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☆ AI is ushering edtech into a new era. Three investors share what they're most excited about in the space.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The past few years have been tough for edtech companies. In recent months, multiple edtech startups have raised fresh funding rounds while specifically touting AI as a core part of their business model. These deals could signal that AI is ushering in a new era for edtech companies, and VCs who invest in the space are excited about the renaissance. And Ednition, also one of Donnelly's portfolio companies, provides an infrastructure-as-a-service platform for other edtech companies to improve the data that goes into their AI models. That's why it's so important to invest in ed-tech AI startups that help people rethink how they interact with technology and learn new skills necessary to successfully enter the workforce, he said.

Persons: PitchBook, VCs, Brian Dixon, Dixon, we've, Numerade, Kapoor, Katelyn Donnelly, she's, I've, you'll, Donnelly, Avalance, OpenAI, we're, ChatGPT, Ryan Craig, Craig, edtech Organizations: Business, Labs, Kapor, Partners, Chingona Ventures, TechCrunch, Kapoor Capital, Lirvana Labs, Odyssey Education, University Ventures, ACT Locations: VCs, edtech

☆ Lirvana Labs developed an AI companion that it thinks will revolutionize the classroom. Here's the pitch deck the startup used to land $5.3 million.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewAI has been a boom for the education space, and one startup just raised millions by convincing investors that large language models and generative AI will supercharge kids' learning. The startup, Lirvana Labs, just raised $5.3 million in seed funding from Kapor Capital, Transcend Capital Partners, and Chingona Ventures, Business Insider has learned. Lirvana Labs is betting that AI can counteract these trends. The startup's tech is available via a mobile app, which costs $9.99 monthly or $69.99 annually. Check out the 13-slide pitch deck Lirvana Labs used to raise its seed-funding round.

Persons: —, Christie, Clement Pang, Pang, Christie Pang Organizations: Service, Lirvana Labs, Kapor, Partners, Chingona Ventures, Business, National Center for Education Studies, Nations Locations: Menlo Park , California, Lebanon

☆ Elon Musk laid him off. Now he’s aiming to build a social network that’s better than X
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

They wanted it to be everything most social media struggles to be: positive, safe and inclusive. And as the user base of the platform now known as X splinters, so does Black Twitter, the community of Black users that was a big part of Twitter’s growth and culture. Legacy social media platforms have repeatedly failed to anticipate how their products might be manipulated or misused until something goes wrong. Alphonzo Terrell, co-founder of the social media app Spill, demonstrates how the platform works during an interview with CNN. CNNEven with AI content moderation models, other social media companies often fail to catch harmful content that makes it onto their platforms.

Persons: Alphonzo Terrell, he’d, Terrell – who’d, –, Elon Musk, Terrell, DeVaris Brown, “, ‘, ’ ” Terrell, who’s, Brown, Musk, ”, Maya Umemoto Gorman, …, ” Terrell, Brown —, Kenya Parham, weren’t, Elon, Maya Iman ‘, they’ve, “ That’s, Alphonzo Terrell “, Paul Barrett, they’d, it’s, — don’t, Jalaiah Harmon, Taylor Lorenz, Latoya Lee, ” Lee Organizations: New, New York CNN, Twitter, Elon, CNN, Spill, Washington Post, HBO, Showtime, YouTube, Intel, Cisco, Microsoft, NYU Stern Center for Business, Human, Apple, Kapor Center, Social, Mac Venture, Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime, VH1, Pew Research Center, New York Times, California State University Fullerton Locations: New York, Los Angeles, Kenya, Spill, Georgia

☆ Watch Live: Spotlighting female founders closing the gap for women in the workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Harriet Taylor | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

First, Boorstin will speak with tech venture capitalists Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor, founding partners of Kapor Capital Partners and the authors of "Closing the Equity Gap," published by Harper Business. Through Kapor Capital, they invest in entrepreneurs whose products and services aim to close social and economic equity gaps while building successful businesses. Boorstin will also speak with them about the current economic environment and what can be done to mitigate the impact on fundraising for minority founders. Allison Whalen is the co-founder and CEO of Parentaly, which works with companies to administer parental leave programs. Hear from these change-makers who are delivering social and economic returns, building successful companies, and sharing key insights they've learned along the way.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank became the go-to bank for startups with a network of top-tier VCs. Underrepresented founders say that created barriers to access for them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( April Joyner | Ben Bergman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

But some early-stage founders told Insider they had trouble getting access to SVB's services. SVB's reliance on VC networks made it less accessible to some underrepresented founders, they said. With its focus on venture-backed startups, Silicon Valley Bank provided loans and lines of credit to businesses that often wouldn't qualify for such services at a larger bank. But the earliest-stage companies — those without significant venture funding or a notable VC backer — were still sometimes shut out, founders told Insider. Jean-Charles and Alvarez-Bailey said they didn't believe bias or discrimination was at play in SVB's decisions — they simply didn't meet the bank's VC funding threshold.

☆ Tech service startup Bitwise Industries raises $80 mln in latest funding round
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Krystal Hu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 28 (Reuters) - Bitwise Industries, a tech service provider that trains workers in underrepresented communities, has raised $80 million in a funding round led by existing investors Kapor Center and Motley Fool, the company told Reuters. Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GS.N) and Citibank (C.N) also participated in the round, which brought its total funding to $180 million. Founded in Fresno, California by Irma Olguin Jr and Jake Soberal, Bitwise invests in tech real estate, runs apprentice programs for marginalized communities and sells managed tech services to government and traditional businesses. The company said it supported the training of over 10,000 individuals, 80% of whom have received technical employment. The training program, supported by government workforce upskill funding and tech corporate funding, usually takes about 12-18 months to complete.

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