INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
I spent the week at SXSW, Austin’s really, really huge technology, music, comedy and film festival
It’s my first year making the trek down here for the event, which I did to interview sextech entrepreneur Lora DiCarlo founder Lora
Haddock, whose robotics innovation reward was infamously revoked at this year’s CES.“I brush my teeth and I masturbate
It’s all normal,” she said, addressing the stigma surrounding female-focused pleasure tech
Haddock, during our chat, also announced the first-ever government grant for a sextech startup, a $99,637 funding for Lora DiCarlo from the
Lora DiCarlo plans to release its first product, the Osé, this fall.Here’s what happened while I was wandering confused around
Austin.Uber, Uber, UberUber dominated the news cycle this week; here’s the TL;DR
The ride-hailing company is probably, most likely going to unveil its S-1 next month and it’s tying up some loose ends ahead of its big
Uber wants to raise roughly $1 billion at a valuation of between $5 billion and $10 billion for its autonomous vehicles unit — yes, the
same one that was burning through $20 million per month
Waymo, similarly, is looking to raise outside capital for the first time for its AV efforts.Top TPG dealmaker caught in college admissions
scandalBill McGlashan, who built his career as a top investor at the private equity firm TPG, was fired (or maybe quit) says the firm after
he was caught up in what the Justice Department said is the largest college admissions scandal it has ever prosecuted
Even worse, McGlashan lead TPG’s social impact strategy under the Rise Fund brand, making the charges particularly damning.Accel gets
$2.5BHotelTonight and Slack stakeholder Accel raised $2.525 billion, sources confirm to TechCrunch; $525 million for its fourteenth
early-stage fund, $1.5 billion for its fifth growth fund and $500 million for its second Leaders Fund, or a dedicated pool of capital meant
to help the firm strengthen its positions on particularly competitive bets
Plus, 137 Ventures announced its fourth fund with $210 million in committed capital
The firm provides liquidity to founders and early employees of “sustainable, fast-growing, private companies.” In essence, 137 Ventures
buys shares directly from employees at unicorn tech companies, like Palantir, Flexport and Airbnb.Sam AltmanLast week, we reported Y
Combinator president Sam Altman would be stepping down to focus on OpenAI
TechCrunch’s Connie Loizos questions whether he had a positive or negative influence on the accelerator during his presidency
Altman was part of the first YC startup class in 2005 and began working part-time as a YC partner in 2011
He was ultimately made the head of the organization five years ago.Brian O’Malley’s HotelTonight winForerunner Ventures general partner
Brian O’Malley went long on HotelTonight and it paid off
For your weekend reading, we thought you might enjoy an oral history from O’Malley about how he stumbled upon HotelTonight and remained
connected to the company across its nine-year history.Startup cashVC shakeups In an announcement that shocked VC Twitter, Tiger Global
announced that Lee Fixel, whom Bill Gurley once said is one of the smartest investors on the scene, is leaving the firm at the end of June
Scott Shleifer and Chase Coleman will continue as co-managers of the portfolios Fixel has overseen, with Shleifer taking over as its head
“Lee has been a driving force behind the expansion of Tiger Global’s private equity investing activities in the United States and India,
and he has distinguished himself as a world-class investor across multiple sectors and stages,” the firm stated
And on the hiring front, Canvas Ventures is expanding its team of three general partners to four with the hiring of Mike Ghaffary, a former
general partner at Social Capital.Extra CrunchSubscribers to TechCrunch’s premium content can learn which types of startups are most often
profitable.Y Combinator’s latest batchYC demo days are coming up quick
The TechCrunch staff has been meeting with YC startups and documenting their journey through the startup accelerator
I spoke to YourChoice Therapeutics, a startup developing unisex, non-hormonal birth control, and Bottomless, which operates a
direct-to-consumer coffee delivery service
TechCrunch’s Lucas Matney wrote about Jetpack Aviation, a YC startup, and its $380,000 flying motorcycle, and Adventurous, an augmented
reality scavenger hunt crafted for families
TechCrunch’s Megan Rose Dickey spoke to Ysplit, which wants to make it so you never have to owe anyone money ever again.Listen to me
talkThis week on Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines, Crunchbase
News’ editor-in-chief Alex Wilhelm and TechCrunch’s Connie Loizos discuss Uber’s IPO and Stash’s big round
Listen here.Want more TechCrunch newsletters Sign up here.
