Natasha Mascarenhas
Senior Reporter
The Latest from Natasha Mascarenhas
The BNPL crackdown hasn’t crushed Walnut and its latest $110M Series A
Walnut was founded by Roshan Patel to bring the buy now, pay later model to healthcare, arguably the home of some of the least transparent and taxing financial transactions. After being in the inaugur
Cameo conducts layoffs a year after hitting unicorn status
Cameo, a platform that allows fans to buy personalized videos from celebrities, has laid off 87 members of its staff, according to a tweet from CEO Steven Galanis. The layoffs, as first reported by Th
Afore’s fresh $150 million fund includes a plan to standardize the pre-seed world
Venture firm Afore Capital first splashed on the scene with the aim to institutionalize that angels, friends and family round. Now, after investing in over 80 companies over five years, the eight-pers
OK, this one is for the crypto-curious
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single to
Digital health startups brace for a post-Roe world
Per a leaked draft obtained by Politico, the Supreme Court is set to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, a precedent that protects a women’s choice to have an abortion. The move, still yet t
Inclusive fintech is hard to do right, so Line has a different direction
There’s no shortage of fintechs claiming to build a more inclusive, mission-driven fintech platform for lower-income individuals. However, hurdles like required credit history or predatory interest
Slice and dice it all you want, that’s a seed round
Welcome to Startups Weekly, a fresh human-first take on this week’s startup news and trends. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. There’s a clash happening in the early-stage market. In one
If the earliest investors keep going earlier, what will happen?
There’s a clash happening in the early-stage market. In one world, late-stage investors are reacting to tech stonk corrections by clamoring toward the early-stage investment world, forcing seed inve
Jack Dorsey says he’s against permanent Twitter bans, with an asterisk
On Friday afternoon, former Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey turned to the platform that he co-created to speak about its future, days after the company was bought for $44 billion by Elon Musk. In
Techstars debuts new fund for companies too early for its own accelerator
Techstars, a startup accelerator born in Boulder, Colorado, has always been comfortable carving out niches. Unlike perhaps its closest competitor, Y Combinator, Techstars has gone the divide and conqu
January Ventures’ new fund will help young startups navigate this ‘Darwinian moment’
When Maren Bannon and Jennifer Neundorfer first launched their venture capital firm, Jane VC, they wanted to end the practice of “warm intros” in tech. The goal was to back female founders who wer
Raising a Series A in a market of mixed messages
For startups graduating past the seed stage and thinking about landing that coveted Series A, what’s the best way to navigate a market of mixed messages?
Bring on the Twitter mafia
Twitter is smaller than you think. The company has around 7,000 employees, compared to other social media platforms like Meta, formerly Facebook, which has nearly 10 times as many employees. It means
Brianne Kimmel’s new $35 million fund isn’t yet tempted by all of web3
While web3, the metaverse and virtual HQs feel like the loudest features of the “future of work” startup category, Worklife Ventures founder Brianne Kimmel has a more down-to-earth definit
How to know when it’s time for your startup to stop DIY-ing legal work
There’s a lot of work that needs to be done when building a startup, legally and professionally. And startup lawyers specializing in niche documents and processes can be useful resources.
Deal terms feel like dart boards these days
Welcome to Startups Weekly, a fresh human-first take on this week’s startup news and trends. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. When Andreessen Horowitz unveiled its new early-stage startup
If you could go to Andreessen Horowitz or YC as a startup, which would you choose?
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This week was a good week because we had the full team back to
After layoffs, Flockjay lands on a new SaaS-y vision for tech sales
Months after cutting half its staff, edtech startup Flockjay has landed on a new vision for how to disrupt tech sales: start from the inside, out. The startup is building Flockjay Elevate, a platform
More money doesn’t mean more growth, and other startup myths
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single to
Top SoftBank LatAm partners leave firm to start their own
SoftBank Latin America is certainly having massive exits, but not the lucrative kind. Paulo Passoni and Shu Nyatta, two managing investment partners of SoftBank’s Latin America practice, are leaving