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Garry Tan heads up Y Combinator , the most powerful startup program in the world . At the derriere end of last week , he tweeted — I intend , X - erectile dysfunction — some reasonably grim dirt , telling politicians to “ pall slow . ”He since erase the tweet , but the play was the public lecture of the townspeople this calendar week .
Still , Tan ’s allegedly inebriated broadside served as a welcome beguilement from another surge of tech layoff over the preceding week ( you’renot imagining things — it ’s real ) . The layoff polish off pretty nigh to menage this week , as some of our TechCrunch confrere were position off , including some close friends of mine who I ’ve known and worked with for going on a decade now . Our paths will cross again , friends !
Okay , so whatelsewas run down in the world of startup ? permit ’s dive in .
Most interesting startup stories this week
In a masterclass on how not to win friend and influence regulator , Apple rent the crown with its dramatic reaction to regulative submission demands . With the grace of a gloomy teenager , the caller begrudgingly introduced variety required by laws like Europe ’s Digital Markets Act , all while scaremongering about the potential endangerment these change could personate to user . Despite its vast resources , Apple chooses to play the victim , warning that these regulative allowance are detrimental to its user base , whom it apparently consider as unequal to of making informed decision . This approach not only risk burning span with developer , who are growing progressively frustrated with Apple ’s antics , but also jeopardize to tarnish its political goodwill .
obligate the Fitbit , here ’s a sickbit : In a world obsessed with fitness trailing , Visible say , “ view as my wearable ” and present illness tracking , because , what we really require is a daily reminder of our chronic ailments . It ’s like havinga pocket - sized friend whispering , “ perchance just do n’t today,”every dayspring .
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Most interesting fundraises this week
“ The fundraising rhythm , once you start it , necessitate twice as long and take three prison term the conversations , ” Jesse Randall , the beginner of the platform Sweater Ventures , recite Dominic - Madori in an consultation . Here ’s what to know to raise a Series A right now.(TC+ )
Metronome , a startup fond of wrick complicated billing into not - that - complicated , especially for AI companies , has justclosed $ 43 million in Series B funding . With roots in Dropbox and a client list that read like a who ’s who of technical school ( think OpenAI and Nvidia ) , they ’re making the shift from subscription to custom - based charge a lot less complex . Their secret sauce ? Metronome ’s razz high on a 6x receipts increase , all while keeping its rating a coy mystery .
snaffle the salsa , we ’ve already got the chips : In the existence of AI chips , where the average is throw money at problems hoping something sticks , Rebellions just bulge a cool $ 124 million Series Bto join the fray . However this shakes out , it ’s an underdog story for the ages .
Can you smmmmmell what the ’ bot is cooking?:In a worldly concern where flipping hamburger by hand is so very 2023,Chef Robotics has just bag $ 15 millionto convince commercial kitchens that the future lies in food gathering by automaton , not human beings . Why chopper onions when you’re able to have a robot do it for you ?
rein in in the robots : Throwing money at reproductive AI security is the new black — Aim Security just bagged a nerveless $ 10 millionto ensure your ChatGPT does n’t go rogue .
This week’s big trend: Layoffs. Again.
I know , I do it . We intend that was all behind us , but . . . alas .
In the late plot twist of the layoffs saga , giants like Microsoft and Alphabet are flaunting their profit while simultaneously thinning their employee ranks . Meanwhile , in the scrappy underdog corner of startup land , venture capital is playing hard to get , leaving many a startup stranded in a fiscal no - man’s - land . It ’s a classic casing of embodied “ it was the ripe of time , it was the worst of time , ” proving once again that in the tech world , the more things change , the morethe layoff announcements stay spookily similar .
Got ta control that spend : In an ironical twist of corporate frugality , Brex , the spend management inauguration , has shift from inflating its employee roll toslashing it by intimately 20%in a desperate effort to blockade burning through $ 17 million a calendar month .
Raising cash while thresh about staff : Flexport , having already made it rain with $ 2.7 billion in funding , is eyeing another daily round of layoffs , try out that even with deep pocket , they ’re not above trim the workforce fatty . . . again , just weeks after bagging an special $ 260 million from Shopify .
Got ta ante up the genus Piper : PayPal has decide to trim its workforce again , this timeaxing 9 % of its staff — or roughly 2,500 masses . We can only suspect that the scheme is based on the little - known fact that the best way to innovate is to check that there are fewer innovators around .
Other unmissable TechCrunch stories . . .
Every calendar week , there ’s always a few stories I want to partake in with you that somehow do n’t fit into the class above . It ’d be a disgrace if you miss ’em , so here ’s a random grab bag of goodies for ya :
India ’s first AI unicorn : Ola founder ’s AI venture , Krutrim , snaffle the title in criminal record clip with acool $ 50 million backing roundat a valuation north of a billion cabbage , claim to be India ’s first AI heavyweight without even breaking a sweat .
You grovel , terminate search that :X ’s handling of the Taylor Swift deepfake saga prove just how low the bar is set for content moderation . This incident highlighted thecomical inadequacy of current safeguards , basically making the internet ’s Wild West see like a playground for the digitally inept .
More like departure : Arrival , the commercial EV inauguration once observe for its innovative microfactory concept , has move from a $ 13 billion valuation to potentially being worth scoop change , prove thatnot all that glitter in the SPAC world is amber . Now its shares are set up to vanish from the Nasdaq .
iGiveUp : Amazon ’s grand plan to take over the world with robot vacuity make a snag , andtheir $ 1.4 billion deal with iRobot is now just a pile of dust . Meanwhile , iRobot , facing a future without Amazon ’s notecase , starts cut jobs and dreaming up the next enceinte affair in home automation .
