bmy88 games download
Letter: Foul ball
All year long, TechCrunch covers startups, everything from unicorns to tiny seed-stage launches. We are, in many ways, the startup experts. To create this list, organized alphabetically, we looked back through our year’s worth of coverage for startups that stood out to us. They have fascinating new technologies, business models, or founder stories, or are pushing an industry forward in exciting ways. You’ll note that OpenAI , Anthropic , Mistral , and other big AI model makers and newsmakers (like Perplexity ), are not named on this list. While these companies are among the most disruptive of the year — and possibly of a lifetime — we focused on those startups that aren’t as well-known or highly watched. The following chart lists all the startups we covered. Scroll down to read more about each one. A-B Abridge HQ location: Pittsburgh Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $464 million Examples of VC backers: Union Square Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, IVP What the startup does: Uses AI to transcribe doctor-patient interactions and generates medical notes for electronic health records (EHR). Why it’s disruptive: While many companies are developing AI medical scribes, Abridge is one of the field’s leading and most highly valued players thanks in large part to the company’s integration with Epic, an EHR used by most large health systems in the U.S. Agility Robotics HQ location: Corvallis, Oregon Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $178 million Examples of VC backers: Playground Global, Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, DCVC What the startup does: Makes humanoid robots Why it’s disruptive: Humanoid robots are still largely promises and pilots. Creating robots that walk, grasp, and carry objects of various sizes turns out to be a harder engineering problem to solve than to imagine. But Agility signed a formal deal in June with logistics giant GXO to supply robots-as-a-service to a Spanx factory. It also hired Peggy Johnson as CEO this year — she’s the former CEO of Magic Leap and an ex-executive at Microsoft and Qualcomm. Anysphere HQ location: San Francisco, California Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $60 million Examples of VC backers: Andreessen Horowitz, OpenAI Startup Fund, Thrive Capital What the startup does: Develops an AI-powered coding assistant called Cursor. Why it’s disruptive: Lots of companies are making AI tools to help with coding (like Poolside and Magic on this list), but Cursor is for now the most popular and fastest growing among the bunch. Apex HQ location: Los Angeles, California Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $122 million Examples of VC backers: Andreessen Horowitz, Shield Capital What the startup does: Builds a line of off-the-shelf satellite buses Why it’s disruptive: Satellite bus manufacturing has been highly bespoke, with high prices and long lead times, until now. Apex’s line of off-the-shelf satellite buses — that is, the main body of the satellite that hosts power, wiring, chips, etc. — means that more companies can access space without having to worry about developing their own satellite bus in-house. The company had a successful first mission earlier this year and has since announced a $95 million capital raise and a deal with Anduril. Beta Technologies HQ location: South Burlington, Vermont Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $1.5 billion Examples of VC backers: Qatar Investment Authority, The Rise Fund, Fidelity Management & Research, The Climate Pledge What the startup does: Builds electric aircraft for carrying passengers, goods, medical equipment, etc. Offers charging equipment for electric aircraft and training programs for pilots. Why it’s disruptive: Beta Technologies has quietly grown its presence in the electric aircraft space, but it’s no less impressive for not making flashy announcements every month. The company not only has secured buyers for its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) and conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) vehicles across logistics, air taxi, and the military, but it has also set up an eVTOL charging network that competitors pay to use. B-C ( back to top ) Black Forest Labs HQ Location: Freiburg, Germany Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $31 million Examples of VC backers: Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, and Stuttgart VC Mätch.vc; Nvidia’s Timo Aila, Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe, Y Combinator’s Garry Tan What the startup does: Has an AI image generator Why it’s disruptive: While there are plenty of AI image generators, this one has an interesting pedigree and high-profile customer . Elon Musk’s xAI is using Black Forest’s Flux.1 text-to-image model to power image generation in its free-wheeling Grok chatbot. The founding team are the researchers who created Stability AI. Bloom Money HQ Location: London, England Funding to date (per PitchBook): $1.37 million Examples of VC backers: Angel investor June Angelides and January Ventures What the startup does: Bloom Money digitized the ROSCA system, which is a common savings method (albeit by various names) used by ethnic communities around the world that do not trust banking institutions, especially as they immigrate to the West. Why it’s disruptive: A “rotating savings and credit association” (ROSCA) is a group of people who save and borrow together. Bloom is a clever example of blending a cultural tradition with fintech technology. This app also offers resources that help immigrants learn more about building financial health in the U.K. By Rotation HQ Location: London, England Funding to date (per PitchBook): $3.5 million Examples of VC backers: Closed Loop Partners, June Angelides What the startup does: Fashion clothing rental business that also serves as a networking app Why it’s disruptive: By Rotation is bringing together a fashion community that the rental apps of yesteryear never quite did. With names like Helen Mirren and Ellie Goulding using it, it makes sustainability cool. By partnering with Airbnb to offer wedding rental clothes or with the non-alcoholic beverage line of Spencer Matthews from “Made in Chelsea,” By Rotation has become more than a business: It’s a lifestyle. Cdial HQ Location: Lagos, Nigeria Funding to date (per PitchBook): N/A Examples of VC backers: Google for Startups What the startup does: Makes a chatbox that can speak and understand nearly all African languages and dialects Why it’s disruptive: There are thousands of languages and dialects in Africa, and the mainstream language models, currently made mostly in the Western world, are not able to fully support or capture all their nuances. Cdial hails itself as the “world’s first multi-lingual voice-first large language model fine-tuned for African languages and context.” This type of innovation helps to ensure that the rest of the world — not just the Eurocentric one — has access to the foundational tools necessary for the AI revolution. Covariant HQ location: Berkeley, California Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $245.39 million Examples of VC backers: Radical Ventures, Index Ventures What the startup does: Builds an LLM model for production robots Why it’s disruptive: Normally it’s a bad sign when a startup’s founders leave. But in Covariant’s case, it signed a large agreement with Amazon to outfit warehouses when Amazon poached them — a tactic that’s been called a reverse acquihire. Covariant’s tech is helping warehouse robots work more intelligently. C-E ( back to top ) Cyera HQ location: New York, New York Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $760 million Examples of VC backers: Sequoia, Accel, Sapphire, Cyberstarts What the startup does: Uses AI to help organizations understand the location and movement of all the data in their networks. Why it’s disruptive: Cybersecurity and AI go hand in hand these days, and Israeli startup Cyera, with R&D in Tel Aviv, is one of the startups making a mark in the field . Its platform helps defend against new frontiers like the development of large language models. /dev/agents HQ location: San Francisco, California Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $56 million Examples of VC backers: Index Ventures, CapitalG What the startup does: Builds an operating system for AI agents Why it’s disruptive: /dev/agents founders argue that a dedicated operating system designed for AI agents could unlock their full potential, just as iOS and Android provided the foundation for the mobile app revolution. It helps, of course, that people who started this company were some of the original minds behind Android. ElevenLabs HQ location: New York, New York Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $103 million Examples of VC backers: Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Nat Friedman, and Daniel Gross What the startup does: Generates synthetic voice narration and dubbing into other languages Why it’s disruptive: Although a number of companies are able to create synthetic voices, ElevenLabs stands out for its ability to clone the speech of specific humans. Emergence Location: New York, New York Funding raised to date (per TechCrunch): $97.2 million Examples of VC backers: Learn Capital What the startup does: AI agent knowledge workers Why it’s disruptive: Emergence claims to be building a system that can perform many of the tasks typically handled by knowledge workers , in part by routing these tasks to first- and third-party generative AI models like OpenAI’s GPT-4o. The startup’s founders include Satya Nitta, the former head of global AI solutions at IBM’s research organization. Etched Location: San Francisco, California Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $120 million Examples of VC backers: Two Sigma Ventures, Balaji Srinivasan, Kyle Vogt, Peter Thiel What the startup does: Makes a chip specifically designed to run AI models Why it’s disruptive: Only two years old, Etched was founded by a pair of Harvard dropouts who wanted to create a chip that could run only one type of AI model: transformers. That might sound like a risky venture. But transformers are the dominant type of AI model by far (at least for now), powering apps from OpenAI’s video generator Sora to Anthropic’s chatbot Claude. E-H ( back to top ) Exa HQ location: San Francisco Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $22 million Examples of VC backers: Lightspeed, Nvidia’s NVentures, Y Combinator What the startup does: Provides a search engine for AI apps Why it’s disruptive: While there’s no shortage of AI search engines for humans, Exa is building an internet search engine for the AI apps and agents themselves — who can’t just fire up Google and type. Ultimately, the team is trying to create the next Google, using AI to build better search. Fervo Energy HQ location: Houston, Texas Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $421.5 million Examples of VC backers: BHP Ventures, Bill Gates, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, DCVC, Masayoshi Son, Richard Branson What the startup does: Repurposes oil and gas drilling technologies to produce clean power Why it’s disruptive: Fervo Energy takes fracking techniques from the oil and gas sector and uses them to drill wells that harness geothermal power in more places for less money. Tech companies, which have seen their power demand soar as a result of AI, have taken note: Google’s data centers in Nevada are now partially powered by a 3.5-megawatt power plant that Fervo developed. The company raised $244 million this year to pursue a 2-gigawatt project in Utah consisting of around 320 wells. Drill, baby, drill. GPTZero HQ location: Princeton, New Jersey Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $13.5 million Examples of VC backers: Footwork, Reach Capital, Alt Capital, Uncork Capital What the startup does: Makes an LLM AI-generated detection app used by schools, journalists, other enterprises Why it’s disruptive: As humans turn to AI to do their writing and their videos and photo illustrations, the need to determine if something was AI generated, plagiarized , or created by a human is rising. GPTZero is leading the way for a tech solution to a tech-created problem. It launched out of Princeton and was profitable before raising a dime. Helsing Location: Munich, Germany Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $828.4 million Examples of VC backers: Daniel Ek, Saab AB, Accel, Lightspeed, Greenoaks What the startup does: Provides AI software to process defense system information from drones, other weapons Why it’s disruptive: Helsing has won deals with Airbus SE and defense ministries in Germany and Ukraine. While the U.S. has a growing cadre of powerful defense tech startups, few other European defense startups have managed to get to Helsing’s scale. Hermeus HQ location: Atlanta, Georgia Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $222.49 million Examples of VC backers: Founders Fund, In-Q-Tel, RTX Ventures What the startup does: Builds hypersonic aircraft for commercial and defense uses Why it’s disruptive: From 90 flights from New York to Paris, to high-speed military drones that are extremely difficult to intercept, the government is obsessed with hypersonic capabilities . Hermeus is a top startup in the area, breaking ground this year on a hypersonic testing facility in Jacksonville, Florida. I-L ( back to top ) Impulse Space HQ location: Redondo Beach, California Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $225 million Examples of VC backers: Founders Fund, Lux Capital, RTX Ventures What the startup does: Develops a line of orbital transfer vehicles for last-mile payload delivery and transfers to low Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit, geosynchronous and beyond Why it’s disruptive: Impulse, founded by SpaceX’s former CTO of propulsion, is allowing companies to truly take advantage of the cost savings unlocked by cheap launch with its last-mile payload delivery. The startup is also opening up faraway orbits at cheaper prices with its GEO ride-share service. It landed major contracts with the Space Force and closed a $150 million funding round this year alone. Island HQ location: Dallas, Texas Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $550 million Examples of VC backers: Coatue, Sequoia Capital, Citi Ventures What the startup does: Creates a secure enterprise browser Why it’s disruptive: Island may be the most valuable startup you have never heard of, with a $3 billion valuation as of April. Island is showing the software world that even when a market seems completely owned by the biggest players (Google, Microsoft), a newcomer can come in with a new twist — enterprise-controlled security — and command investment and gain customers. Joco HQ location: New York, New York Funding raised to date (per TechCrunch): $7.5 million Examples of VC backers: Shock Ventures, Automotive Ventures, Columbia Business School’s Lang Fund What the startup does: Provides a network of docked e-bikes for last-mile delivery Why it’s disruptive: Joco almost died several times since launching in 2021. First when the NYC DOT sued it for stepping onto Citi Bike’s turf. Then when its erstwhile partners — quick-commerce startups like Jokr — perished. But through heads-down execution and customer obsession, Joco’s founders managed to turn Joco into a profitable business and expand into new verticals , like e-bike battery charging cabinets. KoBold Metals HQ location: Berkeley, California Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $895 million Examples of VC backers: Andreessen Horowitz, BHP Ventures, Bill Gates, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Equinor Ventures, Jeff Bezos What the startup does: Uses AI to find critical minerals for the energy transition Why it’s disruptive: Mining is a risky business. Companies spend millions looking for new ore deposits. KoBold uses AI to search for signs of critical minerals . The gamble appears to have paid off: The company announced this year that it had discovered one of the largest copper deposits of all time, and it has raised nearly $500 million to exploit it. Letta HQ location: Berkeley, California Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $10 million Examples of VC backers: Felicis, Jeff Dean, Clem Delangue What the startup does: Makes MemGPT, offers AI systems memory for LLMs Why it’s disruptive: MemGPT solves a pernicious problem for LLMs, which are stateless in their native form, meaning they don’t store historical data in long-term memory. The AI development world was so thirsty for a solution that the team’s open source project, MemGPT, went viral before it was even launched when someone shared their paper before their GitHub went live. M-P ( back to top ) Magic Location: San Francisco, California Funding raised to date (per Crunchbase): $465.1 million Examples of VC backers: CapitalG, Elad Gil, Nat Friedman, Eric Schmidt What the startup does: Creates AI models to generate code and automate a range of software development tasks Why it’s disruptive: Lots of tools automate dev work, including GitHub Copilot. But one of Magic’s innovations lies in its models’ ultra-long context windows. The startup claims its latest model, LTM-2-mini, has a 100 million-token context window , meaning it can analyze up to around 10 million lines of code in one go. Moonvalley Location: Los Angeles, California Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $70 million Examples of VC backers: Y Combinator, Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures What the startup does: Builds a generative AI video generator Why it’s disruptive: Most generative AI companies train models on public data, some of which is invariably copyrighted. Moonvalley claims it’s one of the few using exclusively licensed data from creators who’ve “opted in.” The startup is training a series of video generators that it plans to release in the coming months, alongside tools aimed at brands and creative agencies. Nodal HQ location: New York, New York Funding raised to date (per company): $12.7 million Examples of VC backers: NFX, Liquid 2 Ventures, Amplo What the startup does: Connects prospective parents with vetted surrogates. Why it’s disruptive: Nodal is building a tech alternative to surrogacy matching agencies for prospective parents interested in having a child through a surrogate. It promises to be more transparent for prospective parents, faster, and less costly than going through an agency, it says. Oura HQ location: Oulu, Finland Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $776.15 million Examples of VC backers: Forerunner Ventures, Dexcom, Block, Marc Benioff What the startup does: Makes a health and fitness tracker ring Why it’s disruptive: Oura is proving that a lot of health tech can be fit into a ring. Last month, glucose device maker Dexcom invested $75 million, paving the way for the ring to eventually track blood sugar, in addition to the sleep and activity tracking it currently provides. It also this year acquired enterprise health-tracking startup Sparta Science, its third acquisition in two years. Pair Team HQ location: San Francisco, California Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $23 million Examples of VC backers: 8VC, 1984 Ventures, Kapor Capital What the startup does: Connects underserved communities to high-quality physical, mental, and social services Why it’s disruptive: Pair Team has cracked the code on helping local organizations better help underserved communities without spending more money out of their own pockets . Pair Team helps these organizations offer these resources covered by Medicaid. Pair Team is a truly novel and cost-effective approach to helping some of the most vulnerable populations. P ( back to top ) Physics Wallah HQ location: Noida, India Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $310 million VC backers: GSV Ventures, WestBridge Capital, Lightspeed What the startup does: Provides affordable learning courses Why it’s disruptive: In a year rocked by edtech setbacks globally, but especially in India, where we saw Byju’s erase much of the $22 billion in value it created in a decade, edtech startup Physics Wallah has continued to grow. It offers annual courses to high school students and those preparing for competitive entrance exams, for less than $50. It also raised a $210 million round this year, more than doubling its valuation at a time when its rivals are struggling to survive. Polymarket HQ location: New York, New York Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $111.20 million Examples of VC backers: Founders Fund, 1confirmation, Dragonfly What the startup does: Provides a prediction marketplace Why it’s disruptive: Polymarket blew up during the election, with almost $3.7 billion bet on the election between President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. The FBI has since raided the home of Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan and taken his electronic devices. But Coplan doesn’t seem to think that will halt his company’s momentum: “New phone, who dis?” Coplan tweeted shortly after the raid. Poolside HQ Location: Paris, France Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $626 million Examples of VC backers: Bain, Redpoint, SoftBank, In-Q-Tel, DST, eBay What the startup does: Makes an AI coding platform Why it’s disruptive: Poolside is part of the massive wave of AI development coming out of Paris. Having AI to assist in the writing and maintenance of code has emerged as a bubble within the bigger bubble of generative AI, with investors pouring hundreds of millions of dollars in. Poolside is among those getting a lot of attention (and money) because it picked up early traction with customers and it has impressive founders: The CEO is the former CTO of GitHub and the CTO is considered a genius in building developer tools. Profound HQ location: New York, New York Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $3.5 million Examples of VC backers: Khosla Ventures, Saga, South Park Commons What the startup does: Provides AI search analytics Why it’s disruptive: As AI becomes an increasing factor in what appears at the top of online search results, brands that have spent years perfecting their SEO strategy will have to adjust. Profound’s platform lets companies compare how they show up in traditional search versus AI search and why. Profound seems to have emerged from stealth at the right time to capitalize on this new market opportunity as the young company is already working with large branding agencies and companies like Indeed and MongoDB. PromiseBio HQ location: Tel Aviv, Israel Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $8.3 million Examples of VC backers: Awz Ventures What the startup does: Focuses on precision medicine for autoimmune diseases Why it’s disruptive: PromiseBio’s cloud-based AI platform can check proteins for more than 200 different post-translational modifications (PTMs) at once. The ability to check for these modifications at scale allows precision medicine in the treatment of autoimmune diseases for the first time. The company’s tech is doing for autoimmune diseases what CRISPR did for cancer treatment. R-S ( back to top ) Roon HQ location: New York, New York Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $22.5 million Examples of VC backers: Forerunner Ventures, Sequoia Capital, FirstMark Capital What the startup does: Creates a network of video-based Q&As by doctors on thousands of health issues Why it’s disruptive: High-quality, clinically accurate information on complex health conditions is often hard to find online. Roon aims to be the most detailed and reliable online medical content source for patients and caregivers; a new take on general searches (known as Dr. Google) or the health websites of yesterday like WebMD. Salva Health HQ location: Bogota, Colombia Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): N/A Examples of VC backers: ImpactAssets, NTT DATA Foundation What the startup does: Creates a portable device to detect breast cancer early Why it’s disruptive: Many people, especially in rural or developing nations, do not have access to expensive mammogram equipment for routine screenings. This small device can travel with a doctor. It measures tissue density and output results to a phone, tablet, or computer. Abnormal results can then be investigated further. Salva Health was the winner of the TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 Battlefield . Saronic Technologies HQ location: Austin, Texas Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $245 million Examples of VC backers: 8VC, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners What the startup does: Builds autonomous ships for defense purposes Why it’s disruptive: Saronic already has five prototypes for unmanned ships in development and raised a massive $175 million Series B this year, crowning it one of the newest defense tech unicorns. Sila HQ location: Alameda, California Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $1.31 billion Examples of VC backers: Sutter Hill Ventures, T. Rowe Price Group, Bessemer Venture Partners What the startup does: Produces next-generation battery chemistry Why it’s disruptive: Sila has found a way to replace the graphite in a lithium-ion battery’s anode with silicone, a material that can be produced anywhere rather than mined and processed in specific regions. And, more importantly, Sila has figured out the recipe to scale its battery chemistry. With its upcoming facility in Moses Lake, Washington, the company is getting close to putting its battery tech into over a million vehicles. Slice HQ location: Bengaluru, India Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $387 million VC backers: Tiger Global, Insight Partners, Blume Ventures What the startup does: Slice is a fintech bank. Why it’s disruptive: Slice, which initially offered a credit card-like product to consumers in India, recently merged with North East Small Finance Bank to become a bank. It’s the first and only Indian startup to become a bank. S-W Spawning HQ Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $3 million Examples of VC backers: True Ventures, Noise DAO, Abhay Parasnis What the startup does: Allows creators to opt out of the training datasets for several art-generating AI models Why it’s disruptive: Co-founders Jordan Meyer and Mathew Dryhurst are leading an effort to grant artists more control over how their art is used in the generative AI era with their Have I Been Trained? website. And their startup is behind Source.Plus, a project to curate “non-infringing” media for AI model training. Spoor HQ location: Oslo, Norway Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $6.59 million Examples of VC backers: Superorganism, Futurum Ventures, Farmhouse Capital What the startup does: Uses AI to track and detect birds at wind farms Why it’s disruptive: The global wind farm market is estimated to be worth $97 billion this year and is expected to keep growing. Local bird populations and aviation migration patterns play a big role in where wind farms can be built. Spoor’s tech can help speed up the process of scouting out new locations for wind farms , which helps bring more wind farms onto the grid with less harm to biodiversity. Tennibot HQ Location: Auburn, Alabama Funding to date (per PitchBook): Around $200,000 Examples of VC backers: 10x Venture Partners, Scott Dorsey What the startup does: Makes a robot that picks up tennis balls Why it’s disruptive: This product is a perfect example of technology addressing a pain point that not many people would have thought to fix. This machine is like a little tennis ball Roomba , relieving humans of a tedious task that is especially difficult in the heat. The company is also an example of the opportunity for more innovation and disruption in the world of consumer sports. Varda Space HQ location: El Segundo, California Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $146.02 million Examples of VC backers: Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Caffeinated Capital What the startup does: In-space pharmaceutical manufacturing Why it’s disruptive: There’s been promising research about the impact of zero-gravity environments on certain drug components, but it’s been near impossible to commercialize. Varda capitalizes on SpaceX’s and Rocket Lab’s low-cost ride-share launches to make the case that in-space pharmaceutical manufacturing can now be very, very lucrative. The company hit a major milestone earlier this year: It successfully formulated the HIV medicine ritonavir in space. Waabi HQ location: Toronto, Canada Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $282.71 million Examples of VC backers: Ikea, Khosla Ventures, Nvidia, Porsche Automobil Holding, G2 Venture Partners, Uber What the startup does: Develops a generative AI-powered autonomous trucking platform Why it’s disruptive: Founder Raquel Urtasun is an AI pioneer who previously served as chief scientist at Uber ATG before launching Waabi in 2021. Waabi’s generative AI promises to reason as a human would , meaning the system would need much less data and compute power to learn how to make decisions. Urtasun has also said this approach can be extrapolated to other autonomy use cases, like robotics. W-Z ( back to top ) Wayve HQ location: London, England Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $1.32 billion Examples of VC backers: Microsoft, Nvidia, SoftBank Group, Uber, Eclipse Ventures, Baillie Gifford What the startup does: Develops autonomous driving software Why it’s disruptive: Wayve is shaping up to be a Tesla challenger with its self-learning, rather than rules-based, approach to autonomous driving. Like Tesla, Wayve’s technology doesn’t rely on lidar sensors to view the world around it; it uses only cameras and radar. Unlike Tesla, Wayve intends to sell its AI to other automakers that want to onboard hands-off, eyes-off driving features. Wayve recently secured backing and a partnership with Uber that might see Wayve-powered self-driving vehicles on the Uber network. Whisper Aero HQ location: Crossville, Tennessee Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $41.04 million Examples of VC backers: Menlo Ventures, EVE Atlas, Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund What the startup does: Develops an ultra-quiet electric propulsor that can be scaled up to drones and aircraft and down to leaf blowers Why it’s disruptive: Technologies like drones and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft will need to be quiet in order to scale into populated areas. Whisper’s answer is a super-quiet, clean electric propulsion system called WhisperDrive. The company has R&D partnerships with NASA and announced a deal with tool and hardware giant Stanley Black & Decker to bring the WhisperDrive tech to its products. Wiz HQ location: New York, New York Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $1.8 billion Examples of VC backers: Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Insight Partners What the startup does : The single unified platform handles all things cloud computing security. Why it’s disruptive: Wiz shocked the industry in July when it turned down a $23 billion acquisition offer from Google, months after it raised $1 billion at a $12 billion valuation, proving to other startups the power to say no . When its competitor Crowdstrike froze the world by pushing a faulty update that crashed Windows, Wiz’s decision to remain independent seemed to be validated. Xona Space Systems HQ location: San Mateo, California Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $42.02 million Examples of VC backers: Seraphim Space, Lockheed Martin Ventures, MaC Venture Capital What the startup does: Builds a satellite navigation system that is a more accurate alternative to GPS Why it’s disruptive: The next generation of technology will need more accurate navigation systems — this is true for commercial and civil/defense. The company raised a $19 million Series A this year ahead of the launch of its first production satellite next summer. Zap Energy HQ location: Everett, Washington Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $326.6 million Examples of VC backers: Addition, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Chevron, DCVC, Emerson Collective, Lowercarbon Capital, Shell Ventures What the startup does: Provides fusion power without magnets Why it’s disruptive: One of fusion power’s biggest challenges is confining superheated plasma long enough to generate power, and most companies use expensive magnets to accomplish the task. Zap is instead pursuing an approach known as sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch. The startup raised $130 million this year and built a prototype called Century, which sends a lightning bolt of electricity through a stream of plasma , which then generates its own magnetic field. At commercial scale, it should spark a fusion reaction powerful enough to produce power, something CEO Benj Conway said should happen in the early 2030s. Z ( back to top ) Zepto HQ location: Mumbai, India Funding raised to date (per PitchBook): $1.95 billion VC backers : Nexus, StepStone, Lightspeed, Avra, General Catalyst What the startup does: Operates an eponymous quick-commerce platform, delivering groceries to customers in multiple Indian cities in 10 minutes. Why it’s disruptive: Even as India already has two formidable food-delivery startups and multiple e-commerce and grocery firms, two Stanford dropouts proved that quick commerce can work in India and scaled it to more than $1 billion in annualized sales in just 29 months. They also raised more than $1.3 billion in 2024.Cyclone Fengal: Long power outage leaves Chennai city in the darkThe All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has elected Chief Tony Okocha as its new chairman. Chief Okocha was elected alongside others to spearhead the affairs of the party for the next four years haven completed his terms as the CTC Chairman of the party during a state delegate congress. The state delegate congress which was conducted through voice vote was presided over by Dr Adoye Omale who represented the party’s national Secretariat. In his acceptance speech, the newly elected state party chairman, Chief Tony Okocha, said that his election has gone a long way to prove all critics wrong that APC is not united and cannot conduct a peaceful election, saying that with the mandate given to him and other elected executive members the party is set to take Rivers state government in 2027.
Maresca’s Blues host Fulham on Boxing Day lying second in the table, and are only four points adrift of leaders Liverpool, having played one match more. City have won the league for the past four seasons but they have been cast 12 points adrift of the summit following a miserable run which has seen them lose nine times in their previous 12 outings. This is the story of Enzo Maresca's @ChelseaFC 's revolution 📘 pic.twitter.com/uVNLYptsPh — Premier League (@premierleague) December 24, 2024 However, Maresca, who worked alongside Pep Guardiola at the Etihad, said: “Manchester City at the end will be there. They are in a moment that has never happened before. “Every time they play a game, they have an injury, and they don’t have enough players in this moment. And the ones they have are not 100 per cent because they have just come back from injury, so it is a very bad situation. “We are ahead of our expectations, in terms of the way we are playing, and the points we have, but the main focus is how we can improve the players and how we can improve the team.” Maresca, who has continually played down his side’s aspirations for glory, added: “It is not about the (title) pressure for the players or for the club or for me, it is just the reality. “I would like to have that kind of pressure and hopefully soon we can, but the reason why I said we are not there yet, is because the reality is that we are not.” Liverpool are ready to capitalise on City’s demise, while Arsenal, who are six points off top spot, are set to be without star man Bukayo Saka for a sustained period after he suffered a hamstring tear. Asked if it was Liverpool’s title to lose, Maresca said: “No, the reality says we are second at the halfway point, so the table does reflect the teams. “But Liverpool have done a fantastic job since the first day, and the squad has lived that kind of moment, winning a trophy, which is important. “Last year, when Liverpool faced Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final I saw the amount of finals that Liverpool players had played in, and the number of finals Chelsea players had played in, and there was a huge difference. So it shows the experience you need, but we are happy to be where we are.” Chelsea will continue to be without winger Mykhailo Mudryk after he returned a positive drugs test. The 23-year-old Ukrainian, who has not played for a month, was spotted ringside for compatriot Oleksandr Usyk’s heavyweight title victory over Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia at the weekend. “In this moment it is good that he can disconnect a little bit from the situation,” said Maresca. “The last time I spoke with him, we try to support him, and now we are just waiting.”Asian Games 4x400m relay gold-winning quarter-miler VK Vismaya, who was provisionally suspended earlier this year after returning positive for a banned substance, has vowed to clear her name from the doping charges. Vismaya, who was a part of the Indian women’s quartet that won gold in the 4x400m relay in the Jakarta Asian Games, also claimed that she had submitted Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) during the dope sample collection, which, if proven, may help her in her case. The 27-year-old Vismaya’s urine sample was collected at her home in Perumbavur, near Kochi, in an out-of-competition test on August 15 and the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) informed the athlete in September that her urine sample contained Clomiphene which comes under the hormone and metabolic modulators category which is prohibited at all times. Clomiphene is a non-steroidal medication used clinically to induce ovulation in women, and Vismaya said she had taken it as a fertility drug. “I want to clarify that I was prescribed this medication by my doctor for a legitimate medical purpose -- pregnancy treatment. It had absolutely nothing to do with performance,” Vismaya wrote on her social media handle. “Clomifene is in a class of medications called ovulatory stimulant. It works by helping your body produce an egg ( ovulation), which increase the chances of pregnancy,” she said. “I fully disclosed all medications I was taking on the doping control form. I’ve submitted all required documents, TUE, medical records, and proofs to concerned authority demonstrating the legitimate medical purpose of my treatment,” said Vismaya. The bone of contention could be whether she had applied for the TUE before the dope test or not. ALSO READ | Paris Olympics: Anti-war protestor gets 8,000-euro fine for attempt to disrupt men’s 100m final Vismaya said throughout her athletics career she had “never taken shortcuts or compromised my values to enhance my performance.” “... 11 years into my career, I’m faced with a challenge that undermines everything I’ve worked for. The recent doping allegations have cast a shadow on my hard-earned achievements, and I’m determined to clear my name. As a professional athlete, I’ve always upheld the values of fair play and integrity,” she said. “I trust myself and my integrity. I did nothing wrong, and I will not let these allegations define me. I will stand tall, fight for my truth, and emerge stronger,” she added. Visamaya was also a member of the teams that clinched silver medals in both the women’s 4x400m relay and the mixed 4x400m relay at the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships. She said from 2019 onwards, she was part of NADA’s Registered Testing Pool and she cooperated fully with the testing procedures. “During all this time, I provided numerous samples, both in-competition and out-of-competition and none of them showed any presence of banned substances. I have always been committed to clean sports,” she said. On June 27, Vismaya participated in the National Inter-State Athletics Championships but she could not complete her race due to a soleus muscle (that runs along the back side of her lower leg) injury. This was her last competition before her urine sample was collected on August 15. “As an athlete and an individual, I want to emphasize that pregnancy is not a disease or a mistake. It’s a deliberate choice ... I expect the same respect and consideration from everyone for my personal choices and decisions,” Vismaya said. “... I’m currently pregnant and navigating the emotional ups and downs that come with it. Being pregnant and dealing with these allegations simultaneously has been a significant emotional challenge,” she added. Vismaya’s case will now be heard by the NADA’s Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (ADDP). If proven guilty, she will face a maximum ban of four years. Comments Related Topics VK Vismaya Latest on Sportstar
Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, raised another $6 billion in funding, TechCrunch reported via the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . The filing reports that each investor, of nearly 100, had to give a minimum of $77,593. The investors were not named in the filing, but X wrote in a press release that key investors included "A16Z, Blackrock, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Kingdom Holdings, Lightspeed, MGX, Morgan Stanley, OIA, QIA, Sequoia Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and Vy Capital, amongst others." "xAI’s most powerful model yet, Grok 3, is currently training and we are now focused on launching innovative new consumer and enterprise products that will leverage the power of Grok, Colossus, and X to transform the way we live, work, and play," the press release stated . "The funds from this financing round will be used to further accelerate our advanced infrastructure, ship groundbreaking products that will be used by billions of people, and accelerate the research and development of future technologies enabling the company’s mission to understand the true nature of the universe." Tech Crunch reported that this doubles xAI's total raised funds and brings it to $12 billion. According to CNBC , xAI was aiming for a $50 billion valuation in November. Forbes reported on Monday that the valuation has reached over $40 billion since the $6 billion funding bump.Boise State's legacy includes winning coaches and championship moments
Amusing ourselves to death
Canadian mayor fined for LGBT thought crime of refusing to bend overWASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Friday that it will hear a case related to California's ability to set its own, often strict, vehicle emissions standards that include curbs on greenhouse gases. It has become a fraught and politicized issue, especially since California began regulating greenhouse gases in an effort to combat climate change. Due to the size of the California market, the state’s regulations hold considerable sway over vehicle manufacturers. The case stems from the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to issue national standards under the federal Clean Air Act. The court only took up the question of whether various business interests, including liquid fuel companies, had legal standing to sue based on their argument that demand for their products would decrease under California's rules. It did not agree to hear the much bigger issue of whether the provision allowing California to set its own standards is unlawful. In recognition of California's historic role in regulating emissions, the law allows the EPA to give the state a waiver from the nationwide standards so that it can adopt its own. The Obama administration granted California a waiver to regulate greenhouse gas tailpipe emissions but the first Trump administration sought to change course. When Joe Biden was elected, his administration again gave California the leeway it wanted. The underlying California regulation was adopted in 2012. It sets standards to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and requires each manufacturer to sell a certain number of zero-emission vehicles. The state ultimately wants all cars and light trucks to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035. The most recent EPA waiver, in 2022, prompted 17 Republican states led by Ohio and the business groups to sue. The Supreme Court did not act on the separate appeal brought by states. Notably, some vehicle manufacturers backed the EPA in the lower court. In court papers, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar pointed out that manufacturers are already meeting the state's standards. The business challengers, meanwhile, say that the waiver "permits California to operate as a quasi-federal regulator on global climate change." The states argued that the provision in the Clean Air Act allowing for the veto is unconstitutional because it treats California differently compared to other states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of the EPA in April.
EUGENE — We are live from Autzen Stadium for tonight’s game between No. 1 Oregon and Washington. The Ducks are favored by 18.5 or 19 points, according to all listed sportsbooks. Refresh this page to follow live updates from tonight’s game (4:30 p.m., NBC). PREGAME -- Jordan Burch and Marcus Harper II are among the players listed as questionable -- NFL scouts in attendance: Pittsburgh Steelers No. 1 Oregon (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) vs. Washington (6-5, 4-4) When: Saturday, Nov. 30 Time: 4:30 p.m. PT Where: Autzen Stadium, Eugene TV channel: NBC Stream: You can watch this matchup live for FREE with Fubo (free trial). If you don’t have cable and want to watch the game on the cheap, sign up for Peacock Premium ($7.99/month) and get it on NBC’s streaming service. You can also get this game on DirecTV Stream (free trial). You can also watch the event live on NBC Live if you already have cable or satellite provider login information. Oregon Ducks football 2024 season schedule, scores Sign up for The Ducks Beat newsletter PREGAME READING Will No. 1 Oregon football contain Washington running back Jonah Coleman? No. 1 Oregon football’s vastly improved secondary prepared for either of Washington’s quarterbacks Gary Bryant Jr. could retain punt return duties for No. 1 Oregon football against Washington Oregon football vs. Washington preview: One final test for the Ducks ahead of postseason play Scouting the Huskies: 5 questions, prediction with a Washington reporter ‘I hate the Huskies’: Oregon football’s seniors aim for redemption from 3 straight losses to Washington Oregon’s Dan Lanning doesn’t flinch amid opportunity for 1st win over Washington Oregon’s Jabbar Muhammad appreciates ‘fierce rivalry’ with Huskies, ‘no hate’ from former teammate What Dan Lanning said about No. 1 Oregon football’s matchup with Washington -- James Crepea covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter .Police deny sitting on evidence as Netflix doc brings renewed attention to JonBenet Ramsey's killing
Arkansas DE Landon Jackson carted off field and taken to hospital with neck injuryFormer Boise State coach Chris Petersen still gets asked about the Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma on the first day of 2007. That game had everything. Underdog Boise State took a 28-10 lead over one of college football's blue bloods that was followed by a 25-point Sooners run capped by what could have been a back-breaking interception return for a touchdown with 1:02 left. Then the Broncos used three trick plays that remain sensations to not only force overtime but win 43-42. And then there was the marriage proposal by Boise State running back Ian Johnson — shortly after scoring the winning two-point play — to cheerleader Chrissy Popadics that was accepted on national TV. That game put Broncos football on the national map for most fans, but looking back 18 years later, Petersen sees it differently. "Everybody wants to talk about that Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl game, which is great how it all worked out and all those things," Petersen said. "But we go back to play TCU (three years later) again on the big stage. It's not as flashy a game, but to me, that was an even better win." Going back to the Fiesta Bowl and winning, Petersen reasoned, showed the Broncos weren't a splash soon to fade away, that there was something longer lasting and more substantive happening on the famed blue turf. The winning has continued with few interruptions. No. 8 and third-seeded Boise State is preparing for another trip to the Fiesta Bowl, this time in a playoff quarterfinal against No. 5 and sixth-seeded Penn State on New Year's Eve. That success has continued through a series of coaches, though with a lot more of a common thread than readily apparent. Dirk Koetter was hired from Oregon, where Petersen was the wide receivers coach. Not only did Koetter bring Petersen with him to Oregon, Petersen introduced him to Dan Hawkins, who also was hired for the staff. So the transition from Koetter to Hawkins to Petersen ensured at least some level of consistency. Koetter and Hawkins engineered double-digit victory seasons five times over a six-year span that led to power-conference jobs. Koetter went to Arizona State after three seasons and Hawkins to Colorado after five. Then when Petersen became the coach after the 2005 season, he led Boise State to double-digit wins his first seven seasons and made bowls all eight years. He resisted the temptation to leave for a power-conference program until Washington lured him away toward the end of the 2013 season. Then former Boise State quarterback and offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin took over and posted five double-digit victory seasons over his first six years. After going 5-2 during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he left for Auburn. "They just needed consistency of leadership," said Koetter, who is back as Boise State's offensive coordinator. "This program had always won at the junior-college level, the Division II level, the I-AA (now FCS) level." But Koetter referred to "an unfortunate chain of events" that made Boise State a reclamation project when he took over in 1998. Coach Pokey Allen led Boise State to the Division I-AA national championship game in 1994, but was diagnosed with cancer two days later. He died on Dec. 30, 1996, at 53. Allen coached the final two games that season, Boise State's first in Division I-A (now FBS). Houston Nutt became the coach in 1997, went 4-7 and headed to Arkansas. Then Koetter took over. "One coach dies and the other wasn't the right fit for this program," Koetter said. "Was a really good coach, did a lot of good things, but just wasn't a good fit for here." But because of Boise State's success at the lower levels, Koetter said the program was set up for success. "As Boise State has risen up the conference food chain, they've pretty much always been at the top from a player talent standpoint," Koetter said. "So it was fairly clear if we got things headed in the right direction and did a good job recruiting, we would be able to win within our conference for sure." Success didn't take long. He went 6-5 in 1998 and then won 10 games each of the following two seasons. Hawkins built on that winning and Petersen took it to another level. But there is one season, really one game, no really one half that still bugs Petersen. He thought his best team was in 2010, one that entered that late-November game at Nevada ranked No. 3 and had a legitimate chance to play for the national championship. The Colin Kaepernick-led Wolf Pack won 34-31. "I think the best team that I might've been a part of as the head coach was the team that lost one game to Nevada," Petersen said. "That team, to me, played one poor half of football on offense the entire season. We were winning by a bunch at half (24-7) and we came out and did nothing on offense in the second half and still had a chance to win. "That team would've done some damage." There aren't any what-ifs with this season's Boise State team. The Broncos are in the field of the first 12-team playoff, representing the Group of Five as its highest-ranked conference champion. That got Boise State a bye into the quarterfinals. Spencer Danielson has restored the championship-level play after taking over as the interim coach late last season during a rare downturn that led to Andy Avalos' dismissal. Danielson received the job full time after leading Boise State to the Mountain West championship. Now the Broncos are 12-1 with their only defeat to top-ranked and No. 1 seed Oregon on a last-second field goal. Running back Ashton Jeanty also was the runner-up to the Heisman Trophy. "Boise State has been built on the backs of years and years of success way before I got here," Danielson said. "So even this season is not because of me. It's because the group of young men wanted to leave a legacy, be different. We haven't been to the Fiesta Bowl in a decade. They said in January, 'We're going to get that done.' They went to work." As was the case with Danielson, Petersen and Koetter said attracting top talent is the primary reason Boise State has succeeded all these years. Winning, obviously, is the driving force, and with more entry points to the playoffs, the Broncos could make opportunities to keep returning to the postseason a selling point. But there's also something about the blue carpet. Petersen said he didn't get what it was about when he arrived as an assistant coach, and there was some talk about replacing it with more conventional green grass. A poll in the Idaho Statesman was completely against that idea, and Petersen has come to appreciate what that field means to the program. "It's a cumulative period of time where young kids see big-time games when they're in seventh and eighth and ninth and 10th grade and go, 'Oh, I know that blue turf. I want to go there,'" Petersen said.What do Reviews of Real Mitolyn Users Say About Purple Peel Exploit for Weight Loss?
Endpoint Security Market Safeguarding Devices in an Evolving Cyber Threat LandscapeTrilegal adopts AI technology with Lucio partnership - Bar & Bench - Indian Legal News