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Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.
This is the first of a two-part series that we built for you going back over critical themes from 2023.
It was a very, very busy year in the worlds of technology, startups, and venture capital — so busy that we asked for your 2023 in a headline, and you delivered!
In Part 1, Mary Ann and Alex dug into a host of key themes:In Part 2 — coming soon!
ImpriMed, a California-based precision medicine startup, builds AI-powered dog cancer treatment technology that helps veterinarians identify the most suitable drugs for individual canine and feline blood cancers.
The startup, which centers on improving treatment outcomes of dogs and cats with cancer first, now aims to expand its precision medicine technology for human oncology applications.
“Also, the proven know-how acquired from developing AI algorithms in veterinary oncology streamlines the building of new predictive models in human oncology.
For human precision oncology, its AI software for multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer, is in the process of approval, aiming to commercialize in 2025, Lim told TechCrunch.
ImpriMed’s unique strength is “the ability to develop and incorporate AI models into the personalized medicine service workflow,” according to Lim.
Why Gogoro picked India as its new go-to market The Taiwanese company aims to put billions of dollars into the world's biggest two-wheeler marketGogoro co-founder and CEO Horace Luke wants to “go big” in India even as the Taiwanese company faces challenges in its home country.
Gogoro is in talks with various local and global players to expand its business and presence in India, Luke stated without sharing any names.
Although Gogoro is optimistic about its India launch, the country has a relatively small market for EVs, accounting for only 3.7% of the country’s total automotive market.
As the company looks to collaborate with other vehicle manufacturers in India for its battery-swapping technology, it could be a mutually beneficial move for both Gogoro and automobile players.
By providing its technology to vehicle manufacturers, Gogoro can tap into this need and increase its battery-swapping service revenues.
Welcome to the TechCrunch Exchange, a weekly startups-and-markets newsletter.
It’s inspired by the daily TechCrunch+ column where it gets its name.
This week, I’m reminded that democracies are fragile but that technology can help.
On a side note, this newsletter will be taking a break until January 6 next year, so wishing you all happy holidays.
— AnnaWhy agentic tech?
Superpedestrian, the e-scooter startup known for its self-diagnostic software, is shutting down its U.S.-based shared scooter operation and exploring a sale of its European business, TechCrunch has exclusively learned.
The company’s director of US operations, Alexander Berg, confirmed the news to his team Friday afternoon on a Zoom call.
Superpedestrian itself has gone through a series of layoffs, including one just months after closing its Series C round.
Superpedestrian used technology, and specifically diagnostic and safety software, to differentiate it from rivals like Bird and Tier.
Superpedestrian had planned to build and roll out new scooters equipped with its branded Pedestrian Defense to 25 cities across the United States and Europe in 2022.
Amazon’s Project Kuiper successfully validated key technology that will increase throughput and reduce latency for customers using its satellite internet service, the company said Thursday.
That technology is called “optical inter-satellite links” (OISL), a type of optical communication that uses infrared lasers to send data between spacecraft on orbit.
OISL has been around for a while to enable inter-satellite communications, but earlier generations were limited to linking just two satellites at a time.
Kuiper’s satellites will be able to connect with many other spacecraft simultaneously, which will form a mesh network in space.
“With optical inter-satellite links across our satellite constellation, Project Kuiper will effectively operate as a mesh network in space,” Kuiper VP of technology Rajeev Badyal said in a statement.
Bank and technology platform Kapital continues to rake in venture capital, grabbing another $40 million in Series B dollars and $125 million in debt financing.
We previously covered Kapital’s $20 million Series A in May that included $45 million in debt.
Rene Saul and Fernando Sandoval co-founded Kapital in 2020 to provide similar financial visibility to small businesses, using data and artificial intelligence, that large enterprises have.
“Small businesses represent 90% of the world’s businesses; however, in Mexico, only 10.5% of those small businesses have access to total bank credit,” Saul said.
“That’s what we’re fixing — we give them visibility of their finances.”In 2023, Kapital’s customer base grew to 80,000 small businesses in Mexico, Colombia and Peru.
Metafuels sets out to change the landscape of sustainable jet fuel, and has just picked up an $8 million suitcase from baggage carousel 3 at its local ZRH.
The company is making the sky green — literally — with its new fuel, which it calls aerobrew.
The company is focusing on jet fuel as its primary output, buying a ticket to make jet fuel conforming to aviation standards.
“Operational safety is paramount from fuel handling on the ground to high-altitude combustion performance,” notes Leigh Hackett, co-founder and CCO at Metafuels.
Metafuels’ eSAF technology enables a seamless transition away from fossil-based kerosene using a process they developed to convert green methanol to eSAF.
DVDs replacing VHS was just the beginning When Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings created Netflix in 1997, their goal was nothing less than to change the way people watched television.…
ChatGPT may be used to turbocharge fraud, according to Federal Trade Commission officials in a Congressional hearing on Tuesday. The technology is being used to facilitate deceptive practices, and FTC…
