whatnot Lands $225M Series F, More Than Doubles Valuation to $11.5B Since January (Crunchbase News)

3. Regulation As Alpha: Why The Smartest Startups Now Build Legal Strategy Into Their DNA (Crunchbase News)

4. Q1 Global Startup Funding Posts Strongest Quarter Since Q2 2022 With A Third Going To Massive OpenAI Deal (Crunchbase News)

5. How To Found A Startup Inside A Scale-Up (Crunchbase News)

6. Shares of Navan Closed Down 20% In Long-Awaited IPO Debut (Crunchbase News)

7. I Asked 100 Founders, CEOs and VCs About Career Transitions — Here’s What I Learned (1st Round)

8. The State Of Startups In 7 Charts: These Sectors And Stages Are Down As AI Megarounds Dominate In 2025 (Crunchbase News)

9. I Was Fired From My Own Startup. Here’s What Every Founder Should Know About Letting Go (Crunchbase News)

10. Sure, Valuations Look High. But Here’s How Today Is Different From The Last Peak (Crunchbase News)

11. Exclusive: Founded By Uber Alumni, Archy Raises $20M To Put Dental Practices ‘On Autopilot’ (Crunchbase News)

12. What Sweetgreen Can Teach Startups About Scaling Intimacy (1st Round)

Bringing you the latest in startup funding with a smooth jazz vibe.