Here’s what ‘renoa’ — the first new fiber in 25 years — feels like

techcrunch.com Nov 1, 2026

Here’s what ‘renoa’ — the first new fiber in 25 years — feels like

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Nov 1, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

Everbloom’s new fiber, renoa, blends waste protein from cashmere, wool, down, and feather lint with a biodegradable biopolymer, then extrudes it to mimic natural fibers. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved renoa as the first new fiber classification in 25 years, marking a regulatory milestone. The startup has tested the material in garments such as a cashmere‑like sweater, gloves, and a durable scarf that survived tumble drying. Production is scaling, with the first commercial blends expected in Q2 2027.

💡 Why It Matters

· By turning textile waste into a washable, affordable cashmere alternative, renoa could reduce the environmental footprint of luxury knitwear and broaden market access.

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4 days left: How TechCrunch Founder Summit helps you make more useful…

The TechCrunch Founder Summit, presented by Fidelity Private Shares, will take place on November 4 at Boston’s SoWa Power Station, offering a full day of structured networking for founders and venture capitalists. Powered by Braindate, the event’s Networking Lounge lets participants pre‑schedule one‑on‑one and small‑group talks on specific topics, turning session insights into follow‑up conversations. Additional formats include topic‑driven roundtables, breakout panels that field audience questions, an Expo Hall for partner interactions, and a closing reception for informal networking. Side events will run throughout the week across Boston, extending the summit’s reach beyond the venue. Early‑bird tickets provide up to $100 in savings and a complimentary second pass, with prices set to increase after the four‑day deadline.

💡 By converting passive conference attendance into deliberate, topic‑focused dialogues, the summit accelerates relationship building that can directly influence fundraising and product‑market fit decisions.

techcrunch.com · Oct 31

Zest’s new AI agent finds restaurants and books reservations over text

Zest, a restaurant‑discovery startup founded in November 2024, launched an AI‑powered “restaurant concierge” that operates entirely through SMS. The agent draws on users’ credit‑card transaction data—imported via Plaid—to infer dining preferences, then offers personalized venue suggestions, checks real‑time availability, and books tables through integrations with OpenTable, Resy and SevenRooms. Users can engage the concierge by texting a shortcode, add it to group chats to aggregate multiple tastes, and even run in‑thread polls to settle group decisions. The feature, tested last month and held back until booking capabilities were added, marks Zest’s shift from a standalone app to a conversational AI product. Founder Mario Gomez‑Hall says the service will later expand to other categories such as shopping and business recommendations, with booking and future ordering commissions forming its initial revenue streams.

💡 By moving restaurant booking into everyday texting, Zest bypasses app fatigue and taps directly into the frictionless channel where users already coordinate plans, accelerating adoption and monetization.

techcrunch.com · Oct 31

Satlyt takes another step toward turning satellites into space data centers

Satlyt, a startup founded by former Google and SpaceX engineer Rama Afullo, demonstrated its orbital data‑center software in a NASA‑funded test earlier this month. The experiment, conducted with the University of Houston, used a single onboard computer to simulate a network of four hosts, four users and eight services, assigning tasks based on available compute and communication links. The software generated a processing plan and returned results to Earth, proving it can schedule workloads in orbit. Satlyt already has its code running on three satellites and aims to link multiple spacecraft so users only set permissions, priorities and limits. Further trials will examine inter‑satellite data transfer, security and fault recovery as the company pursues broader validation and eventual commercial missions.

💡 By enabling satellites to share processing power, Satlyt could cut down latency for time‑critical observations, turning space assets into real‑time analytics platforms rather than mere data relays.

techcrunch.com · Oct 31

AI law firm Crosby bids on disintegrating, famed firm Weil Gotshal

A two‑year‑old AI‑first law firm, Crosby, has submitted a bid to acquire select assets of the dissolving Wall Street stalwart Weil, Gotshal & Manges, including its trademark, brand and unspecified internal data, TechCrunch reports. Crosby also aims to recruit a portion of Weil’s 1,200 lawyers as the legacy firm prepares to vote on dissolution after its heir‑apparent declined leadership, top‑producing partners departed, and a planned merger with Willkie Farr & Gallagher fell through. Founded in 2023, Crosby operates as a full‑service firm that leverages its own AI platform to deliver legal work at unprecedented speed. The startup has raised roughly $85 million, highlighted by a $60 million Series B led by Lux and Index, and seeks to reshape the market by buying into Weil’s heritage.

💡 Crosby’s bid could fuse a venerable legal brand with cutting‑edge AI, creating a hybrid model that may redefine how high‑value legal services are delivered.

techcrunch.com · Oct 31

Ollie, a privacy-focused AI assistant, is shutting down

Ollie, a privacy‑focused AI assistant startup, announced it will cease operations on November 6, a week after co‑founder and CEO Bill Lennon posted the notice on X. The company, which raised a $7.5 million seed round led by Khosla Ventures, offered a subscription‑based, text‑based assistant that integrated with users’ email and calendar to manage appointments, meal planning, bill payments, and later household budgeting. Ollie distinguished itself by achieving SOC 2 compliance, a rare privacy audit for consumer apps. Despite these differentiators, the firm struggled to compete with a crowded market that includes rivals such as Muse and Instinct, and was unable to secure additional capital. Users will receive instructions for data export and refunds.

💡 Ollie’s shutdown underscores how even strong privacy credentials cannot offset the capital intensity and rapid consolidation shaping the AI assistant sector.

therobotreport.com · Oct 31

Percepto launches Axion AI platform to unify inspection data analysis

Percepto, the Israeli‑U.S. drone‑inspection firm, unveiled Axion, a hardware‑agnostic AI platform that shifts the company to a software‑first model. Axion ingests inspection data from any third‑party drone, fixed or mobile sensor and legacy archives, then applies more than 160 AI models to deliver asset‑level condition insights and plain‑language query results. The SaaS service is aimed at critical‑infrastructure operators in oil‑and‑gas, power transmission and similar sectors, allowing them to prioritize maintenance without purchasing Percepto hardware. New CEO Julien Bellanger, who replaced Dor Abuhasira, said the move leverages the firm’s autonomous‑drone expertise while opening its intelligence to the broader market. Percepto will continue to sell its drones and will manufacture them in the United States to support domestic supply chain resilience and growth.

💡 Decoupling AI analytics from specific drone hardware lets operators monetize existing inspection assets, fast‑tracking AI‑driven reliability across legacy infrastructure.