While many wearables are racing to add AI to everything, a company called The90 is focused on a single job of helping people keep track of their exposure to UVA and UVB rays throughout the day. The company has created a pendant-style necklace with a built-in UV sensor called The90 Gem. It works with a mobile app to track how much sun your skin is actually getting in real time.

Why UV tracking matters

The company says up to 90% of visible skin aging and premature skin damage is linked to cumulative, everyday UV exposure. UVA rays are associated with long-term skin aging and can pass through windows, while UVB rays are more closely connected to sunburn. That makes both types of exposure important, even when someone is not spending hours at the beach.

The90 Gem tracks live UVA and UVB data and feeds it into The90 app, where users can build a personal skin profile. The app takes into account skin type, sunscreen use, and sun-protective habits to offer more tailored guidance.

A necklace built for sun exposure, not notifications

The90 says the wearable can provide personalized UV thresholds, sunscreen reapplication reminders, and guidance on safer sunlight exposure windows based on real-time conditions. This helps users make more informed decisions about sunscreen timing and daily UV exposure.

The90 Gem is designed as modular smart jewelry, so it can be styled and worn like a regular pendant. The company claims up to seven days of battery life, a two-hour charging time, and splash resistance, though it advises users not to fully submerge the necklace.

The90 Gem is available now for $299, with an exclusive $199 early access offer, which can be available through their website. It comes in gold and silver colors.

Humanoids aren’t quite ready to replace factory workers, but the industry can’t wait. Faced with labor shortages, manufacturers have shown growing interest in startups that promise faster automation without the usual tradeoffs.

That’s the bet behind Theker, an AI robotics startup that aims to go beyond robots trained for a single task. “If you always have to put the same cookie in the same box, that works perfectly, but most processes aren’t like that,” co-founder Carla Gómez Cano told TechCrunch.

Theker is designed for that messier reality. Unlike humanoid robots designed around a fixed form — think Boston Dynamics — Theker’s machines are built to be reconfigured. Their hands, arms, and overall form can be swapped out or resized depending on the task, whether that’s sorting packages, packing clothing, or handling bottles and cans in a warehouse.

That Inditex, Zara’s parent company, signed on as an early backer is a signal of where Theker’s ambitions start, not where they end. The company’s broader goal is to move beyond retail into heavier industrial settings like manufacturing, where the complexity and scale of manual tasks is even greater.

This generalist ambition has helped cement Theker’s status as one of Europe’s hot startups to watch — and raise capital accordingly. The Barcelona-based startup has just raised $85 million in what it’s calling “Europe’s largest ever robotics Series A.” (We haven’t found a larger one in our records, either.)

Less than a year after a record seed round, this Series A was led by American VC firm CRV and backed by a mix of traditional and strategic investors, including Samsung and Aglaé Ventures, the investment vehicle tied to LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault.

Gómez Cano said Samsung is not a client yet but that the two are in advanced discussions. Theker would welcome having the Korean company as a customer, supplier, and investor simultaneously — a trifecta that would give the startup both revenue and credibility in manufacturing at scale.

She also noted that she and co-founder Jiaqiang Ye Zhu “didn’t build Theker to run pilots,” so the team skips innovation departments entirely and goes straight to logistics or operations, where deals are real and timelines are shorter.

To demonstrate that the company can actually deliver on that, Theker has a showroom in central Barcelona, and plans to open others as it expands across Europe, the U.S. and Asia. It will also grow its headcount across tech, deployment, and sales.  

“We already received 15,000 job applications and have to filter like crazy,” Gómez Cano said. She estimated that the team could grow from dozens to up to 120 people by the end of the year, then caught herself: “I am saying that, but I also said that we’d raise $30 or $40 million!” 

That Theker managed to raise twice its target also reinforces the startup’s conviction in keeping its HQ in Barcelona, a growing robotics hub, and in Europe’s tech ecosystem more broadly. “It has never been a barrier to acceleration for us, so we are making the most of it,” Gómez Cano said.