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
BriefCatch Hires Former Rezilion COO Yoel Lavie to Drive Legal‑tech Growth
BriefCatch announced Yoel Lavie as its new chief operating officer. Lavie, a former Rezilion COO and practicing M&A attorney, will oversee scaling after the startup’s recent Series A funding, WordRake acquisition and launch of its RealityCheck verification tool.
Blockchain.com Co-CEO Says Institutions Are Buying the Crypto Dip While Retail Stays Cautious
Lane Kasselman, co‑CEO of Blockchain.com, told Beluga that institutional investors are actively buying Bitcoin and Ethereum as prices fall, while retail users remain on the sidelines. The split, underscored by the firm’s 40 million‑plus verified wallet users and a growing family‑office...
E645: Building a Million Dollar Business With Minimal Inventory
In this episode, host Dave interviews Florence, the founder of Florence Art & Drawing, an online art school that blends digital courses with a low‑cost monthly magazine subscription. Florence explains how she grew a seven‑figure, $1 M ARR business by shifting...
ThredUp CEO Warns Five‑day Firms Will Lose Talent as Four‑day Workweek Gains Traction
ThredUp CEO James Reinhart announced that the e‑commerce startup’s permanent four‑day workweek will give it a decisive edge in the talent war, warning five‑day companies they risk losing top performers. The claim follows internal data showing retention and creativity soaring,...
Executive Interview: Nerdsleaze
Nerdsleaze, led by editor-in-chief Zelda Darling, entered the internet publishing arena with a focus on content that evades algorithmic capture. Darling discovered the venture sits in a market valued at over $150 billion, competing with established players such as The Verge,...
Founder‑Led Vision Drives AI‑Powered Growth for All
My conversation with @tobi, founder and CEO of Shopify. Timestamps: (0:00) Intro (0:49) A problem worth solving (5:58) Building products people love (10:14) Why originality matters (11:47) Conformity in Silicon Valley (15:47) Founder-led companies (18:44) Shopify’s AI transition (23:52) Building with urgency (26:52) AI for small businesses (35:18) Raising the standard...
Anscer Robotics Raises $5.4M in Series A Funding Round Led by IAN Alpha Fund
Anscer Robotics, a Bengaluru‑based industrial robotics startup, closed a $5.4 million Series A round led by IAN Alpha Fund, with participation from Info Edge and angel investors. The capital will bolster its AI‑native automation platform, accelerate U.S. operations, and grow partner ecosystems...
The Interview: Andreea Wade Quits VC to Fix AI’s Invisible Plumbing Problem
Andreea Wade, former partner at Delta Partners and co‑founder of Opening.io, quit venture capital to launch Univec.ai, a startup tackling AI’s hidden embedding‑translation problem. The company has built more than 87 bridging models that convert vectors between disparate embedding spaces,...
Scaling Startups From Zero to Thousands with SEO
When people ask me what's my favorite SEO gig: Taking Startups from Zero to One. Getting a project from a few users to 100s or 1000s of users in a short amount of time is one of my biggest satisfactions. Then, training a...
Avoid These 11 Founder Traits That Doom Startups
📚2048 Ventures Blog Post: 11 Worst Founder Traits That Lead To Failure https://t.co/Wrd1OWCx1d @2048vc // #startuphacks // #VC
Jonas Brothers Debut ‘Hey Jonas!’ Podcast with Fan Hotline, Partnering with iHeartMedia
Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas have launched a weekly video podcast, ‘Hey Jonas!’, in exclusive partnership with iHeartPodcasts. The show, debuting May 20, lets fans call a dedicated hotline to ask questions, marking the brothers’ latest venture into original media...
Socket Security Hits $1B Valuation After Major Hack Defense
Socket, a security software firm focused on protecting open source code, said it's valued at $1 billion in a round led by Thrive. @SocketSecurity, also backed by a16z & with clients like Anthropic, played a key role in fending off...
Boston Metal Gets a $75 Million Lifeline to Produce Critical Metals
Boston Metal raised a $75 million financing round to revive its Brazil subsidiary and accelerate production of critical metals such as niobium, tantalum, and tin. The capital injection follows a cash‑flow crunch caused by a refractory leak at the Brazil plant,...
Mingle Mocktails Founder Laura Taylor Details Bootstrapped Rise in Non‑Alcoholic Beverage Market
Laura Taylor, founder and CEO of Mingle Mocktails, explained how she turned a personal sobriety journey into a bootstrapped consumer beverage business. She described her daily routine, the operational hurdles of rapid growth, and why creativity remains central to the...
Ocean Secures $28M Series A to Fight AI‑Powered Phishing
Ocean, the AI‑focused email security startup founded by former teen hacker Shay Shwartz, closed a $28 million Series A led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The funding will accelerate its agentic platform that scans billions of emails monthly to block AI‑generated phishing...
Exited Founder Podcast | Tommaso Trionfi: How He Sold 5 Companies Across SaaS, EdTech, and eCommerce
In this episode, serial founder Tommaso Trionfi walks through his five exits across SaaS, EdTech, and eCommerce, emphasizing that relationships and timing—not just financials—drive successful M&A deals. He recounts how strategic acquisitions and deep buyer connections helped him sell Wimba...
Infrawatch Secures $3M Pre-Seed for Internet Infrastructure Intelligence
London‑based Infrawatch has closed a $3 million pre‑seed round co‑led by Outward VC and Triple Point Ventures. The startup is building an Internet Infrastructure Intelligence Layer that maps the underlying servers, domains and networks used in cyberattacks, phishing and online fraud....
Stablecoin Payments Infrastructure Startup Checker Raises $8 Million for Africa, Asia Expansion
Checker, a stablecoin payments infrastructure startup, raised $8 million in seed funding to expand across Africa, Asia and Latin America. The round was led by Galaxy Ventures, Al Mada Ventures and Framework Ventures, with participation from regional fintechs and investors such as...
Meet the Sifted 100: Southern Europe's Fastest-Growing Startups of 2026
The Sifted 100 Southern Europe leaderboard, compiled with AI‑infrastructure partner Nebius, spotlights the region’s 100 fastest‑growing private firms based on two‑year revenue CAGR. Milan‑based Hotiday leads with a 1,331% CAGR by subletting hotel rooms, while fellow Milan startup Lexroom secured a...
Former Solethreads CEO Sumant Kakaria Joins Famy Aspire Capital as Partner
Former Solethreads CEO Sumant Kakaria has joined strategic private‑equity firm Famy Aspire Capital as a partner. The fund, backed by the Taparia family, concentrates on high‑growth consumer and healthcare businesses in India. Kakaria’s move follows the March acquisition of Solethreads...
Startup Valued Over $10B in OpenAI Credits
i’ll have you know my startup has recently been valued at more than $10 billion in OpenAI API credits
This D2C Brand Is Bringing Affordable Premium Ice Cream to India
Papacream, a Mumbai‑based direct‑to‑consumer ice‑cream brand founded by former Wall Street trader Tanvi Chowdhri in 2015, is positioning itself as the “Ben & Jerry’s of India” by offering premium‑style desserts at mass‑market prices. Single‑serve scoops sell for roughly $1.5‑$2.1, tubs...
Armada Raises $230M at $2B Valuation to Build Portable AI Data Centers
Armada Inc. announced a $230 million financing round that values the portable‑data‑center startup at $2 billion, with BlackRock, Overmatch, 8090 Industries and Johnson Controls among the lead investors. The company’s Galleon series ranges from a suitcase‑sized Beacon unit to multi‑megawatt Leviathan systems...
AWS Nabs White Hot Gen AI Media Creation Startup Fal, Becoming Its Preferred Cloud Provider
AWS has been named the preferred cloud provider for fal, the $4.5 billion generative‑media platform that serves 2.5 million developers. The partnership follows fal’s $300 million Series D led by Sequoia and gives it access to Amazon’s global GPU infrastructure, Bedrock services and custom...
LetinAR Secures $18.5M to Accelerate AI‑Glass Optics for Real‑Time Navigation
LetinAR, the LG‑backed South Korean optics startup, closed an $18.5 million financing round led by Korea Development Bank and Lotte Ventures. The funding will scale its PinTILT lens technology, which promises thinner, lighter, and more power‑efficient AI‑glass modules for real‑time navigation...
Lexroom Secures $50M Series B to Expand Legal AI Across Europe’s Civil Law Markets
Lexroom, the Milan‑based legal‑tech startup, closed a $50 million Series B round led by Left Lane Capital, bringing its total funding to over $73 million. The capital will fund expansion into Spain and Germany, targeting the under‑served civil law market in Europe. Investors...
Regtech Eisen Raises $18.5 Million to Streamline Escheatment
Eisen, a New‑York‑based regtech firm that automates escheatment and unclaimed‑property compliance, announced an $18.5 million financing round – a $10 million Series A led by MissionOG and an $8.5 million seed round led by Index Ventures, with participation from Cowboy Ventures, First Round, Homebrew...
Fiber Lasers Turn Metal to Dust in Seconds
From @jimbelosic on bootstrapping @sendcutsend to a ~$200m revenue run rate: "The best way to cut sheet metal is with high-powered lasers. And I wanted to buy the best laser possible. You take a lot of power, and you focus it down...
Grant Wins Often Stifle Health‑Tech Scaling
Winning a grant can be one of the WORST things that happen to your Health Tech innovation - in fact, winning a grant can be Deadly. Here's what I mean: I've done many, many grant-funded pilots of our Health Tech product...
Robots Could Turn E-Waste Into a Source of Legacy Chips
Electronic waste is set to hit 82 million tonnes annually by 2030, prompting stricter regulations worldwide. San Francisco startup Tuurny has built a robotic system, Nantul, that can extract up to 300 intact RAM chips per hour from circuit boards before shredding....
He Started Building in Military-Era Nigeria. Now He Builds AI HR Software.
Chuma Chukwujama founded Allied Technologies in 1996 to digitize Nigerian businesses, later rebranding to AlliedSoft and then Xceed365HR as the firm embraced cloud-native HR software in 2015. The company, now operating as Talpro Software, offers a localized HR platform that...
Self‑Funding Enables Pivot; VC Pressure Stifles Growth
5 years into building, we were pushing Robly hard, trying to break past $2.5M ARR. It was clear it wasn’t working… …so we got super small and figured it out. The same thing happened in 2023. We went all in on scaling the...
Radar Hits Unicorn Valuation with $170M Series B, Boosting Retail Theft Prevention
Radar, the RFID‑based inventory and loss‑prevention startup founded by Spencer Hewett, closed a $170 million Series B round that values the company at over $1 billion, making it a unicorn. Backed by American Eagle CEO Jay Schottenstein and co‑led by Gideon Strategic Partners and...
Astron Secures $73.5 Million Series A to Build China’s First Reusable Rocket
Beijing‑based Astron announced a 500 million‑yuan ($73.5 million) Series A round, bringing total funding to 1 billion yuan ($147 million). The cash will fund development of its AS‑1 reusable carrier rocket, with a maiden flight targeted for early 2027.
6 Critiques Investors Won't Tell You to Your Face
Beacon, a new VC feedback platform, has processed over 150 founder submissions in its first two months, revealing six recurring pitch flaws. The tool pairs real investors with an AI‑trained VC to surface honest critiques, emphasizing focus, founder narrative, genuine...
Fund, Develop, Build and Manage on an AI Powered Platform, with Thomas Schlegel of Built
Thomas Schlegel, former lead engineer in Tennessee, joined Built after meeting its CEO at a conference. He now spearheads the development of Built's AI‑powered platform that lets users fund, develop, build, and manage projects from a single interface. Schlegel leveraged...
From Queens to a $5.3B Hedge Fund Overnight
He grew up in Queens watching Wall Street from afar - never imagining he’d one day launch a $5.3B hedge fund on Day 1.
Nourish Raises $100M Series C to Reverse Chronic Disease with AI-Native Metabolic Clinic
Nourish, the nation’s largest dietitian‑led metabolic health clinic, announced a $100 million Series C round, lifting its total capital to $215 million. The funding, led by Menlo Ventures and joined by a slate of top venture firms, will expand its AI‑native clinic network,...
Focus on Sales, Not Content; Rebuild for Growth
I spent $65K to talk to @hormozi and it made me millions. He told me to stop teaching content and double down on sales. So I burned down my business and rebuilt it around my real skill. Now we scale 7–8 figure...
I’m Quite Bullish on Vertical AI Ryan Laughran, Audrey AI Co-Founder and CEO
Audrey AI, a Dublin‑based startup building AI tools for financial auditors, closed a $1.8 million pre‑seed round. The round was led by Sure Valley Ventures, Delta Partners and Enterprise Ireland, with individual investors Donnchadh Casey and Conor Jones also participating. Co‑founder...
Pivot to Project Work Generates $10K‑20K Monthly
A TinySeed founder had no product-market fit, and the company wasn't making money. Two months after deciding to pivot into project-based work, they were generating $10,000-$20,000 a month. No inbound traffic, no big audience. In this episode, I talk about...
What I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before I Started Scaling My Business
Entrepreneurs who rush to scale often ignore basic financial discipline, leading to cash‑flow crises. The article stresses three non‑negotiable habits: separating personal and business accounts from day one, tracking every expense to calculate true profit margins, and holding a monthly...
Probiota Pioneer: Kioga on Reclaiming ‘Old Friends’ for Balanced State
Kioga, founded in 2025 by psychoneuroimmunology expert Christopher Lowry and CEO Justin Whiteley, is commercializing soil‑derived microbes—dubbed “Old Friends”—to create postbiotic ingredients that modulate the gut‑immune‑brain axis. Its flagship product, NeuroAlly, targets neuroinflammation and has completed a randomized, placebo‑controlled human...
LawX Secures €7.5 Million Seed to Launch Europe’s First AI Legal Operating System
Berlin‑based legal‑tech startup LawX closed a €7.5 million ($8.2 million) seed round led by Motive Partners, with participation from WENVEST Capital, xdeck and SIVentures. The funding will accelerate development of an AI‑driven operating system that automates back‑office tasks for law firms and...
NAVER D2SF Backs Clone Labs to Tackle AI‑agent Bottleneck with Real‑time Intent Prediction
NAVER D2SF has invested in Clone Labs, a Seoul‑based AI startup that creates a real‑time User Model to predict and execute user actions for AI agents. The partnership underscores corporate venture capital’s confidence in predictive‑AI solutions that address the emerging...
Exclusive: AI Startup Viktor Raises $75 Million to Put a Virtual ‘Coworker’ in Slack and Teams
AI startup Viktor announced a $75 million Series A led by Accel, bringing its virtual coworker bot to Slack and Microsoft Teams. Within three months of its February launch, the company reports a $15 million annualized revenue run rate and more than 2,000...
One-Year In, Rob Wheeler’s ATM Hits $1 Million in Revenue
Rob Wheeler’s At The Moment (ATM) video platform crossed the $1 million revenue mark in its first year, earning the entire amount from sponsorships and achieving profitability. The lean operation relies on 11 full‑time editors across time zones and an AI...
Anansi Watch AI Platform Launched to Combat Procurement Fraud Across Africa
Swedish‑Ugandan AI entrepreneur Abby James Tumusiime announced the launch of Anansi Watch, a sovereign AI intelligence platform designed exclusively for African governments to uncover procurement fraud and hidden beneficial ownership. The tool arrives as the African Union estimates the continent...
5 Ways Steve Jobs Almost Destroyed Apple
In 1985 Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple after a bitter boardroom battle with CEO John Sculley, leaving the company mired in internal conflict and its first quarterly loss. Jobs’ perfectionist drive led to costly missteps: an overpriced Macintosh, rushed...
Munich’s Feldwerke Secures €12 Million Revolving Credit Facility to Build 100 MW Agri-PV Portfolio in 18 Months
Munich‑based agri‑PV developer Feldwerke has secured a €12 million (≈$13 million) revolving credit facility from a French renewable‑energy debt fund to fund the construction of a 100 MW portfolio over the next 18 months. The financing marks the startup’s first major debt round...