Krane, a startup building AI software for construction supply chains, has raised $9 million in funding.
The San Francisco-based startup has developed AI agents that help construction teams manage materials procurement and delivery for projects such as data centers, healthcare facilities, and schools.
Its platform pulls in data from spreadsheets, project schedules, and supplier communications into a single system. It then uses AI agents to automate tasks such as tracking orders, following up with vendors by phone or email, and reconciling invoices.
Eshan Jayamanne, the founder and CEO of Krane, told Business Insider that his company’s platform typically starts by identifying the equipment and materials specified in a construction project.
“Then we look at ‘what are all my quotes across all my suppliers, and who can I actually work with’ by comparing lead times, by comparing requirements for the spec. This is where AI comes in,” he said.
The startup has created multiple AI agents that specialize in different areas of the supply chain, such as deliveries and flagging supply risks.
Jayamanne, a former engineer and construction operator who worked on data center projects, founded the company in 2023. It aims to reduce delays in construction projects and prevent them from going over budget, and integrates with existing construction tools like Autodesk and Procore.
About half of Krane’s customers are healthcare projects, and around a third are data center buildouts, Jayamanne said. Data centers are complex projects that can be held up by any delays to critical equipment, such as generators, he added.
Construction tech has become increasingly competitive, and companies like TrunkTools and Mastt are also leaning into AI agents. While construction has historically been slower than other industries to adopt software tools, Jayamanne says that’s no longer true.
“This LLM moment has changed everything,” he said, referring to large language models, the technology underpinning AI like ChatGPT.
Jayamanne said that humans are “in the loop” to approve the decisions of Krane’s AI agents, but its voice agents have greater autonomy.
The startup’s seed round was co-led by Glasswing Ventures and Link Ventures.
The new funding will be used to expand its product and add new features, including tools aimed at subcontractors and additional automation for procurement and payments.
“I’m really focused on raising ‘just enough’ because larger rounds don’t make sense anymore,” he said, adding that companies like his can use AI to operate with smaller engineering teams.
Here’s an exclusive look at the nine-page pitch deck Krane used to raise $9 million.
I turned 57 this year. I always thought that by this point in my life, I would be taking bucket-list trips, tending a garden, and writing the novel I’ve always known was in me. Instead, my days are filled with wiping noses and every surface imaginable while keeping tabs on everything from medications to musical instruments.
My husband and I now live with our adult daughter and her six children, and because it makes the most sense, I take care of the kids, the house, the dog, and everything else while the other two adults go to work.
One day, when my daughter had to take five hours of mandatory overtime, and I was losing my cool at hour 10 of juggling meltdowns and messes, it hit me. I wasn’t the fun, easygoing, they-grow-up-so-fast-so-nothing-is-worth-getting-upset-about Grammie anymore. I had become the person holding everything together, and if nothing changed, I was going to burn out.
My busy mornings show how much I care for my grandkids
On a typical morning, I hit the ground running at 6 a.m. My daughter is able to take the first grader to the bus stop before work, so I’m “only” responsible for five kiddos most mornings.
After getting myself dressed and ready, I take the dog out and feed him, and then get my oldest grandson ready for the bus that picks him up at our door.
By then, the two preschoolers are awake, which means diaper changes and getting everyone dressed and fed. The middle schoolers need to be up, dressed in clean clothing (which is a bigger struggle than you’d think), and out the door on time. Somewhere in there, I’ll manage a cup of coffee and some sort of breakfast before we settle into the rest of our daily routine.
That’s when everything goes as it should. But when the 14-year-old misplaces his headphones, the dog gets frantic because of an early morning Amazon delivery, and the commotion wakes the toddler, it can feel like there’s no way I’ll make it through the day. Even then, the work doesn’t end when the workday does. It simply shifts into a different part of the day.
Loving my family doesn’t make the daily weight any lighter
I would take a bullet for every single member of my family. But the load is heavy, and I carry a lot of guilt for the moments I mourn the version of midlife I thought I would live.
It’s not that my daughter or my grandchildren are a burden; they’ve all been through more heartache and struggle than most people could imagine, and I’m so thankful we can provide emotional support.
But I’d be lying if I said I don’t sometimes long for the clean, quiet home I used to wake up to. My longing for that other life sometimes admittedly makes me cranky with my grandkids.
I had to change the way I showed up, or I wasn’t going to make it
A series of steps helped me change the way I show up without breaking myself down. I set an (almost) concrete bedtime for myself, completing tasks, chores, and self-care by 9 p.m. This gives me a little time to read or catch a podcast before getting to sleep at a decent hour.
The extra rest also allows me to get up a little earlier. Now, I have at least 30 minutes of quiet alone time while everyone else is still sleeping. It helps me start the day feeling grounded, rather than immediately pouring from an empty cup. I’ve experienced a huge shift in my attitude, and it seems to set the tone for everyone.
I’ve also started following some of the life advice I often give to the kids, like “Done is better than perfect.” I’m working on not holding myself to expectations I would never put on others. While I still won’t allow things to pile up until they’re unmanageable, I’m learning to be OK with leaving a load of laundry in the dryer for tomorrow.
Helping raise six grandchildren has reshaped my understanding of midlife
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my nearly six decades on this planet, it’s that life rarely goes as planned. Letting go of dreams is tough, especially when we’re sold a picture of how midlife ought to look — but whether it defines you is your choice.
I’m choosing to embrace my current purpose and see the significance in helping to shape the hearts and minds of six amazing human beings.
This chapter of my life is messy, exhausting, noisy, and chaotic. But at the heart of it all is unconditional love, and the simple truth I carry with me is that there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
Allen Wang and Eric Liu, two UC Berkeley dropouts, think they can help college students find love using AI.
Their dating startup, Ditto, leverages AI to match people based on the data users input into the service. It then plans the date for them.
“We’re bringing people back to in-real-life interactions,” Wang, 23, told Business Insider.
After users make a profile, they directly message Ditto’s AI chatbot via text— no app required — about their type and dating preferences. On Wednesdays, users get a text about a potential match. After each date, Ditto follows up for feedback and uses that information as additional data for future matches.
“People are tired of being trapped behind the apps,” Wang said.
Ditto will announce on Tuesday that it has raised $9.2 million in seed funding, led by venture capital firm Peak XV, with participation from firms like Alumni Ventures, Gradient, and Scribble Ventures.
The seed funding will primarily be spent on hiring talent across AI and growth, Wang said, as well as toward Ditto’s marketing. The company has 10 staffers and has raised a total of $9.5 million to date. Ditto launched its product in early 2025.
Ditto isn’t the only AI dating app gaining momentum right now.
Other startups like Sitch, Known, and Amata have raised millions for similar products that pitch AI-powered matchmaking as the new alternative to swiping through profiles. Dating app mainstays like Tinder and Bumble, meanwhile, are also testing the AI waters to reignite user interest.
Ditto’s AI tries to determine whether two people would be a good match by using profile details, such as users’ hobbies or interests, to simulate a date, Wang said.
“Would you guys have a good conversation? Do you guys have matched humor level? Do you guys have similar vibes and values?” Wang said.
Finding love as a college student
The dating startup world has a history of targeting college students as early users. For instance, Tinder’s early success came in part from its marketing on college campuses.
“College kids are very adaptive to new technology,” Wang said.
The app now has about 42,000 people signed up across several college campuses in California. With its recent funding, Ditto plans to expand to more college campuses.
One tactic that helps get college-aged users on board: parties.
Ditto plans to host several yacht parties across the US, beginning with a Valentine’s Day party in Los Angeles (it hosted its first yacht party this summer). At the parties, 100 college students will sign up for Ditto and then get paired into 50 couples.
For now, Ditto is free.
“We are prioritizing growth over monetization,” Wang said, adding that the startup is interviewing users about what price they’d be willing to pay for dates from the service.
Read the 12-page pitch deck Ditto used to raise $9.2 million:
Note: Some details have been redacted.
Ditto introduces itself as an ‘AI social agent’
Ditto
The deck kicks off with a little dating app history
Ditto
Dating apps have a “paradigm shift every decade,” the slide says.
In the 1990s and 2000s, online dating websites emerged. Then in the 2010s, mobile dating apps took over. Ditto pitched investors that AI is the next frontier.
Ditto explains AI agents and what it says Gen Z wants
Ditto
The slide describes Ditto as an AI social agent network where “AI turns profiles into live agents that can interact on their own.”
“Gen Z is tired of swiping and chatting online,” the slide says. “They prefer ‘coffee chat vibe check’ style social: IRL, genuine, light.”
Ditto says dating apps like Tinder are ‘primitive’
Ditto
The slide also incorporates some old-school video game aesthetics, inspired by Super Mario Bros.
It says that AI agents setting up dates ‘is the future’
Ditto
Then, the deck explains how Ditto works
Ditto
On a website, users fill out a questionnaire and tell Ditto about their “type.” Then, Ditto will start texting users directly.
Ditto texts a date invite after finding a match
Ditto
The text includes a collage of the user’s photos.
Then, Ditto sets up a date and follows up for feedback
Ditto
Ditto says AI ‘connects the hidden dots’
Ditto
AI helps Ditto “understand the intrinsic and deeper values” about why two people could be a good match, Wang told Business Insider.
Ditto pitches vibe-based matchmaking
Ditto
It includes a flow chart explaining how its agentic system works
Ditto
Ditto takes user data and feeds it into an analysis agent, which performs image analysis, attractiveness analysis, and profile tagging.
Then, in the “pre-date reasoning” phase, a matchmaking agent does a “vibe check” and “hobby match” before running a “date simulation.” The date simulation agent then runs through things like “first impression” or “conversation flow” before presenting a user with a match.
Ditto’s deck concludes with a collage of testimonials from college students
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Trump wants to spend $1.5 trillion on the US military in 2027.
He said that the raised budget would secure the country during “very troubled and dangerous times.”
The budget would be financed from “tremendous” tariff revenue, he said on Truth Social.
President Donald Trump says the US will be spending a lot more on the military next year.
Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday that he had decided to raise the US’s military budget in 2027 from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion.
“This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe,” Trump said.
He said that the larger budget would be financed by the tariffs he has imposed on almost all countries, and would secure the US during “very troubled and dangerous times.”
Trump said in the post that tariff income was so “tremendous” that even after allocating $1.5 trillion to the military budget, the US would still be able to pay off its debts and pay dividends to “moderate income” Americans.
Trump’s proposed military budget is significantly higher than the budget approved by Congress for defense spending in 2026: $901 billion. The 2027 budget increase must be approved by Congress.
Trump’s post about raising the military budget followed another post targeted at defense contractors. He criticized firms like Raytheon for issuing large dividends to shareholders, doing stock buybacks, and offering “exorbitant” pay packages to executives.
The president prohibited these companies from doing so until they pour more investments into manufacturing plants and equipment.
Stock prices for defense companies saw boosts in after-hours trading on Wednesday following Trump’s announcement of a larger military budget. Raytheon’s stock rose nearly 4% and Lockheed Martin’s rose more than 6%.
The post came after the US military conducted a raid on Venezuela last week and captured the country’s President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, who are now being prosecuted in New York. Trump threatened Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico with similar military intervention.
The US executed targeted, large-scale attacks in Venezuela’s capital city, Caracas, overnight.
President Donald Trump said Saturday American forces struck the country’s military, turned off the lights in the city, and captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, for prosecution in New York.
The assault news has raised big questions. Here’s what we know right now.
What did the US military just do in Venezuela?
The US carried out strikes in Venezuela early on Saturday.
Luis JAIMES / AFP
Early Saturday morning, Trump revealed on Truth Social that the US military carried out a “large-scale attack against Venezuela” and that the leader had been captured and taken out of the country.
The US president didn’t seek Congressional approval prior to the mission. Congress, however, was notified afterward.
Trump told Fox News he watched the capture of Maduro play out in real time from a room inside his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida alongside military generals.
“I was told by real military people that there’s no other country on Earth that can do such a maneuver,” he shared during a phone interview with Fox News. “If you would have seen what happened, I mean, I watched it literally, like I was watching a television show.”
Trump said the raid was “extremely complex,” more so than the Midnight Hammer operation against Iran’s nuclear sites conducted last year. Maduro and his wife were taken to the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima.
Trump said US assets involved included land, air, and sea, including a “massive number” of aircraft and troops. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said the apprehension mission, called Absolute Resolve, was based on months of intelligence-gathering, including watching Maduro’s patterns of life, and involved all elements of the joint force, from space and cyber assets to traditional combat forces.
The assault involved 150 aircraft — fighter jets, bombers, electronic warfare planes, intelligence and surveillance aircraft, and helicopters and rotary aircraft — that provided “layered effects” to clear the way for the interdiction force to slip in with the “element of surprise” into downtown Caracas. Fighters and different drones covered the extraction.
There were no US personnel or equipment losses, Trump said; however, he did say that troops were hit, along with a helicopter that he said was hit “pretty hard.” Caine said the US responded to hostile fire with “overwhelming” force.
What has the Trump administration been saying about why this is necessary?
The US military has built up a massive force presence in the Caribbean in recent months, including aircraft at an airport in Puerto Rico.
Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP
Tensions have been rising for months between Venezuela’s Maduro regime and the Trump administration, which has ramped up its rhetoric while increasing military action nearby.
The US has blamed Venezuela for pushing deadly drugs into the country, as well as using its oil industry, which the Trump administration says the US built and intends to take back, to fund narco-terrorism and other criminal activities.
The administration has labeled cartels and the Maduro regime terrorist organizations. Trump has also called Maduro an illegitimate leader.
What’s been happening in the lead-up to this assault?
Trump said a US helicopter took fire during the operation in Venezuela.
Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP
The US has been launching attacks against alleged drug trafficking boats since September 2025, with over 100 people killed and others missing or captured.
A massive US force presence, including warships and combat aircraft, has been in the Caribbean to combat narcotics trafficking and pressure Venezuela for months.
More recently, US forces began executing a blockade of oil tankers out of Venezuela in an effort to enforce American oil sanctions, hurting a key Venezuelan export and straining its economy.
Maduro’s government said that the purpose of the US attack on Venezuela was to “seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, in an attempt to forcibly break the nation’s political independence.”
How unusual is this?
A destroyed air defense unit at a Venezuelan military base.
Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/REUTERS
The US has removed the leaders of sovereign states in the past. For instance, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, it captured Saddam Hussein after the Bush administration asserted the Iraqi president had weapons of mass destruction. Hussein was later convicted for crimes against humanity by an Iraqi court and executed in December 2006.
A lack of evidence that Hussein’s regime had weapons of mass destruction led to criticisms against the Bush administration’s motives.
Much earlier, Panamanian military dictator Manual Noriega was also a target of American military forces during the US invasion of Panama from December 1989 to January 1990, partially prompted by his attempt to annul the results of the 1989 Panamanian general election. US courts had charged Noriega with drug smuggling and money laundering, and the Panamanian official was captured in January 1990 and taken to Miami, where he was convicted on most of the charges.
Both Noriega and Maduro were heads of state indicted by US federal courts, they were accused of using state power to facilitate drug trafficking, and the US could argue in both cases those actions taken against them were law enforcement.
The US has also conducted military action to kill prominent foreign figures. Exactly six years ago, US military personnel successfully assassinated Qasem Soleimani, a senior Iranian military officer, in a drone strike in Baghdad.
The US designated Soleimani a terrorist in 2005. In response to Soleimani’s assassination in January 2020, Iran launched missiles against US military bases in Iraq, injuring 110 US troops.
What’s happening now?
Maduro and his wife have been indicted in New York, and Trump said the US will be involved in the next steps for the Venezuelan government.
Carlos Jasso/Reuters
Maduro and his wife are on their way to New York. Pamela Bondi, US attorney general, said that Maduro had been charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, as well as conspiracy against the US.
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi said on X.
On Saturday morning, Trump posted a picture of Maduro in custody on Truth Social. The photo showed Maduro aboard USS Iwo Jima.
Venezuelan president Maduro in custody on the USS Iwo Jima.
Truth Social
By law, Venezuelan vice president Delcy Rodríguez should assume power in Maduro’s absence. But Trump said the US would “run the country” until a “safe, proper” election can occur.
The president also added that US oil companies would be returning to Venezuela.
The creator economy has bred a generation of startups — from influencer-marketing companies to new social-media experiences.
These startups have captured the attention and wallets of influential venture capitalists and angel investors over the last several years, giving rise to several unicorn valuations in the space.
Check out16 VC firms investing in creator economy startups
Even as the economy has weathered changing tides and investments have cooled across industries, some startups in this sector are still raising money.
In 2024, three trends drove some of the largest deals in the creator economy: AI, social commerce, and newsletters. Several startups raised at least $10 million in new funding last year, such as AI startup Captions or newsletter platform Beehiiv.
Here are17 creator-economy startups that raised more than $10 million in 2024
AI is continuing to fuel investor interest in the creator economy in 2025, too. For instance, Hedra, a generative AI startup used by some creators to make viral content, announced a $32 million Series A led by A16z in May.
Creators themselves, like Emma Chamberlain and MrBeast, are also raising venture capital for their businesses.
See the leaked pitch deck Chamberlain Coffee used
So, how do creator-economy startups land those investments? Often, it starts with a pitch deck.
Lumanu, a creator-focused financial startup, uses a simple pitch deck that’s more of a “conversation guider,” its cofounder and CEO, Tony Tran, told Business Insider.
“My pitch is always why, what, how, and why now?” Tran said. (Read the full pitch deck here.)
Skye, a career-coaching startup, had different pitch decks depending on the type of investor or fund they pitched to.
“I had two different versions, depending on the fund,” said Jessica Wolf, Skye’s CEO and one of its cofounders. “If I knew a fund was more into pre-seed, all about the founder, I had one deck. But if I knew that they were a numbers person, I would use another one.”
Every startup has a different approach.
Some, such as Throne, even ditch the pitch deck altogether and opt for an email or Notion document.
Read theemail template creator-economy startup Throne used to secure its seed investment.
We talked with founders who’ve pitched their startups to investors about their process. They broke down the pitch decks they used to secure millions of dollars in funding.
Read the pitch decks that helped 46 creator-focused startups fundraise millions of dollars:
Note: Pitch decks are sorted by investment stage and size of round.
Series A
Restream, a livestreaming alternative to platforms like the Amazon-owned Twitch: $50 million Series A (14 pages)
Hedra, a generative AI video platform: $32 million Series A (9 pages)
Dub, a fintech startup that lets people copy influencers’ stock trades: $30 million Series A (15 pages)
ShopMy, an affiliate platform that lets creators earn commissions through shoppable landing pages: $26.5 million Series A (23 pages)
Posh, an IRL events startup: $22 million Series A (12 pages)
Pearpop, a creator-marketing platform: $18 million Series A (18 pages)
Spoon Radio, a social-audio startup: $17 million Series A (15 pages)
Kyra, a content studio, talent-management firm, and influencer-marketing platform: $15 million Series A (20 pages)
Allstar, a startup helping gamers become social-media creators: $12 million Series A (6 pages)
Lumanu, a business-solutions platform for creators: $12 million Series A (8 pages)
Hype, a platform for link-in-bio and other creator-monetization tools: $10 million Series A (13 pages)
Catch+Release, a startup that helps creators and everyday social-media users license their content to brands: $8.8 million Series A (12 pages)
Slip.stream, a music startup focused on gamers: $7.5 million Series A (13 pages)
Brag House, an esports startup: $5 million Series A (24 pages)
CreatorDB, an influencer marketing company: $4.7 million Series A (13 pages)
Seed
Linguana, an AI video translation startup that is targeting YouTubers: $8.5 million (13 pages)
AvatarOS, a startup building virtual avatars for social media, gaming, and other immersive experiences: $7 million (11 pages)
Hypernatural, a generative AI startup that wants to be the Canva for video: $6.8 million (14 pages)
Scenario, a generative AI startup to create gaming art and assets: $6 million seed (8 pages)
Sesh, a music startup that connects artists and fans using their mobile wallets: $5 million seed (13 pages)
Authoritive, an online course-development startup: $5 million seed (11 pages)
Dstlry, a comic-book creator startup: $5 million seed (26 pages)
Dharma, a travel startup for creators and brands: $4.7 million pre-Series A (17 pages)
Glystn, an AI-powered community-management platform: $4 million seed (15 pages)
Daisy, an influencer marketing startup that launched in 2024: $3.9 million (9 pages)
Anima, an augmented-reality startup: $3 million (15 pages)
Grandstand, a sports startup working with athlete creators: $2.75 million
Seam Social, a new Web3 social-media platform: $2.5 million (10 pages)
Spark, a digital art platform from the YouTuber Moriah Elizabeth: $2.5 million seed (9 pages)
Insense, a startup helping e-commerce brands get low-cost ads: $2.5 million pre-Series A (9 pages)
Supercast, a podcast subscriptions startup: $2 million seed (20 pages)
Chartmetric, a music-data and -measurement company: $2 million seed (46 pages)
Ultimate Playlist, a music-marketing startup: $2 million round (9 pages)
Magroove, a music-distribution and -discovery platform: $1.6 million seed (21 pages)
Stagetime, a professional-networking startup for performing artists: $1.5 million seed (13 pages)
Jubilee Media, a content studio looking to expand beyond YouTube and TikTok: $1.1 million seed-plus (12 pages)
