Recapping this week in startups

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October 23, 2026

 

TechCrunch Top 3

AI assistant startup Town nabs unicorn valuation 4 months after launch

AI assistant startup Town nabs unicorn valuation 4 months after launch: AI assistant startup Town nabbed a unicorn valuation on Monday, announcing a $108 million Series B round co-led by Forerunner Ventures and Menlo Ventures. Read More

Legal AI startup Legora raises $550M Series E at $8.8B valuation: Legal AI startup Legora announced Wednesday that it raised a $550 million Series E round, valuing it at $8.8 billion.  Read More

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Startup Battlefield 200: Celebrating outstanding achievements: Among the Startup Battlefield 200 were many industry-defining companies exhibiting and pitching on the Showcase Stage. Here are the standouts. Read More

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Must-Reads

Warhound raises $200M to engineer war dogs and arm them with Anduril gear

Warhound raises $200M to engineer war dogs and arm them with Anduril gear: Warhound, the brainchild of Ben Lamm and Palmer Luckey, emerges from stealth to genetically engineer dogs for military and law enforcement. Read More

Year-old AI lab Flapping Airplanes raises $1B at a $6B valuation: Just 9 months after raising a $180 million seed round, Flapping Airplanes has landed a $1 billion Series A for its mission to build AI models "without ingesting half the internet." Read More

The secret to fast startup growth isn't early sales, top names in tech say: At this year’s Disrupt, Lovable GTM lead Luke Arno, Polsia's Ben Broca, and Theory Ventures’ Tomasz Tunguz gave founders some tips on how to achieve true sales success in the first 90 days. Read More

Investors break down how founders can raise a Series A today: Raising a Series A these days isn't so simple — top investors break down what founders need to know now. Read More

Eric Schmidt reportedly owns about half as much of Anthropic as CEO Dario Amodei: Eric Schmidt’s fortune is about to get even bigger. Read More

 

Last but Not Least

Fusion startup Helion is developing new semiconductors that could double output of its power plants

Fusion startup Helion is developing new semiconductors that could double output of its power plants: Helion now has another $225 million to help speed development of its first fusion power plant, due to provide Microsoft with electricity in 2028. Read More

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