Vennre Secures $9.6m Pre-Series A to Open Private Markets to MENA’s ‘HENRYs’
Fintech platform Vennre announced a $9.6 million pre‑Series A round, co‑led by Vision Ventures and anb seed fund, with participation from Sanabil 500, Ace & Co, Plus VC and strategic investors. The hybrid equity‑debt financing will fund the digitisation of private‑market access for MENA’s high‑earning, not‑yet‑rich (HENRY) demographic, offering Shariah‑compliant exposure to private equity, venture capital, real estate and private credit. Vennre reported over $40 million in transaction volume and appointed Dr Ibrahim Al Mojel as chairman of its Saudi board to strengthen governance. The capital will accelerate client acquisition, platform enhancements and Saudi market expansion.
When Governance Slows Decisions: Rethinking Control, Materiality, and Trust
The article argues that overly rigid governance frameworks, while intended to reduce risk, often become a barrier to timely decision‑making. Organizations add layers of review and chase false precision, treating immaterial variances as critical, which inflates costs and slows execution....
Exclusive: Crisis Deepens for Resonance and BASE Edu as Lenders Manage to Freeze Bank Account
Resonance Group and its subsidiary BASE Educational Services have seen their expense accounts frozen after lenders obtained a court stay over unpaid debts. The freeze does not reflect a cash shortage; BASE reportedly has sufficient funds to cover a year...
CollegeDekho Posts Rs 151 Cr Loss in FY25, Revenue Remains Flat
CollegeDekho reported a flat top line of Rs 221.6 crore for FY25, barely up from the prior year, while its net loss widened 19% to Rs 151 crore. Advertising and promotional expenses surged 31% to Rs 126 crore, becoming the largest cost driver, even as employee‑benefit...
Kongsberg Wins Four-Ship Deal for New Transpetro Tankers
Kongsberg Maritime secured a contract to design and equip four 15,600 dwt handy‑size tankers for Transpetro, Brazil’s Petrobras transport arm. The vessels will be constructed at Consórcio Marenova, a joint venture between Ecovix and MacLaren, and are engineered for future methanol...
Sapiom Raises $15M to Help AI Agents Buy Their Own Tech Tools
Sapiom, founded by former Shopify payments director Ilan Zerbib, announced a $15 million seed round led by Accel to build a financial layer that lets AI agents automatically purchase and authenticate external services. The platform aims to automate micro‑payments and credential...
Angitia’s Latest Megaround to Fuel Mid-Stage Milestones: Venture Report
Angitia Biopharmaceuticals raised a $130 million Series D round, marking its second nine‑digit financing in just over a year after a $120 million Series C and following multiple nine‑figure Series B raises. New investors Frazier Life Sciences and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners joined existing backers,...
Ohio’s E-Verify Law for Nonresidential Construction Contractors Takes Effect Soon
Effective March 19, 2026, Ohio’s Workforce Integrity Act mandates that all non‑residential construction contractors, subcontractors and labor brokers verify employee eligibility through E‑Verify. The law defines non‑residential projects broadly, covering buildings, highways, bridges and utilities, while exempting residential and agricultural...
When Economic Warfare Meets Gunboat Diplomacy: What to Know About the US Seizures of Shadow Fleet Tankers
U.S. authorities have seized at least seven tankers linked to Venezuela’s shadow fleet, part of a broader push to disrupt illicit oil flows from Iran, Russia and Venezuela. The seizures rely on civil forfeiture statutes rather than wartime prize law,...
Substack Hires Former Google Exec as Its First Head of Partnerships in Canada
Substack has hired former Google Canada executive Mark Swierszcz as its first head of partnerships in Canada, reflecting the platform’s rapid organic growth north of the border. Canada is now Substack’s third‑largest market worldwide, with more than half a million...
Prevailing Wage Compliance Workshop: NJ Edition - Short Hills
On April 2, 2026, Littler will host a full‑day Prevailing Wage Compliance Workshop for New Jersey public‑works contractors at the Hilton Short Hills. Led by leading practitioner Russell McEwan, the program covers registration, apprentice rules, certified payroll, audit procedures and subcontractor liability under recent...
Elevate Farms Acquires Fieldless Farms to Create “Canadian Food Powerhouse”
Toronto‑based Elevate Farms announced the acquisition of Ottawa‑based Fieldless Farms, merging two leading Canadian indoor‑farming startups. The combined entity aims to create a “Canadian food powerhouse,” delivering year‑round leafy greens through controlled‑environment agriculture while strengthening domestic food security. Both companies...
Bonds as Bargaining Chips: The $8 Trillion Selloff that Could Shake U.S. Markets
European investors hold roughly $8 trillion of U.S. Treasury debt, a quarter of the Treasury market, and recent geopolitical friction with the Trump administration has sparked talk of using those holdings as leverage. A Danish pension fund’s $100 million Treasury sell‑off highlighted...
Dear Littler: Are There Any Concerns About Letting Our Employees Post Videos About Our Products?
A retailer’s marketing manager asks if an employee‑influencer can post a product video on social media. The FTC mandates a clear disclosure of any material connection between the employee and the company, and violations can result in fines. The company...
SEC Publishes Data on Exchange Traded Funds and Fund Mergers; Updated Statistics on Municipal Advisors, Transfer Agents, and Security-Based Swap...
The SEC’s Division of Economic and Risk Analysis released two new reports detailing the rapid expansion of active exchange‑traded funds and the fee outcomes of mutual‑fund and ETF mergers. Active ETFs now number close to passive funds, exhibiting higher turnover,...
VAST Data Plans Funding Round so Early Stock Holders Can Get Cash
VAST Data is closing a $1 billion financing round that values the AI‑focused storage vendor at roughly $30 billion. The bulk of the cash will come from a secondary sale where existing shareholders dump 5‑6 shares for each new issue, generating $700‑$850 million...
Lunar Energy Banks $232 Million Series D
Lunar Energy, a Mountain View‑based provider of integrated home battery systems and Virtual Power Plant (VPP) software, closed an oversubscribed $102 million Series D financing. The round was led by B Capital and Prelude Ventures and follows an unannounced $130 million Series C led...
Secondary Sales Shift From Founder Windfalls to Employee-Retention Tools
AI‑focused startups such as Clay, Linear and ElevenLabs are increasingly using secondary tender offers to let employees sell shares at soaring valuations, with Clay’s latest offering pricing stock at $5 billion, up 60% from its August valuation. These deals contrast with...
How Tax Uncertainty Freezes the Electric Car Market — Long Before Any Tax Is Paid
From April 2025 UK electric, zero‑emission and low‑emission cars will lose their Vehicle Excise Duty exemption and move onto the standard VED regime. The change eliminates the long‑standing tax‑free assumption that underpinned many EV purchase calculations. Finance providers have responded...
Irish SMEs Turn to Practical Cyber Solutions as AI-Driven Threats Rise, Vodafone Tells SFA Event
At the Small Firms Association’s SFA Connect event, Vodafone Ireland highlighted that 94% of Irish SMEs feel unprepared for AI‑driven cyber attacks, yet adoption of basic safeguards remains low. Only 21% of SMEs use multifactor authentication and more than half...
Brad Karp’s Fall Shows Growing Fallout From Epstein Files
Brad Karp abruptly resigned as chairman of Paul Weiss after newly released Justice Department files linked him to Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion and showed he sought a film job for his son. The revelations triggered a swift leadership change, with top...
Israeli Weather Satellite Startup Raises $175 Million in Investment Capital
Israeli weather‑data startup Tomorrow.io announced a $175 million financing round to launch DeepSky, an AI‑native satellite constellation. The company has already deployed 13 smallsats that deliver a 60‑minute global revisit, feeding its AI‑driven analytics platform used across critical industries. DeepSky will...
Willie’s Remedy+ Raises $15M in Series A Funding
Willie’s Remedy+, an Austin‑based maker of THC‑infused social tonics, secured $15 million in Series A financing. The round was led by Left Lane Capital with participation from Second Sight Ventures. CEO Greg Serrao plans to deploy the capital toward national retail expansion...
ISA Fund and Trust Picks for Every Type of Investor – Which Could Work for You?
The article urges investors to fully utilise the £20,000 stocks‑and‑shares ISA allowance before the 5 April 2025/26 deadline and to plan for the next year’s reset. It outlines fund options across risk profiles, from defensive global dividend funds and balanced total‑return...
The Spider Awards 2026 Shortlist Announced as Record Entries Mark 29th Anniversary
The Spider Awards announced its 2026 shortlist, marking the 29th anniversary of Ireland’s longest‑running digital awards. Entries surged 30% over 2025, setting a new record and underscoring the sector’s growth. A new Digital Rising Star category was introduced to spotlight...
The Most Popular Fund Sectors of 2025 as Investor Outflows Continue
UK retail investors continued to pull money from funds in 2025, with net outflows of £2.3 billion, matching the previous year. Equity funds bore the brunt, seeing £16.8 billion withdrawn, especially from US‑focused large‑cap tech exposure, while European equity attracted modest inflows....
Goodfire Raises $150M in Series B Funding
Goodfire, a San Francisco AI interpretability startup, secured $150 million in Series B financing. The round was led by B Capital and featured both existing backers and new investors such as Salesforce Ventures and Eric Schmidt. The capital will accelerate frontier research,...
Duna Raises €30M in Series A Funding
Duna, an AI-native business identity platform operating from Amsterdam and Berlin, closed a €30 million Series A round. The financing was led by CapitalG with participation from existing backers Index Ventures, Puzzle Ventures and Snowflake chairman Frank Slootman. The new capital lifts...
PhysicsWallah Posts Rs 1,082 Cr Revenue in Q3 FY26; Profit Grows 33%
PhysicsWallah reported Q3 FY26 operating revenue of Rs 1,082 crore, a 34% year‑on‑year increase, and total revenue of Rs 1,147 crore after adding Rs 65 crore from financial assets. Net profit rose 33% to Rs 102 crore, while total expenses grew 33% to Rs 980 crore, with employee benefits accounting...
Advance Raises $8.55M in Seed Funding
Advance, a New York‑based fintech, raised $8.55 million in seed funding to scale its insurance‑focused payment platform. The round was led by nvp Capital with participation from Crystal Ventures, Vesey Ventures, Mensch Capital, and strategic angels such as Assaf Wand. Funds...
When Management Mantras Help—And when They Hurt
Management mantras act as cultural shortcuts that embed core values and simplify decision‑making. Classic examples like “garbage in, garbage out” or Charlie Munger’s incentive warning help align teams around shared principles. However, when applied rigidly, mantras can suppress nuance, discourage...
Aypa Power Closes US$1.5 Billion Credit Facility for US BESS Projects
Aypa Power has closed a $1.5 billion revolving warehouse credit facility to finance its utility‑scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects across the United States. The facility includes a $500 million “accordion” option, making it the largest storage‑focused independent power producer (IPP)...
SENAI Inks $6.2M Seed Round
Washington‑based SENAI, an online video intelligence platform, closed a $6.2 million seed round led by 10D Ventures, with participation from FS Ventures, 1948 Ventures and investor Jonathan Kolber. The company transforms unstructured online video into geo‑specific, real‑time intelligence to counter security...
Feltsense Raises $5.1M Seed Funding
Feltsense Holdings announced a $5.1 million seed round led by Draper Associates, with participation from Precursor Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures and several prominent founders. The capital will fund the development of AI agents designed to act as fully autonomous founders—ideating, building,...
Despite Q3 Loss, Lightspeed Optimistic on Executing Growth and Profitability Plan
Lightspeed Commerce reported fiscal Q3 revenue of $312.3 million, slightly beating its own and analysts’ forecasts, while posting a net loss of $33.6 million, wider than a year ago. The company upgraded its full‑year revenue outlook to $1.22 billion and expects higher gross...
UANI Demands Action on Dark Fleet Oil Transfers Off Malaysia
United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) is urging the United States and Malaysia to crack down on ship‑to‑ship (STS) transfers of sanctioned Iranian crude off Malaysia’s East Outer Port Limits. UANI identified about 60 dark‑fleet tankers waiting for STS operations,...
Fluence Revenue up 154% but Margin Halves in Last Three Months of 2025
Fluence reported a 154.4% year‑on‑year revenue increase to $475.2 million in the quarter ending 31 December 2025, while its GAAP‑adjusted gross‑profit margin fell to 4.9% from 12.5% a year earlier. Net loss widened to $62.6 million and EBITDA loss grew to $52.1 million. The company’s...
Is Smart Dental Tech Worth the Cost?
Smart toothbrushes have evolved into data‑driven oral‑care devices featuring Bluetooth, AI guidance, pressure sensors and high‑frequency sonic vibrations. Premium models cost around €400, roughly the price of a basic smartphone, and promise to improve brushing technique and prevent enamel damage....
Global VC Investment Surged In January, With U.S. Dominating Funding But A Pair Of AI Model IPOs In China
Global venture capital funding surged to $55 billion in January 2026, more than doubling the year‑ago level and rising over 50 percent from December. The United States accounted for roughly 70 percent of the capital, with AI‑focused startups receiving 57 percent of all funding....
Executive Function: Building Systems that Can Make Decisions without You | Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel)
Vercel’s COO Jeanne De Witt Grosser, former Stripe leader, joins First Round’s Executive Function podcast to dissect what separates good executives from great ones. She details Vercel’s rigorous executive interview framework, the use of driver trees for metric ownership, and...
Lawhive Raises $60M in Series B Funding
London‑based legal‑tech firm Lawhive announced a $60 million Series B round, led by Danaher co‑founder Mitch Rales and backed by investors such as GV, Balderton Capital and TQ Ventures. The capital will accelerate Lawhive’s AI‑native platform rollout across the United States, where...
For Rayhawk Technologies, Automating Away Risk Is a Family Story
Rayhawk Technologies, founded by Tom Boehm, has turned a family‑rooted safety concern into an automated gantry system that opens and closes railcar lids at grain elevators. Leveraging machine‑learning and computer‑vision, the solution replaces hazardous manual work with precise, weather‑resilient robotics....
Tracxn Continues to Report Flat Revenue in Q3 FY25; Slips Into Losses
Bengaluru‑based data platform Tracxn reported flat Q3 FY26 revenue, slipping to Rs 21 crore, a 2% decline from the same quarter last year. Total expenses rose 8.6% to Rs 22.8 crore, driven largely by employee benefits, pushing the company into...
AgTech Startup Brilliant Harvest Secures $4 Million USD in Seed Funding
Calgary‑based AgTech startup Brilliant Harvest announced a $4 million USD seed round, led by returning investors Builders VC and AltaML and joined by FTW Ventures, Alpaca VC, Automotive Ventures, SVG Ventures and NYA Ventures. The AI‑driven platform, which parses technical manuals...
EU Reached a Breakthrough on a €90 Billion Loan for Ukraine
European Union member states have reached a breakthrough agreement to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion support package for 2026‑2027, of which roughly €60 billion is allocated to military aid and €30 billion to budget stabilization and reforms. The financing will be sourced...
35 Under 35: David Adderson on Advisory, Automation, and the Youtopia Model
In this episode, David Adderson, a 35‑under‑35 honoree, explains how his firm Youtopia is reshaping accounting by delivering real‑time management accounts and positioning itself as a high‑level advisory partner rather than a traditional compliance shop. He emphasizes a "millionaire‑maker" mindset,...
Nykaa Posts Rs 2,873 Cr Revenue in Q3 FY26; Profit Jumps 2.5X
Nykaa reported Rs 2,873 crore revenue in Q3 FY26, a 27% year‑on‑year increase, while net profit surged 2.5‑fold to Rs 68 crore. The beauty segment continued to dominate, delivering 91% of total sales, and operating costs rose to Rs 2,753 crore. Sequentially, profit more than doubled...
Why the Dollar May Have Much Further to Fall
The article argues that the U.S. dollar faces significant downside risk as domestic fiscal strain and a potentially dovish Federal Reserve erode international confidence. It highlights widening budget deficits, rising debt service costs, and slower economic growth as catalysts for...
Yannis Stournaras: Banking and Financial Outlook for Greece and Europe in 2026
Governor Yannis Stournaras highlighted that Greece’s banking sector has completed a decade‑long balance‑sheet clean‑up, cutting non‑performing loans by 95% and lowering the system‑wide NPL ratio to 3.6% by Q3 2025. Capital adequacy now sits around 20%, enabling the first dividend payouts...
Steven Maijoor: Europe's Digital Autonomy - Between Fault Lines and Vault Lines
Steven Maijoor warned that Europe’s financial sector is sitting on a digital fault line, with banks increasingly dependent on a handful of non‑European cloud hyperscalers. He highlighted the systemic risk this concentration creates, especially under cyber‑attacks or geopolitical sanctions. The...