17 October, 2024
9 startups that stood out on YC Demo Day 2
Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator held the second Demo Day for its Summer 2024 cohort on Thursday, and just like we saw on Day 1, AI remains the focus of most startups in this cohort.
However, we did also find a few interesting startups that are working on cool tech like drones that can’t be jammed, carpooling for freight, and weather prediction.
Here are the companies that stood out:
Entangl
What it does: Detects errors in engineering projects, proposes solutions and can even implement them itself
Why it’s a fave: I was intrigued when Entangl said it has talked to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy about automating data center verification. The fact that the startup already has deals with AWS and Vodafone is a big plus.
Exa Laboratories
What it does: Energy-efficient chips for AI
Why it’s a fave: One of the problems with AI is that it consumes a ton of energy. Early tests of Exa’s chips show that they are nearly 28 times more efficient than NVIDIA’s H100s. What’s better, these chips can adapt to different models — you just need to configure them with software. Exa hopes to have them ready for usage by early 2025.
Kopra Bio
What it does: Developing an autoimmune therapy that kills cancer
Why it’s a fave: Keytruda and other autoimmune drugs have been a game-changer for many cancer patients, but there’s still a long way to go. Kopra Bio is working on a drug that could change that. In early tests on animals, most were still alive after 250 days, while animals on an FDA-approved drug died in just 50 days. If the drug works the same way in humans, it could be a huge breakthrough for survival.
LedgerUp
What it does: AI bookkeeper for startups
Why it’s a fave: LedgerUp’s AI promises to make bookkeeping easier for businesses. It can categorize transactions, find discounts and credits that you may have missed, manage invoices, and even manage taxes. I hope bookkeeping becomes a job nobody will miss.
OrgOrg
What it does: Offers a suite of productivity apps for growing organizations
Why it’s a fave: Wayne Crosby, OrgOrg’s founder, says that his company can help businesses streamline their app usage. While many businesses may be ready to consolidate their app vendors, what caught my eye about OrgOrg was Crosby’s background: The three-time founder took his first company through YC all the way back in 2007 and later sold it to Google, where it became Google Slides. This experience is bound to attract investor interest.
Oway
What it does: Carpooling for freight
Why it’s a fave: I’m a big fan of Uber Pool, so I was excited to learn about Oway. The startup lets small businesses share truck space and save money on shipping — ridesharing for freight, essentially. It’s faster and cheaper — what’s not to like about this?
Silurian
What it does: Foundational model for predicting the weather
Why it’s a fave: Silurian’s founders previously helped build one of the world’s most accurate weather forecasting models: Microsoft Research’s Aurora. But four months ago, they left the tech giant to build their own weather prediction engine, which they claim is an even better prognosticator than Aurora — the company is building foundational models for simulating the entire planet, and they’re targeting weather first.
Theseus
What it does: Develops unjammable drones
Why it’s a fave: Drones have changed the game in warfare. They can spy on the enemy in real-time and can even hit targets with pinpoint accuracy, all while reducing the need to put pilots at risk. But there’s a catch: there are many ways to jam drones, which makes them useless. This has been a big problem in the Russia-Ukraine war. Theseus claims that its drones can dodge jamming, even if the opponent is Russia.
Xtraffic
What it does: Reduces congestion and accidents with smart traffic lights
Why it’s a fave: Controlling traffic lights with AI sounds like the perfect application of this technology. Xtraffic says that it’s already doing it in several cities in Texas. I hope they make it to my town in California, too, because I sure am tired of waiting for the light to turn green when there are no other cars around.
TechCrunch Space: SpaceX calls out 'systematic challenges' with FAA
Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. I wanted to flag once again that the final agenda for the Space Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt is now live. I’ll be pushing this event for the next few weeks, given that we’re just a bit over a month away! We’d love for you to join us.
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Story of the week
SpaceX’s fight against regulators kicked up a notch last week. First, the FAA announced it was seeking two fines, totaling $633,009, from the company for alleged launch license violations on two occasions that took place over a year ago.
While this is no doubt just a rounding error for SpaceX, the company hit back hard against the allegations in a letter sent to top congressional leaders. The company asserts that the inability of the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) to process “relatively minor” license updates is further proof that the agency is unable to keep pace with the space industry’s — but chiefly SpaceX’s — rapid growth.
CEO Elon Musk used his platform on X to put his perspective more plainly: “The fundamental problem is that humanity will forever be confined to Earth unless there is radical reform at the FAA.”
Deal of the week
NASA wants to establish a permanent human presence on the moon, but right now, astronauts have to be in direct line of sight with Earth to phone home.
The space agency is looking to change that with its developing Near Space Network, and it’s willing to pay potentially huge sums to private companies to help make continuous lunar communications a reality. Those plans got a boost last week when NASA announced it had awarded Intuitive Machines a contract to build and deploy a satellite constellation capable of providing navigation and communications for future missions on or around the moon.
The contract has a maximum potential value of $4.82 billion, though Intuitive Machines will get $150 million guaranteed to get started.
This week in space history
A year ago NASA made history when its OSIRIS-REx capsule became the first American mission to deliver a sample of an asteroid to Earth. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft landed in Utah after a nearly three-year journey home from the asteroid Bennu. The capsule returned around 250 grams (8.8 ounces) of rocks and dust.
Read more about the mission, why NASA selected Bennu, and what the samples may tell us about the formation of our solar system.
Back Market lays out its plan to make refurbished phones go mainstream
Back Market held a press conference on Thursday morning in Paris to talk about upcoming product launches and give an update on the company’s current situation. If you’re not familiar with the French startup, it operates a marketplace of refurbished electronics devices — mostly smartphones. It has attracted a lot of investor cash in recent years but has also been through tougher times.
In 2021, just like many large tech companies, Back Market rode the wave of zero-interest rate policies around the world and raised an enormous amount of money: a $335 million Series D round was followed by another $510 million Series E round mere months later.
After reaching a valuation of $5.7 billion, Back Market realized that the economy was slowing down. It conducted a small round of layoffs in late 2022, telling French newspaper Les Échos it was “the best way to achieve profitability in the coming years.”
Fast-forward to Thursday’s press conference and the company was keen to demonstrate its focus is back on product launches and new projects. Back Market said it wants to find new distribution channels and go premium so that more people think about buying a refurbished device instead of a new one.
Finding customers where they are already
Over the past 10 years, Back Market hasn’t just captured a decent chunk of the secondhand electronics market, it has expanded the market for refurbished smartphones. The pitch is simple: A refurbished device is cheaper than a new one and it’s also better for the planet. Moreover, when it comes to smartphones, it has become much harder to define why this year’s model is better than last year’s — so why shell out lots of money buying new to get only an incremental upgrade?
The company doesn’t handle smartphones and other electronic devices directly. Instead, it partners with 1,800 companies that repair and resell old devices. So it’s essentially a specialized services marketplace. Since its inception, it has sold 30 million refurbished devices to 15 million customers.
Most Back Market customers buy devices on its website or through its mobile app. But the company has recognized it’s sometimes constrained by its partners’ inventory. This is why it wants to expand supply and demand with strategic partnerships.
For instance, it’s partnering with Sony for PlayStation consoles. “A lot of people are coming to Back Market to try and purchase their PlayStation,” said co-founder and CEO Thibaud Hug de Larauze. But the issue is that Back Market is constrained when it comes to supplies for this type of device.
While many people think about smartphone trade-ins, most people don’t think about selling their old consoles. “With this partnership with PlayStation by Sony, we are the only partner to trade in every PlayStation within Sony’s website, within the Sony PlayStation store,” he noted.
As a result, people buying a new PlayStation get a discount with trade-ins at checkout and Back Market is no longer out of stock for old PlayStation consoles. This is a good example of what Back Market has in mind for future partnerships.
“This is one of the first [partnerships of this kind] but we really want to bring it everywhere where customers are actually shopping new. We want to get them where they are, in order to get their old tech — in order to serve it to people who want access to refurbished tech,” Hug de Larauze added.
On the smartphone front, trade-ins are already quite popular. However, customers visiting a phone store usually end up buying a new device along with a long-term plan.
Back Market is going to partner with telecom companies so that customers can also get a discount on refurbished devices in exchange for a long-term plan. The first two partners for this are Bouygues Telecom in France and Visible, a subsidiary of Verizon Wireless in the U.S.
A new premium tier with official parts
Quality remains the main concern when it comes to buying refurbished devices. In addition to allowing returns, the company is constantly tracking the rate of faulty devices on its platform and trying to bring that number down. Back Market now has a defective rate of 4%, meaning that one in every 25 phones doesn’t work as expected in one way or another.
When customers buy a smartphone on Back Market, they can choose between a device in “fair,” “good,” or “excellent” condition. The company has now rolled out a new top tier — called “premium.”
The main difference between smartphones with no signs of use and premium refurbished devices is that Back Market certifies that premium devices have been repaired with official parts exclusively.
In addition to this new premium tier, Back Market is working on an app update to turn it into a smartphone companion. You can register your smartphone with your Back Market account to receive tips to keep your device in good shape for longer. They are also working on gamification features, including badges and rewards.
Similarly, Back Market will make it easier to check the value of your current phone. “You open the Back Market app, you shake your phone and you’ll find out,” chief product officer, Amandine Durr, explained. This feature will launch around Black Friday.
Finally, Back Market is going to use generative AI to make it easier to browse the catalog. It can be hard to compare two smartphone models to understand which one is better for you. In a few months, you’ll be able to select two phones and get an AI-generated summary of how the two models compare.
Profitability in Europe this year
When thinking about growth potential, instead of focusing on the smartphone industry, Back Market said it draws inspiration from the car industry.
“Nine people out of 10 are purchasing a pre-owned car today,” said Hug de Larauze. “Everything has been created and lined up for that — the availability of spare parts for everyone, you’re not forced to repair your car where you purchased it.”
Similarly, repairability is changing for smartphones and spare parts, starting with the European Union. By June 2025, manufacturers will be forced to sell their spare parts to people and companies who want to fix devices themselves.
The shift to refurbished devices is also already well underway in Europe. “Back Market is going to be profitable for the first time in Europe in 2024,” said Hug de Larauze. “This is a big milestone for us because when we created the company and until very recently… we had that label that said: ‘OK, this is an impact company.’ Impact means good feelings, but the money is not there.
“Well it’s not the case, it’s actually making money,” he added. Now, let’s see if Back Market can become the go-to destination for refurbished devices in more countries, starting with the U.S.
Google rolls out automatic passkey syncing via Password Manager
Passkeys, the digital credentials that let you sign into apps and websites without entering a password, are getting easier to use for Chrome users.
You can now save passkeys to Google Password Manager, Google’s password manager built into Chrome on Windows, macOS, and Linux, so that your passkeys automatically sync across all your signed-in devices. The Password Manager client on Android can also now automatically sync passkeys, and syncing support for iOS is coming soon. (On ChromeOS, passkey syncing is in beta.)
As an added layer of protection, Google is adding PINs to Password Manager. When you start using passkeys on a new device, you’ll need to know either your PIN or the screen lock code for your Android device. You can set up a six-digit PIN or opt for a longer alphanumeric PIN.
“These recovery factors will allow you to securely access your saved passkeys and sync new ones across your computers and Android devices,” Chrome product manager Chirag Desai writes in a blog post.
Passkey usage is on the rise. According to the FIDO Alliance, the industry organization that develops authentication standards, 53% of people have enabled passkeys on at least one of their accounts, and passkeys are now supported by 20% of the world’s top 100 websites.
In 2023, Google made passkeys the default sign-in method for all users. More recently, the company brought passkey support to its Advanced Protection Program, a program for people at high risk of targeted attacks, like politicians and candidates, ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
Exclusive: Google Maps is rolling out speedometer, speed limits on iPhone and CarPlay globally
Google Maps has introduced speedometer and speed limits on iOS and CarPlay — more than five years after their debut on Android — to help iPhone users avoid speed ticketing while driving.
TechCrunch has exclusively learned that Google has begun rolling out speedometers and speed limits for iPhone users globally. When people start navigation on Google Maps, the vehicle’s speed is shown in miles or kilometers, depending on the region.
Early last week, TechCrunch spotted Google Maps showing the new speeding features in India. Google confirmed to us on Tuesday that the rollout will be global.
You can turn on the speedometer and speed limits by tapping your profile picture on the Google Maps app on your iPhone and going to Settings > Navigation > Driving options. Once enabled, the speed limits feature will change colors on the speed indicator to nudge you to drive within the speed limit set in your region.
On a support page, Google mentioned that the speedometer shows the vehicle’s speed for “informational use only.” You should rely on your vehicle’s speedometer to confirm your actual driving speed.
Google launched the speedometer and speed limits feature on Android in 2019. In May of the same year, it was expanded to more than 40 countries after being limited to select markets.
Bill Weber out as CEO of Firefly Aerospace
Bill Weber is out as chief executive at Firefly Aerospace, following a nearly two-year stint in the role, the maker of launch vehicles, lunar landers and orbital vehicles announced late Wednesday.
While the board initiates a search for a new CEO, board member Peter Schumacher will serve as interim CEO, the company said in a statement published on its website. A Transition Committee will assist in the search.
Weber joined the company after it was acquired by private equity giant AE Industrial Partners in February 2022. A longtime aerospace executive, Weber previously served as CEO of KeyW Corporation, an intelligence and analytics provider to U.S. defense and intelligence customers, and president of government services company XLA.
The news of his departure comes just two days after Payload published a story that the company was investigating allegations of an inappropriate relationship between Weber and a female employee. At the time, a Firefly spokesperson reportedly told Payload that “our initial findings do not support any facts behind this speculation.”
A spokesperson declined to specify whether Weber’s departure was related to this reported investigation, citing company policy. Weber did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
Firefly is one of a handful of companies looking to seize a greater share of the launch market from competitors like SpaceX and Rocket Lab with its small Alpha rocket. The company is also developing a lunar lander called Blue Ghost, which is due to launch for the first time later this year, and a suite of orbital transfer vehicles designed to increase in-space mobility for satellites.
In May, Bloomberg reported that AEI and other backers were considering selling the Texas-based firm in a deal that would value the company at $1.5 billion.
Joe Biden drops out of presidential race
U.S. President Joe Biden has announced he no longer plans to seek reelection, a decision that follows weeks of growing pressure from some Democratic Party supporters, including high-profile tech investors and executives.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden said in a statement. “And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
In a subsequent post, Biden offered his “full support and endorsement” for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic Party’s nominee.
My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best… pic.twitter.com/x8DnvuImJV
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
The announcement comes after Biden’s appearance at the June 27 presidential debate reignited concerns about the 81-year-old candidate’s age, prompting parts of the Democratic Party and its donor base — including notable names in the tech world — to pressure him to drop out.
Venture capitalist Michael Moritz said this week that Biden must step aside, and he said he was putting his donations to the Democratic Party on hold in the meantime. Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and Zynga co-founder Mark Pincus had also called for Biden to drop out of the race.
Another VC, Ted Dintersmith, co-authored a plan for a proposed “blitz primary” process designed to select Biden’s replacement. Other tech industry Democrats have been visible in the process even if their positions on Biden were less clear — Harris met with a group of Silicon Valley donors including LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman on Friday.
Since Biden announced he was dropping out, Hoffman said, “I wholeheartedly support Kamala Harris and her candidacy for President of the United States in our fight for democracy in November.” Hastings did not endorse Harris but said the Democrats “have hope now” and said party delegates “need to pick a swing state winner.”
The announcement also comes after the weeklong Republican National Convention, where former president Donald Trump officially accepted the party’s nomination and named JD Vance (a former VC with deep ties to Silicon Valley) as his running mate. X owner Elon Musk declared his support for Trump, as did VCs Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who argued that “the future of our business, the future of technology, and the future of America is at stake” in this election.
Biden’s term has been an eventful one for tech: He signed the CHIPS Act with $52.7 billion aimed at revitalizing domestic semiconductor production, funded EV and battery manufacturing and signed another bill that will ban TikTok if its parent company ByteDance doesn’t sell the app. He also appointed an FTC chair who’s been more than willing to challenge big tech companies over antitrust issues.