In Latin American countries like Brazil and Chile, messaging platform WhatsApp has become one of the most popular apps to buy things online. It was even the ecommerce platform of choice in the region during the pandemic. But WhatsApp is designed to be a messaging platform, not an e-commerce site. A startup called Mercately is […]
Techstars is laying off 17%, ending its J.P. Morgan-backed programs
Techstars is laying off 17% of its workforce and will end its $ 80 million J.P. Morgan-backed Advancing Cities Program once the fund is completely deployed at the end of this year, TechCrunch has learned. The Advancing Cities program, which launched in 2022, saw the launch of accelerator programs across the nation in cities like […]
Startups Weekly: Drama at Techstars. Drama in AI. Drama everywhere.
Welcome to Startups Weekly — Haje‘s weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Well, folks, it looks like Techstars’ drama just got a new plot twist. CEO Maëlle Gavet is making her exit, leaving co-founder David Cohen to swoop […]
Techstars CEO Mäelle Gavet is out
Techstars CEO Maelle Gavet announced on LinkedIn that she is leaving the company at the end of the month for health reasons. Starting today, Techstars co-founder and board chairman David Cohen will become CEO. Gavet became CEO in 2021 and wrote on LinkedIn that she “would not exchange the last 3.5 years of hard work […]
TechCrunch Minute: Newchip, Techstars, and what happens when startup accelerators fail
Building a startup is hard. Building a company that helps startup is similarly difficult. That’s the takeaway from TechCrunch reporting on Techstars and Newchip. In the case of Newchip, the accelerator appeared to promise a bit more than it could deliver. Mix in a culture that appeared to be turbulent at best, and you have […]