Startups

TaxScouts, the UK startup that helps prepare your taxes, picks up £1.2M led by SpeedInvest – TechCrunch TaxScouts, the U.K. “tax preparation” startup founded by TransferWise and Marketinvoice alumni, has created some new paperwork of its own. The London-based company has raised £1.2 million in seed funding. Leading the new …

Axa Venture Partners raises $150 million early-stage fund – TechCrunch Axa Venture Partners, the venture capital arm of insurance company Axa, is raising an early-stage fund. Today’s new $150 million fund (€130 million) is called AVP Early Stage II. Previously, Axa Venture Partners had raised a $110 million early-stage fund …

After raising $125M, Munchery fails to deliver – TechCrunch On-demand food delivery startup Munchery is ceasing operations effective immediately, the startup announced in an e-mail to customers on Monday. Founded in 2010, the San Francisco-based business had raised a total of $125 million in venture capital funding, reaching a valuation …

Roger Dickey ditches $32M-funded Gigster to start Untitled Labs – TechCrunch Most founders don’t walk away from their startup after raising $32 million and reaching 1000 clients. But Roger Dickey’s heart is in consumer tech, and his company Gigster had pivoted to doing outsourced app development for enterprises instead of …

Flexciton is using AI to help factories optimise production lines – TechCrunch Flexciton, the London-based startup that is using AI to help factories optimise production lines, has raised £2.5 million in funding, in a round led by Backed VC. Also participating is Join Capital and company builder Entrepreneur First. The …

The AI market is growing, but how quickly is tough to pin down – TechCrunch More posts by this contributor Furniture startups skip the showroom and go straight to your door If you work in tech, you’ve heard about artificial intelligence: how it’s going to replace us, whether it’s over-hyped or not …

Following a record year, Illinois startups kick off 2019 on a strong foot – TechCrunch Illinois’s startup market in 2018 was very strong, and it’s not slowing down as we settle into 2019. There’s already almost $100 million in new VC funding announced, so let’s take a quick look at …

Squad’s screen-shares and Slack’s swastika – TechCrunch We’re three weeks into January. We’ve recovered from our CES hangover and, hopefully, from the CES flu. We’ve started writing the correct year, 2019, not 2018. Venture capitalists have gone full steam ahead with fundraising efforts, several startups have closed multi-hundred million dollar …

Whyd now helps companies create their custom voice assistant – TechCrunch Y Combinator-backed startup Whyd is pivoting from hardware to software. The startup had been working on a connected speaker with a voice-control interface specifically designed for music. But a couple of years later, it’s clear that subsidized voice assistant …

SimplyCook dishes up £4.5M Series A for its subscription-based flavourings and recipe service – TechCrunch SimplyCook, the recipe kit service that focuses on flavour ingredients, has closed £4.5 million in Series A funding. The round is led by Octopus Investments. Unlike other recipe or meal kits, such as HelloFresh, Gousto …