For years, venture capitalists have been skeptical of beverage startups, citing thin margins and brutal distribution as reasons most brands never break out. But a new wave of “functional soda” companies has been challenging that assumption, including Poppi, the prebiotic soda brand that grew from a kitchen experiment into a …

With AI igniting an investor frenzy, more startups are achieving unicorn status every month. Using data from Crunchbase and PitchBook, TechCrunch tracked down the VC-backed startups that became unicorns in 2026. While most are AI-related, a surprising number are focused on other industries like healthcare and even a few crypto …

Vibe-coding sensation Replit has hit another funding milestone. The company announced Wednesday that it raised a $400 million Series D at a $9 billion valuation, led by previous investor Georgian Partners. Other participating investors include G Squared, Prysm Capital, Coatue, Andreessen Horowitz, Craft Ventures, Y Combinator, Accenture Ventures, Okta Ventures, …

In a sea of massive valuations for early-stage AI startups, today we have a bit of rare news: a jumbo round and valuation step-up for an e-commerce company. Quince announced on Wednesday that it raised a $500 million Series E round at a $10. The round was led by previous …

Lovable crossed $400 million in annual recurring revenue in February, the Stockholm company confirmed to TechCrunch. But it declined to say whether it is still projecting to reach $1 billion ARR by year’s end, saying its focus is on “helping builders scale their impact with our platform. ” Alongside Cursor, …

India’s neobank Fi is discontinuing banking services on its platform more than four years after launching them in partnership with Federal Bank, directing customers to access their savings accounts through the bank’s mobile app as it winds down the Fi interface. Founded in 2019 by former Google Pay India executives …

Zendesk is acquiring Forethought, a company that builds software to automate customer service interactions, the companies announced on Wednesday. The deal is expected to close by the end of March. While AI agents, particularly for customer service, may be all the rage now, Forethought was years ahead of its time. …

Global ride-hailing company inDrive, known for its bid-based pricing model, has acquired Pakistan-based quick-commerce startup Krave Mart, TechCrunch has learned, as it pushes further into grocery delivery and commerce services in South Asia. The all-stock deal, agreed last year, has received approval from the Competition Commission of Pakistan, allowing the …

Elon Musk’s Neuralink and OpenAI-backed Merge Labs are pushing forward with brain–computer interface (BCI) technology in the U. Meanwhile, Chinese serial entrepreneur Phoenix Peng is building rival efforts through two startups: NeuroXess, which develops implantable BCI systems, and a second company, Gestala, developing non-invasive ultrasound-based BCIs. Gestala has raised $21. …

Legora, an AI platform for lawyers, is now valued at $5. 55 billion following a $550 million Series D set to fuel its growth in the U. That’s despite growing competition with rival Harvey, but also with Microsoft Copilot and generalist large language models (LLMs). Publicly listed legal software companies …