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EngineAI Robotics lands $200M Series B to accelerate AI-driven automation
EngineAI Robotics Technology Co. closed a $200 million Series B round, pushing its valuation above 10 billion yuan (≈$1.4 billion). The round was co‑led by Henan Investment Group’s Huirong Fund and Luxshare Precision, with plans to tap Henan’s provincial supply‑chain network for regional expansion.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Masters’ Union raises $12M fund for under‑25 founders
Non‑UPF verification is emerging as a strategic tool for early‑stage food brands as consumer demand to avoid ultra‑processed foods spikes. Surveys reveal 72 % of Americans want to steer clear of such products, yet most lack clear guidance, creating a trust gap that independent certifiers can fill. The certification often requires no reformulation for clean‑label startups, but does demand documented process flow charts and supplier data. Retailers like Thrive Market are already prioritizing Non‑UPF‑verified items, giving certified brands a distribution edge.
Product launches often slip because teams lack a disciplined cadence that surfaces problems early. The article outlines seven concrete strategies—monthly milestone commits, quarterly design‑build‑buffer gates, biweekly risk reviews, quarterly skip‑level syncs, a hard‑coded six‑week launch buffer, annual planning with market...
Stop romanticizing the hustle. Build systems. Hire people smarter than you. Get out of the way. That's how small businesses become empires.
Innovate UK’s CyberASAP accelerator received an additional £10 million (about $12.7 million) from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology for the next four years. The programme, now approaching its 10‑year anniversary, has helped alumni raise roughly £47.4 million ($60 million) and launch 43...
Pivot unveiled the Avinox M2S‑powered Shuttle AMP’d, a high‑output electric mountain bike that pushes power levels beyond typical e‑bike norms. Founder Chris Cocalis explained the engineering trade‑offs of integrating the controversial Avinox drive, including frame reinforcement and advanced battery management. The...
Founders are moving from a pure sales mindset to co‑building AI solutions with large enterprises. As corporations scramble to deploy AI faster than they can develop it internally, they are seeking startup partners for joint pilots, data sharing, and rapid...
Canva announced the purchase of Australian AI startups Simtheory and Ortto, adding agentic AI and marketing‑automation capabilities to its platform. The deals, undisclosed financially, bring Canva’s AI‑acquisition tally to eight and reinforce its push toward an integrated, end‑to‑end work system...
Exel Gaming Accelerator has reopened for its third cohort, offering up to $300,000 in combined cash and in‑kind support. Startups can receive up to $150,000 in cash plus $150,000 worth of services, weekly mentorship, and an AI‑focused curriculum. The program...
Apex B2B has launched a new AI‑enabled SaaS platform aimed at mid‑market B2B merchants, backed by £1.3 million (approximately $1.66 million) of seed capital. The solution targets companies with annual revenues between £10 million and £300 million ($12.8‑$384 million) that have outgrown basic retail tools...
Portal Space Systems, founded by former SpaceX Raptor engineer Jeff Thornburg, announced a $50 million Series A round that values the startup at $250 million. The company is developing solar‑thermal propulsion, which concentrates sunlight to heat propellant and deliver high‑speed thrust for satellites...
Portal Space Systems announced a $50 million Series A round led by Geodesic Capital and Mach33, with participation from Booz Allen Ventures, Ark Invest, AlleyCorp and FUSE. The capital will fund the first flight of its Starburst spacecraft on Transporter‑18 and a...
Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai’s Asian University Basketball League (AUBL) secured a Series A round with investors including former NBA star Yao Ming, private‑equity veteran Marc Lasry and venture‑capitalist David Blitzer. The round, led by Tsai’s family office Blue Pool Capital, is valued at least eight...
Some eye-opening stats that undergird rising defense innovation enthusiasm from my new report on the subject (https://t.co/rRtYxEUlOB: "Deep tech startup investment was long held back by the misconception of far greater capital intensity relative to software startups. In reality, looking...
Propeller, an AI‑focused venture capital firm, launched the inaugural Kernel Camp residency, bringing five deep‑tech startups from Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan and Egypt to Silicon Valley. The eight‑week program embeds founders in the Bay Area ecosystem, offering access to engineers, investors...
Estonia‑based Handhold raised €3 million (≈$3.3 million) in a seed round led by Entourage Capital to automate inbound B2B software sales with multimodal AI agents. The platform assigns each lead a virtual “account manager” that qualifies prospects, delivers custom demos, and guides...
In 2025, my little writing business generated $8,000,000. And this 1 strategy made it possible: Lean Writing. It's how I take 1 idea and turn it into 7 different posts — so I can publish every single day without running out of...
Nsisong Okon, a Nigerian‑born software engineer now based in Portugal, co‑founded Fancybox and its education arm STEM4Kiddo. The platform delivers interactive STEM lessons to primary‑school children across emerging markets, offering a paid subscription that’s free for beneficiaries of his NGO....
AfterQuery announced a $30 million Series A round that values the applied‑data lab at $300 million. The funding will fuel expansion of its expert network, hiring, and enterprise solutions. The company already works with nearly 100,000 vetted professionals and has surpassed a $100 million...
Climate‑tech startup Sora Fuel announced a $14.6 million financing round to accelerate its air‑to‑fuel technology that converts water, ambient CO₂ and renewable electricity into carbon‑negative jet fuel. The Boston‑based company claims its integrated direct‑air‑capture process can capture CO₂ for under $50...
Sateliot, the Spanish low‑Earth‑orbit (LEO) satellite operator, has opened a Series C round seeking roughly $108 million to finance the launch of 16 additional 5G‑capable satellites. The company already has six satellites in orbit and plans to add five more this year,...
Quokka Coffee, a two‑person UK coffee startup, listed its products on Temu in August 2025 and quickly saw the platform become a vital sales channel. Within five months Temu accounts for roughly 15% of the company’s orders—about 20 weekly shipments—and...
BlockchainFX’s presale has amassed $14.18 million from more than 22,900 participants, leaving just $820 k to hit its $15 million soft‑cap and trigger exchange listings. The token is priced at $0.035 now, with a guaranteed launch price of $0.05, embedding immediate upside for...
The author discovered that pricing a Substack newsletter at $7 per month failed because the price was set before a clear pricing model was defined. By outlining seven distinct Substack pricing models—Content, Membership, Founding Member, Resource/Playbook, Community Access, Done‑For‑You, and Product...
The article argues that venture‑capital bias stems less from overt discrimination in pitch rooms and more from unequal starting lines for underrepresented founders. It cites data showing Black founders raise roughly one‑third the capital of comparable white peers and contrasts...
Latin America’s venture ecosystem recorded a $1.03 billion funding surge in Q1 2026, driven primarily by a 158% jump in late‑stage and growth capital to $761 million. Mexico eclipsed Brazil, with Kavak’s $300 million Series F alone accounting for nearly a third of regional funds....
In this episode of the Liquid Launch Project, host Matthew R. Mian and co‑host Luigi Rosa Bianco interview Yaren Ghosn, founder of Fractional Partners, about his publicly available "Clarity Playbook" for $2‑$20 million revenue companies. Ghosn explains that instead of the...
Happy Belly Food Group, a Canadian fast‑casual operator, is accelerating its national rollout, opening 10 stores in Q1 2026 and targeting 35‑50 new sites this year to reach 100 locations by mid‑2026. Its franchise‑heavy, multi‑brand platform—Heal Wellness, Rosie’s Burgers, Yolks—has delivered strong same‑store performance...
The post "How to make money in 2026" compiles 100 side‑hustle ideas spanning AI‑powered services, content creation, digital products, freelancing, e‑commerce and local gigs. It highlights the surge of AI tools that lower entry barriers for prompt engineering, custom GPTs...
BRND.ME, the e‑commerce roll‑up formerly Mensa Brands, has approved a name change to Mensa Brand Technologies Limited, signaling its conversion to a public company ahead of an IPO slated for the next 12‑18 months. The board also authorized a Rs 300 crore...
Masters’ Union, the Gurugram‑based business school, has launched MU Ventures, a Rs 100 crore ($12 million) early‑stage fund targeting founders under 25. The platform offers rapid funding decisions—typically within 10 days—and invests between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 50 lakh ($6k‑$60k) per startup. MU Ventures operates through...
Swain's inaugurated The Foundational Sale, the first auction house built exclusively for Black and African diaspora art, on April 10, 2026 at Chicago's Expo. The 19‑lot live auction featured marquee works by Guy Stanley Philoche, Bisa Butler and others, and...
Christopher Thomson, managing principal of Multifamily Acquisition Advisors, was selected for inclusion in Marquis Who's Who, highlighting his two‑decade career that has overseen hundreds of millions of dollars in investor capital and a platform tracking rent payments for 26 million renters....
Stop studying your average customers. Obsess over your best ones. Your top 10% tell you what you're doing exceptionally — not just adequately. Where did they come from? What language do they use? Why did they choose you? That's your growth blueprint. Your...
Sonorus, an Australian health‑tech startup, demonstrated an artificial‑intelligence algorithm at SXSW Sydney that can flag rheumatic heart disease from a brief audio recording of heart sounds. The low‑cost tool promises rapid, portable screening for communities where the disease remains prevalent,...
OpenBuilder, a Y Combinator Fall‑2025 alum, announced a $2.2 million seed round led by Focal, Founder Factor and Pascal Capital. The funding will fuel a fixed‑subscription model that aims to undercut credit‑based pricing of dominant vibe‑coding platforms like Lovable and Replit....
Sweetwater Labs, a New York‑based natural skincare label, has built a sizable, loyal customer base without spending on influencer deals or paid advertising. Founder Nadia Doh credits product performance and organic referrals for the brand’s growth, a model that challenges...
Humanly, the Bellevue‑based AI recruiting startup, closed a $25 million Series B round led by SEEK Investments, Drive Capital and others. The funding will power a pivot from a recruiting‑software tool to a “service‑as‑software” model that supplies pre‑vetted, ready‑to‑hire candidates. The...
I built 8 products in 4 years. Here's what each one taught me, ranked by how painful the lesson was.
A consultant felt conflicted, knowing their firm was incentivized to recommend SAP regardless of objective evaluation. This conflict sparked the idea for an independent, tech-agnostic ERP consulting firm. #Consulting #SAP #Ethics https://t.co/HJMmwy0znT
Biotech startup SEADLING, founded by Simon Davis, supplies Elkhorn sea moss seedlings to smallholder farmers in Malaysian Borneo and processes the harvest into fermented, functional ingredients. In 2025 the company closed a $1 million seed round and opened a second processing...
Newsletter platforms are experiencing explosive growth, with Beehiiv reporting $19 million in paid subscriptions for 2025—a 138% jump from 2024. A founder who focused on email newsletters doubled his revenue every quarter, ultimately quadrupling earnings in six months. The piece outlines...
Vietnam’s home‑grown social‑audio platform OnMic, launched in 2021 with seed funding from Touchstone Partners, announced it is shutting down. The app rode the pandemic wave, touting more than 11 million live minutes and 20,000 programmes, but failed to convert that early...
Ana Calin announced a free 7‑day April Growth Challenge for How We Grow members, guiding participants from idea generation to making their first sale. Each day includes a short instructional video, a timed task (no longer than 90 minutes), and...
Want to grow your SaaS real fast? We took a SaaS from 120 visits/day to 120K/month in 6 months. This client invested $50K total and ended up exiting at 7-figures. Here's the exact playbook we used (no BS, just what actually worked): 🧵...
Syneron Bio, a Beijing‑based biotech, closed a $150 million Series B just four months after raising $100 million, underscoring strong investor appetite for macrocyclic peptide therapeutics. The company’s AI‑powered Synova platform claims to design drug candidates for protein targets that have eluded conventional...
Fast‑growing SMEs often outgrow the IT systems that once kept them agile, leading to slower performance, security gaps, and compliance headaches. As data volumes and SaaS tool sprawl increase, legacy infrastructure struggles to support new workflows and AI initiatives. The...
After 22 years together, co‑founders Edmond di Robilant and Marco Voena have dissolved their partnership to launch two independent family‑run galleries, Robilant and Voena. The next generation steps into leadership, with Michele di Robilant taking the director role at Robilant...
Ukrainian pet‑monitoring startup Petcube pivoted to combat drones, launching Odd Systems and The Fourth Law to produce AI‑enabled FPV quadcopters. The drones integrate image‑recognition that spots tanks, artillery and soldiers, and use a YOLO interface that hands off the final...
Zerodha has launched fixed‑deposit (FD) products on its Coin platform, partnering with Suryoday, Utkarsh and Unity Small Finance Banks. The service is fee‑free for investors, with Zerodha earning backend commissions from the banks. While FD distribution carries thin margins, the...
AI and low‑code platforms are collapsing the technical and financial barriers that have traditionally defined European entrepreneurship. Tools such as Lovable and Anthropic’s Claude let non‑technical founders turn domain expertise into market‑ready software in weeks rather than months. This shift...
