TechCrunch Startup News

Quantonation’s double-sized second fund shows quantum still has believers; plus. Ali Partovi’s Neo looks to upend the accelerator model

Quantonation Ventures, a venture firm investing in quantum and physics-based startups, has closed its oversubscribed second fund at €220 million, or approximately $260 million. That’s more than twice the size of its inaugural fund, and comes in addition to other signals that the quantum winter isn’t coming yet. Also, Neo's new Residency program invests $750,000 in an uncapped SAFE for startups and provides a $40,000 no-strings-attached grant for college students. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Nvidia deepens early-stage push into India’s AI startup ecosystem; plus, General Catalyst commits $5B to India

Nvidia is working with investors, nonprofits, and venture firms to build earlier ties with India's fast-growing AI founder ecosystem. Also, General Catalyst's pledge marks a sharp jump from the company's earlier $500 million–$1 billion India earmark. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

A startup called Germ becomes the first private messenger that launches directly from Bluesky’s app

Social network Bluesky now offers private messaging by integrating the startup Germ's E2E encrypted messenger natively in its app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Reload wants to give your AI agents a shared memory; plus, Mirai developing a framework for models to perform better on devices

Reload announces a $2.275 million raise in a round led by Anthemis and the launch of its first AI employee, Epic. Also, Mirai raised a $10 million seed to improve how AI models run on devices like smartphones and laptops. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Kana emerges from stealth with $15M to build flexible AI agents for marketers; plus, World Labs lands $200M from Autodesk

Kana, a new AI marketing startup from the founders of Rapt and Krux, has raised $15 million to build customizable, agent-based marketing tools. The partnership will see the two companies exploring how World Labs’ models can work alongside Autodesk’s tools, and vice versa, starting with a focus on entertainment use cases. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]