Peter Thiel's big bet on solar-powered cow collars

Recapping this week in startups

View this email online in your browser  April 10, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Peter Thiel's big bet on solar-powered cow collars: Why did Founders Fund invest $220 million in cattle management startup Halter? Read More This founder helped build SpaceX's most powerful rocket engine. Now he's building a 'fighter jet for orbit.': The company's novel rocket engine could be a game changer for the U.S. military. Read More Last 24 hours: Save up to $500 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 pass: This is it. Tonight is your last chance to lock in savings of up to $500 for your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 pass. These discounts end at 11:59 p.m. PT. Read More A message from Fidelity Your Pitch Isn’t the Only Thing Investors Are Evaluating. Investors don’t just listen to what you say - they look at how your company operates. Is ownership clear? Do your numbers match your story? Can you answer follow-up questions without digging through spreadsheets? The Fundraise-Ready Startup Kit equips founders with the materials investors expect to see, before pressure is on. Because confidence in the room doesn’t come from slides. It comes from preparation. Download the Kit  Must-Reads How to make the Startup Battlefield Top 20 — and what every company gets regardless: Every founder who applies to Startup Battlefield wants the same thing: the Disrupt Main Stage. Here’s how to get there and why the opportunity starts well before the main stage. Read More Startup Battlefield 200 applications open: a chance for VC access, TechCrunch coverage, and $100K: Nominate your startup, or one you know that deserves the spotlight, and finish the process by applying. Selected 200 have a chance at VC access, TechCrunch coverage, and $100K for Startup Battlefield 200. Applications close on May 27. Read More After data breach, $10B-valued startup Mercor is having a month: After falling victim to a hacker, Mercor is facing lawsuits and reportedly losing big-name customers. Read More Databricks co-founder wins prestigious ACM award, says 'AGI is here already': Matei Zaharia has won the top honor from the Association for Computing Machinery. Now he's working on AI for research and says AGI is simply misunderstood. Read More Final 2 days to save up to $500 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 ticket: Ticket discounts of up to $500 will end tomorrow, April 10, at 11:59 p.m. PT. After that, prices for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 go up again. Miss this, and you’ll be paying more for the same access to one of the most anticipated tech events of the year. Register now to lock in these savings. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events Limited tickets available: StrictlyVC San Francisco StrictlyVC kicks off the series in SF on April 30. Be in the room for unfiltered fireside chats on fundraising and AI accuracy with industry leaders like Forum AI founder Campbell Brown, Replit co-founder Amjad Masad, and more. Make high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited. Register Now Disrupt 2026: Where deals and ideas ignite Oct 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, 10,000 founders, investors, and operators gather for high-signal insights, curated connections, and real momentum. Register Now! Last but Not Least Anthropic says Claude Code subscribers will need to pay extra for OpenClaw usage: It’s about to become more expensive for Claude Code subscribers to use Anthropic’s coding assistant with OpenClaw and other third-party tools. Read More Check out some of our other newsletters: StrictlyVC TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107

Mercor says it was hit by cyberattack tied to compromise of open source LiteLLM project

Recapping this week in startups

View this email online in your browser  April 03, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Mercor says it was hit by cyberattack tied to compromise of open source LiteLLM project: The AI recruiting startup confirmed a security incident after an extortion hacking crew took credit for stealing data from the company's systems. Read More The reputation of troubled YC startup Delve has gotten even worse: Delve faces new allegations that it violated the open source license of its customer, Sim.ai, by taking the customers's tool and passing it off as its own. Read More From moon hotels to cattle herding: 8 startups investors chased at YC Demo Day: We polled nearly a dozen VCs to find out which W26 startups are the sought after in the batch. Read More A message from Cannes Lions The Classic Challenger Pass is live. Ready to grow? New for Cannes Lions 2026, the Classic Challenger Pass is a stepping stone for independent businesses that want to progress to the global stage. Whether it’s your first Festival or your fiftieth – this is your moment to bring independent business voices to the forefront of the industry. Join us 22–26 June 2026 in Cannes, France. Learn more Must-Reads The Facebook insider building content moderation for the AI era: Moonbounce has raised $12 million to grow its AI control engine that converts content moderation policies into consistent, predictable AI behavior. Read More Whoop's valuation just tripled to $10 billion: The fitness tracking startup just closed a $575 million Series G with Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James among its investors. The obvious question looming over a round of this size at this valuation: Is an IPO coming? Read More Aetherflux reportedly raising Series B at $2 billion valuation: Index Ventures is said to be leading a $250 million to $350 million round. Read More Elon Musk’s last co-founder reportedly leaves xAI: All but two of Musk's 11 xAI co-founders departed before this week. Read More What we're looking for in Startup Battlefield 2026 and how to put your best application forward: Here's what we're looking for in your Startup Battlefield 200 application and how to make sure your application reflects it. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events Limited tickets available: StrictlyVC San Francisco StrictlyVC kicks off the series in SF on April 30. Be in the room for unfiltered fireside chats on fundraising and AI accuracy with industry leaders like Forum AI founder Campbell Brown, Replit co-founder Amjad Masad, and more. Make high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited. Register Now Disrupt 2026: Where deals and ideas ignite Oct 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, 10,000 founders, investors, and operators gather for high-signal insights, curated connections, and real momentum. Sign up! Last but Not Least Yupp shuts down after raising $33M from a16z crypto's Chris Dixon: Less than a year after launching, with checks from some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley, crowdsourced AI model feedback startup Yupp is closing its business, the company said Tuesday. Read More Check out some of our other newsletters: StrictlyVC TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107