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Unify, an OpenAI Converge accelerator grad, lands $12M for ‘warm outbound’ messages

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Unify - Austin Hughes and Connor Heggie

Unify, an AI-powered startup that uses data to reach prospective buyers, has raised a $12 million Series A led by existing investors Emergence Capital and Thrive Capital. OpenAI Startup Fund, Neo, Abstract, 20Sales, and AltCap also participated in the round.

The 20-month-old company went through OpenAI’s Converge I accelerator last year and, following that program, secured a nearly $7 million seed round from the same group of investors.

Unify was co-founded by Austin Hughes, who spent several years leading Ramp’s sales outbound program. While working at Ramp, Hughes observed that cold email outreach was less successful than it had been in the past decade. This gave him the idea that sales, marketing and revenue operations teams should make better use of all available data to reach customers with personalized content right when they are about to buy.

Hughes teamed up with Connor Heggie, a machine learning research engineer at Scale AI, to work on AI-enhanced messaging that helps sales teams generate leads and close deals faster.

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This is, of course, not a unique idea. One of the fastest growing segments of AI-empowered apps is AI sales development representative companies (AISDR). AISDR startups like 11x.ai, Reggie.ai, and Artisan are growing so quickly that VCs have been falling over themselves to invest at high valuations

Although Unify relies on AI to target potential buyers, Hughes told TechCrunch that he doesn’t consider his company an AISDR.  He prefers to consider his startup to be delivering what it calls “warm outbound” messaging. “We don’t compete with AISDRs,” Hughes said. “You can fine tune every piece of Unify: the copy, what you say, and the data sources you’re pulling from.”

For instance, Unify can pull data from CRMs and other data warehouses to help determine what to say to potential purchasers in its messages. It also scans online data sources to help identify prospects, and the signals that they are looking to buy.

Rather than focusing on the messaging piece, Hughes says that he looks up to companies like Zoominfo and Outbound.io as models for what he’s trying to build. “We view ourselves as a data company,” he said.

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Unify may have a slightly different approach to AI sales outreach than AISDR companies, but one thing is clear: it’s also growing very quickly. The company’s revenue is already in the millions and its got a stream of customer logos on its website, counting companies like Justworks and Lattice as its customers. 

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I.T Room 42U Data Rack Server Rack Back Side Cable Manages

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Google’s Gemini enterprise coding assistant shows enterprise-focused coding is growing

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Google's Gemini enterprise coding assistant shows enterprise-focused coding is growing

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Google Cloud’s newest feature, Gemini Code Assist Enterprise aims to compete with GitHub’s enterprise-focused coding platform to explain local codebases and get more security. 

Gemini Code Assist Enterprise, formerly Duet AI, lets developers code faster because it understands their organization’s codebase, has a large context window, and allows for customization. Developers can access the assistant for $45 per month per user or $19 monthly with a yearly subscription.

“Developers can stay in flow state longer, bringing more insights directly to their IDEs, while also completing complex tasks like upgrading a Java version in an entire repo,” said Ryan J. Salva, senior director, Developer Tools and Operations, Google Cloud in a blog post. “This means developers get to focus on creative problem-solving, leading to greater job satisfaction while you get a faster time-to-market, gaining a competitive edge.”

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The platform offers code suggestions based on local codebases. Google said the large context window helps developers “generate or transform code that’s more relevant to your application.”

The coding assistant can connect directly to other Google Cloud services like Firebase, Databases, BigQuery, Colab Enterprise, Apigee and Application Integration. Salva said this is to meet developers where they are since “the more services it touches, the faster your builders can create and deliver applications.”

The code customization is based on internal libraries so Code Assist can help make custom code suggestions. It will index GitHub and GitLab libraries and support self-hosted libraries early next year.

“A code assistant dramatically reduces the time to ramp on new technologies and incorporates the nuances of an organization’s coding standards into the suggestions it provides,” Salva wrote.

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But Google’s biggest selling point for the coding assistant is its enterprise-grade security. It extends Google’s promise that it won’t use customer data to train its Gemini models. It also promises that users have complete control over which repositories the code assistant will index, and they can purge data anytime. Google will also offer indemnification — legal cover for any potential lawsuit — for any code generated by Gemini Code Assist Enterprise. 

Enterprise-focused coding assistants

Coding assistance, of course, is nothing new for generative AI. But as more enterprises hope to integrate coding assistants into their technology stack, providers hope to tailor their offerings to them. 

GitHub released an enterprise-focused Copilot called GitHub Copilot Enterprise in February, largely offering similar features. Oracle’s coding assistant focuses on Java and SQL enterprise applications. Other companies like Harness also came out with coding assistants that give real-time suggestions and target businesses. Harness’ assistant is built off Gemini. 

Google’s entering the fray underscores the increasing competition in coding assistants and the need to make enterprise-specific solutions even for a task most chatbots can readily do. Moving coding assistants from separate chatbots and integrating these into developer environments or in Google’s case,e other channels gives flexibility to companies looking to improve productivity. The more developers can quickly test code and maybe fix bugs on local codebases, the faster companies can move and deploy applications. 

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OpenAI to open offices in Singapore, Paris, Brussels to facilitate global expansion

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OpenAI said in a post on X that it is opening new offices in multiple cities, including NYC, Seattle, Paris, Brussels, and Singapore, in addition to its existing locations in San Francisco, London, Dublin and Tokyo, as part of the company’s global expansion efforts.

The expansion effort follows the San Francisco-based ChatGPT maker’s whopping $6.4 billion funding round, a restructuring plan announcement, and a series of executive departures.

The company also said managing director Oliver Jay (formerly the chief revenue officer at Asana and head of APAC and LATAM at Dropbox) will oversee international operations and facilitate global expansion from Singapore.

A spokesperson at OpenAI told TechCrunch the company has started building a team in Singapore, which will serve as a hub to support customers and partners in the Asia Pacific region. The company is currently hiring engineers, and plans to open the Singapore office at the end of this year. This will be OpenAI’s second office in Asia, following the launch of the Tokyo office in April.

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“Singaporeans are some of the highest per capita users of ChatGPT worldwide, with the number of weekly active users in Singapore doubling since the beginning of the year,” OpenAI said in a statement.

Alongside the new office, OpenAI said it is partnering with AI Singapore to expand access to its AI technology in Southeast Asia. AI Singapore, initiated in 2017 by the National Research Foundation (NRF), is a national program that supports Singaporean companies and research organizations in leveraging AI.

“Singapore, with its rich history of technology leadership, has emerged as a leader in artificial intelligence, recognizing its potential to solve some of society’s hardest problems and advance economic prosperity,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI in a statement. “We’re excited to partner with the government and the country’s thriving AI ecosystem as we expand into the APAC region.”

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1U Vented Server Rack Cabinet Shelf | StarTech.com

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1U Vented Server Rack Cabinet Shelf | StarTech.com



StarTech.com 1U Vented Server Rack Cabinet Shelf
-10in Deep Fixed Cantilever Tray
– Rackmount Shelf for 19″ AV/Data/Network Equipment Enclosure
– 44lbs Capacity (CABSHELFV1U), black .

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Starlink and T-Mobile’s text-by-satellite service is available in Florida

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Starlink and T-Mobile’s text-by-satellite service is available in Florida

T-Mobile customers in areas affected by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton will now be able to send SMS texts over Starlink satellites, according to SpaceX. It’s being offered on a “best-effort basis” and for free.

“We have now enabled basic texting (SMS) for those on T-Mobile phones in hurricane affected areas,” SpaceX says. “Text messages have already been sent and received. You can text loved ones, text 911 and continue to receive emergency alerts.”

If your phone connects to a Starlink satellite instead of the usual antenna, you’ll see 1 to 2 bars of service, and the network name will be “T-Mobile SpaceX,” according to SpaceX. You might have to retry text messages if they don’t go through, and SpaceX says the service works “best outdoors” and “occasionally works indoors near a window.”

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave SpaceX and T-Mobile temporary approval for the direct-to-cell service for areas impacted by Hurricane Helene earlier this week, where its satellites have been used to deliver emergency alerts to all phones and carriers. Now SpaceX says the FCC “has also rapidly approved emergency special temporary authority for coverage in Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton.”

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NavePoint 20U Vertical Rack Rail Pair DIY Kit with Hardware, Black

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NavePoint 20U Vertical Rack Rail Pair DIY Kit with Hardware, Black



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NavePoint 20U Vertical Rack Rail Pair DIY Kit with Hardware, Black

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This presentation contains images that were used under a Creative Commons License. .

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