Author: Arabian Media staff
VC firms DST Global and Iconiq are piling into the London- and New York-based e-commerce startup Swap Commerce. On Wednesday the startup announced it raised a new $100 million round just six months after raising a $40 million Series B round led by Iconiq. Founded in 2022, Swap Commerce offers an AI-powered platform that helps brands build web storefronts and handle cross-border transactions, inventory management, and returns. The platform has become popular with luxury clothing brands, and the company particularly targets companies looking to sell their goods globally. The company declined to comment on its latest valuation. The fast, substantial…
Artificial intelligence promises to transform how and where things are made Source link
Vanessa Larco, partner at Premise and former partner at NEA, thinks 2026 will finally be the year of consumer AI. Larco, who’s been investing in consumer and prosumer for years, thinks we’re about to see a shift in how consumers spend time online, with AI powering “concierge-like” services. The question is, will legacy consumer products like WebMD and TripAdvisor continue to exist as standalone apps, or will they just get absorbed into ChatGPT or Meta AI? And where can startups carve out an AI-powered niche for themselves Watch as TechCrunch’s Rebecca Bellan sat down with Larco on Equity to talk about why consumer…
Jason Calacanis will pay you $25,000 if you can find him an authentic Theranos device On Tuesday, at CES, All-In podcast host and investor Jason Calacanis, along with McKinsey’s Bob Sternfels and General Catalyst’s Hemant Taneja, discussed the impact of AI on the workforce. As the three talked, I zoned out a little, if I’m being honest (it’s after hours here on the East Coast). Then Calacanis pulled out a box of outdated gadgets for show-and-tell. He grabbed my attention back when he showed off his miniature replica of a Theranos device — it looked like the miniLab, a product…
Vanessa Larco, partner at Premise and former partner at NEA, thinks 2026 will finally be the year of consumer AI. Larco, who’s been investing in consumer and prosumer for years, thinks we’re about to see a shift in how consumers spend time online, with AI powering “concierge-like” services. The question is, will legacy consumer products like WebMD and TripAdvisor continue to exist as standalone apps, or will they just get absorbed into ChatGPT or Meta AI? And where can startups carve out an AI-powered niche for themselves? Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sat down with Larco to talk about why consumer is back, what OpenAI won’t kill, and where the real opportunities are hiding. …
Smart home startup Quilt introduced a three-zone heat pump on Tuesday that promises to maintain efficiency even in the kinds of demanding conditions that stymie traditional incumbents. The three-zone unit does what it says on the label: One outdoor unit is now capable of driving three indoor heads, as they’re known in the HVAC world. It’s a product that will make large installations simpler and cheaper while minimizing the footprint outside the home, and it’s key to the startup’s plans for expansion, which were recently turbocharged by a $20 million Series B focused on expanding sales. But the real story…
Articul8, an enterprise AI company spun out of Intel in early 2024, has secured more than half of a planned $70 million funding round at a $500 million pre-money valuation, according to its CEO, as it looks to capitalize on growing demand for AI systems in regulated industries. The Series B funding round is structured in two installments, with the first led by Spain’s Adara Ventures, Articul8 founder and CEO Arun K. Subramaniyan (pictured above, center) said in an interview. He declined to disclose the size of the initial installment, but said the company expects to close the round in…
If there is one point of consensus among the CES 2026 keynote speakers, it is that AI is reshaping technology with a speed and scale unlike any previous technological revolution. In a live taping on Tuesday of the All-In podcast, co-host Jason Calacanis interviewed Bob Sternfels, Global Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company, and Hemant Taneja, CEO of General Catalyst. Their discussion focused on how AI is transforming investment strategies and the workforce. “The world has completely changed,” Taneja said about the unprecedented growth of AI companies. He noted that while it took Stripe about 12 years to reach a…
It has been decades since the industry relished foreign-policy entanglements Source link
While CES 2026 is full of tech giants unveiling their latest innovations, the real excitement comes from discovering unexpected, quirky gadgets that make you ask, “Who thought of this?” We’re here to spotlight the wildest products we’ve found so far at CES 2026, from an AI-powered panda that responds to your touch, to Razer’s holographic anime assistant, and plenty more weirdness that makes you do a double-take. An AI anime companion that watches you from your desk Razer’s Project AVA, originally introduced last year as an esports AI coach, has evolved into something new: 5.5-inch animated holographic desk companion that…