Design platform Figma is partnering with Google to add more AI features, the company announced on Thursday. While Figma had previously introduced AI app-building tools of its own, the new integration with Google will bring several Gemini models to the design software to address what Figma says are the “evolving needs” of product designers and…
Google has backed STAN, an Indian social gaming platform that connects gamers with creators, communities, and publishers. Google’s investment comes as part of an $8.5 million equity funding round, which also saw investment from Japanese gaming giants Bandai Namco Entertainment, Square Enix, and Reazon Holdings. Aptos Labs and King River Capital, as well as existing…
Levelpath, a procurement software startup founded by the duo behind Scout RFP, has raised $55 million in Series B funding led by Battery Ventures as the company looks to quadruple its revenue this year. The funding round also saw participation from existing investors, including Benchmark, which led Levelpath’s $14.5 million seed round, and Redpoint, the…
Vast Data, which offers an AI-friendly data storage platform, is in the market to raise a new round at a giant leap in valuation. Earlier this year, the nine-year-old company was seeking a valuation of around $25 billion, according to a person familiar with the deal. Should it achieve that, it would be a massive…
Alex Protocol, a Bitcoin decentralized finance (DeFi) platform on the Stacks blockchain, suffered an exploit on June 6, resulting in $8.3 million in digital asset losses. In an X announcement, Alex Protocol said the breach was caused by a vulnerability in its self-listing verification logic. The attacker used the flaw to drain liquidity from several…
A few years ago, several startups with a specific focus on digital avatars appeared because of all the metaverse buzz. While that buzz died down, generative AI has given a new life to avatars as it is easier to spin up different virtual identities. Companies are trying out different use cases for avatars, including D-ID…
For decades, patents have been a bone of contention in the technology world, seen by some as a way to protect intellectual property, but by critics as a blunt weapon against innovation. In the age of AI, they are once again getting revisited. New York startup Patlytics has developed an AI-enabled patent analytics platform to…
Vertice has made a name for itself over the years in the crowded world of expenditure management by focusing on applying AI to optimize an area where businesses are sinking hundreds of billions of dollars annually: software and cloud spend. The London-based startup’s business has grown 13x in the three years since its inception (similar…
Read.cv, a social media platform for professionals that competed with LinkedIn, has been acquired by AI-powered search engine Perplexity. As part of the deal, Read.cv will begin to wind down operations Friday. Users will be able to export their data, including their profiles, posts, and messages, until May 16. “We’ve long admired Perplexity and believe…
French startup Rounded believes AI voice agents are going to become the default way customers interact with companies, so instead of building AI voice agents that are ready to use, the company is building an orchestration platform that lets companies build their own voice agent. Rounded started off working on a web3 product before shifting…