TechCrunch Startup News

The direct-to-consumer skin, hair, and and menopause care brand Musely will use the non-dilutive capital to super-charge customer acquisition.

Also, Meta bought humanoid startup Assured Robot Intelligence to beef up its AI models for robots, the company said.

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The two wildly fast-growing rivals have raised massive sums, pushed into each other's home turf and now have dueling ad campaigns.

Plus, Shapes, an app where humans and AI characters chat together in shared group conversations, is emerging from stealth with $8 million in seed funding. Think Discord, but with AI characters alongside humans. 

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Ships and planes carrying parts to the front lines would be vulnerable to attack. Defense startup Firestorm Labs thinks the answer is a drone factory that fits inside a shipping container.

Also, BMW i Ventures has launched a new $300 million fund and will invest in early-stage through Series B startups in North America and Europe that are working on agentic AI and physical AI.

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The startup specializes in "non-invasive" "mind-reading" tech — a kind of neural data collection that, its CEO hopes, will have all sorts of consumer applications.

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Series, a social networking app that's grown popular on college campuses, announced a $5.1 million pre-seed round from some big names in tech.

Plus, Sierra, the AI customer service agent startup founded by technologist Bret Taylor, announced today that it has acquired the YC-backed French startup Fragment.

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Beehiiv is clearly done being just a newsletter platform based on today's launch of a new webinar feature, customizable paywalls, and more.

Plus, TechCrunch has confirmed that Delve was the compliance company that performed the security certifications for Context AI, the AI agent training startup that last week disclosed a security incident.

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Lucra offers corporate loyalty programs reimagined as interactive eSports. But winning ARK as a lead wasn't easy.

Also, Mary Minno launches early-stage startup accelerator program, Treehub, and an early-stage firm, AI Health Fund, aimed at backing startups working at the intersection of healthcare and AI.

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When 60,000 attendees descend on Tokyo Big Sight April 27–29, the headline numbers are hard to ignore: 750 startup exhibitors, 151 sessions, city leaders from 49 countries. But the stat that tells you what kind of event this actually is? It's 10,000 facilitated business meetings — brokered, booked, and tracked before most attendees even land.

Here's the link to the article.

Also, founded by an OSU researcher, NeoCognition is developing AI agents that can become experts in any domain.

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Users are fed up with misinformation and AI slop cluttering their feeds. SaySo is a new short-form video app that delivers news from vetted creators and journalists.

Also, Loop, the San Francisco startup, closed a Series C funding round led by Antonio Gracias' firm Valor, which is a major backer of xAI.

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Nuclear startup X-energy hit the road today to sell prospective investors on its initial public offering.

Also, Antioch raised a $8.5 million seed round to create simulation tools for a new generation of robot builders.

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