TechCrunch Startup News

Harness hits $5.5B valuation with $240M raise to automate AI’s ‘after-code’ gap

Goldman Sachs has led Harness's Series E round, with participation from IVP, Menlo Ventures, and Unusual Ventures. The new valuation is a 49% jump from its $3.7 billion valuation [https://www.harness.io/blog/harness-valuation-soars-to-3-7-billion-with-230-million-in-series-d-funding] in a $230 million round in April 2022. With this funding, the startup has raised $570 million of equity to date. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Interest in Spoor’s bird-monitoring AI software is soaring

Spoor's computer vision software can help wind farms, and other industries, track bird populations and migration patterns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

On Me raises $6M to shake up the gift card industry; plus, Port raises $100M at $800M valuation to take on Spotify’s Backstage

On Me raises $6 million for its digital gift card platform that lets users purchase cards categorized by interests rather than being restricted to specific retailers. Also, Port offers a proprietary alternative to Spotify's popular devtool catalog Backstage, but with a valuable addition: it can be used to manage AI agents, too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

AI startup Tavus founder says users talk to its AI Santa ‘for hours’ per day; Oboe raises $16 million from a16z for its AI-powered course generation platform

Tavus has launched a new experience where you can chat with an AI Santa that asks personal questions and remembers your interests. Oboe has raised $16 million in funding for its learning app. The company now lets users generate unlimited courses for free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Boom Supersonic raises $300M to build natural gas turbines for Crusoe data centers

Crusoe will pay Boom $1.25 billion for more than a gigawatt of generating capacity with deliveries of the turbines starting in 2027. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]