Joanna Glasner

San Francisco

Business and Technology Columnist at Crunchbase News

Freelance reporter. Specialize in finance, venture capital and private equity Foodie. Real estate investor. No Cal address. East Coast attitude.

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Articles

Infinite Reality Buys Touchcast For $500M As M&A Spree Continues

1 week ago | news.crunchbase.com | Joanna Glasner

Spacial computing and AI unicorn Infinite Reality announced today that it will acquire agentic AI company Touchcast in a cash and stock deal valued at $500 million. The purchase is the latest in a long spree of acquisitions by 6-year-old Infinite Reality. Per Crunchbase data, the company has made 10 acquisitions to date, including eight since last April. Many are rather pricey deals too.
The Longer IPOs Delay, The Less Likely Debuts Will Happen

1 week ago | news.crunchbase.com | Joanna Glasner

Going public is not a decision any company takes lightly. For complex, high-revenue businesses in particular, an IPO filing reliably requires years of preparation and hefty investment. Likewise, postponing or canceling a planned debut is never a flippant choice. Sometimes there’s a positive reason, like an acquirer swooping in with an attractive offer. More commonly, it’s a negative one, like a market downturn.
Most-Active Startup Investors Spent More In Q1

1 week ago | news.crunchbase.com | Joanna Glasner

Although technically the first quarter ended just two weeks ago, in market time it feels exponentially longer. In recent days, we’ve seen a tariff-induced market meltdown, a partial bounce-back, and a startup exit pipeline that went from heating up to effectively stalled. As a result, our fresh quarterly data on the most-active investors already seems to have a retro vibe. It was an optimistic vibe, while it lasted. Global startup investment hit its highest level in years, driven by AI enthusiasm.
Spacetech Startup Funding Charts A New Course

2 weeks ago | news.crunchbase.com | Joanna Glasner

On the surface, spacetech looks like a reasonably stable area for startup funding. Global investment has held steady at more than $6 billion annually for the past two years, with 2025 on track to deliver similar results. Funding recipients reliably include a mix of defense tech, satellite and rocket developers, and startups finding innovative use cases for geospatial data. But while the numbers might not be shifting dramatically, investor priorities tell a different story.
Latin America Startup Funding Fell Sequentially In Q1

2 weeks ago | news.crunchbase.com | Joanna Glasner

Latin America startup investment declined sequentially in the first quarter of this year, driven by a drop in later-stage dealmaking. Even so, funding was above the depressed levels seen a year ago, and early-stage dealmaking showed signs of strength. Altogether, investors put just over $800 million into seed through growth-stage deals across Central America and South America in Q1, per Crunchbase data.
North America Startup Investment Spiked In Q1 Due To OpenAI, But Seed And Early Stage Fell

2 weeks ago | news.crunchbase.com | Joanna Glasner

North America’s startup investment hit $82 billion in the first quarter, driven by continued enthusiasm around generative AI. The Q1 tally represented the highest quarterly funding level in three years. However, nearly half of the total came from a single, record-breaking deal: the SoftBank-led $40 billion financing for OpenAI announced on March 31. Beyond that giant late-stage round, funding was down in other categories. Both early- and seed-stage investment declined.
Texas Startups Across Sectors Attract Higher Funding

2 weeks ago | news.crunchbase.com | Joanna Glasner

Texas startups are attracting stepped-up funding this year, largely thanks to enthusiasm around cybersecurity, defense tech, robotics and de-extincting mammoths. In the first three months of 2025, venture investors have poured nearly $2.9 billion into Lone Star State companies, per Crunchbase data. That represents a clear high point for the past year, charted below, as well as the largest quarterly total in more than two years. All about the mega-roundsIt’s all about big rounds.
Tariff-Induced Market Meltdown Worrisome For Startup Valuations And Exits

3 weeks ago | news.crunchbase.com | Joanna Glasner

Unlike public companies, private startup valuations don’t fluctuate massively from day to day based on current events. Eventually, however, private company prices do adjust to reflect trends in the broader markets. And based on what we’re seeing today, things look worrisome. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down a staggering 4.8% in midday trading today, following President Trump’s decision to impose sweeping tariffs on imported goods.
SoftBank And OpenAI Make History With Largest Startup Financing Ever

3 weeks ago | news.crunchbase.com | Joanna Glasner

In the history of startup funding, SoftBank’s announcement today that it is backing an investment of up to $40 billion in OpenAI is in a league of its own. No other financing even comes close. The next-closest was another OpenAI deal: Microsoft’s $10 billion financing in 2023. That was not a traditional startup financing round, however, as the money in it is to be paid over an extended period and includes a strategic partnership.
Deal Momentum Cautiously Builds At The Nexus Of AI And Real Estate

3 weeks ago | news.crunchbase.com | Joanna Glasner

Real estate is often the largest asset people own. But when it comes to venture investment, giant bets in the space often don’t work out. The list of failures and underperformers from the frothy investment period a few years ago includes many exceptionally well-funded real estate plays. Examples include WeWork, ibuyers such as Opendoor and Offerpad, and construction industry disruptors like Veev and Katerra.