<p>AI Innovators, seize your moment! Have insights that could inspire 1,200 AI founders, investors, and enthusiasts eager to advance the future of AI? Take center stage, influence the AI conversation, and exchange ideas at TechCrunch Sessions: AI on June 5 at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall. We’re gathering top AI visionaries from the startup world to [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Afore Capital, a firm that claims to be the largest dedicated pre-seed investor, was founded on the idea that the first check into a new startup should be larger than what most accelerators and early-stage investors were offering. When Afore raised its third $150 million fund in 2022, the firm wrote checks ranging from $1 [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Cherryrock Capital, founded by ex-TaskRabbit CEO Stacy Brown-Philpot, announced Wednesday the closing of its $172 million Fund I with an all-star limited partner list that includes JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, MassMutual, Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal Ventures, Reid Hoffman, Mellody Hobson, and Sheryl Sandberg.&nbsp; Brown-Philpot told Bloomberg that the fund actually closed in January.&nbsp; The firm launched [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Swizzle Ventures has closed its Fund I at $6.6 million, bypassing its initial $3 million target, Jessica Kamada, the firm’s founder, told TechCrunch.&nbsp; Back in December, TechCrunch reported that the firm, which quietly launched in 2023, was raising and has already bypassed $5 million, per its SEC filing. The thesis of Fund I will focus [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Earlier this month, the Trump administration directed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to impose limits on specific types of funding it provides to research institutions. Although a federal judge has temporarily blocked the policy change, government grants to early-stage biotech startups could still face delays or be eliminated entirely, said Chris Gibson, co-founder and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Many venture industry observers have wondered whether Andreessen Horowitz, a firm that manages $45 billion, has its sights on eventually becoming a publicly traded company. Co-founder Marc Andreessen said he isn&#8217;t &#8220;chomping at the bit to take the firm public,&#8221; on this week&#8217;s Invest Like the Best podcast. But he discussed his goal of building [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Founders, VCs, and startup experts — this is your moment! Got scaling insights? Now’s your chance to share them with 1,200 founders, investors, and entrepreneurs at TechCrunch All Stage 2025 presented by Fidelity, on July 17 in Boston! We’re gathering leading experts from the startup and VC communities to host engaging sessions, interactive roundtables, and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>AI innovators, this is your moment! Have insights to share with 1,200 AI founders, investors, and enthusiasts eager to push the boundaries of innovation?  Take the stage, shape the AI conversation, and exchange ideas at TechCrunch Sessions: AI on June 5 at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall!&nbsp; We’re bringing together top AI minds from the startup [&hellip;]</p>

<p>While large corporations like Google and Meta are curbing their DEI programs, Ulu Ventures, which just raised a fourth fund at $208 million, doesn’t plan to change its strategy of investing in diverse founders, the firm told The Wall Street Journal. Co-founded by Miriam Rivera, a Latina and former vice president and deputy general counsel [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The war in Ukraine served as a wakeup call for Europe, and defense tech went from a sector that most European VCs didn&#8217;t touch to one of the top investment areas within deep tech. This shift is captured in Dealroom&#8217;s latest report on Defence, Resilience, and Security (DSR) in Europe, released together with the NATO [&hellip;]</p>

<p>If you follow fintech on X, it’s very likely that you have come across the account of Sheel Mohnot, co-founder and general partner of Better Tomorrow Ventures. With over 150,000 followers, Mohnot has built an impressive presence on the social media site. Interestingly, many of his posts have nothing to do with venture capital. Mohnot [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Founders Fund is on track to conclude fundraising of its third growth fund at the end of March, according to people close to the firm. The Peter Thiel-founded outfit is raising $3 billion, a source told TechCrunch and&nbsp;Axios also reported. The fund, which is intended primarily for additional investments in its successful late-stage portfolio companies, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Venture capitalists are gobbling up term sheets for startups peddling artificial intelligence, but they&#8217;re remaining picky when it comes to funding the wider spectrum of technology.&nbsp; According to new figures from analytics firm Dealroom, AI startups raised $110 billion last year, 62% more than the year before. At the same time, privately backed companies (startups [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Two senior partners are leaving Peak XV, one of the world&#8217;s largest venture capital firms, four sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.&nbsp; Shailesh Lakhani, a 17-year veteran of the firm, and Abheek Anand, who co-led Southeast Asian investments, are departing, said the sources, requesting anonymity. Peak XV didn&#8217;t immediately respond to requests for comment. [&hellip;]</p>

<p>As if Elon Musk doesn&#8217;t have enough going on, a consortium of investors led by him announced plans Monday for what appears to be a hostile takeover of OpenAI. The investor group offered nearly $97.4 billion to buy all of OpenAI&#8217;s assets and is &#8220;prepared to consider matching or exceeding higher bids,&#8221; it said in [&hellip;]</p>

<p>A team of investors led by Elon Musk submitted a $97.6 billion bid to purchase OpenAI on Monday. The news comes by way of Musk’s lawyer, Marc Toberoff, who confirmed the reporting with The Wall Street Journal. The unsolicited bid is the latest escalation by Musk in his war with co-founder Sam Altman, with whom [&hellip;]</p>

<p>France’s public investment bank announced that it plans to invest as much as €10 billion (around $10.3 billion at current exchange rates) in the artificial intelligence ecosystem in France. This announcement comes a few days before heads of state and global tech leaders gather for the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris. Bpifrance has been [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Ghaffary is looking to fund startups using AI to create high-paying jobs, rather than replace them.</p>

<p>On Thursday, President Trump asked Republican lawmakers to end tax breaks on carried interest.&nbsp; The tax break allows private equity and venture fund managers to treat their earnings from investments at a lower capital gains rate, rather than as ordinary income.&nbsp; The removal of the tax break would be a big hit to the VC [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Andreessen Horowitz is defending its decision to hire Daniel Penny, according to an investor memo seen by The New York Times.&nbsp; The venture capital firm caused a stir earlier this week after it announced it would hire Penny, who was acquitted last year after choking a homeless man to death in the New York City [&hellip;]</p>