The battle begins: 2026 Startup Battlefield 200 nominations are open 

Calling Pre-Series A founders: nominations for TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 are open. Compete in the world’s most iconic pitch competition at Disrupt 2026 from October 13 – 15.

Benchmark raises $225M in special funds to double down on Cerebras

Benchmark Capital has been an investor in the Nvidia rival since 2016.

Stripe alumni raise €30M Series A for Duna, backed by Stripe and Adyen execs

Having raised a €30 million Series A round led by CapitalG, business identity verification startup Duna is now among the most well-capitalized European startups founded by Stripe alumni.

Exclusive: Positron raises $230M Series B to take on Nvidia’s AI chips

The investment comes from backers including the Qatar Investment Authority as demand for chips beyond Nvidia soars and as Qatar aims to build out its AI infrastructure.

Avalanche thinks the fusion power industry should think smaller

Avalanche has raised $29 million in fresh funding to pursue its unique approach to fusion power, which can currently fit on a table.

Meet the new European unicorns of 2026

From Belgium to Ukraine, five fresh European unicorns were minted this January.

Last 24 hours to grab your +1 pass at 50% off to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

Today is the last day to lock in a +1 pass at 50% off to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, happening on October 13-15 in San Francisco. Register here.

Upwind raises $250M at $1.5B valuation to continue building ‘runtime’ cloud security

The $250 million Series B was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and Picture Capital.

Modelence raises $13 million to smooth out the vibe-coding stack

How do you build tooling for the AI software stack? A company called Modelence has an interesting answer.

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Plus-one passes are almost gone and only 3 days remain

The TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 plus-one passes at 50% off are almost sold out, and this deal ends in 3 days. Register here before this deal ends on Friday, January 30 at 11:59 p.m. PT.