Validating consumer demand is a crucial step for any startup, and TechCrunch Early Stage is offering a golden opportunity to learn how to do it right.
In this workshop, Gladstone will guide founders on how to leverage their expertise to understand and solve consumer problems effectively.
With hands-on advice and practical strategies, attendees can expect to gain insights into testing solutions, refining product development processes, and ultimately validating consumer demand.
With a BA from Brandeis University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Gladstone’s expertise is grounded in both academic rigor and real-world experience.
For founders eager to validate their ideas and drive meaningful consumer engagement, this workshop is a must-attend event at TechCrunch Early Stage.
The CFPB is permanently banning BloomTech from consumer lending activities and its CEO, Austen Allred, from student lending for a period of ten years.
Allred founded BloomTech, which rebranded from the Lambda School in 2022 after cutting half its staff, in 2017.
(According to the CFPB, BloomTech originated “at least” 11,000 such loans.)
BloomTech didn’t market the loans as such, saying that they didn’t create debt and were “risk free,” and advertised a 71%-86% job placement rate.
And, unbeknownst to many students, BloomTech was selling a portion of its loans to investors while depriving recipients of rights they should’ve had under a federal protection known as the Holder Rule.
The Google parent’s moonshot factory X this week officially unveiled Project Bellwether, its latest bid to apply technology to some of our biggest problems.
Here that means using AI tools to identify natural disasters like wildfire and flooding as quickly as possible.
“Right now, our analysts have to spend time sorting through images to find the ones that cover the areas most affected by natural disasters,” the Guard’s Col. Brian McGarry notes.
Google has been exploring the use of machine learning models and AI to predict natural disasters for some time now.
Project Bellwether’s partnership with the National Guard could well prove an important validation of that work.
Now, we’re headed to Washington, D.C., for another night of top-notch interviews and unparalleled networking, all at the cozy Woolly Mammoth Theatre on Tuesday, June 11.
Lina Khan – Chair, Federal Trade CommissionAs Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the table.
With a background in business reporting and antitrust research, Khan has dedicated her career to addressing consolidation across various markets.
Steve Case – Chairman & CEO, RevolutionSteve Case is known for his pioneering efforts, such as founding AOL, and integrating the internet into everyday life.
Secure Your Spot:Tickets for StrictlyVC Washington, D.C., are priced at $159, offering exceptional value for an evening packed with exclusive content and networking opportunities.
Business banking startup Mercury, founded in 2020, is now launching a consumer banking product.
“We already have a few hundred thousand users of our business banking product, and a lot of people have expressed that they want a personal banking product,” he told TechCrunch in an interview.
The person also said the fintech partner banking market as a whole has been the target of more regulatory scrutiny.
Crossing overBut success in B2B banking doesn’t automatically queue up Mercury to handle consumer banking.
Sign up for TechCrunch Fintech here.
It’s against this backdrop that Evolution Equity Partners, a growth capital investment firm based in NYC, on Tuesday launched a $1.1 billion cybersecurity and AI fund, the third such fund in Evolution’s history.
The fund, called Evolution Technology Fund III, was oversubscribed, with participation from existing and new endowments, sovereign investors, insurance companies, foundations, fund of funds, family offices and angels.
“The Evolution Technology Fund III has already backed fifteen leading cybersecurity companies, initiating its investment period over 12 months ago,” Seewald said.
“We believe that provides private markets investors with diversified exposure to cybersecurity opportunities.”ESG will be another factor, according to Seewald.
Evolution’s 30-person teams manages around $2 billion in assets and has backed 60 companies to date; its previous fund was $400 million.
When prolific venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Lerer Hippeau announced in early 2024 they were pivoting away from consumer tech, it sparked a social media debate about whether there are still opportunities.
Jumping in, Maven will be there helping to build the next game-changing health AI company or robotics AI consumer business, he said.
Scheinman started the firm in 2013 and brought in Deshpande soon after to focus on consumer AI and personalized medicine.
They brought in investment partner Robert Ravanshenas in 2015, and again in 2020 after a stint in a startup operating role, to focus on fintech, longevity and consumer AI.
Together the trio remains committed to seeding similar consumer tech trends, including applications of AI, personalized healthcare, climate and sustainability, family technology and fintech.
Apple’s stance on the right to repair has now become more accommodative, with the company now supporting used parts for iPhone 15 repairs that can include the camera, display, and battery.
While Apple’s move is welcome to many, it does answer a series of questions: If your iPhone breaks, should you have the right to fix it?
If you want to fix your iPhone, should you be able to do that yourself, or be forced to go to the manufacturer?
And if you are going to fix your iPhone yourself — or pay a third-party to help — should you be able to use whatever parts will work?
Apple pushed back vocally against criticism of parts pairing, and has recently backed laws in several states that enshrine consumer repair options.
As Walmart works to remain competitive, it’s taking a more piecemeal approach to automation, through partnerships with a range of different robotics firms.
On Thursday, the mega-retailer announced a partnership with Fox Robotics, which brings 19 of the Austin-based startup’s robotic forklifts to its distribution centers.
Today’s news follows a 16-month pilot, which found Walmart trialing the technology in Distribution Center 6020.
DC 6020 is the place where Walmart began trials with Symbotic’s package sortation and retrieval technologies.
Following that successful trial, Walmart announced plans to roll out the technology to all 42 of its Regional Distribution Centers — that was nearly double the original target of 25.
The global demand for wood could grow by 54% between 2010 and 2050, according to a study by the World Resources Institute.
While some building materials like steel get consistently recycled back into the supply chain, wood does not.
Cambium looks to build the supply chain that keeps wood from being wasted by connecting those with already-been-used wood to the businesses and folks that need it.
“We’re building a better value chain where you can use local material, you can use salvaged material, and all of that is connected through our technology,” Christensen said.
And we do that in a really efficient and cost competitive way.”Demand for more sustainable wood has been growing in recent years, Christensen said, but before Cambium there wasn’t a good system to find the recycled wood.
