Autism Impact Fund (AIF) was a pioneer when it emerged in 2021, three years after the son of its co-founder and managing partner, Chris Male, was diagnosed with ASD.
A joint effort of Male and others, its ambition was to become “the investment and innovation arm of the autism community,” Male told TechCrunch.
Since then, startups in the neurodiversity space gathered momentum, and so did AIF, which recently closed its first fund at $60 million.
AIF’s decision to broaden its scope has to do with autism itself, Male said.
It’s also global, with healthtech Genial Care raising $10 million to help kids with autism and their families in Brazil.
Reddit sold $203 million worth of contracts to AI companies for access to its data earlier this year.
In the wake of a compression in tech valuations since the implosion of the 2021-era asset bubble, few tech companies have tested public markets.
Early trading results do not always augur a trouble-free public market life, however.
Secondaries investors recently told TechCrunch that they weren’t sure that a successful Reddit IPO would be enough to bring life back into the IPO market in 2024.
But with Astera Lab’s impressive performance yesterday and Reddit’s strong showing today, maybe there will be more life in the IPO market this year than many thought.
TikTok is the latest tech company to mount another round of layoffs in an increasingly bleak January.
According to NPR, which broke the news, TikTok cut about 60 jobs, mostly in sales and advertising.
Since then, TikTok users have complained that their For You Page is overrun with videos from creators seeking to make affiliate commissions by promoting products from TikTok Shop.
Across social platforms and other consumer tech products, layoffs have been rampant so far this year.
Google has laid off hundreds of employees in hardware and advertising sales, plus another hundred employees at YouTube.
Instagram has cut 60 technical program manager positions, eliminating a layer of management at the company, according to a new report from The Information.
The impacted employees have two months to apply for other jobs at the company.
After the two-month period, their employment will be terminated if they are unable to secure a different role at the company.
The changes mean that Instagram is going to sharpen its focus on supporting creators who are most likely to drive teen engagement on the platform.
Despite the continued and ongoing regulatory pressure that Meta is facing, Instagram is still focused on teen engagement and retention.
