February 20, 2026

TechCrunch Top 3

This VC's best advice for building a founding team: One of the most consequential decisions early-stage founders have to make is who they will bring on as their founding team. That's why this season on Build Mode, we're diving into what it takes to build a world-class founding team. Read More

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Super Early Bird rates end in 1 week: The lowest ticket rates of the year for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 ends next Friday, February 27. Save up to $680 on your pass. Register now before prices increase. Read More

Prepare for pitch battle: Startup Battlefield 200 nominations are open: Nominations for TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 are open. Pitch at Disrupt 2026 in October in front of top VCs and the full TechCrunch audience. Nominate your startup or for one that's deserving. Read More

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Must-Reads

A startup called Germ becomes the first private messenger that launches directly from Bluesky's app: Social network Bluesky now offers private messaging by integrating the startup Germ's E2E encrypted messenger natively in its app. Read More

OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger joins OpenAI: OpenAI said OpenClaw will live on as an open source project. Read More

The OpenAI mafia: 18 startups founded by alumni: The OpenAI mafia: 15 of the most notable startups founded by alumni Read More

Peak XV raises $1.3B, doubles down on AI as global VC rivalry in India heats up: Peak XV says most of its new capital will target India as the firm prioritizes AI, fintech and cross-border bets while navigating recent partner departures. Read More

What the Epstein files reveal about EV startups and Silicon Valley: Will the Epstein revelations lead to broader fallout in Silicon Valley? Read More

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Upgraded tech to get 30% higher quality leads at Disrupt

Exhibiting at Disrupt puts your company in front of 10,000+ decision-makers and VCs, powered by upgraded lead-capture technology that drives up to 30% higher-intent connections. Limited tables position your brand at the center of three days of high-volume Expo Hall traffic. Secure your table early.

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Last but Not Least

Ali Partovi's Neo looks to upend the accelerator model with low-dilution terms: Neo's new Residency program invests $750,000 in an uncapped SAFE for startups and provides a $40,000 no-strings-attached grant for college students. Read More

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February 13, 2026

TechCrunch Top 3

How to get into a16z's super-competitive Speedrun startup accelerator program: TechCrunch spoke to a16z partner Joshua Lu for some tips on standing out for the Speedrun program. Read More

Former GitHub CEO raises record $60M dev tool seed round at $300M valuation: Thomas Dohmke's new startup offers an AI system to allow developers to better manage all the code AI agents produce. Read More

Didero lands $30M to put manufacturing procurement on 'agentic' autopilot: Didero functions as an agentic AI layer that sits on top of a company's existing ERP, acting as a coordinator that reads incoming communications and automatically executes the necessary updates and tasks. Read More

A message from TechCrunch Events

TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 nominations open

Nominate your cutting-edge, early-stage startup or one worth a shot for Startup Battlefield 200 and take the Disrupt Stage this October in San Francisco. Compete for $100K equity-free, gain global visibility, and face top investors. Thousands apply. 200 advance. Only 20 pitch live.

Nominate Today

Must-Reads

Databricks CEO says SaaS isn't dead, but AI will soon make it irrelevant: AI isn't going to replace major SaaS apps with vibe-coded versions, Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi believes. But it could give rise to competitors. Read More

Former Founders Fund VC Sam Blond launches AI sales startup to upend Salesforce : The startup, Monaco, has come out of stealth as an AI-native all-in-one CRM plus more system backed by names like the Collison brothers and Garry Tan. Read More

Score, the dating app for people with good credit, is back: Two years ago, a controversial dating app was launched and quickly shuttered: for people with good-to-excellent credit. Now, the founder is relaunching it, open to anyone. Read More

AI inference startup Modal Labs in talks to raise at $2.5B valuation, sources say: General Catalyst is in talks to lead the round for the four-year-old startup, according to our sources. Read More

Eclipse backs all-EV marketplace Ever in $31M funding round: The San Francisco-based startup says its AI-first approach has allowed it to scale faster. Read More

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Give Winning Startups a Fast Track to Startup Battlefield at Disrupt

Turn your pitch competition into a direct pipeline to Startup Battlefield with TechCrunch's Fast Track program. With TechCrunch's editorial voice, judging support, and global amplification, your program gains instant credibility, reach, and founder demand. Elevate your event, attract stronger startups, and give winners a fast-track to Startup Battlefield at Disrupt — all while positioning your organization at the center of startup innovation.

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