News about Silicon Valley business almost everyday.
SAN FRANCISCO — Tofu, operator of a unified AI platform for B2B marketing teams, has raised $12 million in Series A funding. The investment was led by SignalFire, with participation from HubSpot Ventures, Tau Ventures, Correlation Ventures, Alumni Ventures, SH Fund, Riverside Ventures, Eudemian Ventures, and Han Bridge Capital, alongside a notable group of angel investors. Existing […]
NVIDIA is celebrating and exploring the progress in quantum computing by announcing its first Quantum Day at GTC 2025 on Thursday, March 20. This new focus area brings together leading experts for a comprehensive and balanced perspective on what businesses should expect from quantum computing in the coming decades — mapping the path toward useful […]
SAN MATEO — Upstart Holdings, which operates an artificial intelligence (AI) lending marketplace, announced financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024. Shares in the company rocketed over 30% on the news Wednesday. “In Q4 of 2024, our business grew dramatically across all product categories, delivered Adjusted EBITDA at levels not […]
SAN JOSE – Adobe has released the new Firefly application, the most comprehensive destination to generate images, vectors and now videos with the Firefly Video Model in public beta. The Firefly app is the all-in-one professional destination that inspires users to seamlessly ideate and create production quality work with unparalleled creative control, multi-modal workflows and integration with […]
SAN FRANCISCO — Semgrep, operator of an Application Security platform, has landed $100 million in Series D funding led by Menlo Ventures. With added participation from existing investors including Felicis Ventures, Harpoon Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and Sequoia Capital, this round brings the company’s total funding to $204 million to date. Customers and security leaders tell Semgrep current code scanners are noisy and low efficacy, […]
PALO ALTO – Police arrested three suspects last week in connection with a series of recent overnight restaurant burglaries. On Monday, December 23, 2024, at about 9:30 a.m., the Palo Alto 24-hour dispatch center received a call from an employee of Local Union 271 restaurant, located at 271 University Ave., reporting that a burglary had occurred […]
SAN FRANCISCO — Human.org, a product-based AI safety lab dedicated to solving AI Alignment (AIA), has announced $7.3 million in pre-seed funding to build a trust infrastructure that ensures AI agents are verifiably aligned with human intent. Backed by investors including HF0, Soma Capital, Spearhead, Pioneer Fund, Hummingbird VC, Brett Gibson, general partner at Initialized Capital, Val Vavilov, founder of Bitfury, James […]
MARIN — PlantBaby, a company dedicated to creating innovative solutions in the plant-based nutrition space, has closed its Series Seed equity financing round. The round was led by B2 Partners, a firm founded by investor Matt Behrens, at a post-money valuation of $20 million. “PlantBaby represents the kind of forward-thinking, mission-driven company we look to support at B2 […]
SAN JOSE — Plug and Play, a leading innovation platform, connecting startups, corporations, venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies, has received a $2 million grant from Knight Foundation. This private-philanthropic partnership marks a significant step toward fostering innovation in San Jose by supporting entrepreneurs and building a more collaborative artificial intelligence ecosystem. Knight Foundation’s investment will help […]
PALO ALTO — Upwork Inc., a platform for finding independent contractors, has released its annual In-Demand Skills report, spotlighting the most sought-after skills across key work categories on its platform. The findings highlight a dual emphasis on advanced technical skills and human-centric roles, underscoring the evolving demands of a workforce shaped by emerging technologies, digital […]
Ride-sharing company Lyft is working with Anthropic to introduce customer-first, AI-powered Lyft products. This is to enhance the rideshare experience for its community of more than 40 million annual riders and over 1 million drivers. The work includes early research testing of new models and technology, alongside initiatives to advance Lyft’s engineering capabilities. Lyft’s customer […]
SAN FRANCISCO – A 25-count indictment was unsealed this week charging Alexander Charles Beckman, the founder and former CEO of GameOn, Inc., also known as GameOn Technology or ON Platform (“GameOn”), and Valerie Lau Beckman (“Lau”), an attorney who worked on GameOn matters and is married to Beckman, with conspiracy, wire fraud, securities fraud, identity […]