Silicon Valley loves young founders. Until it doesn’t.

AI tools have democratized the opportunity to build, shortening the timelines of success and enabling more young people to start successful companies without stepping foot inside a Big Tech company. 

Meet the judges who will crown Australia’s next breakout startup

TechCrunch Startup Battlefield is coming to Australia — and we’re partnering with Stripe to find the country’s most exciting early-stage startups.

Insurance startup Corgi reportedly raised more money at $4B — its third round in eight weeks

Corgi had announced a B1 round of $106 million at a $2.6 billion valuation at the end of May.

AegisAI, founded by former Google security execs, lands $36M to stop AI-driven spear phishing

The Series A was led by Battery Ventures, bringing AegisAI total funding to $49 million.

Edtech platform raises $4.5M to help teach students how to vibe code

Imagi announced a $4.5 million seed round, with investors including Brighteye Ventures, Day One Capital, and artist Wil.i.am. 

AI chip startup Etched defies skeptics, hits $10.3B valuation from big-name investors 

Etched, founded by three Harvard dropouts, has created new chips and memory components that speed up inference on any AI model — no GPUs required, it says.

Your backstage pass to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is waiting 

Volunteer at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 and get a behind-the-scenes look at how one of the world’s biggest startup conferences gets built.

ServiceNow bets $40 million on Indian banking software specialist to expand its financial services push

ServiceNow’s investment gives BusinessNext a strategic partner to expand its AI-powered banking software globally.

Arcee, a US open source AI lab, says Chinese models are not inherently dangerous

As Chinese AI models grow in capability and popularity among US companies, the arguing over what should be done about them has reached a fever pitch.

Cascade raises $3.5M to help construction firms find and win projects

a16z Speedrun, Ada Ventures, and Snowball VC have invested in Cascade’s $3.5 million seed round.