## Boulder County's Major Open Space Preservation Efforts

Boulder County has made significant strides in **land conservation** this past year, closing on **open space purchases** and **conservation easements** that totaled approximately **$20 million**. This substantial investment has successfully preserved about **1,000 acres** of natural land, marking a major achievement in environmental protection and community planning.

![Reclamation activities continue for the Dowe Flats-CEMEX property in Boulder County on April 17. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)](https://www.dailycamera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/DCC-L-CEMEX_2MJ8185.jpg?w=525)

### The Impact of Conservation Easements

These **conservation easements** play a crucial role in maintaining the region's natural beauty and ecological balance. By securing these agreements, Boulder County ensures that these lands remain protected from development, preserving them for future generations while supporting **biodiversity** and **recreational opportunities**.

### A Look at the Dowe Flats-CEMEX Property

The image above shows ongoing **reclamation activities** at the Dowe Flats-CEMEX property, one of the key areas benefiting from these preservation efforts. This work demonstrates the county's commitment to not just acquiring land but actively restoring and maintaining it for ecological health.

### Why This Matters for the Community

Preserving **open space** is more than just an environmental initiative—it's an investment in **community well-being**, **quality of life**, and **sustainable development**. These protected areas provide residents with access to nature, support local ecosystems, and help maintain the character of Boulder County that makes it such a desirable place to live and work.

### The Broader Context of Land Preservation

While specific details about individual transactions are limited in the available content, the overall **$20 million investment** represents a significant commitment to **land stewardship**. This approach aligns with growing recognition that protecting natural spaces is essential for both environmental sustainability and community resilience.

Boulder County this past year closed on open space purchases and conservation easements that totaled about $20 million, preserving about 1,000 acres.

Boulder County's $20 Million Land Preservation Push: How 1,000 Acres Were Saved in 2025

Every year, TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield pitch contest draws thousands of applicants. We whittle those applications down to the **top 200 contenders**, and of them, the top 20 compete on the big stage to become the winner, taking home the Startup Battlefield Cup and a cash prize of $100,000. But the remaining 180 startups all blew us away as well in their respective categories and compete in their own pitch competition.

Here is the full list of the **consumer/edtech** Startup Battlefield 200 selectees, along with a note on why they landed in the competition.

## Consumer Startups

### Ahoi
**What it does:** Helps people find places that are accessible to those with limited mobility.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** Its inclusive technology makes places more accessible to those who might otherwise struggle to find locations to service their needs.

### AllFocal Optics Limited
**What it does:** Uses nanophotonic technology to create lenses that enhance visual clarity.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** The company says that it has created breakthrough technology that helps people, especially those with conditions like headaches and dizziness, to withstand prolonged extended reality experiences.

### Billight
**What it does:** Billight is a light-up pool table.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** It calls itself the first light-up pool table and gaming system.

### Cerca Dating
**What it does:** This Gen Z dating app is bringing back the way people used to meet — via mutual friends.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** It’s the latest spin on a dating app during this time of romance app fatigue, trying to prove that digital love is still alive.

### FounderWay.ai
**What it does:** A platform that helps startups scale by providing business advice on topics like how to build a pitch deck or finding a target market.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** The platform is using AI to offer insight into some of the most pressing questions founders always have — how to run and scale a business. It’s an easier solution than trying to source information from various places by oneself.

### Hotel Treats
**What it does:** A platform where luxury hotels can give customers vouchers for services like spas and dining.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** The platform lets hotels monetize day passes while also giving consumers a way to treat themselves to a singular luxury experience, without having to spend the big bucks and stay at the hotel.

### Jotto
**What it does:** A company that creates QR codes for events and establishments so people can leave feedback and reviews.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** It’s an interesting product that also lets people give feedback by video or voice.

### Nim
**What it does:** A platform that lets users create AI videos.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** It’s part of the wave of AI video companies launching, but it offers an all-in-one service, offering prompt assistance and numerous reusable clips.

### Perfingo
**What it does:** Perfingo is a financial planning tool.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** It hails itself as the first of its kind in its home base of Singapore.

### Pintours
**What it does:** Pintours is a tour-booking platform.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** It’s an AI tour guide, letting consumers guide themselves through a tour and personalize the experience to ways they see fit.

### Prickly Pear Health
**What it does:** Prickly Pear provides a voice AI companion for women that monitors brain health.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** This isn’t a chatbot, but an AI is trained to decipher changes in language and context that could indicate cognitive issues, especially those arising from hormonal changes that women in their 30s to 50s experience.

### rax
**What it does:** Rax is a peer-to-peer clothing rental platform.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** The winner of the top consumer pitch, Rax says it is one of the first to launch in Canada and just announced an expansion to the U.S.

### Rent a Cyber Friend
**What it does:** Helps people find friends within their professions over the internet.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** Unlike a social network, this app helps people identify potential friends and includes options like video calls and chats to help friendships sprout.

### Renude
**What it does:** Renude offers an AI-powered skin care recommendation engine for beauty brands.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** Using computer vision AI and LLMs, this e-commerce tool allows skin care brands to offer personalized product recommendations to every customer.

### Snap Discovery AG
**What it does:** Offers a brain-computer interface intended to be used for hands-free everyday interaction.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** Snap interacts with game development platform Unity and is intended for a range of uses, from games to stress management.

### Tasteit
**What it does:** Tasteit is an app that helps people meet to dine together.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** Tasteit calls itself the anti-dating app, as its mission is to use food and dining out as a way for people to match and meet.

### Tattd
**What it does:** Tattd is an AI-powered app that helps people find and book tattoo artists.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** The startup uses generative AI to create a mock-up of a design and then matches that to a tattoo artist whose work aligns with the mock-up.

### Vista InnoTech Limited
**What it does:** Vista InnoTech has invented tech that creates better photos by eliminating the effects of accidental shaking or shaking environments.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** It has created a tech called Micro Gimbal Stabilizer, small enough to be embedded in most mobile devices, that works well even in low-light conditions.

### Young Minds App
**What it does:** A parental control app that watches over and prevents kids from engaging in unsafe online behavior.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** The app rewards kids’ smart online choices and offers a distraction-blocking feature for study time.

### ZoraSafe
**What it does:** ZoraSafe identifies and protects consumers against scams.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** Aimed at families and seniors, ZoraSafe scans links and messages to prevent scams, including through deepfakes and social engineering. It also offers features like AI coaching.

## Edtech Startups

### Calificadas
**What it does:** AI-powered training to improve an employee’s workplace communications.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** This professional development app was designed with diversity, equity, and inclusion in mind and uses AI to help people level up their word choices, message structure, and even their nonverbal language.

### CampusAI
**What it does:** CampusAI offers a flexible platform to train people on AI.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** The platform is geared to help everyday people who want to use AI to improve their work, be it in sales, HR, legal, or other areas.

### General Neuro
**What it does:** The NeuroLingo headset helps people learn a foreign language.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** This headset creates conditions that assist with language learning along with a synchronized app.

### Readmio
**What it does:** A story-time app for parents and kids.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** The app follows along with the words as they are being read aloud, automatically adding sounds and music at certain text sections, making stories more interactive.

### Super Teacher
**What it does:** Super Teacher offers an AI-powered tutor for elementary schools.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** This AI tutor offers individualized instructions and assessments for use in classrooms, with 24/7 access for students at home.

### ZEZEDU Corp.
**What it does:** Zezedu is an AI-powered platform, developed in South Korea, that offers personalized math learning.
**Why it’s noteworthy:** A math teaching tool for schools and academies that tracks assignments, grading, and feedback with personalized curriculum.

Here is the full list of the consumer/edtech Startup Battlefield 200 selectees, along with a note on what made us select them for the competition.

Meet the 26 Game-Changing Startups That Stole the Show at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

## How Israel’s Seed Market Became a Tale of Two Ecosystems

Over the past year, a familiar narrative has taken hold in Israel’s tech ecosystem: **foreign venture capital funds** have entered the market aggressively, scooping up the best early-stage deals and leaving little room for local Israeli funds. There is some truth to this claim—but like most good narratives, it only tells part of the story.

What we are actually seeing today is better described as a tale of two cities: **two parallel early-stage markets** operating side by side in Israel, each with very different dynamics, risk profiles, and sources of advantage.

![Tal Abuloff](https://pic1.calcalist.co.il/picserver3/crop_images/2025/12/29/r1k6HCJNWl/r1k6HCJNWl_0_168_1066_800_0_x-large.jpg)
*Tal Abuloff. (David Garb)*

Foreign mega funds such as **Sequoia and a16z** have indeed become far more active in Israel. Armed with deep pockets, strong global brands, and lower sensitivity to entry price, they are willing to lead very large seed rounds at high valuations—often before a company has meaningfully de-risked its product or market. This activity is real, visible, and easy to point to. It reflects a positive trend—global mega funds are doubling down on the Israeli tech ecosystem, signaling their conviction in it as a next frontier. But it represents only a small slice of what is actually happening on the ground.

According to data shared at Viola’s most recent Annual LP Meeting, roughly **5% of seed transactions** in Israel today are “mega-seed” rounds, typically in the $20–50 million range. These rounds are overwhelmingly associated with **second-time founders**, often in cybersecurity, who already have strong global networks and a track record that resonates immediately with US-based investors. Recent examples include **Eon**, led by repeat founder Ofir Ehrlich and already valued at $4 billion, as well as the newly announced cybersecurity company **Tenzai**, founded by veteran cyber entrepreneurs and backed by a recently disclosed $75 million seed round. In these cases, foreign mega funds are not just competitive—they are often the natural partners for these types of rounds.

In this segment of the market, the game is primarily about **speed, brand, and the ability to commit early and decisively** to a very large round. When you are managing a multi-billion-dollar fund, entry price matters less than access, ownership momentum, and the ability to secure exposure to a potential outlier. As a result, valuation sensitivity is lower, especially at the seed stage. For Israeli funds, competing in this environment only makes sense when there is a clear and differentiated edge.

But here’s the part that gets lost in the broader conversation: the remaining **95% of seed deals** look nothing like this. Most seed rounds in Israel are still in the **$3–10 million range**. They are led by **first-time founders**, span a wide variety of technologies beyond cyber (>86% are non-cyber teams), and are often still in the process of shaping their product, market, and go-to-market strategy. More than half of these rounds are led by Israeli venture funds.

This part of the market is quieter. It generates fewer headlines. It doesn’t lend itself to viral tweets about valuation inflation or foreign capital “taking over.” But this is precisely where **meaningful alpha is created**.

A good example is **PhaseV**, a deep-tech company in the field of adaptive clinical trials. Viola led the company’s seed round at a stage when the risk was still very real and the story far from obvious. As the company matured and its potential became clearer, it went on to raise a $50 million Series A led by Accel and Insight Partners, less than two years after the seed round. Another great example is **Faye**, an insurance-tech company, where F2 and Viola led the seed round. Faye recently surpassed $100M in annual sales, merely three years after launching—an outlier, by any local or global standard.

Not every global fund would have led PhaseV or Faye seed rounds, even if given the opportunity. But many were eager to step in once the upside was clearer and the risk profile more aligned with their mandate. That **division of labor** is something to understand and embrace. This is not a failure of the local ecosystem, but a feature of a healthy one.

Our approach reflects this reality. We choose to play across the entire field, not just one corner of it. We will absolutely participate in larger, more aggressive seed rounds—but only when we have a clear competitive advantage. That might happen in domains where we bring deep knowledge expertise, such as in fintech, or when backing second-time founders from our own portfolio. Both we did with the fintech company **Sympera** (where we invested in the serial entrepreneur Dudi Sosna), and with **Zyg** (whose founding team we supported for a second time, following our earlier partnership at IronSource). In these situations, we are comfortable writing very large checks and playing the global hype-game, because the strategic rationale is clear.

Which brings us back to Charles Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” For Israel’s early-stage ecosystem, both statements can be true simultaneously. It is the “worst of times” only if you assume that value exists exclusively in the most hyped and most expensive deals. But if you recognize the unique position of local funds in our ecosystem—to identify outliers and generate alpha where it is less obvious at first glance—it is very much the best of times.

Tal Abuloff is a Principal at Viola Ventures, leading Seed and Series A rounds.

How Israel’s Seed market became a tale of two ecosystems operating side by side.

The Hidden Truth About Israel's Startup Scene: Why Foreign VCs Aren't Killing Local Funds

## The AI Revolution: Redefining Startup Success

What determines the success of any given startup has changed dramatically. Over the years, I’ve helped build tech companies, and I’ve seen a revealing shift in how the value of these companies is created and fought for. If you’re basing your startup on **product quality** or **speed of launch** as your main selling point, you have already fallen too far behind in today’s AI world.

The reality is straightforward: **AI can now imitate almost any startup within 24 to 48 hours**. Websites, apps, funnels, branding, messaging, and customer journey flows all can be copied, packaged, and launched by someone else faster than most founders can deliver a meaningful update.

And this is already happening.

## The Copycat Era Has Arrived

It used to be that if you moved quickly and created something great, you’d succeed. That approach no longer holds. With the rise of **generative AI** and automated tools, the product you dedicated months of effort to can be copied and reshaped in just a weekend.

This extends well beyond the front end. AI tools can recreate your entire user experience, imitate your pricing strategy, and even duplicate the content you use to attract customers. They can do it nimbly and quickly.

Anyone with access to the right tools and a bit of effort can create a copy of your business without writing a single line of original code.

Once your business gains traction, you become a target. Whether it’s a feature going viral or a press mention, attention now comes with risks. Some copycats may have more capital, better marketing, or less hesitation to bend the rules.

That’s a fight many founders are unprepared to win.

## Focus on What AI Can’t Clone

Here’s what I’ve experienced firsthand: **technology can be copied, but trust cannot**.

Your brand, customer relationships, and the culture you establish around your business are the only defenses that genuinely matter. I’ve seen technically stronger startups fail because they lacked a clear audience and a genuine human connection. Conversely, I’ve observed founders with modest technical skills succeed because people believed in them and stayed loyal.

If you’re starting a startup in this new era, focus your energy on things that AI can’t replicate. Cultivate an audience you control, including your email list, customer communities, and private partnerships. Be present. Be authentic.

## Build Brand Value from Day One

Copycats can clone your product. They can’t replicate how your customers feel about you.

## Speed Is Still Vital, but for a New Reason

Launching quickly used to mean being first to market. Now it means having a short time before your idea is copied.

That doesn’t mean you should rush. It means you need to be intentional. Launch quietly. Collect signals privately. Avoid premature exposure until you know you’ve got something that works and a way to defend it.

Once you’ve built momentum and validated the offer, move quickly. Just ensure you’ve done the work to protect your upside. **Speed alone won’t save you if your idea can be easily copied**.

## Not Every Idea Should Be Built

This is a brutal truth, but it can save you months or even years of wasted effort. If your idea is easily copied and doesn’t have a built-in advantage, consider shelving it.

Before you go all-in, ask yourself a few questions:

- Can someone with more money and zero ethics copy this and out-market me?
- Do I have a built-in community or distribution plan that they cannot access?
- Is my value delivery tied to me, or is it tied to something anyone can replicate?

If your answer makes you uncomfortable, you’re not seeing a business. You’re seeing a feature waiting to be stolen.

## Value Is Being Redefined Right Now

I no longer believe that the best tech wins. That belief used to influence how I thought about building companies, but it no longer holds.

What’s winning now is **distribution**. What matters is how many people trust you, follow you, and want to buy from you, regardless of the competition. Startups with no community are sitting ducks. Startups with loyal followings and strong voices are building defensibility that goes beyond code.

We are entering a new era, one where delivery matters more than development. Having an excellent product alone isn’t enough to get you to the finish line. **Reputation** is also crucial in protecting your product along the way.

## Build More Than a Product

If you’re a founder in today’s landscape, stop focusing solely on your product. Begin considering what you’re building around it.

Ask yourself these critical questions first:

1. Are you building a brand that customers are proud to support?
2. Are you forging relationships that competitors can’t imitate?
3. Are you designing systems that prioritize depth over speed?

Focus on what AI cannot take from you: your voice, your presence, your people, and your integrity.

The next generation of winners won’t just create great products.

I predict that they’ll develop ecosystems that no machine can replicate. For the founders and visionaries who are on board, the sky’s the limit.

Startups today face a rapidly changing landscape where success depends on more than just product quality.

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