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You don’t need to be an AI startup to raise. Lucra has $20M to prove it. | Equity Podcast

Slapping “AI” on your startup’s pitch deck is basically table stakes right now. When a founder raised $20 million from Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest for an eSports gamification loyalty startup without those two letters in the spotlight, it got us wondering how the conversation even started — especially when ARK had already been burned by…

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Slapping “AI” on your startup’s pitch deck is basically table stakes right now. When a founder raised $20 million from Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest for an eSports gamification loyalty startup without those two letters in the spotlight, it got us wondering how the conversation even started — especially when ARK had already been burned by a company operating in the same space.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Julie Bort sits down with Dylan Robbins, founder and CEO of Lucra, the white-label platform turning friendly competitions into loyalty programs for brands like golf courses, arcades, and pickleball clubs.

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

1:43 How Lucra works

4:10 Meeting ARK Invest over darts and landing the Series B

7:24 Pitching a non-AI startup during peak AI mania

10:41 The growth metrics that won investors over

13:02 Overcoming ARK’s bad experience with Skillz and the B2B pivot

20:43 What’s next: the mini games vertical

29:25 Outro

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. @jeffcraymore

    May 20, 2026 at 6:07 pm

    Series B, you are not a startup. You have serious customers and active growth. And he said that. Over years. That’s not a startup.

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CNET

iPhone 18 Pro Max Case Try-On

Dress to Impress but make it iPhone 18 Pro Max ✨ Bridget Carey tries on a few of Apple’s official cases (plus some extras.) #unboxing #onemorething #iphone18promax #iphonecase #apple Camera: Tara Brown Video Editor: Faith Chihil Add CNET as a trusted news source Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉 Check out…

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Dress to Impress but make it iPhone 18 Pro Max ✨

Bridget Carey tries on a few of Apple’s official cases (plus some extras.) #unboxing #onemorething #iphone18promax #iphonecase #apple

Camera: Tara Brown
Video Editor: Faith Chihil

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The Infodemic — and the Scientists Fighting Against It | Jessica Malaty Rivera | TED

Epidemiologist and science communicator Jessica Malaty Rivera believes we’re navigating a serious outbreak: health misinformation. She explores why the public’s trust in science is wavering — and the importance of winning it back. In this conversation with TED’s Whitney Pennington Rodgers, Rivera maps out what it takes to become a trusted messenger in an era…

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Epidemiologist and science communicator Jessica Malaty Rivera believes we’re navigating a serious outbreak: health misinformation. She explores why the public’s trust in science is wavering — and the importance of winning it back. In this conversation with TED’s Whitney Pennington Rodgers, Rivera maps out what it takes to become a trusted messenger in an era when expertise itself is up for debate. (Recorded at TEDNext 2025 on November 9, 2025)

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The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less) — plus originals, podcasts and exclusive content. Look for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design as well as science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit for our entire library, transcripts, translations and personalized recommendations.

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CNET

Googlebooks Might Just Be the Future of AI Laptops

With options from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo, the first batch of Googlebooks not only delivers on Google’s promise of premium quality and features, but the user experience doesn’t disappoint either. Read more about Googlebooks on CNET.com Lenovo Shares Images of New Googlebook and 2-in-1 Tablet Timecode Chapters: 0:00 GOOGLEBOOKS! 0:15 Brands Making Googlebook…

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With options from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo, the first batch of Googlebooks not only delivers on Google’s promise of premium quality and features, but the user experience doesn’t disappoint either.

Read more about Googlebooks on CNET.com
Lenovo Shares Images of New Googlebook and 2-in-1 Tablet

Timecode Chapters:
0:00 GOOGLEBOOKS!
0:15 Brands Making Googlebook Models
0:38 Premium Feel
1:00 Cost and Release Dates
1:13 Android Ecosystem Demo
1:19 Continue On
2:03 Cast My App
2:44 Magic Pointer
3:22 Create My Widget
4:10 Agentic Coding
4:51 Chromebook vs Googlebook
5:40 Let Us Know What You Think

Video Credits:
Host: Josh Goldman
Scripted by: Josh Goldman
Producer: Numi Prasarn
Camera: Numi Prasarn
Video Editor: Numi Prasarn
Thumbnail Designer: Zooey Liao

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#google #googlebooks #aicomputing #aipc #android #androidos

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