Statement by DG Okonjo-Iweala

The U.S. Navy is more aggressively telling startups, ‘We want you’

While Silicon Valley executives like those from Palantir, Meta, and OpenAI are grabbing headlines for trading their Brunello Cucinelli vests for Army Reserve uniforms, a quieter transformation has been underway in the U.S. Navy. How? Well, the Navy’s Chief Technology Officer Justin Fanelli says he has spent the last two and a half years focused...

Alexa von Tobel has high hopes for ‘fintech 3.0’

AIMPWAJune 15, 2025

It’s been 10 years since Alexa von Tobel sold her financial planning startup Learnvest to Northwestern Mutual for $250 million. Since then, von Tobel became Northwestern Mutual’s first chief digital officer, then chief innovation officer, before launching an early-stage venture firm of her own, Inspired Capital, with former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. She’s...

The investor experience at TechCrunch All Stage: One floor, infinite deal flow

AIMPWAJune 14, 2025

TechCrunch All Stage isn’t a waiting room for warm intros — it’s a floor full of founders, ideas, and breakout potential. For VCs, it’s a rare chance to skip the filters and meet the future of tech in one place, on one day, with no layers between you and the next standout story. Whether you’re...

Clay secures a new round at a $3B valuation, sources say

AIMPWAJune 13, 2025

Clay, a sales automation startup, has raised a Series C round at an approximate $3 billion valuation, led by Capital G, according to three sources with knowledge of the deal. Clay and Capital G didn’t respond to a request for comment. The new round comes just a month after the New York startup announced that...

Zevo’s EV-only car-share fleet is helping Tesla owners make money

AIMPWAJune 13, 2025

Hebron Sher remembers daydreaming in 2019 when Elon Musk promised Tesla’s cars would become robotaxis, capable of going out in the world to make money for owners. Sher was already a user of the car-sharing platform Turo, and the idea of turning a Tesla into an even bigger moneymaker was an attractive proposition. But as...