Latest news with #YCombinator-backed
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Fintech startup Decentro raises Rs 30 crore, will shift domicile to India
Y Combinator-backed fintech startup Decentro has raised Rs 30 crore in a funding round led by InfoEdge Ventures . In making the announcement, the company also said it plans to shift its parent entity's domicile from Singapore to India over the next 12 to 18 months. The round saw Stargazer Growth (backed by Groww cofounder Lalit Keshre) and existing investors, including Uncorrelated Ventures, also participate. The fresh capital will be used by the Bengaluru-based company to deepen enterprise adoption and enhance its product capabilities, among other initiatives. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Direct Shopping From Adidas Franchise to 50% off Adidas Buy Now Undo Decentro claims to have achieved profitability and built a client base of over 1,300 enterprises, including banks, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), and fintechs. Founded in 2020 by Rohit Taneja and Pratik Daudkhane, the company offers a suite of application programming interfaces (APIs) across customer onboarding through know your customer (KYC), data intelligence, payments, and debt collections. Live Events 'Our goal has always been to make financial and banking infrastructure simple, secure, and reliable at scale. This fundraise allows us to double down on what's working well; deep partnerships with enterprise customers and building products that power mission-critical financial flows,' said Taneja, who is the CEO of the firm. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories 'India is where it all started, and we want to make this our long-term base with the eventual flip,' he added. Among Decentro's recent products are a real-time profiling engine called Scanner, and Neobot, a multilingual AI voice agent for automated debt collections. With the decision to relocate to India, Decentro joins a growing list of Indian startups shifting domicile from overseas markets like the US and Singapore as IPO ambitions rise and regulatory clarity improves. The latest fintech company to complete a reverse flip was Razorpay , following Groww, which completed the process in May 2024 and has since confidentially filed for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Dream Sports, the parent of Dream11, was the first to complete a reverse flip under the new fast-track framework, as reported by ET on March 4. These updated rules allow foreign holding entities to merge with their Indian subsidiaries without requiring National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approval, a process that earlier took months. Other companies that have completed the move include PhonePe and Zepto, while Meesho, KreditBee, InMobi, Udaan, and Pine Labs are expected to follow soon. 'This flip is a strong statement of our commitment to India and our belief in its capacity to foster and scale global financial infrastructure companies. We are building not just for India, but from India for global opportunities,' said Daudkhane.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Y Combinator Startup Firecrawl Offers $1M For AI Agents That Blog, Code, And Do Customer Support Without Sleeping
Y Combinator-backed startup Firecrawl is offering up to $1 million to hire three autonomous AI agents, one for blogging, one for customer support, and one for software development. According to founder Caleb Peffer, the listings attracted approximately 50 applicants within the first week of going live, signaling strong early interest in the concept of autonomous AI employment, TechCrunch reports. Don't Miss: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. Firecrawl develops AI-optimized web crawlers designed to help enterprises collect structured data for large language models. According to TechCrunch, rather than simply building tools for AI, the company is now seeking to hire AI agents as autonomous employees. Firecrawl's new job posts on Y Combinator's job board are labeled for 'AI agents only.' The company wants three distinct AI agents, each with a clear job description, performance expectations, and a monthly salary between $5,000 and $25,000. According to an X post made by Peffer on May 9, the full budget for this project tops $1 million. The first role is for a content creation agent designed to function as a full-stack marketing machine. According to the job description, this agent would write SEO-optimized blog posts, analyze engagement metrics, and continuously evolve its content based on real-time performance. Its goal is to produce content that ranks, converts, and improves itself without human interference. Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — The second position is for a junior developer agent tasked with triaging GitHub issues, writing documentation, and submitting production-ready code in both TypeScript and Go. This agent is expected to function like a 10x engineer assistant: fast, accurate, and endlessly scalable, the job description says. The third position is a customer support engineer agent capable of answering tickets in under two minutes. The job description says the agent must understand when to escalate an issue and learn from repeated interactions. According to the job post, prior customer support experience is preferred, a wink at the fact that this job is ideally suited for a semi-autonomous AGI trained on thousands of support threads. While the ads are targeted at autonomous agents, Firecrawl is also open to hiring the humans who design and build these agents, Peffer's X post says. The company may also hire the humans who build the agents, whether as full-time employees, contractors, or external startups, TechCrunch founder acknowledges the limits of current AI, saying that the dream agent doesn't exist yet. But he believes the future belongs to humans who can deploy and manage AI armies, not just use AI tools. 'AI can't replace humans today. The future, what we see, is a world where the next 10x engineers are operating armies of agents, AI systems that they're building, maintaining, and monitoring. What we want to do is work with people that want to be those agent operators,' Peffer told TechCrunch. Firecrawl isn't the only startup hiring AI agents. Across Y Combinator's job board, demand for AI agents and agent developers is climbing. From customer service bots to autonomous coders, Silicon Valley startups are betting big on modular, multi-agent systems, TechCrunch reports. With a bold $1 million wager and a head start in building ethical crawling infrastructure, Firecrawl is positioning itself at the forefront of the AI agent movement. Read Next: Invest where it hurts — and help millions heal:. Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Y Combinator Startup Firecrawl Offers $1M For AI Agents That Blog, Code, And Do Customer Support Without Sleeping originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
VERO Announces Growth Equity Round Co-Led By Fifth Wall And Sunriver Capital Partners
—With meaningful participation from Rebuild Capital, the investment and newly appointed leadership positions VERO to accelerate product innovation, scale operations, and deepen market traction— NEW YORK, May 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- VERO—the modern screening and leasing platform for owners and renters—today announced a significant growth equity round co-led by Fifth Wall and Sunriver Capital Partners, with meaningful participation from Rebuild Capital. This strategic partnership brings together leading firms to distinctly bolster VERO's position in the market. The capital will enable the company to accelerate product development, enhance go-to-market initiatives, and solidify its role as the foundational layer within the modern property tech stack — optimizing the owner and renter experience. This round follows VERO's $9M Series B, led by Fifth Wall, which closed in April 2023. "VERO sits at one of the most critical junctures in the renter journey — right at the point where real, verifiable information enters the system. That moment isn't just about screening; it sets the stage for everything that follows, from insurance and deposit alternatives to the move-in experience," shared Magnus Vik, Co-President & Chief Operating Officer, Fifth Wall. "VERO isn't a point solution, it's the gateway to an entire ecosystem. We're thrilled to double down on our investment in VERO and look forward to supporting them as they continue redefining how the industry serves owners and renters." As VERO enters its next chapter, Travis Gibson has joined the company as Chief Technology Officer. An early engineer at Marqeta—the global leader in modern card issuing—Gibson played a pivotal role in scaling the company's Digital Banking product suite through hypergrowth and IPO. He later founded Proper, a Y Combinator-backed FinTech startup, which was acquired by Intuit in March 2024. More recently, Gibson has been focused on helping public companies modernize their legacy tech stacks and elevate overall product performance. Gibson joins a seasoned leadership team that includes Jamey Rosamond, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Sunriver, who now serves as Chief Executive Officer of VERO. Rosamond brings more than two decades of experience operating and investing in high-growth companies across the real estate tech, insuretech, and construction tech sectors. Prior to founding Sunriver, Rosamond served as Chief Operating Officer of leading the company through its acquisition by MRI Software, and before that as Chief Operating Officer of RadPad, which was acquired by Priority Technology Holdings. Rounding out the team is Jeff Cate, VERO's Chief Financial Officer, who brings deep expertise in finance and operations, having held senior roles at Appspace, Hayman Capital Management, and Atlas Capital. "With a proven track record of building and scaling category-defining financial products, leading high-performance engineering teams, and driving innovation across both startups and enterprise environments, Travis brings the vision and technical depth to accelerate VERO's next wave of product growth," stated Copley Broer, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Sunriver. "This significant capital infusion—combined with a best-in-class leadership team and a robust pipeline—positions VERO to capitalize on its momentum and solidify its status as the category leader of choice for owner-operators." Lou Baugier—VERO's founding Chief Executive Officer—will continue to support the company as a Senior Advisor, helping to guide its mission and long-term vision. Under Baugier's leadership, VERO evolved from an early-stage startup into a trusted partner to several of the top 10 property management companies in the U.S. His transition marks a natural evolution as the company enters its next phase of growth. Supporting this next chapter, VERO has strengthened its Board of Directors with the addition of Vik, Broer, and Jeremy Kaner, Founder and Managing Partner of Rebuild Capital. VERO's platform has become increasingly valuable to many of Fifth Wall's Limited Partners operating across the single-family and multifamily sectors. Kristy Simonette, Senior Vice President of Strategic Services and Chief Information Officer at Camden Property Trust, said, "As the industry moves past favorable cap rate dynamics, success now relies on execution and partnering with platforms that deliver measurable results. We constantly evaluate every partner based on ROI, and VERO stands out. It streamlines our leasing process, catches fraud early, and ensures we place the right residents in our apartment homes. It's essential in today's operating environment." VERO is a purpose-built platform designed to streamline residential leasing by mitigating risk, accelerating leasing velocity, and consolidating fragmented vendor relationships. In a market where owners and operators often rely on incomplete risk proxies, and applicants face outdated, invasive processes, VERO offers the modern, centralized solution that works for both sides of the lease. As the first and only platform to fully automate the verification of prior residency and applicant qualifications, VERO eliminates manual workflows while improving accuracy, compliance, and operational efficiency. By unifying every step of the leasing process—from screening to signing—into one fraud-proof system, VERO helps increase net asset value, reduce risk, and deliver a faster, more transparent experience for both property teams and renters. Today, VERO is live across a rapidly growing footprint of properties, has flagged tens of thousands of fraudulent applications, and has screened hundreds of thousands of applications — a testament to the accelerating demand for modern leasing infrastructure. About VEROVERO is the modern screening and leasing platform purpose-built for owners and renters. Acting as the foundational layer of the residential leasing stack, VERO helps operators reduce risk, increase velocity, and streamline workflows by consolidating fragmented tools into one centralized system. As the only platform to fully automate applicant and residency verification, VERO eliminates manual processes while improving compliance, accuracy, and fraud detection. By unifying the leasing journey—from screening to signing—VERO delivers a faster, safer, and more transparent experience for property teams and renters alike. Learn more at About Fifth WallFounded in 2016, Fifth Wall, is the largest asset manager investing at the intersection of real estate and technology. With approximately $3B in commitments and capital under management, Fifth Wall is backed by a global mix of more than 110 strategic limited partners from 20-plus countries, including BNP Paribas Real Estate, British Land, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, Hilton, Hines, Host Hotels and Resorts, Kimco Realty Corporation, Lennar, Marriott International, MetLife Investment Management, MGM Resorts, Related Companies, Starwood Capital, and Toll Brothers, amongst others. This consortium represents one of the largest groups of potential partners in the global built world ecosystem, resulting in transformational investments and collaboration with portfolio companies to improve efficiency and maximize returns. Founded in Los Angeles and headquartered in New York City, Fifth Wall's other offices include San Francisco, London and Singapore. For more about Fifth Wall, its Limited Partners and portfolio, please visit About Sunriver Capital PartnersSunriver Capital Partners bridges the gap between traditional venture capital and private equity. We provide growth capital to mid-stage technology companies with proven business models that may not fit conventional funding frameworks. Sunriver is deeply focused on the technologies that are changing traditional industries such as real estate, construction, and insurance, and our experienced internal operations team ensures that we bring more than just capital to our portfolio companies. Sunriver is based in Dallas. For more information, please visit About Rebuild CapitalRebuild Capital is a special situations investment firm focused on Built World technology companies and takes a hybrid VC/PE approach to strategic investing across the real estate and construction technology landscapes. Rebuild Capital partners with our strategic LPs and deep bench of operating partners to provide portfolio companies with an ecosystem where they gain access to the guidance, relationships, customers and capital needed to succeed. Rebuild invests across the entire company lifecycle, from early-stage incubation to late-stage turnarounds, providing tailored capital solutions that match each portfolio company's unique growth trajectory and operational needs. For more information, please visit View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE VERO
New York Post
13-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
AI job interview spirals into ‘dystopian, disturbing' glitch: ‘I was freaked out'
Job interviews are stressful enough — but throw in a glitchy AI recruiter, and you've got a full-blown digital nightmare. TikTok user Ken @its_ken04 is going viral after her job interview at a Stretch Lab in Ohio spiraled into the bizarre when the AI interviewer, powered by startup Apriora, malfunctioned and repeated the phrase 'vertical bar pilates' 14 times in 25 seconds. 'I thought it was really creepy and I was freaked out,' she told 404 Media in a recent interview. @its_ken04 It was genuinely so creepy and weird. Please stop trying to be lazy and have AI try to do YOUR JOB!!! It gave me the creeps so bad #fyp ♬ original sound – Its Ken 🤍 'I didn't find it funny at all until I had posted it on TikTok, and the comments made me feel better,' she added. 'I was very shocked. I didn't do anything to make it glitch, so this was very surprising.' Apriora, a Y Combinator-backed startup, touts its AI platform as a way to 'hire 87% faster' and 'interview 93% cheaper' by conducting multiple interviews simultaneously using bot recruiters. But for Ken, the encounter was more 'Black Mirror' than breakthrough. 'It was genuinely so creepy and weird,' she captioned her viral May 2 TikTok. 'Please stop trying to be lazy and have AI try to do YOUR JOB!!!' she continued. 'It gave me the creeps so bad.' Y Combinator-backed Apriora boasts that its AI platform can 'hire 87% faster' and 'interview 93% cheaper' by running multiple interviews at once with bot recruiters. golubovy – The unsettling encounter struck a chord on TikTok, where other users shared their horror stories of AI-powered job hunts. 'A company tried to send me to an AI interview for an HR position … Why would I want to work HUMAN resources for a company that won't even dignify me with human interaction???' one commenter wrote. Another added, 'I applied to a job today that had an AI interview and immediately closed the window, cause if they're not taking the time to interview me, I'm not taking the time to try to work there.' This isn't the first time AI's takeover of the job market has left job seekers rattled. AI's increasing grip on the hiring process has unnerved job seekers before, and this latest glitch is just the latest example of how automated recruiting can go awry. Pablo Lagarto – As previously reported by The Post, nearly half of Gen Z job hunters say their degrees have already been rendered useless by generative AI like ChatGPT. According to a report from Indeed last month per CIO Dive, 49% of Gen Z job seekers feel their college education has lost value in the workforce. For millennials, it's 34%, and for boomers, just 20%. In addition, nearly half — 44% — of Gen Z college grads say they've been turned off by interviews that didn't mention a salary range, sometimes by flat-out ghosting the recruiter, according to Monster's 2025 State of the Graduate Report. 'I will just decline,' Ken said bluntly to 404 Media. 'If another company wants me to talk to AI, I'm not doing it again.'
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
12-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
AI hallucination puts firms at risk? New insurance covers legal costs
Insurers at Lloyd's of London have introduced a new insurance product designed to protect businesses from financial losses arising from artificial intelligence system failures, according to a report by The Financial Times. The insurance, developed by Y Combinator-backed start-up Armilla, provides coverage for legal claims against companies when AI tools generate inaccurate outputs. The policy offers financial protection against potential legal consequences, including court-awarded damages and associated legal expenses. It responds to rising concerns over AI's tendency to produce unreliable or misleading information—commonly referred to as "hallucinations" in AI terminology. As companies increasingly integrate AI tools to enhance efficiency, they also face growing risks from errors caused by flaws in AI models that lead to hallucinations or fabricated information. Last year, a tribunal ruled that Air Canada must honour a discount its customer service chatbot had wrongly offered. What is an AI hallucination? An AI hallucination occurs when an algorithm generates information that appears credible but is actually false or misleading. Computer scientists use the term to describe such errors, which have been seen in various AI tools. These hallucinations can cause significant problems when AI is used in sensitive areas. While some errors are relatively harmless—such as a chatbot giving a wrong answer—others can have serious consequences. In high-stakes settings like legal cases or health insurance decisions, inaccuracies can severely impact people's lives. Unlike systems that follow strict, human-defined rules, AI models operate based on statistical patterns and probabilities, which makes occasional errors inevitable. Though minor mistakes may not pose a big problem for most users, hallucinations become critical when dealing with legal, medical, or confidential business matters. Karthik Ramakrishnan, Armilla's chief executive, said the new product could encourage more companies to adopt AI by addressing fears that tools like chatbots might break down or make errors. Hallucinations getting worse despite AI advances Despite improvements by companies like OpenAI and Google in reducing hallucination rates, the problem has worsened with the introduction of newer reasoning models. OpenAI's internal assessments found that its latest models hallucinate more often than earlier versions. Specifically, OpenAI reported that its most advanced model, o3, produced hallucinations 33 per cent of the time on the PersonQA benchmark, which tests the ability to answer questions about public figures—more than double the rate of its earlier model, o1.
