Posts by Mark Darwin
Shadow AI Risk: Pluto Security Raises $42M for Vibe-Coded Apps
Your employees are probably building software with AI, and your security team may not know about it. TechCrunch reports that Pluto Security, which just left stealth, has raised $42 million to find and control that kind of hidden risk. If you run a small team, it is tempting to assume this is a big-company problem.…
Read MoreSpecialty Chemicals Startup Scimplify Raises $25M: Founder Lessons
A Bengaluru startup that makes chemicals for other companies just landed one of the more interesting rounds of the week. TechCrunch reports that Scimplify raised $25 million, led by Hitachi Ventures, to grow its specialty chemicals business and add production in the U.S. and Japan. It is not a flashy consumer app, and that is…
Read MoreBusiness Loan Rates and Dimon’s Warning: A Founder Plan
When the head of the country’s largest bank talks about borrowing risk, founders with debt should listen. In coverage of JPMorgan’s third-quarter results, Jamie Dimon pointed to large deficits, stubborn inflation, rising rates, and geopolitical uncertainty as the risks his bank is preparing for. That matters because business loan rates drive what you can afford…
Read MoreInflation Report Day: How Founders Should Plan for CPI
Today is inflation report day. According to Kiplinger’s preview, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will publish September consumer prices at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, and the consensus calls for 3.6% annual inflation. August came in at 3.4%. That gap may look small, yet it flows straight into your costs, your pricing, and your customers’ patience. Marketing…
Read MoreFrom a Six-Year-Old’s Hobby to 10 Million Pounds of Popcorn a Year
Amish Country Popcorn didn’t start with a business plan, a national launch, or a long product list. It began in 1965 with a small plot of popcorn in Berne, Indiana, planted by Roy Lehman for his six-year-old son, Brian. Brian started by growing popcorn for family and friends. By sixth grade, he was carrying popcorn…
Read MoreMedian Net Worth Hits $215,900 in the Fed’s New Survey
The Federal Reserve’s latest consumer finance survey, released October 9, puts median family net worth at $215,900. That is a 2% rise from 2022 after adjusting for inflation. First fielded in 1989, the study repeats on a three-year cycle. If you are building a company, this is the closest thing to a national financial report…
Read MoreRobotics Funding Surges: What Mecka’s $60M Round Teaches Founders
Mecka raised a $60 million round to build the human-motion data that teaches robots how to move, with Sequoia Capital leading the deal. NVIDIA, Microsoft’s M12, Qualcomm Ventures and Samsung joined in, and founder Josh Gao announced the funding on October 7. Here is why that matters if you are building anything. The money is…
Read MoreOpen Source AI Agent Maker Nous Research Targets Business Users
Nous Research, maker of the free Hermes agent, closed a $90 million Series B that values the company at $1.5 billion and plans to launch AI agents for business users, TechCrunch reported on October 7. Robot Ventures led the round, and Samsung, Nvidia and the venture firms Menlo and Union Square also joined. Here is…
Read MoreVenture Capital Fund for Founders Elsewhere: Endeavor Catalyst
Endeavor Catalyst, the investing arm of the nonprofit Endeavor, wrapped up its fifth fund at $320 million in commitments, TechCrunch reported on October 7. The firm now manages more than $850 million and focuses on founders far from Silicon Valley. This is a venture capital fund with an unusual design, and its rules say a…
Read MoreContract Manufacturing Gets a Marketplace With Bloom’s Seed Round
Bloom, a Detroit startup, closed a $3.6 million seed round to build what its CEO calls an AI-powered answer to Alibaba for American factories, TechCrunch reported on October 7. SNAK Venture Partners led the round, and the company says its marketplace has handled more than 2,000 matches for over 140 companies. If you build physical…
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