<p>In Silicon Valley, where the same high-wattage names tend to dominate the headlines, Ali Partovi has long wielded outsized influence despite limited name recognition. The Iranian-born Harvard graduate built an impressive resume early on &#8212; joining the founding team of LinkExchange (acquired by Microsoft in 1998 for $265 million), co-founding iLike (sold to MySpace for [&hellip;]</p>

<p>A new app called Lately launched on the App Store a few weeks ago, targeting people with ADHD to help them arrive on time and rewarding them for doing so. The service is designed to help users manage their travel plans by notifying them when it&#8217;s time to leave for a trip, sending reminders 30 [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Move over, PayPal mafia: There’s a new tech mafia in Silicon Valley. As the startup behind ChatGPT, OpenAI is arguably the biggest AI player in town. Its meteoric rise to a $300 billion valuation has spurred many employees to leave the AI giant to create startups of their own. The hype around OpenAI is so [&hellip;]</p>

<p>In the latest development of an increasingly public dispute between HR and payroll services rivals, Deel has filed a countersuit against Rippling. To recap: Rippling publicly announced on March 17 that it was suing Deel over alleged corporate espionage, with accusations ranging from violation of the RICO racketeering act (typically used to prosecute organized crime) [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week confirmed that deals can still happen in a troubled world, but price considerations and adjustments are now part of the picture. Most interesting startup stories [&hellip;]</p>

<p>We’re thrilled to announce that Roelof Botha, the managing partner of Sequoia Capital and one of the most influential figures in the venture capital world, will join us live onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 at Moscone West in San Francisco, which will take place from October 27 to 29. As part of our ongoing mission [&hellip;]</p>

<p>This is your last chance to put your brand at the center of the AI conversation during TechCrunch Sessions: AI Week — with applications to host a Side Event closing tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT. From June 1-7, TechCrunch is curating a dynamic weeklong series of Side Events leading up to and following the main [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Chinese startup Manus AI, which works on building tools related to AI agents, has picked up $75 million in a funding round led by Benchmark at a roughly $500 million valuation, according to Bloomberg. The company will use the money to expand to new markets, including the U.S., Japan, and the Middle East, Bloomberg noted, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>A new American electric vehicle startup called Slate Auto has made its debut, and it&#8217;s about as anti-Tesla as it gets. It&#8217;s affordable, deeply customizable, and very analog. It has manual windows and it doesn&#8217;t come with a main infotainment screen. Heck, it isn&#8217;t even painted. It can also transform from a two-seater pickup to [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Troubled electric vehicle startup Faraday Future&#8217;s board of directors has appointed founder Jia Yueting as the company&#8217;s co-CEO, three years after he was sidelined following an internal probe into allegations of fraud &#8212; a probe that led to an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission that remains ongoing. Jia will serve alongside current CEO [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Perplexity is building its own browser is to collect data on everything users do outside of its own app to sell ads.</p>

<p>We are thrilled to announce that Astro Teller, the head honcho of Alphabet&#8217;s X, the Moonshot Factory, will be joining us as a featured speaker at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27-29 at Moscone West in San Francisco. The whole affair promises to be fun filled and rife with intel and insights that you won&#8217;t [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Evernote founder Phil Libin is ready to liven up your video meetings. The entrepreneur&#8217;s video startup, mmhmm, launched in 2020 amid the pandemic, on Thursday unveiled its latest product: a video toolkit for online meetings called Airtime. The suite includes two related tools: a virtual camera that helps you appear more polished on video calls, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann has raised over $100 million in capital for his proptech startup, Flow, in a round that values that company at about $2.5 billion, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.&nbsp; Citing anonymous sources familiar with the deal, Bloomberg reported that existing backer Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) participated in the financing. Neumann told Bloomberg that [&hellip;]</p>

<p>We’re thrilled to announce that Baiju Bhatt, co-founder of Robinhood and founder and CEO of Aetherflux, will be joining us for a rare, intimate fireside chat as part of TechCrunch&#8217;s StrictlyVC evening series on June 18 on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park. As with all of our StrictlyVC evenings, the event will feature just [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Flex, a startup that offers personal finance software for business owners, has acquired Maza, a finance app aimed at Spanish speakers in the U.S., for $40 million, the companies told TechCrunch exclusively. At first glance, the pairing may seem a bit curious. Flex’s software and payments infrastructure is to help business owners have a single [&hellip;]</p>

<p>AI coding assistant startup Windsurf cut its prices “across the board” it announced on Monday, touting “massive savings” for its users as competition with its rival Cursor intensifies. Windsurf said it’s getting rid of its complex system of “flow action credits,” which charged developers for actions its AI did in the background. It’s also cutting [&hellip;]</p>

<p>After a sluggish couple of years, fintech appears to be making a comeback. In the first quarter of 2025, fintech startups globally raised a combined $10.3 billion &#8212; marking the highest level of funding since the first quarter of 2023, according to CB Insights research. The average deal size of $17.7 million also marked the [&hellip;]</p>

<p>You’re not the only one thinking about where AI is headed. So why come alone? From now through May 4, buy your Early Bird ticket to TechCrunch Sessions: AI and save up to $210 — plus get 50% off a second ticket for your colleague, co-founder, collaborator, friend, or whoever you want to bring. It’s [&hellip;]</p>

<p>StrictlyVC is turning up the heat in 2025 — and we’re going international! First stop: Athens, May 8. Get ready for sharp, unfiltered conversations onstage — and your chance to jump into the dialogue. This isn’t just an event; it’s a forum where every attendee has a voice with some of Europe’s most influential tech [&hellip;]</p>