Natasha Mascarenhas
Senior Reporter
The Latest from Natasha Mascarenhas
Why this consumer investor is switching VC firms after making partner last year
Maria Salamanca, one of the few Latina investors at a partner level within the often homogenous world of venture capital, is shaking things up. The investor tells TechCrunch that she is leaving Unshac
4 views on unpaid venture internships
The unpaid element kicked off commentary on the ethics of unpaid work more generally, an issue that felt all the more glaring in an investment group able to raise millions in external capital.
Maven’s a16z-backed live learning platform pivots from creators to experts
Maven, co-founded by Udemy’s Gagan Biyani and AltMBA’s Wes Kao, began in 2020 with a startup idea that perfectly combined two booming sectors: the creator economy and edtech. The startup sold coho
What 227 Y Combinator pitches will teach you about startups
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. In some ways, Y Combinator’s biannual Demo Day is somewhat p
Stanford moonshot promises near-term profitability with no-code magical mushrooms, ft. Plaid of X
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. As you can tell by the headline of this episode, this is a bon
Kim Kardashian and the financialization of trendsetters
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. What. A. Week. Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann jumped on the mic,
Our 10 favorite startups from YC’s S22 Demo Day: Part 2
This list is for fun, in no particular order -- just startups that stood out to TechCrunch reporters for one reason or another.
The biggest moonshots in YC’s S22 batch
Do bigger checks lead to bigger swings? Y Combinator’s latest participants are the second batch to land a $500,00 check as part of the accelerator’s recently refreshed standard deal. And while the
Come play YC bingo with TechCrunch
We here at TechCrunch love a good demo day, replete with startups showing off their idea, traction and, at times, product. Sitting through dozens or hundreds of pitches, be it at Techstars or Y Combin
Our 11 favorite companies from YC’s S22 Demo Day: Part 1
TechCrunch is tuned in, as always, to YC's Demo Day, and in keeping with our historical coverage, we compiled a list of our favorites from the first day’s pitches.
Delving into YC’s diversity data following a category shakeup
It’s possible, given that some Black and Latinx founders may identify as multiracial, that the new category contributed to a drop in monoracial demographic categories.
Here’s where YC’s latest batch of founders are placing fintech bets
Y Combinator’s latest cohort of founders have opinions on the future of fintech. One-fifth of the accelerator’s Summer 2022 batch, which spans 240 companies, is working on solving issues in the fi
Y Combinator is doubling down on crypto founders despite market volatility
Crypto founders have heard the saying a thousand times in the past few months — there’s no better time to build than during a downturn. In Y Combinator’s latest cohort, there are 30 crypto s
Kapor Capital, under new leadership, closes its largest fund to date
Kapor Capital has closed its largest fund to date, a $126 million investment vehicle set to back early-stage founders of color and social impact ventures. The new fund, which has been in the works sin
Kapor Capital’s new leaders share which LPs are taking the firm ‘to a whole new level’
Earlier today, Kapor Capital announced that it has closed its largest fund to date, a $126 million investment vehicle set to back early-stage founders of color and social impact ventures. The new fund
Y Creator, Y Competition
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. YC had its biggest news in years this week: Garry Tan will be
This startup wants to scale anonymous mental health support – starting with founders
Nate Tepper first went to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), an international program dedicated to helping people recover from alcoholism with a 12-step program, in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. He didn
We Reali don’t know when real estate will get Better
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This was a Live Week, meaning that Alex, Natasha and Mary A
Let’s talk about party rounds
Party rounds have been around for over a decade and a subject of debate for just as long. The positives are obvious. The cons are more complicated.
This founder wants to take on the biggest coaching startups with a group-focused approach
Nishika de Rosairo, the founder and chief executive of HumanQ, has a vision for employee coaching that disagrees with some of the biggest, and most valuable, startups out there. Instead of one-to-one