Supabase, a leading database startup, is currently in advanced discussions with investors that could more than double its valuation to at least **$5 billion**. This surge is largely attributed to the growing influence of **artificial intelligence-powered coding assistants**, which have significantly boosted the company's appeal and market position.

As the tech industry continues to evolve, Supabase has positioned itself at the forefront of innovation, leveraging AI to enhance database management and development tools. The potential investment underscores the increasing demand for robust, AI-integrated solutions in the startup ecosystem.

For more insights, stay tuned to updates on this developing story.

Supabase, a database startup that has benefited from the rise of artificial intelligence-powered coding assistants, is in talks with investors about offers that could raise its valuation toat least $5 billion, according to two people with direct knowledge of the discussions. The investment, if ...

Supabase's Valuation Skyrockets: AI-Powered Database Startup Eyes $5 Billion Milestone

## OpenAI Denies California Exit Amid Regulatory Pressure

OpenAI executives are reportedly discussing a potential relocation out of California as increasing political resistance threatens the company's efforts to convert from a nonprofit to a for-profit status, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, **OpenAI denies any plans to leave**, stating it remains committed to working through the regulatory challenges.

![OpenAI Logo on Smartphone](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/GettyImages-2206295463.jpg?w=1024)
*Image Credits: Thomas Fuller / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images*

California's attorney general is investigating whether OpenAI's restructuring violates state charitable trust law. A coalition of nonprofits, labor groups, philanthropies, and even rival **Meta** are pushing back against the conversion. This opposition is critical because OpenAI has about **$19 billion in funding tied to this restructuring**. If the conversion doesn't happen, investors could walk away, which would be catastrophic for the ChatGPT maker.

Moving OpenAI out of California would be particularly stunning given CEO **Sam Altman's deep ties to the Bay Area**. He served on San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie's transition team and reportedly owns multiple homes in the region. Such a move would also face major logistical challenges, as OpenAI's AI researchers are heavily concentrated in San Francisco.

The company continues to work with state and Delaware attorneys general on the restructuring process. In the meantime, this regulatory pressure adds to OpenAI's existing challenges, including competing in an escalating **AI talent war**.

OpenAI executives are discussing a potential relocation out of California as increasing political resistance threatens the company's efforts to convert from nonprofit to for-profit status, according to The WSJ, but the company says it has no plans to leave.

Is OpenAI Fleeing California? Inside the High-Stakes Battle Over Its $19 Billion Restructuring

## ReOrbit's Record Funding for Sovereign Satellites

Finnish startup **ReOrbit** has secured a groundbreaking **€45 million Series A** round, marking a record for European space tech companies. This funding, equivalent to about $53 million, underscores the growing momentum in Europe's new space market, driven by geopolitical concerns over reliance on foreign technology for critical infrastructure.

Founded in 2019 and based in Helsinki, ReOrbit provides both **hardware and software** for independent satellite operations. CEO Sethu Saveda Suvanam explains that the company offers an affordable alternative to Elon Musk's Starlink, targeting nations that cannot build their own satellites but seek full ownership and sovereignty. Unlike Starlink, which serves private users and enterprises, ReOrbit ensures clients have complete control over their satellites and communications, sourcing hardware from trusted partners and managing it with their proprietary software.

This software, likened to Apple's iOS, can operate both geostationary orbit satellites like SiltaSat (which remains fixed above a point on Earth) and low earth orbit satellites like UkkoSat (which circles closer to Earth). This flexibility is crucial for countries recognizing the vital role of space technology in defense, security, and infrastructure.

ReOrbit has already signed a major contract worth hundreds of millions with one nation and multiple memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with others. Despite not needing external funding, the company pursued this round to accelerate growth, aiming to become a sales unicorn with €1 billion in order books within four years.

The funding was organized by Finnish firm Springvest, which facilitated a public share issue of €8 million that filled in just 4.5 hours—a record for Finland. The remaining €37 million came from Nordic institutional investors, including Varma, Elo, Icebreaker.vc, Expansion VC, 10x Founders, and Inventure.

Competing with companies like Astranis, ReOrbit benefits from Finland's favorable regulatory environment, similar to that which supported ICEYE, a well-capitalized space startup. Current geopolitical tensions, such as recent cuts to undersea cables in the Red Sea, highlight the importance of satellite communications, making ReOrbit's neutral Nordic position attractive to nations caught between China and the U.S.

Looking ahead, ReOrbit is building a satellite for an in-orbit demonstration with the European Space Agency, planned for launch in the second quarter of next year.

Finnish startup ReOrbit, has raised a record €45 million Series A for the country to offer "sovereign" satellites.

Europe's Space Race Heats Up: ReOrbit's €45M Challenge to Starlink

# Snap Restructures into Small Teams to Boost Innovation

In a strategic shift, Snap Inc. is undergoing a major internal reorganization. CEO Evan Spiegel has announced the creation of **"startup squads"**—small teams of 10 to 15 employees—aimed at enhancing agility and competitiveness against larger rivals.

![Evan Spiegel at Snap event](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Evan-Spiegel-SnapDSC04084.jpg?w=1024)

This restructuring comes at a critical time for the company. Snap, which employs around 5,000 people, is facing significant challenges. **Advertising revenue growth stalled at just 4%** in the second quarter, and daily active users in North America—its key market—declined by 2% to 98 million.

Despite these hurdles, there are positive signs. Snapchat+ subscriptions have become a bright spot, generating over **$700 million in annual recurring revenue** from more than 15 million paying subscribers. Spiegel highlights this as one of Snap's fastest-growing opportunities.

Additionally, Snap is intensifying its focus on augmented reality (AR) with its Specs glasses. Spiegel envisions these as a potential replacement for smartphones, calling it a **"once-in-a-generation transformation towards human-centered computing."** This aligns with efforts by competitors like Meta and Google, who are partnering with Ray-Ban and Warby Parker, respectively.

Spiegel acknowledges that Snap's current stock price reflects market doubt but points to **"startup-style return potential"** at its $12 billion valuation. However, this is a sharp drop from its peak market cap of over $116 billion in September 2021.

The move to smaller, more autonomous teams is designed to foster innovation and speed, reminiscent of startup dynamics, as Snap seeks to navigate a rapidly evolving tech landscape.

CEO Evan Spiegel just announced the company is restructuring around small "startup squads" of 10 to 15 people to regain agility against larger competitors.

Snap's Bold Move: How 'Startup Squads' Could Revive Its Agility and Spark a Turnaround

# Amazon Invests in Rappi to Boost Latin American Presence

In a significant development for the startup and e-commerce sectors, **Amazon.com Inc.** has acquired a stake in **Rappi Inc.**, a leading Colombian delivery startup. This partnership combines Amazon's extensive retail and technology infrastructure with Rappi's robust last-mile delivery network across Latin America.

## Key Implications of the Deal

This strategic move is poised to enhance Amazon's competitive edge against regional e-commerce giant **MercadoLibre Inc.** By leveraging Rappi's logistics capabilities, Amazon can streamline its delivery operations and expand its footprint in the growing Latin American market.

For Rappi, this investment serves as a strong endorsement from one of the world's largest online retailers. It opens up opportunities to access Amazon's advanced logistics and cloud-computing networks, potentially accelerating Rappi's growth and innovation in the delivery space.

![A delivery worker carries a Rappi bag in Mexico City in 2024.](Image description: Photographer: Mayolo Lopez Gutierrez/Bloomberg)

Amazon.com Inc. has taken a stake in the Colombian delivery company Rappi Inc., a strategic partnership that pairs the e-commerce giant’s retail and technology infrastructure with one of Latin America’s best-known last-mile delivery outfits.

Amazon's Strategic Move: Investing in Rappi to Dominate Latin American E-commerce Delivery

# Space DOTS: Pioneering In-Orbit Threat Detection

Bianca Cefalo, founder of **Space DOTS**, grew weary of corporate bureaucracy in the space industry, leading her to launch her own venture in 2022. Her company focuses on detecting and mitigating space threats through innovative technology.

## The Vision Behind Space DOTS

Cefalo, with decades of experience including work on NASA's Insight Mission to Mars and at Airbus Defence and Space, identified a critical gap: up to 15% of spacecraft face anomalies or failures due to insufficient understanding of the space environment. Ground simulations fall short, as **every orbital regime is unique**, with factors like radiation causing unforeseen issues often dismissed as mere 'space weather'.

## Introducing SKY-I: The Software Platform

Space DOTS has developed **SKY-I**, a software platform that helps space tech manufacturers and operators detect, interpret, and attribute threats in orbit. It generates proprietary in-orbit environmental data, fusing it with external sources for real-time attribution, nowcasting, and forecasting. This provides spacecraft with an **intelligence edge** to survive and succeed in contested space.

## Recent Funding and Growth

The company recently secured a **$1.5 million seed round**, led by Female Founders Fund, bringing total funding to $3.2 million. Other investors include Feel Ventures and General Electric Company. Cefalo described the fundraising process as challenging but successful, leveraging cold outreach and warm introductions.

## Competitive Edge and Future Plans

Unlike competitors such as Ensemble Space Labs and Mission Space, Space DOTS owns both hardware and software, focuses on commercial, defense, and threat attribution, and uses a decentralized approach for resilience and scalability. Cefalo emphasizes collaboration over competition, stating that shared knowledge strengthens the ecosystem.

Funds will be used to expand teams in London and the U.S., and prepare for upcoming space missions. The goal is to democratize access to space knowledge, enhancing protection for national infrastructure, civil safety, navigation, and defense.

Cefalo is the founder of Space DOTs, which launched in 2022 to detect space threats. She and her team have created a software platform for space tech manufacturers and operators to help them capture various data points, like radiation interference, as well as track any in-orbit anomalies, to help make space travel safer. 

How Space DOTS is Revolutionizing Space Safety with $1.5M Seed Funding to Tackle Orbital Threats

## Glowforge's Strategic Shift in Manufacturing

Glowforge, a leading startup in the laser engraver industry, is making headlines with its decision to close its Seattle manufacturing facility and lay off workers. This move comes less than a year after the company relocated some production back to the United States, specifically to Seattle's SoDo neighborhood.

**Dan Shapiro**, co-founder and CEO of Glowforge, cited an expiring lease and significant tariffs on components as primary reasons for the closure. Production at the Seattle site is set to wrap up within the next two months, impacting employees who were assembling high-end machines like the **Glowforge Pro HD** and **Plus HD**, priced at $7,000 and $5,000 respectively.

![Glowforge CEO Dan Shapiro in Seattle facility](https://cdn.geekwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/shapiroglowforge.jpeg)
*Glowforge co-founder and CEO Dan Shapiro in the company’s Seattle production facility in April. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser)*

### Background and Challenges

Glowforge, founded in 2015, has raised **$183 million** to date and ranks No. 125 on the GeekWire 200 startup index. The company has faced several challenges, including a funding round that fell through in 2023-2024, leading to previous layoffs. In April, Glowforge employed over 90 full-time and contract workers, but recent layoffs have affected sales, marketing, and senior executive teams.

The move to Seattle was initially driven by a desire to mitigate uncertainties from **President Donald Trump's tariff policies** and to innovate in manufacturing using **artificial intelligence (AI)**. Shapiro highlighted that the Seattle facility achieved quality rates more than 50% better than their previous factory in Mexico, thanks to skilled technicians with backgrounds in building airplanes, satellites, and medical equipment.

### Economic and Policy Impacts

Shapiro expressed disappointment that expected federal incentives for manufacturing did not materialize, while tariffs on necessary components increased costs. The Seattle City Council's approval of new housing in the industrial area further complicated matters, as redevelopment plans would not allow Glowforge to establish a permanent factory there.

Despite these setbacks, Glowforge's experimentation with AI in production—using cameras and microphones for generative AI to enhance efficiency and safety—showcased their commitment to innovation. Lower-priced models, the Aura and Spark, continue to be manufactured in Mexico, but the fate of the Seattle-produced machines remains undisclosed.

### Support for Affected Employees

Laid-off workers will receive severance packages, continued health coverage, and outplacement support, reflecting Glowforge's efforts to handle the transition responsibly. The company plans to find a new office location in Seattle for its headquarters, maintaining its presence in the city.

Glowforge's journey, from a successful Kickstarter campaign for the Robot Turtles game to its current challenges, underscores the volatile nature of startups in the tech and manufacturing sectors. This development highlights broader themes of **economic headwinds**, **tariff impacts**, and the **role of AI in modern production**.

Glowforge co-founder and CEO Dan Shapiro, left, in the company's Seattle production facility south of downtown in April. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Co-founder and CEO Dan Shapiro cited a lease renewal and tariffs on parts for the closure, and said production on laser engravers in the city will wrap up in the next two months.

Glowforge's Bold Move: Shuttering Seattle Factory Amid Tariffs and Economic Shifts - What's Next for the Laser Engraver Pioneer?

## Paul Graham's Advice for Young Entrepreneurs

Sorry, high schoolers, your dreams of pitching that dream start-up on *Shark Tank* will have to wait. Paul Graham, the co-founder of Y Combinator—the start-up accelerator behind Silicon Valley giants like **Airbnb**, **Stripe**, **Dropbox**, and **Reddit**—advises not to rush into entrepreneurship before graduation.

"If you’re in high school and you want to start a startup one day, you might think the best thing to do now is to start startups. But it probably isn’t," Graham wrote on X.

Instead, Graham highlighted the importance that **Gen Zers** should focus on **learning and skill-building** while they’re young. "Startups are rarely the optimal way to do this," he continued, adding that startups can get in the way of learning because of the pressure to succeed.

"The point of a startup is to make something people want, not to learn," he added. "You will learn things in a startup, of course. But the way to learn the fastest is to work on whatever you’re most curious about, and you don’t have that luxury in a startup. In a startup, you have to work on whatever users want most."

But don’t worry, you don’t have to wait too long after high school to start the founder path: **Sam Altman**, CEO of OpenAI, was funded by Y Combinator at just 19, and Graham previously wrote that, "when he was 19, he seemed like he had a 40-year-old inside him."

## How to Test If You’re Old Enough to Start a Startup

It’s not the first time the "**Founder Mode**" startup guru has warned against prematurely becoming a self-starter. In a separate essay in 2007, he even outlined how he looks for **maturity in founders**.

In it, Graham writes that the lower age limit for being founder-ready may be as young as 16, though Y Combinator typically does not look at anyone younger than 18 who can’t legally enter into contracts. And although Altman was the youngest and most successful founder Graham backed, he wrote "there are other 19 year olds who are 12 inside."

So if you’re an ambitious student who thinks they’ve cracked the code for a new product or idea, he shared exactly how to test if you’ve passed his **maturity threshold**.

One example is making excuses of being "just a kid" and relying on your youth to escape complex situations. Adults typically could allow you off the hook, but Graham emphasizes the importance not to rely on this "**kid flake reflex**" when things get too hard if you want to be taken seriously as a founder.

Another way to measure if you’re ready is by taking note of how you react to criticism. When people pose challenges to an idea, instead of walking away from your idea when given critiques, or rebelling, Graham says the adult reaction would be to ask "Really? Why do you think so?"

"What you don’t often find are kids who react to challenges like adults. When you do, you’ve found an adult, whatever their age," he wrote.

One of the leaders behind Silicon Valley’s biggest start-ups is advising high school students to embrace learning before starting their dream business.


Supabase's Valuation Skyrockets: AI-Powered Database Startup Eyes $5 Billion Milestone

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Glowforge's Bold Move: Shuttering Seattle Factory Amid Tariffs and Economic Shifts - What's Next for the Laser Engraver Pioneer?

Why Y Combinator's Paul Graham Says High School Isn't the Time to Launch Your Startup