Equity – Details, episodes & analysis

Today on  Equity, Devin Coldeway kicked off our Deals of the Week rundown with Piramidal, a startup which offers a foundational model for analyzing brain scan data that just raised $6 million, as his deal of the week. The premise behind the company is a fascinating one in that its technology aims to help complement the work of nurses and doctors in neural ICUs by helping identify signs of things like an epileptic episode, or a stroke.

Mary Ann Azevedo wanted to talk about Comun, a neobank serving Latino immigrants in the U.S. with financial services and banking products. The fintech just raised $21.5 million a round led by Redpoint Ventures, not that long after closing its seed round. It’s seeing fast growth — as well as a higher valuation.

Rebecca Bellan dug into a scoop she had about Fluid Truck and recent drama there. The startup, which was founded to disrupt the commercial vehicle rental industry, has apparently ousted its sibling co-founders — CEO James Eberhard and chief legal counsel Jenifer Snyder — in what is being described as a hostile takeover.

We then moved into the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov, and whether or not tech executives can, and should, be held responsible for what happens on their platforms. And lastly, we dug into what’s going at Inflection after Microsoft poached its co-founders. That move has drawn attention from antitrust regulators in the U.S. and U.K., who are now investigating whether Microsoft was anticompetitive. The Equity crew discussed whether or not companies are using acqui-hires to get around antitrust regulation.

Honestly, we had so much fun we could’ve gone on for a whole other episode. Give it a listen!

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes over at Simplecast.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

When US District Court Judge Amit Mehta found that Google had acted illegally to maintain its monopoly in online search, it was seen as a major defeat for Google. The decision could alter the way the tech giant does business, shake up opportunities for search startups, and even change the structure of the internet. While Google plans to appeal either way, there's another antitrust case coming up the pipeline: the DOJ and eight states are accusing Google of creating an advertising technology monopoly that squashes competition, forces publishers and advertisers to use Google's ad tech products. 

On today's episode of Equity, Rebecca Bellan is sitting down with lawyer, computer scientist, and head of AI Policy at the Abundance Institute, Neil Chilson. Join the conversation as we take a closer look at competition, a potential Google breakup, how to unwind a 16-year-old merger, and why these cases may actually be too early in the age of AI.

If you want to dive deeper into the early wave of major legal cases regarding tech giants, their in-market heft and behavior, Rebecca Bellan joined Alex Wilhelm back in November to talk through it all. You can catch that episode here.

Equity will be back on Friday with our weekly news roundup, so stay tuned!

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes over at Simplecast.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

Today’s episode is packed with M&A talk, how one YouTuber succeeded at the creator economy, why Twitch is still losing money and an autonomous vehicle company that is making a comeback.

First up, Rebecca took a look at fintech giant Stripe’s acquisition of four-year-old competitor Lemon Squeezy. The buy will allow Stripe to beef up its merchant of record selling “in a big way,” according to Stripe CEO Patrick Collison. Deal terms weren’t disclosed, but Lemon Squeezy has a reputation for turning down other offers, including a $50 million Series A. The company’s founder said he was holding out for the right partner to take the business to the next level, and apparently Stripe was it.

This comment led Rebecca to explore the idea of M&A as an exit strategy. Does this practice create perverse incentives in venture capital, where investors are becoming more risk-averse and looking for a surer path to regaining capital, at the long-term expense of competition? Other startups have turned down such opportunities so they can go it alone. Just look at Wiz’s decision not to get acquired by Google for $23 billion, something we discussed on last Friday’s episode. 

Next, Rebecca touched on MatPat, the first big YouTuber to successfully exit his company, Theorist Media. Matthew Patrick turned his successful video series, The Game Theorists, into a full-fledged media business called Theorist, with 40 million subscribers across channels. But he was getting tired of the ceaseless content uploading, and found a way to convince investors that the business could go on without him. Now, he’s in Capitol Hill educating politicians about what creators need to succeed as small businesses. 

Speaking of creators and acquisitions, Rebecca pulled up a Wall Street Journal report that found that after 10 years, Twitch is still losing Amazon money. Amazon bought Twitch for $1 billion in 2014, but the company still isn’t profitable. And will it ever be? Twitch in 2023 generated about $667 million in ad revenue and $1.3 billion in commerce revenue, but that accounted for less than 0.5% of Amazon’s total 2023 revenue. Amazon defended its buy, saying Twitch has a long-term path to profitability. But broader trends that seem to favor short-form videos over watching someone play an entire video game live say otherwise. 

Finally, while we’re on the subject of comebacks, autonomous delivery startup Nuro is gearing up for one of its own. Nuro has been quiet for the past year or so after two big rounds of layoffs. Once the darling of the AV industry with over $2 billion in funding from high-profile investors, Nuro was burning money fast as it tried to scale and commercialize all at once. Now, Nuro is back with better AI and a new vehicle, the R3, which it will be testing later this year in the Bay Area and Houston.

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes over at Simplecast.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

Here's what we got into:

• Stocks are down around the world to start a week that only features a single key earnings report, TSMC this Thursday. Next week really starts the tech reporting deluge, so get ready.
• In crypto, bitcoin's price failed to pump after its ETF products launched, which surprised some. Also surprising was the value jump that the Ethereum blockchain offers. Buy the rumor, sell the news? (Elsewhere, a crypto exchange raised around $100 million. In 2024! Who would have expected that!)
• Uber is killing Drizly: You can still get booze delivered to your house, but Axios notes that the $1.1 billion acquisition by Uber has run its course. Pour one out.
• On the deal front, Spot Technologies raised $2 million, while TechCrunch reports that Kuda raised $20 million last year at a flat valuation. That's pretty solid a result for a fintech startup that last raised in 2021.
• To close out, Apple is the world's smartphone king and has found a way to sell its Watch product sans legal issues, while Microsoft is very busy with AI.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

This is our interview show, where we sit down with a guest, think about their work, and unpack the rest. This week, we talked to Jenny Fielding, co-founder and managing partner at Everywhere Ventures, a founder collective and early-stage (think pre-seed) venture firm. Jenny and I discussed a wide variety of topics, including startups’ flight to quality in 2024 and how smaller firms are competing with larger firms in the current investment landscape.

We also dug into the “great VC resignation” so stay through to the end for that. Jenny was a great guest – not afraid to speak her mind and share valuable insights.

Besides founding her own venture firm, Jenny previously worked as a managing director for accelerator Techstars and founded several companies including mobile software company Switch Mobile, which was acquired by Via One.

Equity will be back next Tuesday due to a U.S. holiday on Monday. See you then!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders and more!

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

Today, Alex Wilhelm and Mary Ann Azevedo dig through the key stories from the week. Then, Kirsten Korosec and Haje Jan Kamps are aboard to bring us the latest from CES!

• Deals of the Week: Shimmer raised $2.2 million to bring one-on-one ADHD care at a lower price point; Alex chose this one because mental health care startups that try to expand access are cool. Overmoon's recent fundraising and business progress were Mary Ann's choice for the week, showing that proptech is not dead yet!
• Circle is going public: Yep, the company behind the USDC stablecoin is once again heading for the public markets. The company's confidential IPO filing follows an aborted SPAC attempt in the past. Alex is bullish on the deal, though we'll need to wait for the full details before we can actually make some predictions.
• And speaking of IPOs, we're really far behind on how many exits are needed to clear the venture capital decks.
• CES: We went over a ton of cool stuff this year, including this Bane-style mask, ChatGPT in cars, eVTOLs and more!

Equity will be back next Tuesday due to a U.S. holiday on Monday. See you then!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews foundersand more!

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

This is our newly revamped Wednesday episode, and we’re going to be digging deep into critical startup and venture capital news. If you are a long-time Equity listener, you will note that this is not the same interview show that we used to run mid-week! Don’t worry, we are still going to do interviews, so keep an eye out for those on Saturdays.

Here’s what’s we got into on the show today:

• PhotoRoom is raising more money. French startup PhotoRoom is raising $50 million to $60 million at a $500 million to $600 million valuation. The round marks another potential win for AI in France, a market that is working to set itself apart in the EU.
• Treasure Financial cuts 14 staff members. The reductions in personnel represent a material percentage of the startup’s headcount, which feels a little weird given that the company raised $7.5 million last year, and reportedly saw its AUM soar.
• Tier and Dott are betting that 1+1=3. Two micromobility companies are tying the knot to try and use scale to their advantage. The moves comes in the wake of U.S. scooter company Bird filing for bankruptcy.
• AI Hardware, Part 1: The new rabbit r1 looks super cool, and is surprisingly cheap. I dig it.
• AI Hardware, Part 2: Humane trimmed staff before shipping its AI hardware.
• On the venture capital side, Keith Rabois is heading back to Khosla Ventures, and Seedstars Africa Ventures added $30 million to its upcoming fund.

We’ll be back on Friday with our weekly roundtable!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders and more!

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

Here’s what we got into on the show today:

• Stocks and Crypto: Tech stocks aren’t moving too much this morning as the market digests the Boeing mess. In crypto-land, the price of bitcoin is up.
• Bitcoin ETFs: And this is why. A rush of new filings this morning showed that bitcoin spot ETFs are targeting a very low-fee structure as they compete for investor dollars. These investment vehicles are expected to get approved this week, or at least some of them, so expect a little market turbulence ahead.
• Carta is once again in trouble: Carta, which makes cap table software for startups, is in trouble after some of its sales people used internal information to try and broker trades without customer consent. Guess how well that is going over.
• The ULA managed to get its rocket into the sky! This is great news for space launch competition. And for going back to the Moon.
• And the GPT store is supposed to come this very week.

All that and more, we promise. Talk to you in two days!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders and more!

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

Here’s what we got into:

• Deals of the Week: Ruth Foxe Blader is leaving Anthemis, albeit slowly; Exponent has a second fund set up, but without a pure fintech focus; and Alex wanted to talk about why 2024 could be a pretty alright year for crypto.
• Layoffs, shutdowns: Frontdesk laid off 200 people and is shutting down, which makes for a good conversation about its business model. Countdown Capital is also throwing in the towel, due in part to larger multi-stage funds inflating the entry point for hot seed deals. It’s a trend worth keeping an eye on.
• Helping one another: Israel is working to support its startup industry which has been disrupted by the Israel-Hamas war, and how the new Tech for Palestine group was formed.

And that’s Equity for this week! We’ll be back on Monday!

Connect with Equity on X and Threads @EquityPod, and keep up with all of TechCrunch's podcasts @TechCrunchPods on TikTok.

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders and more!

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

Today — ahead of the relaunch of our Wednesday episode that we discussed earlier this week — we have an interview to share featuring TechCrunch’s very own Morgan Sung and Shruti Dwivedi, the co-founder and CEO of health-tech startup, Duly.

Duly took part in TechCrunch Disrupt’s 2023 Battlefield cohort, showing a global audience its contraceptive care platform that is initially targeted at the Indian market.

Why India? The company cites a large, young population in the country with more than 700 million people under the age of 30. However, Duly also reports that fewer than 15% of Indians have access to sexual education. Even more, the startup notes that condom usage in the country is modest at best, and nearly half of young, unmarried women felt “judged when seeking contraception.”

Put that all together, there’s a massive market gap that Duly wants to bridge.

Sexual wellness is not a small market, naturally, and other startups are active in the space. News broke late last year, for example, that Evofem Biosciences — which makes Phexxi, a non-hormonal contraceptive gel — found a buyer after financial struggles. Changes to American law regarding abortion make it clear that access to contraceptive care is critical for women around the world.

A big thanks to Morgan for the interview, Mary Ann for the intro, and Theresa and Kell for the edit and production!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders and more!

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.