Today's Entrepreneurship Pulse
Cognition secures over $1 billion in funding, hits $25 billion pre‑money valuation
AI coding startup Cognition announced a financing round that raised more than $1 billion, valuing the company at $25 billion before money. The round was led by Lux Capital and General Catalyst and included Founders Fund, 8VC, Ribbit Capital, Atreides and Layer Global.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Birchal raises $800K in down round valuing company at $5M
CEE Startup & Tech Weekly: CEE Tech Weekly: Databricks Completes $5B Funding Round
Databricks announced the close of a $5 billion equity round and an additional $2 billion of debt capacity, pushing its valuation to $134 billion and reporting $5.4 billion in annualised revenue, a 65 % YoY increase. The funding round underscores the influence of its Romanian co‑founder and positions the data‑analytics leader for a potential IPO. Meanwhile, Central and Eastern European startups attracted €12.9 million across six deals, spanning SaaS, AI analytics, neobanking, transport tech, and staffing platforms. The wave of capital highlights the region’s growing role in Europe’s broader tech investment landscape.
When Investors Say ‘No Technical Moat’, What They’re Really Saying
Investors often ask for a technical moat, but founders like Curaley demonstrate that early enterprise pilots and trust can provide stronger defensibility. Curaley secured a paid pilot with a global enterprise before building a full product, using that credibility to...
Tiny 1% Gains Compound Into Massive Results
British Cycling went from losing to winning by improving 1% in everything. They cleaned bikes better, fixed sleep habits, tracked hand washing, and small gains stacked up. In business, a 1% lift in price, margin, and cost control can drive a 27%...
How Ecoright Grew To ₹14.08 Cr By Making Eco Materials Affordable
Ecoright, founded by IIM Calcutta alumni in 2019, has scaled its affordable eco‑friendly bag line to ₹14.08 cr in FY25, a 60% revenue jump from the previous year. The brand leverages organic cotton, jute and recycled PET to offer 300+ SKUs...
How Bacca Bucci Grew To ₹81.6 Cr By Owning Mid-Premium, Design-Led Shoes
Bacca Bucci, founded in 2015, has positioned itself as a mid‑premium, design‑led footwear brand in India’s fast‑growing market. By adopting an asset‑light, outsourced manufacturing model and a marketplace‑first strategy, it sold nearly 5 million pairs to 4.5 million customers, achieving ₹81.6 Cr revenue...
From College Tweets to 55+ Backed Companies
today i have been writing a piece on how we sourced the 55+ companies we've backed over the last 5 years and pulling the thread has been so beautiful. feeling so much gratitude for this journey that started as me...
Niche Solves, Mass Appeal Fails: Test Everything
I lost $16k testing apparel 'everyone wears.' Zero traction. I tested apparel for a tiny subculture. Scaled to $90k/month with raving fans. The market doesn't care about mass appeal. It cares about solving specific problems for specific people. Test everything.
How Something’s Brewing Grew To ₹12.4 Cr By Productising The Coffee Hobby
Something’s Brewing, a Bengaluru‑based e‑retail platform for home coffee enthusiasts, posted ₹12.4 cr revenue in FY25 – a 58% jump from the previous year. The company curates espresso machines, grinders, beans and accessories from India, Germany, Italy and China, and pairs...
Master VC Technicals in One Weekend with 7 Guides
7 VC guides to teach you the technicals in one weekend👇 ♻️ Repost to help someone VC recruiting right now.
The Economics Of Retention: How MoEngage Built A Defensible Moat In A Crowded Market
MoEngage has turned the high cost of user retention—estimated at five to twenty‑five times acquisition expense—into a core SaaS proposition. After raising $280 million in a Series F round, the company reported close to $100 million in ARR and achieved profitability in the...
BYD Adds to China’s Expanding Automotive Footprint in Pakistan
Chinese EV maker BYD is set to begin local vehicle assembly in Pakistan, with a 25,000‑unit annual plant near Karachi slated for operation in the third to fourth quarter of 2026. The $150 million facility will make BYD the first electric‑vehicle...
Why Creators Are Ditching Ad Revenue for Chocolate Bars and Fintech Acquisitions
Creators are moving beyond ad revenue, launching product lines, acquiring startups, and building tangible businesses. MrBeast’s chocolate brand now out‑earns his media arm, and his purchase of fintech startup Step illustrates the shift toward diversified revenue. The TechCrunch Equity podcast...
Access to Credit and Employment Growth for MSMEs: Evidence From Latin America and the Caribbean
A new IDB Invest technical note analyzes 21,696 MSMEs across 30 Latin American and Caribbean economies, linking credit access to employment growth. The study finds that an extra US$1 million in financing generates roughly four permanent jobs per year. Effects vary:...
Canadian Bitcoin Consortium Launches Insurance Company for Digital Asset Businesses
The Canadian Bitcoin Consortium (CBC) has launched Blockchain Insurance Inc., the first association‑based captive insurer dedicated to digital‑asset businesses. Licensed in Alberta in December 2025, the carrier offers member companies up to 25% discounts on premiums, cutting costs that can...
Maintain Your 9‑5 While Testing Entrepreneurship
Even though I’m a full-time entrepreneur now, I’m still what I call a 9-5 evangelist. I believe in keeping your 9-5 as long as possible before leaping full-time in your biz, as long as it’s not a detriment to your...
Sana Health Clears a Major Milestone in the Fight Against Chronic Pain
In this episode, Richard Hanbury of Sana Health discusses the company’s recent FDA De Novo clearance for a novel audio‑visual neuromodulation device targeting neuropathic pain, marking the creation of a new therapeutic class. He outlines decades of research that led...
Reframe Automates Hardware Procurement, Replacing Spreadsheets
Reframe (@usereframe) automates the hardware supply chain, starting with procurement. Upload your BOM, connect your ERP, and their system will handle sourcing, ordering, vendor coordination, delay resolution, and real-time build plans. Hardware procurement still runs on spreadsheets and emails, until today....
Claude Code Shifts Toward Ideation and Non‑Engineering
Creator of Claude Code Boris Cherny on where Claude Code is going next: 1. Coming up with product/feature ideas 2. Taking on work adjacent to engineering
Episode 92: Inside the Deal with Robin Fisk
In Episode 92 of the Tech M&A Podcast, Robin Fisk, co‑founder and CEO of Donorfy, recounts the decade‑long journey of building a bootstrapped SaaS CRM for nonprofits and its eventual acquisition by The Access Group in November 2024. He explains why they chose to...
Embrace the Cringiest Platform, Scale to $7.3M ARR
4 years stuck at $2.5M ARR. I had no idea if this was my retirement plan or the thing that broke me. Then I built a $7.3M ARR company in 18 months with 3 employees and zero funding. The weapon turned out to...
Transparent Business Blueprint: Numbers, Tests, and Growth
Started writing: Building Theanna Will be dropping all the details of running a business including NUMBERS. I’m not just telling stories, I’m going to write about tests I’ve run, money spent, money lost, conversion metrics, churn, MRR growth everything. I always wanted...
Bankers Complain that Apple Has a Tight Grip on Mobile Payments
Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay dominate Canada’s mobile payments, capturing roughly 90% of phone‑based transactions. The Canadian market, valued at about $1.39 billion in 2024, is forecast to surge to $20.48 billion by 2030. Major banks such as RBC, Scotiabank...
Freedom Beats Titles: New Status Is Time and Ownership
Old status symbols: - Senior Engineer title - FAANG on LinkedIn - €100k salary - Corner office New status symbols: - Time freedom - Side income streams - Building what you want - Owning your code Freedom is the ultimate flex.
Claude Code Achieves Full Automation, Coding Considered Solved
Head of Claude Code Boris Cherny : "A 100% of my code is written by Claude Code. I have not edited a single line by hand since November. In February last year, when we released it it, was writing maybe...
Stacks AI
Stacks AI develops purpose‑built artificial intelligence solutions for enterprise accounting, automating the most manual and error‑prone finance workflows. The platform enables finance teams to close books faster and redirect effort toward strategic initiatives. It is already trusted by public companies...
Beyond VCs: Early Startups Can Secure $250K+ Checks
VCs aren’t the only INVESTORS that can write you a $250K+ check. If you’re EARLY, start targeting these people: - Family offices - Angel investors (owners, doctors, lawyers, etc.) - Corporate balance sheet investors
PortKey Raises $15M Series A to Scale AI Control Platform
AI infrastructure startup PortKey announced a $15 million Series A round led by Elevation Capital with participation from Lightspeed. The funding will accelerate its unified control‑plane platform that monitors, governs, and cost‑optimizes enterprise AI model usage. PortKey’s AI gateway centralizes traffic, enforces...
YC Team Turns Week‑Long Research Into 12‑Minute Live AI Sprint
Holy shit... a YC-backed team just compressed 1 week of research into 12 minutes. It's called Spine Swarm, and it runs a team of AI researchers on any question while you watch them work and steer in real time. No black box....
Plan First, Then Let Vibe Coding Amplify Thinking
Vibe coding doesn’t replace thinking — it amplifies it. Vibe-coding outputs are different because most people start without a plan. Want better output? Do this first: 1️⃣ Define the problem 2️⃣ Set the product goal 3️⃣ Outline core features 4️⃣ Define backend needs (auth, APIs, database...
Moroccan Regtech Charikaty Raises $150K on National Investment Show
Moroccan regtech startup Charikaty secured MAD 1.5 million ($150,000) on the TV show “Qui Veut Investir Dans Mon Projet?” Season 3. The investment was led by Ilan Benhaim, co‑founder of Veepee and Endeavor Morocco chair, and Karim Amor, president of MeM by CGEM....
Sustainable Growth Requires Focus, Systems, and Data-Driven Hiring
Growing fast is a problem most founders want. I hit it last year and it broke our ops, cash flow, and hiring plan. Here’s what fixed it: refocus on your core offer, build repeatable systems, track CAC and LTV weekly, and hire...
Wealthsimple Named CIX Innovator of the Year
Wealthsimple was crowned the 2026 CIX Innovator of the Year by Elevate, with CEO Michael Katchen slated to speak at the CIX Summit in Toronto. The Toronto‑based fintech doubled its assets under administration to $100 billion CAD and its valuation to...
UK Tech Funding Roundup: This Week’s Deals From Fyld to Nul
UK tech investment surged 21% week‑on‑week, reaching £99.86 million across seven rounds from 16‑20 February. AI‑focused startups attracted the bulk of capital, with Fyld raising £32 million and SurrealDB £17 million, while defence‑tech SatVu secured £30 million from NATO‑backed investors. Fintech, ecommerce and health‑tech also...
Vancouver Dessert Brand Plans Expansion Through Franchising
Vancouver‑based dessert chain The Praguery, known for European‑style chimney cakes with ice cream, is moving from four locations to a franchise model after six years of organic growth. Founder Jaroslav Mestka has codified a repeatable operating system and finalized franchise...
Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub Named Top UK Accelerator
The Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub has been crowned the UK’s top accelerator for spin‑outs and startups in a joint Statista, Financial Times and Sifted analysis. The ranking considered alumni feedback, investor and academic recommendations, and the post‑program success of...
Emina Demiri Talks Surviving Firing Your Biggest Client
Emina Demiri Watson, head of digital at Vixen Digital, revealed that the agency deliberately terminated a client that generated roughly 70% of its revenue after a three‑month toxic relationship deteriorated. The move exposed a severe customer‑concentration risk that the firm...
Launch a $500 AI Business in 90 Days
If I had $500 and 90 days to build a real business, here is my exact playbook. No team. No funding. No connections. Just AI and relentless execution. Most people would spend 6 months planning. I would have paying customers by Week 3.
Create Boss‑focused Reports During Trial to Close Deals
You make software for person P. They have a boss Q. Or better, their C_O. If Q wants your product, P gets to buy it. So, can you make a report or daily/weekly email or etc. that Q wants? Do it during the trial,...
Norway’s Trener Robotics Closes $32 Million Series A to Turn Industrial Robots Into Adaptive Teammates
Trener Robotics announced a $32 million Series A round, bringing its total funding to over $38 million. The capital, co‑led by Engine Ventures and IAG Capital Partners with strategic investors Cadence and Nikon, will accelerate development of Acteris, a robot‑agnostic AI skills platform...
Ship Fast to Keep Iteration Speed High
A reason to ship in 1 month instead of 6 is to incorporate feedback. Another is that a 6-month codebase will be a lot hard to to change than a 1-month. You could even still start from scratch. At the beginning, anything...
Work Smarter, Prioritize Well‑Being Over Hustle Culture
Hustle culture can lead to burnout and reduced productivity. Working smarter, not harder, and prioritizing mental health and well-being often lead to better results in the long run. 💡
CFIB Survey: Tax Burden Tops Small Business Concerns in Canada as Retailers Cite Costs, Regulation and Crime
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) released its latest Members Opinion Survey, revealing that 72% of small and medium‑sized enterprises cite tax burden as their top concern. Regulation and labour shortages follow closely, each affecting roughly half of respondents,...
Physical Merch Fuels Brand, Drives New NFT Collectors
Our physical products are built to build the brand and have new collectors join our world (more than selling stuff to existing collectors) we are very confident this leads all to collect the digital (NFTs) we are getting decent at...
Transparency with Investors Fuels Trust and Ongoing Support
Keep your existing investors updated with your progress. Transparency builds trust and can lead to further support and referrals. Regular updates show your commitment and keep investors engaged in your journey. 🤝
Lithuania’s Tingit Lands €1.5 Million to Turn Repairs Into Digital Infrastructure
Vilnius‑born startup Tingit has closed a €1.5 million funding round led by Coinvest Capital to accelerate its AI‑driven repair marketplace across Europe. The platform uses image‑based AI to diagnose damage, match items with vetted specialists, and provide instant price and timeline...
2026: First SAFE to Convert at 20% Premium
Calling it now: 2026 will bring the first SAFE that converts at a 20% PREMIUM to the next round. We’ve officially reached that part of the cycle.
Can Berlin Become Europe’s Most Builder-Friendly Tech City in 24 Months?
The Berlin auf die Eins (BAD1) campaign launched this week aims to transform Berlin into Europe’s most builder‑friendly tech city within 12‑24 months. Backed by founders, The Delta, UNITE and Dentsu Creative, the grassroots effort highlights Berlin’s existing strengths—10‑12% of...
TATA Group and OpenAI Forge Foundational Partnership to Advance AI Transformation
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and OpenAI announced a multi‑dimensional partnership aimed at accelerating AI‑driven innovation across the Tata Group and global enterprises. The deal provides thousands of Tata employees with Enterprise ChatGPT and leverages OpenAI’s Codex to enhance software engineering....
Tools :: Plates
Music‑marketing startup Plates captured the top prize at Music Ally’s SI:X startup contest. The platform offers a unified dashboard that aggregates artist streams, followers, and growth metrics across a label’s entire roster. Built‑in AI features, including a chatbot, deliver instant...
Badge Raises $17M to Shape the Future of Digital Wallets
Badge, a digital‑wallet platform founded in 2023, raised $17.1 million in a Series A round—$13.8 million led by TTV Capital and a $3.3 million seed from QED Investors and Infinity Ventures. The company builds interactive elements for Apple Pay and Google Pay, letting brands embed loyalty,...