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Grain, a FinTech company focused on optimising foreign exchange (FX) for cross-border transactions, has secured over $50m in new funding to advance its AI-powered platform.The funding includes a $33m Series A round led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Aleph, Vessey Ventures and Hanaco Ventures. This follows an earlier $18m seed round, bringing Grain’s total funding to date above $50m.Grain specialises in providing embedded FX solutions for B2B platforms, marketplaces, and payment providers. Its technology is designed to mitigate currency risk in real time while helping businesses dynamically price transactions at the point of sale. By integrating directly into…

CoverForce, an InsurTech platform focused on enhancing infrastructure and connectivity within the commercial insurance sector, has raised $13m in a Series A funding round.The funding round was led by Insight Partners, a global software investor, with additional participation from Nyca Partners.Founded by Cyrus Karai, Behram Dinshaw, and Kaivan Wadia, CoverForce operates a marketplace that facilitates seamless digital interactions between insurance carriers, agencies, and wholesalers. The platform serves as a central hub for quote-and-bind API connections, enabling brokers, wholesalers and agencies to access instant quotes and bind policies with a single click.CoverForce plans to use the new capital to expand its…

Microsoft threat hunters warned Wednesday of a significant shift in tactics by Silk Typhoon, a Chinese government espionage group linked to recent US Treasury hacks. The group is now targeting companies in the global IT supply chain, including IT services, remote monitoring and management firms and managed service providers. Instead of going after high-profile cloud services, Microsoft said it caught the threat actor using stolen API keys and compromised credentials to breach a range of companies in the IT supply chain to extend their reach to downstream customer environments.  According to documentation from Redmond’s threat intelligence team, the Chinese government-backed…

Just a few years ago, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) had a spike in hype and many investors and firms started to explore opportunities in the space. However, sentiment might be changing, particularly as new governments show scepticism towards the space. How will this impact the future of the sector in 2025?Despite all regions potentially benefiting from a strong ESG space, the next few years might see just a selection of countries becoming bastions of the sector. Tamara Kostova, CEO at Velexa, explained, “The future of ESG investing is becoming increasingly region-specific.“In the U.S., political resistance and regulatory pushback are leading…

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from drastically cutting medical research funding that many scientists say will endanger patients and cost jobs.The new National Institutes of Health policy would strip research groups of hundreds of millions of dollars to cover so-called indirect expenses of studying Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and a host of other illnesses — anything from clinical trials of new treatments to basic lab research that is the foundation for discoveries.Separate lawsuits filed by a group of 22 states plus organizations representing universities, hospitals and research institutions nationwide sued to stop the cuts, saying they…

Two trailblazing computer scientists have won the 2024 Turing Award for their work in reinforcement learning, a discipline in which machines learn through a reward-based trial-and-error approach that lets them adapt within constrained or dynamic environments. Andrew G. Barto, a professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; and Richard S. Sutton, a professor at the University of Alberta, developed key algorithms and theories through a seminal series of papers starting in the 1980s. This includes work on a reinforcement technique called temporal difference learning; the duo later published an academic textbook called “Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction.” Esteemed mathematician Alan…

On Wednesday, Google announced the launch of a new AI image feature for its Shopping tab, designed to help users find clothing items they envision by allowing them to search using their own words. The company is also expanding its AR beauty and virtual try-on tools. The new feature, “Vision Match,” is now available in the search experience on mobile for U.S. users. It lets shoppers describe a garment they’re imagining, and then the AI suggests ideas based on the description, along with the best available matches that users can purchase. To try this feature, type an idea into the…

Aubrey Preston, the son of Life Care Centers of America founder Forrest Preston.Leiper’s Fork Foundation America’s largest privately-held nursing chain has been owned and run by the same person for more than five decades. Tennessee mogul Forrest Preston founded Life Care Centers of America in 1970 and built it into a juggernaut with over 200 locations in 27 states. That all changed on Tuesday after a brief trial in Bradley County, Tennessee, which ended with the court finding the 91-year-old Preston to be mentally unfit to helm the $3 billion (revenue) business. Preston’s son, Aubrey, 65, who was named his…

The ChatGPT prompt that reveals your hidden talent in seconds getty Most people go through life never realizing what they’re truly exceptional at. They spend decades trying to fix weaknesses instead of leveraging their natural talents. They compare themselves to others and come up short. They feel lost and uncertain about what makes them special. I shared a simple but powerful prompt in a LinkedIn post that helps entrepreneurs discover their unique talents. Here are the surprising results and how you can use this insight to accelerate your success. You need an edge to stand out: find it with ChatGPT…

Are you a leader in the AI space? Make your voice heard as a TechCrunch Sessions: AI speaker.  At TechCrunch Sessions: AI, you can help shape what’s next in the AI industry — and share your expertise with 1,200 AI founders, investors, and industry pioneers. Help drive the next wave of innovation on June 5 in Zellerbach Hall at UC Berkeley. We’re bringing together leaders and shakers in the AI industry to host compelling sessions and interactive roundtables. You can help propel the industry forward by guiding entrepreneurs, founders, and innovators through AI’s rapidly evolving landscape. Host a dynamic breakout…