We are entering a golden age of robotics startups — and not just because of AI
After investing in robotics startups for 10 years, Seth Winterroth, a partner at Eclipse, said the time to invest in robotics has never been better. The robotics startup market has matured and the hardware and software powering these bots has gotten significantly better — and cheaper.
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The music industry is broken: OpenWav’s new app aims to change that
Grammy Award-winning musician, composer, and producer Wyclef Jean says the music industry is broken, which is why he’s now involved with a startup, OpenWav, that’s looking to give the power back to the artists. Through the OpenWav app, launched over the summer, artists can drop new music and exclusives; connect directly with fans; sell merch; host concerts, pop-ups, and listening parties; and more.
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While US stalls, Australia and Anduril move to put XL undersea vehicle into service, plus Perplexity reportedly raised $200M
Anduril announced Tuesday that a fleet of its XL uncrewed undersea vehicle “Ghost Shark” will begin operations in Australian waters next year under a massive billion dollar contract. The five-year award structure is the defense-startup holy grail; it’s a program of record that essentially locks in recurring revenue by becoming a line item in the country’s defense budget.
Also, Perplexity, the AI-powered search startup that competes with Google by providing conversational answers to user queries, has secured $200 million in new capital at a $20 billion valuation.
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Arc gets its first major order for electric tugboats worth $160M, also Klarna’s IPO pops, raising $1.4B
Arc announced Wednesday it has signed a contract of that value with Curtin Maritime, a tug and barge operator. The new hybrid-electric tugs are expected to hit the waters around the Los Angeles port in 2027. Curtin has ordered eight tugs — at around $20 million apiece — and Arc will build them in conjunction with Snow & Co. shipyard.
Also, it’s been a long road for the 20-year-old fintech Klarna to make it to an IPO. But on Wednesday, the company successfully landed on the New York Stock Exchange, having raised $1.4 billion, largely for its existing investors, rather than itself.
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AI gaming startup Born raises $15M to build ‘social’ AI companions that combat loneliness, plus another app just raised $14M to take on the loneliness epidemic
Fabian Kamberi, CEO and co-founder of the Berlin-based AI gaming startup Born, thinks the current AI companions on the market are designed to be exploitative and geared towards isolating users through one-to-one relationships with AI chatbots.
Also, Clyx is a social platform that helps users find community events to join. Five years after its launch, the app today has 50,000 active users buying tickets for events, and more than 200,000 users browsing events. The company has now raised $14 million in a Series A round led by Blitzscaling Ventures, with participation from other investors, including Iqram Magdon-Ismail, the co-founder of Venmo, and F1-driver-turned-investor Nico Rosberg
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