Author: Arabian Media staff
The world’s largest autonomous car race is set to take place in Abu Dhabi on 15 November, where 11 international teams will compete at the intersection of robotics, autonomy and AI for a $2.25m prize pool. Season 2 of the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL), 18 months in the making, will see the six fastest teams from a demanding qualification process advance to the Grand Final. Tickets for the Yas Marina Circuit event have once again reached full capacity in the main grandstand, reflecting strong public and industry interest in a race that showcases autonomous performance at the highest…
Qatar recorded a budget deficit of 1.4 billion riyals ($373.29m) in the third quarter of 2025, which was financed through debt instruments, the finance ministry said on Thursday. Total revenue fell 4 percent year-on-year in the quarter from the prior year period, to 49.2 billion riyals, while spending was at 50.6 billion riyals, 1.2 per cent lower than last year, according to government data. Oil prices averaged around $68 per barrel during the quarter. Qatar, among the world’s top exporters of liquefied natural gas, raised $4bn from debt markets earlier this month, which attracted hefty demand from global investors. It also recorded a deficit…
Tell us about Gllit’s business model. Gllit is a proptech company that is pioneering a direct-to-owner model in the UAE that provides enhanced benefits by allowing homebuyers and tenants to connect directly with sellers and landlords. Gllit’s agent-free model essentially makes real estate transactions more cost effective, efficient, and transparent for everyone by eliminating third-party commissions. We call this the ‘new-gen way’ of buying, selling, and renting property — smarter, simpler, and more transparent for everyone involved. The ‘new-gen way’ approach is driven by a clear shift in market dynamics where a younger, digitally savvy generation is steadily expanding their…
If there’s one thing that VCs agree on when backing AI startups, it’s that AI requires a different investment approach than prior technological shifts. “It’s a funky time,” said Aileen Lee, founder and managing partner of Cowboy Ventures, on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. The longtime VC noted that the rules of investing have significantly shifted now that some AI companies are leaping from “zero to $100 million in revenue in a single year.” However, Lee also noted that, based on her firm’s research, Series A investors aren’t just seeking rapid revenue growth. “It’s an algorithm with different variables and…
Developer AI coding tool Cursor continues to gobble up venture capital as its valuation keeps climbing. On Thursday, Cursor announced a $2.3 billion funding round that valued the company at $29.3 billion, as originally reported by the Wall Street Journal. This round more than doubles the company’s previous valuation of $9.9 billion, which it achieved in its $900 million Series C round in June. This most recent fundraise was led by co-led by Accel, an existing investor, and Coatue, which is new to the cap table. Strategic investors, including Nvidia (an enterprise customer) and Google (an AI model supplier), also…
In the debut episode of the Build Mode podcast, host Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Deon Nicholas, co-founder of Forethought AI, to unpack what it really takes to build a lasting company with and for your customers from day one. Build Mode is TechCrunch’s new podcast that pulls back the curtain on how startups actually get built — the messy, tactical, real-talk version. Season 1: Product, Meet Market, goes beyond product-market fit to explore every aspect of getting your product into customers’ hands, from finding the right audience and earning their trust to turning early traction into lasting momentum. From…
Early-stage venture fund Betaworks announced the latest 10 companies launching from its prestigious Camp program, the 13-week biannual residence program launched in 2016 that has given way to names like Hugging Face and Graze Social. The theme for this year’s Camp is Interfaces, as in companies that are designing products that impact how users experience AI. (Previous Camp themes focused on application layers and agents). Applications opened in June, and the camp began in August, with DemoDay being November 4th. These are the companies taking part in the 13th Betaworks Camp. Nora — A browser extension, founded by Sid Banothu, that tracks shopping habits. Primitive — A web app that lets people use voice to dump ideas that the platform then turns into a list of tasks and to-dos. The product, founded by Kasey Klines, can…
When Hannan Happi started thinking about how to solve the AI power crisis, he kept one figure in mind: one cent per kilowatt-hour. “We went through all sorts of configurations and designs,” Happi, co-founder and CEO of Exowatt, told TechCrunch. “They all look different from each other. We tried to learn from every one of them: How do I reduce structural costs? How do I reduce maintenance costs? How do I optimize for this?” After years of brainstorming and building, Exowatt’s first step toward that goal is a simple box the size of a shipping container topped with a clear…
Two teenage founders walked into Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham’s backyard with an idea no one in agriculture seemed to want — an AI model to help design better pesticides. By the time they left, they had a new business model, a new company, and eventually, Graham’s backing. Now, that reimagined company — Bindwell — has raised $6 million in a seed round, co-led by General Catalyst and A Capital, with a personal check from Graham himself. Rather than selling AI tools to legacy agrochemical giants, the startup is using its own models to design new pesticide molecules in-house and…
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