The partners of European venture capital firm Plural, from left to right: Ian Hogarth, Taavet Hinrikus, Carina Namih, Sten Tamkivi and Khaled Helioui. Plural The founders of Wise, Skype and Songkick have raised 400 million euros ($436.4 million) for a new fund to back technology startups in Europe. It seeks to compete with established funds … Read more
“It might be the best time for any kind of business in any industry to raise money for all of history, like since the time of the ancient Egyptians,” an excitable Stuart Butterfield, CEO of Slack, told Farhad Manjoo in The New York Times in 2015. This was no exaggeration. While interest rates remained close … Read more
Europe’s fintech sector is fiercely competitive, with privately-held start-ups worth tens of billions of dollars vying to steal market share from incumbent banks. Oscar Wong | Moment | Getty Images The fintech industry saw more pain in 2023, with overall investment falling by half as higher interest rates and worsening macroeconomic conditions caused investors to … Read more
In 2022, only 2.1% of venture capital investments in the U.S. went to businesses that are founded solely by women. But some say the gap may be closing. Maskot | Digitalvision | Getty Images Starting a business is always challenging and while women have historically faced additional challenges, some female founders say the landscape is … Read more
many times a year, as if on a hidden schedule, some tech person, often venture-capital-adjacent, types out a thought on social media like “The only thing liberal arts majors are good for is scrubbing floors while I punch them” and hits Send. Then the poetry people respond—often a little late, in need of haircuts—with earnest … Read more
POLAND – 2023/08/01: In this photo illustration, a Coinbase logo displayed on a smartphone with stock server lights in the background. (Photo Illustration by Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase secured registration with the French markets regulator, a company spokesperson confirmed Thursday, paving the way … Read more
Herman Narula, co-founder and CEO of Improbable, speaks during a session at the Web Summit in Lisbon. Henrique Casinhas | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images Metaverse company Improbable has sold one of its key gaming ventures to London-listed video game developer Keywords Studios for £76.5 million ($97.1 million). The company closed the deal … Read more
CNBC is now accepting nominations for the 2024 Disruptor 50 list — our annual look at the most innovative venture-backed companies using breakthrough technology to meet increasing economic and consumer challenges. The deadline for submissions is Friday, Feb. 16 at 11:59 pm EST. All independent, privately-owned companies founded after Jan. 1, 2009, are eligible, and … Read more
The XR-4 is a mixed reality headset from Finnish startup Varjo that’s targeted at the enterprise. Varjo Finnish mixed-reality startup Varjo on Monday launched its latest headset, the XR-4, a product it hopes to sell to large enterprise firms. The headset, which starts at a price of $3,990, is similar to those from Meta, Microsoft … Read more
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the OpenAI DevDay event on November 06, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Sam Altman will return as CEO of OpenAI, the startup said early Wednesday morning on X, formerly known as Twitter. The move follows immense pressure from employees and investors on the board … Read more