The Payroll Software Dilemma Facing Accountancy Practices
In this episode, Ian Davidson of Quarry Payroll Consulting discusses the strategic crossroads accountancy practices face as legacy payroll software reaches end‑of‑life, weighing migration to modern cloud platforms against outsourcing payroll to specialist providers. He outlines the heavy resource demands, risk, and potential productivity gains of migration, while highlighting how outsourcing can free senior staff for higher‑margin advisory work and reduce compliance risk. Davidson stresses that the choice should align with a firm’s strategic focus—whether payroll is a core differentiator or an ancillary service—and warns against delaying decisions, which erodes negotiating power and increases operational risk.
Google Opens Applications for the 10th Cohort of Google for Startups Accelerator Africa
Google has opened applications for the 10th cohort of its Google for Startups Accelerator Africa, rebranded as the “AI First program.” The 12‑week hybrid accelerator targets Series A startups building AI‑driven solutions for health, finance and societal challenges across the continent....
Romanian EdTech Startup Kinderpedia Raises €2.2M in Growth Funding Round
Romanian EdTech startup Kinderpedia secured €2.2 million in a growth‑stage round led by Simpact Ventures, part of a €3.5 million target. The AI‑powered platform now serves schools in over 40 countries, reaching more than 500,000 teachers, parents and administrators. Funds will accelerate...
How Beginners Can Create Multiple Online Income Streams Without Burnout
The article outlines a step‑by‑step framework for beginners to build multiple online income streams while avoiding burnout. It advises starting with a single, skill‑aligned foundation stream and mastering it for 3‑6 months before diversifying. Subsequent streams should leverage existing audiences,...
Gent Sejko: Launch of the EBRD Transition Report 2025-26
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development released its 2025‑26 Transition Report, highlighting demographic change as a decisive driver of economic performance. Governor Gent Sejko used the launch to illustrate Albania’s stark ageing and emigration trends, noting a population drop...
Eli M Remolona: Speech - Rotary Club of Manila 16th Weekly Membership Meeting
Governor Eli M. Remolona told the Rotary Club of Manila that inflation has fallen to 1.8% overall and 1.1% for the poorest 30% of households, while the banking sector shows strong capital adequacy at 16.4% and liquidity at 180% of...
Vexlum Raises EUR 10M in Funding
Finnish laser maker Vexlum announced a €10 million financing round to expand its semiconductor laser production. The round includes €6 million equity led by venture firm Kvanted, participation from state‑owned Tesi and the EU‑backed EIC Fund, a €2.4 million EIC Accelerator grant, and...
Cerebras Systems Raises $1 Billion in Series H Funding
AI infrastructure specialist Cerebras Systems announced a $1 billion Series H round, valuing the company at roughly $23 billion. The round was led by Tiger Global and featured investors such as Benchmark, Fidelity, AMD and Coatue. Cerebras’ flagship Wafer Scale Engine 3 claims more...
Stash Secured One of the Top US WealthTech Deals as Funding in the Country Fell by 56% in 2025
US WealthTech investment contracted sharply in 2025, with total capital falling 56% YoY to $3.6 billion and deal volume dropping 39% to 259 transactions. Despite the slowdown, New York solidified its leadership, accounting for 40% of the top ten deals, while...
Blackbuck Records Rs 32 Cr Profit on Rs 172 Cr Revenue in Q3 FY26
Blackbuck posted a Rs 32 crore profit in Q3 FY26, driven by revenue of Rs 172 crore—a 51% year‑on‑year increase. Over the nine‑month period, revenue rose 53% to Rs 466.5 crore, with truck‑operator services accounting for 98% of earnings. Expenses grew, notably employee benefits and depreciation,...
Cosmix by the Numbers: What Marico Gets in Its Latest D2C Acquisition
Marico announced the acquisition of a 60% stake in plant‑based nutrition startup Cosmix, adding the brand to its growing D2C portfolio that already includes Plix, True Elements, Just Herbs and Beardo. Cosmix more than doubled its FY25 revenue to ₹50.93 crore...
Fintower Completes €1.5M Oversubscribed Seed Round
Swedish fintech Fintower announced the close of an oversubscribed €1.5 million seed round, drawing participation from new backers such as Chalmers Ventures, Akka and the Stena family, alongside existing investors like Almi and Inet. The company offers an AI‑driven SaaS platform...
AAI and Apogee Aerospace Collaborate to Advance Amphibious Aviation in India
Amphibian Aerospace Industries (AAI) and Apogee Aerospace have signed a strategic partnership to introduce the Albatross 2.0 amphibious aircraft to India. The Albatross 2.0, the first FAA‑ and EASA‑certified transport‑category amphibian with up to 28 seats, will be sold to...
HR Tech Company Talentguide Raises €1.3M to Expand Data-Driven Skills Management in Europe
Ghent‑based HR‑tech firm talentguide raised €1.3 million to accelerate its European rollout. The round was led by NXT II, Travvant, Miles Ahead Capital, imec.istart and several founders. talentguide’s AI‑driven SaaS platform converts unstructured HR data into a skills intelligence layer for both...
Robotics Startup Octobotics Raises Rs 10 Cr in Seed Round
Octobotics, an AI‑enabled non‑destructive testing robotics startup, raised roughly Rs 10 crore in a seed round led by Navam Capital with BYT Capital joining. The capital will fund accelerated product development, certification, and expansion into Singapore and the Middle East. Founded in...
Beverage Startup CHINI KUM Raises Pre-Seed Funding
CHINI KUM, a zero‑sugar beverage startup, secured ₹1 crore in pre‑seed funding from a group of angel investors and founder participation. The capital will fund product innovation, flavor expansion, and nationwide distribution, with a focus on quick‑commerce channels. The brand launched its...
Qontext Closes $2.7M Pre-Seed Round to Develop a Context Layer for AI
Berlin‑based Qontext announced a $2.7 million pre‑seed round led by HV Capital, backed by AI‑infrastructure veterans. The startup builds an independent context layer that supplies AI systems with up‑to‑date, enterprise‑wide data. Its platform targets fragmented customer, product, and policy information that...
Stripe Alumni Raise €30M Series A for Duna, Backed by Stripe and Adyen Execs
Duna, a business identity verification startup founded by Stripe alumni, closed a €30 million Series A round led by Alphabet’s CapitalG with participation from current and former Stripe and Adyen executives. The company’s platform aims to create a reusable digital passport for...
Federal Reserve Board Finalizes Hypothetical Scenarios for Its Annual Stress Test and Votes to Maintain the Current Stress Test-Related Capital...
The Federal Reserve Board finalized the hypothetical scenarios for its 2026 annual stress test, keeping them largely unchanged from the October draft. The test will assess 32 large banks under a severe global recession, featuring a 10% unemployment peak, a...
What A16z Is Actually Funding (and What It’s Ignoring) when It Comes to AI Infra
Andreessen Horowitz raised $15 billion, earmarking $1.7 billion for its AI infrastructure team. The infra group backs a range of startups—from chip designers to voice‑AI platforms like ElevenLabs and multimodal marketplaces such as Fal. Led by partner Jennifer Li, the team continues a...
Puerto Rico Supreme Court Enforces Private Employment Arbitration Clauses Under Act 100 Discrimination Claims
The Puerto Rico Supreme Court ruled that mandatory arbitration clauses in private employment contracts are enforceable for discrimination claims under Act 100, provided the agreement impacts interstate commerce and thus falls under the Federal Arbitration Act. The decision expressly limits its...
Another Big 4 Ditches Their Executive Assistants For Offshore Ones Instead
KPMG Australia announced it will outsource roughly 200 of its 260 executive assistants to the Philippines, representing about 75% of its EA function. The move is part of a broader cost‑cutting initiative after advisory revenue fell 18% and overall revenue...
Resolve AI
Resolve AI has launched a multi‑agent system that operates across code, infrastructure, and telemetry to automatically triage alerts and investigate incidents. Unlike traditional tools that merely correlate signals, the platform conducts structured investigations that emulate expert production engineers. It transforms...
ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs is expanding AI-driven interaction through two core offerings: the Agents Platform, which lets businesses deploy scalable voice and chat agents, and the Creative Platform, which generates speech, music, images, and video in over 70 languages. Both platforms are built...
Cerebras Systems Raises $1 Billion Series H
Cerebras Systems closed a $1 billion Series H financing round, valuing the company at roughly $23 billion post‑money. The round was led by Tiger Global and included investors such as Benchmark, Fidelity, AMD and Coatue. Proceeds will accelerate production of the Wafer Scale...
Cerebras Closes $1 Billion Funding Round at $23 Billion Valuation After Landing OpenAI Deal
Cerebras Systems announced a financing round exceeding $1 billion, lifting its valuation to roughly $23 billion. The round was led by Tiger Global and featured investors such as Benchmark, Fidelity, AMD, and Coatue. The capital infusion follows a newly disclosed multi‑year, $10 billion...
Osmo Announces $70M in Series B Funding
Osmo, a digital scent design startup, closed a $70 million Series B round, bringing its total capital raised to $130 million. The round was led by Two Sigma Ventures and included new backers such as Valor, Atreides, Amplo, Alumni Ventures, Collab Fund, Lumina...
BoldVoice Raises $21M Series A to Give a Billion Non-Native English Speakers Their Own AI Voice Coach
BoldVoice announced a $21 million Series A round led by Matrix, with participation from Flybridge, Xfund, Corazon Capital, Alumni Ventures, Umami Capital and Y Combinator. The AI‑powered voice‑coaching platform has surpassed five million downloads and generated $10 million in annual recurring revenue. Its proprietary speech...
ElevenLabs Closes $500M at $11B Valuation to Expand Voice AI Into Multimodal Agents
ElevenLabs announced a $500 million financing round led by Sequoia Capital, lifting its valuation to $11 billion—more than triple the level a year earlier. The round also brought Sequoia partner Andrew Reed onto the board and saw existing investors such as Andreessen...
BDC Head Says Bank Pulled Back From Life Sciences “Too Early” As It Preps New VC Fund
The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is preparing a new life‑sciences fund of roughly C$100 million to re‑enter direct medtech investing, launching before April. BDC’s president Isabelle Hudon said the bank withdrew from the sector too early after its 2013...
Apeiron Labs Closes $9.5 Million Series A
Apeiron Labs announced the close of a $9.5 million Series A round to fund its real‑time ocean intelligence platform. The financing was co‑led by S2G Investments, RA Capital Management’s Planetary Health Fund, and DYNE Ventures, with participation from Assembly Ventures, TFX Capital...
Watchdog Warns on ‘Fire Sale Dynamics’ Risk in Repo Market
The Financial Stability Board warned that leveraged trades in the short‑term repo market could spark fire‑sale dynamics, pressuring sovereign bond prices. It highlighted a $16 trillion global repo market, with hedge‑fund borrowing near $3 trillion—about 25% of their assets—often conducted with zero...
EnFi Secures $15m Series A to Scale AI Credit Workforce
EnFi, an AI-native platform that supplies virtual agents for commercial lending, announced a $15 million Series A round, bringing its total capital to $22.5 million. The round was led by FINTOP with participation from Patriot Financial Partners, Commerce Ventures, Unusual Ventures and Boston...
The Arithmetic of Ambition: Engineering Rigor and Aesthetic Futurism in Deeptech VC
The episode critiques the current venture‑capital approach to SpaceTech and DeepTech, arguing that hype‑driven narratives often replace rigorous engineering and economic analysis. It highlights the “drunkard’s walk” of investment decisions, using orbital data centers as a case study to show...
Logistics Challenges See Chinese Production Reactivated
Manufacturers that fled China during the 2018 US trade war are now reversing course, with up to half of re‑shored production expected to return to Chinese factories. Logistics bottlenecks and limited capacity in Southeast Asian ports are prompting exporters of...
Kingscrowd Offers Fund of More Mature, Profitable Private Firms
Kingscrowd has launched the Capital Profitability Fund, a $5 million vehicle aimed at mature private companies that are already profitable. The fund will invest in 25‑30 firms with revenues above $1 million and revenue multiples under 7.5×, targeting exits within three to...
Study Highlights Onshore Power Supply Challenge for LNG-Powered Ships
A CE Delft study commissioned by Nabu reveals a compatibility issue between on‑shore power supply (OPS) and LNG‑powered vessels. Ships with membrane or Type B tanks, which have lower pressure tolerance, may struggle to manage boil‑off gas (BOG) when connected to...
Milan–Cortina 2026: The Employment Law Behind the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games
Italy will host the Milan‑Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games starting February 6, 2026, spotlighting the nation’s capacity for large‑scale event delivery. The Games emphasize gender balance, projecting the highest female athlete participation in Winter Olympic history and increased...
Newcleo Raises USD85M in Financing
Paris‑based newcleo announced an $85 million financing round led by existing backers Kairos, Indaco Ventures, Azimut Investments, the CERN pension fund and Walter Tosto, alongside newcomers Danieli & C., Cementir Holding, Orion Valves and NextChem. The capital will fund the construction...
University of Galway Launches New Prototype Hub in Partnership with Medtronic
The University of Galway has opened a Medical Device Prototype Hub in partnership with Medtronic, marking a key milestone in their five‑year, €5 million innovation agreement. The hub, housed within the university’s Technology Services Directorate, provides rapid prototyping, 3D printing, and...
Resolve AI Raises $125M in Series A Funding at $1B Valuation
Resolve AI, a San Francisco‑based SRE and engineering startup, closed a $125 million Series A round at a $1 billion valuation, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from Greylock, Unusual Ventures, Artisanal Ventures and A*. The capital will accelerate product development, expand...
ElevenLabs Raises $500M Series D at $11B Valuation
ElevenLabs announced a $500 million Series D round that lifts its valuation to $11 billion, led by Sequoia Capital with Andreessen Horowitz and ICONIQ Capital increasing stakes. The funding backs the company’s push toward $330 million in annual recurring revenue by 2025 and fuels...
Bedrock Robotics Raises $270 Million in Series B Funding to Accelerate the Future of Autonomous Construction
Bedrock Robotics announced a $270 million Series B round, valuing the autonomous construction startup at $1.75 billion. The funding, led by CapitalG and Valor Atreides AI Fund, brings total capital raised to over $350 million and will support scaling of fleet‑level autonomy across excavation,...
Midi Health Raises $100M as It Plans Expansion Into Urgent Care, Research
Midi Health, the pandemic‑born women’s health platform, announced a $100 million financing round that pushes its valuation past the $1 billion unicorn threshold. The capital, led by a consortium of venture firms, will fund the launch of a nationwide urgent‑care network and...
Making Healthcare Better: The Manufacturing Technologies Powering MedTech Innovation
Stryker highlights how advanced manufacturing, robotics, AI and digital twins are reshaping MedTech, accelerating product cycles and enabling patient‑specific solutions. Additive manufacturing and 3D printing now move concepts to production in weeks, while digital twins create precise virtual replicas for...
The Biggest Biotech Funding Rounds in January 2026
In January 2026 biotech firms secured record capital, with Parabilis Medicines leading private rounds at $305 million and Aktis Oncology topping public offerings at $365.4 million. Private fundraising totaled $2.986 billion across 31 rounds, while public markets raised $1.67 billion from nine offerings. Oncology and...
SNAK Venture Partners Raises $50M Fund to Back Vertical Marketplaces
Venture firm SNAK Venture Partners closed an oversubscribed $50 million debut fund, anchored by the Pritzker Group and other institutional LPs. The Chicago‑based team, led by Sonia Nagar and Adam Koopersmith, will write $1‑$2 million seed checks in up to 20 B2B...
Building with AI Is Now the “Price of Admission” For Software Startups, Inovia Report Says
Inovia Capital’s 2025 State of Software report shows AI‑native startups now account for 40% of Canadian software deal value, up from 12% a decade ago. Investors treat deep AI integration as a baseline requirement, rewarding AI‑focused firms with larger rounds...
China Retains Shipbuilding Crown in 2025
China retained its shipbuilding leadership in 2025, delivering 53.69 million deadweight tonnes—a 11.4% increase year‑on‑year—and capturing 56.1% of global output. New orders fell 4.6% to 107.82 million dwt but still accounted for 69% of worldwide demand, while the order backlog surged 31.5%...
Tensor Ventures And Others Invest $4 Million US in London-Based AppFactor
Tensor Ventures led a $4 million seed round in London‑based AppFactor, joined by Begin Capital and Adara Ventures. The startup’s platform monitors and modernizes legacy enterprise applications in‑operation, eliminating downtime for end users. Deployments are already live at a major UK...