Two college kids raise a .1 million pre-seed to build an AI social network in iMessage

Two college kids raise a $5.1 million pre-seed to build an AI social network in iMessage

Series, a social networking app, announced that it raised a $5.1 million pre-seed round, with investors including Venmo co-founder Iqram Magdon-Ismail, Pear VC, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, and GPTZero founder Edward Tian. The company was founded early last year by Yale students Nathaneo Johnson and Sean Hargrow, both still seniors at the university.  Series considers…

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Cohere acquires, merges with German-based startup to create a ‘transatlantic AI powerhouse’

Cohere acquires, merges with German-based startup to create a ‘transatlantic AI powerhouse’

Cohere, the Canada-based enterprise AI unicorn, announced Friday that it would merge with the German-based enterprise AI company Aleph Alpha. The deal, which has yet to close, will value the newly formed company at $20 billion, the FT reported. Schwarz Group, one of Aleph Alpha’s top backers, will also invest $600 million in Cohere’s Series E round,…

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Bret Taylor’s Sierra buys YC-backed AI startup Fragment

Bret Taylor’s Sierra buys YC-backed AI startup Fragment

Sierra, the customer service agent startup founded by Bret Taylor, announced on Thursday that it has acquired the YC-backed French startup Fragment, which helps businesses integrate AI into workflows.  This is Sierra’s third public acquisition. It previously bought Japan-based enterprise AI solutions company Opera Tech (which it acquired in late March) and voice agent company…

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Redwood Materials loses COO amid layoffs, restructuring

Redwood Materials loses COO amid layoffs, restructuring

Redwood Materials chief operating officer Chris Lister is leaving the battery recycling company to retire, TechCrunch has learned — and he’s not the only executive that recently departed. Lister, a former vice president who led operations at Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory, has been with Redwood since late 2023. He started as the company’s chief supply chain…

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The 12-month window | TechCrunch

The 12-month window | TechCrunch

In a recent episode of “No Priors” — the excellent podcast co-hosted by AI investors Sarah Guo and Elad Gil — Gil made a point about exit timing that’s undoubtedly familiar to founders who’ve spent time with him but seems particularly useful in this moment of go-go dealmaking. For most companies, Gil said, there’s roughly…

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AI chip startup Cerebras files for IPO

AI chip startup Cerebras files for IPO

Cerebras Systems, a startup building what CEO Andrew Feldman describes as “the fastest AI hardware for training and inference,” has filed to go public. The company previously filed for an initial public offering in 2024, but that was delayed due to a federal review of an investment from Abu Dhabi-based G42 and was ultimately withdrawn….

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