Voice recognition is getting integrated in nearly all facets of modern living, but there remains a big gap: speakers of minority languages, and those with thick accents or speech disorders like stuttering are typically less able to use speech recognition tools that control applications, transcribe or automate tasks, among other functions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Don Burnette, CEO and co-founder of self-driving truck startup Kodiak Robotics, had an “a-ha” moment when the company started working with the U.S. Department of Defense.  Kodiak’s mission has always been to pursue long-haul autonomous trucking, but two years ago, the startup won a $50 million contract from the DoD to help the Army automate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Farmers have got to do something about pests. But nobody really likes the idea of using more chemical pesticides. Thomas Laurent’s company, Micropep, thinks the answer might already be in the plants themselves. Micropep is exploring how naturally occurring compounds, known as micropeptides, might work as an entirely new class of pesticides. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Quality assurance in the app development world is a necessary, but often resource-draining, undertaking. According to Statista, 23% of companies’ annual IT budgets are allocated to in-house or third-party contracted QA and testing. The stakes are high. In a survey by QA software-testing company QualiTest Group, 88% of app users said that they’d abandon apps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Identity management is one of the most common fulcrums around which security breaches have pivoted in the last several years. One of the main reasons it has become the gift that keeps on giving to malicious hackers is that it’s a nightmare for organizations to track. A security startup founded in Tel Aviv called Linx Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nathan Rosenberg, the founder of farm automation platform Farmblox, said if there is one thing to know about trying to sell technology to farmers, it’s that you can’t tell them what to do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marathon Fusion emerges from stealth with a plan to help fusion power plants extract tritium, a necessary fuel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz for $23 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. TechCrunch’s sources heard similar and added that deal discussions could last into next week. If this deal does end up getting done, it would be Alphabet’s largest acquisition yet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Canadian private equity firm PartnerOne paid $28.2 million for HeadSpin, a mobile app testing startup whose founder has been sentenced for fraud earlier this year, according to documents viewed by TechCrunch. The fire sale was reported by TechCrunch last week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coast, a startup that describes itself as “a financial services platform for the future of transportation,” has raised $40 million in Series B funding — just four months after announcing a $25 million round, the startup has told TechCrunch exclusively. Back-to-back fundraises were common prior to and during the wild investment days of 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Strong magnets are essential for the type of fusion power being pursued by Commonwealth Fusion Systems and a number of other startups. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Both of Hofy's co-founders, Sami Bouremoum and Michael Ginzo, along with the rest of the startup's leadership team and 120 employees, are joining Deel to build Deel IT. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Echo Chunk, a company that is building Wordle-styled daily chess puzzle game Echo Chess, has raised $1.4 million in pre-seed from a16z Speedrun (Andreessen Horowitz’s early stage games accelerator), founder of Zyanga Mark Pincus, South Park Commons (SPC), Opendoor founder and CEO Eric Wu and Stef Corazza, the Head of Generative AI at Roblox Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At a time when many startups have struggled to raise money and keep their heads above water, Kandji, an Apple device management platform, has been an exception. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Astor is a free personal finance platform for women that merges community and investing in an approachable way, came to be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Danish startup Toddle has launched a no-code web app builder that's designed as a full-featured alternative to Javascript frameworks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Adaptive is a platform that provides tools designed to simplify payments and accounting for general construction contractors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When VanMoof declared bankruptcy last year, it left around 5,000 customers who had pre-ordered e-bikes in the lurch. Now VanMoof is up and running under new management, and the company’s current owners are courting those same customers by offering them a €1,000 discount off a new bike. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fusion power may still be a few years away, but one startup is laying the groundwork for what it hopes will become a bustling sector of the economy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The founders of HERO Software didn’t start out to help small tradespeople in construction with a platform. They started out to fight the climate crisis. But in doing so, they stumbled on a way to help the whole business. Now, the company has closed a €40 million Series B financing round, and plans to expand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Visual effects have emerged as essential in filmmaking and have transformed storytelling and creativity in the film industry with its diverse digital techniques. However, the high cost of VFX tools often leaves independent filmmakers and content creators working with modest budgets struggling to compete with larger productions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joby Aviation is still a year away from commercially launching its electric air taxi designed for urban environments, but the startup is already looking towards its next chapter: Intercity flight, powered by hydrogen.  To get the conversation started with regulators and demonstrate hydrogen’s capabilities, Joby told TechCrunch that it completed a 523-mile test flight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Iceland’s startup scene is punching above its weight. That’s perhaps in part because it kept the 2021 hype in check, but mostly because its tech ecosystem is coming of age. Iceland attracted the most venture capital per capita of all Nordic countries in 2023, but that stat is somewhat skewed by its relatively small population. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SaaS founders trying to figure out what it takes to raise their next round can refer to Point Nine’s famous yearly SaaS Funding Napkin. (The term refers to “back of the napkin” plans or calculations.) Now, European hardware deep tech teams have a similar resource from First Momentum, a pre-seed fund investing in technical B2B Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices