Venture Capital

After a Burst of New Businesses, a Cooling Economy Intrudes

An unexpected result of the pandemic era has been a surge in entrepreneurial activity. Since 2020, applications to start new businesses have skyrocketed, reversing a decades-long slump. The reasons for the boom are manifold. Millions of people were suddenly laid off, giving them the time, and inclination, to start new businesses. Personal savings jumped, buoyed […]

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The Boy Bosses of Silicon Valley Are on Their Way Out

Leaving as billionaires, they have emanated Silicon Valley’s relentless positivity. Pinterest “is just getting started,” Airbnb “is in the best hands it’s ever been in” and Instacart has a “enormous opportunity ahead,” the founders wrote. Both Mr. Mehta and Mr. Gebbia said they had plans for new projects. Investors say they anticipate more of these […]

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Stripe, the payments start-up, lowers internal valuation 28 percent.

Stripe, a payments start-up that has been one of the most valuable privately held tech companies in Silicon Valley, has lowered its internal valuation 28 percent, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, in another sign of how the fluctuating stock market and economic uncertainty are affecting private companies. Investors had valued Stripe […]

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Advanced E.V. Batteries Move From Labs to Mass Production

SAN JOSE, Calif. — For years, scientists in laboratories from Silicon Valley to Boston have been searching for an elusive potion of chemicals, minerals and metals that would allow electric vehicles to recharge in minutes and travel hundreds of miles between charges, all for a much lower cost than batteries available now. Now a few […]

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Start-Up Funding Falls the Most It Has Since 2019

SAN FRANCISCO — For the first time in three years, start-up funding is dropping. The numbers are stark. Investments in U.S. tech start-ups plunged 23 percent over the last three months, to $62.3 billion, the steepest fall since 2019, according to figures released on Thursday by PitchBook, which tracks young companies. Even worse, in the […]

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The Billionaires Behind a Push to Reinvigorate U.S. Chip-Making

Amid the debate about how the United States can bring more manufacturing of semiconductors back to the country and worries it has become a national security concern, a surprising group of well-connected billionaires has quietly assembled to influence the way Washington approaches this thorny challenge. Over the past several months, without attracting much notice, Eric […]

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Thefts, Fraud and Lawsuits at the World’s Biggest NFT Marketplace

Chris Chapman used to own one of the most valuable commodities in the crypto world: a unique digital image of a spiky-haired ape dressed in a spacesuit. Mr. Chapman bought the nonfungible token last year, as a widely hyped series of digital collectibles called the Bored Ape Yacht Club became a phenomenon. In December, he […]

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What Sheryl Sandberg’s Exit Reveals About Women’s Progress in Tech

But many of them encountered difficulties steering aging tech companies. Of those women, only Ms. Catz, Ms. Hood and Ms. Porat remain in their roles. “The snail’s pace of progress for women leaders in Silicon Valley is worse than disappointing,” said Nicole Wong, a deputy chief technology officer for the Obama administration and a former […]

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Substack Drops Fund-Raising Efforts as Market Sours

Substack, the ballyhooed newsletter platform that has lured prominent writers with the promise of cashing in on their relationships with readers, has dropped efforts to raise money after the market for venture investments cooled in recent months, according to people with knowledge of the decision. Substack held discussions with potential investors in recent months about […]

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