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Oura valued at $5B following deal with medical device firm Dexcom

Aisha Malik — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 14:57:52 +0000

Smart ring maker Oura announced on Tuesday that it has received a $75 million investment from glucose device maker Dexcom. The investment marks Oura’s Series D funding round and brings the company’s valuation to more than $5 billion. The partnership paves the way for the two companies’ devices and apps to be used together, which […]

Former basketball hopeful wants to prevent ACL tears with airbags for knees

Mike Butcher — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 09:14:03 +0000

You’ve heard of car airbags deploying within milliseconds to protect passengers. How about an airbag for your knee?

Healthcare VC firm Initiate has a new $45M and has already founded five startups internally

Marina Temkin — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 18:30:38 +0000

Jessica Owens and Iana Dimkova, co-founders of Initiate Ventures, are launching their new healthcare/ life sciences-focused firm with a respectable $45 million debut fund. One of the ways they convinced limited partners to become investors is because they are building a combination early-stage and incubation firm. So not only will they invest in early-stage startups […]

Google.org commits $20M to researchers using AI for scientific breakthroughs

Paul Sawers — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 17:00:00 +0000

Google is committing $20 million in cash and $2 million in cloud credits to a new funding initiative designed to help scientists and researchers unearth the next great scientific breakthroughs using artificial intelligence (AI). The announcement, made by Google DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis during a fireside chat at the closed-door AI for Science […]

Sam Altman and Arianna Huffington’s Thrive AI Health assistant has a bare-bones demo

Kyle Wiggers — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 21:54:13 +0000

In a splashy op-ed in Time published this summer, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced Thrive AI Health, a venture with the goal of building an AI-powered assistant to promote healthier lifestyles. Backed by Huffington’s mental wellness firm Thrive Global and the OpenAI Startup Fund, Thrive AI Health would seek to […]

Amazon’s telehealth platform adds low-cost plans for hair loss, skin care, and more

Aisha Malik — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 15:17:17 +0000

Amazon One Medical is expanding its telehealth services with the launch of upfront and low-cost treatment plans and medication delivery for several beauty and lifestyle concerns. Customers can get treatment plans and medication for men’s hair loss for as low as $16 per month, anti-aging skin care for $10 per month, and erectile disfunction care […]

Amazon scraps secret fertility-tracking project

Marina Temkin — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 20:28:03 +0000

Amazon has shut down a 4-year-old secret program working on a fertility monitoring device and accompanying smartphone app, CNBC reported. The project, which was known by the codename “Encore,” evolved out of Amazon’s 2020 purchase of a startup called bluDiagnostics, which was developing a device that measured the levels of estradiol and progesterone — two […]

Wing begins delivering blood samples via drone in London

Brian Heater — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 19:26:23 +0000

Alphabet X spinoff Wing on Wednesday confirmed that it has started delivering blood samples via drone. The program, announced in September, is shuttling samples between London’s Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals. Wing is running up to 10 deliveries a day, Monday through Friday. Each run can contain several different samples and takes around three minutes. […]

Stepful raises $31.5M to address healthcare staffing shortage with AI-powered training

Marina Temkin — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 18:18:58 +0000

Carl Madi spent a chunk of the last decade working for Uber and Handy, an online marketplace for cleaners. “I spent a lot of time convincing drivers, handyman, and cleaners to join the gig economy,” he told TechCrunch. But when the pandemic struck, he saw many people lose their jobs overnight. He noticed that there […]

23andMe cuts 40% of staff in restructuring

Maxwell Zeff — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 22:51:57 +0000

23andMe announced on Monday it would cut 40% of its workforce, representing more than 200 employees, as part of a restructuring at the company. The genetic testing company is also discontinuing its therapeutics business and winding down its clinical trials; it expects these changes to save $35 million annually. “We are taking these difficult but […]

Apple reportedly shipping a security camera in 2026

Brian Heater — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 18:42:01 +0000

Apple is set to expand its smart home presence, according to Ming-Chi Kuo. The well-sourced analyst reported on Tuesday that the iPhone maker is working on an IP (internet protocol) camera with an expected 2026 shipping date. The analyst notes that Chinese component maker, Goertek, is set to assemble the product, which Apple expects to […]

Quantune joins quest for the holy grail of non-invasive glucose monitoring

Marina Temkin — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 08:24:28 +0000

Berlin-based Quantune is trying to shrink laser spectrometers so that you can wear one on your wrist, and it just raised $9M to do it.

Standing desks don’t do squat, per new study

Connie Loizos — Sat, 09 Nov 2024 18:02:23 +0000

Over the years, numerous startups have gained traction by designing, making, and selling standing desks as part of a workspace innovation trend to promote better health, and a lot of executives swear by them, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, who once called sitting “the new cancer.” But per the Washington Post, a new study of […]

How AI startup Conflixis is protecting hospitals from corrupt doctors

Julie Bort — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 17:00:00 +0000

After a career as a corruption investigator, Aaron Narva had an idea for a startup in the age of LLM AI: help hospitals identify risky behavior by doctors.

Nodal connects hopeful parents with surrogates as reproductive freedom hangs in limbo

Rebecca Szkutak — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 19:23:17 +0000

Many people who want to have children can’t, or shouldn’t, carry a pregnancy for a variety of reasons. Gestational surrogacy can be a great option for those individuals — if they can endure the lengthy wait times and afford to pay for the costly service. New York-based Nodal looks to make the process less expensive, […]

Alan unveils AI health assistant for its 680K health insurance members

Romain Dillet — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 09:27:54 +0000

Alan wants to build a super app for healthcare, so it's rolling out three new product updates, including an AI chatbot that's vetted by doctors.

CareYaya is enabling affordable home care by connecting healthcare students with elders

Aisha Malik — Sat, 02 Nov 2024 13:00:00 +0000

CareYaya, a platform that matches people who need caregivers with healthcare students, is working to disrupt the caregiving industry. The startup, which exhibited as part of the Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt, is looking to enhance affordable in-home support, while also helping students prepare for their future healthcare careers. The startup was founded in 2022 […]

Oura buys Sparta Science, its third acquisition in 2 years

Brian Heater — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 20:10:53 +0000

Smart ring maker Oura on Thursday announced that it has acquired Sparta Science, a Bay Area-based health tracking startup. TechCrunch spoke to Sparta back in 2018 at the offices of Playground Global, a key investor. The deal marks Oura’s third acquisition in two years. The company purchased digital identity platform Proxy in May 2023. This […]

And the winner of Startup Battlefield at Disrupt 2024 is: Salva Health

Isabelle Johannessen, Anthony Ha — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 23:29:56 +0000

Over the last three days, 20 startups participated in the incredibly competitive Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt. These 20 companies were selected as the best of the Startup Battlefield 200 and competed for a chance to take home the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000. After three days of intense pitching, we have a winner. The […]

2024 Startup Battlefield Top 5 Finalists: geCKo Materials

Yashad Kulkarni — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 18:30:00 +0000

A bio-inspired Dry Adhesive that is ultra-strong, reusable, leaves no residue, and requires no force to detach. The product opens new applications in industrial automations, robotic gripping, space and defense. Subscribe for more on YouTube: https://tcrn.ch/youtube Follow TechCrunch on Instagram: http://tcrn.ch/instagram TikTok: https://tcrn.ch/tiktok X: tcrn.ch/x Threads: https://tcrn.ch/threads Facebook: https://tcrn.ch/facebook Bluesky: https://tcrn.ch/bluesky Mastodon: https://tcrn.ch/mstdn Read more: […]