Know What's Happening in Entrepreneurship
Know What's Happening in Entrepreneurship
PopSockets turned phone backs into a $169 million business
PopSockets began as a garage prototype in 2011, converting the unused back of smartphones into a grip accessory. By 2017 the company generated $169 million in revenue, driven by word‑of‑mouth growth, celebrity endorsements, and embedding the product into daily phone use.
Sammy Gecsoyler spent a week paying exclusively with cash, withdrawing £200 and tracking every transaction. The experiment revealed that cash constraints forced him to avoid contactless services, buy an Oyster card, and limit discretionary spending, ending the week with £16.75 left. He noted that cash now accounts for just 9% of UK payments, down from 34% in 2017, and forecasts suggest it could fall to 4% by 2034. The personal test underscores how the tactile nature of cash influences spending behavior.
Petcare startup Supertails secured $30 million in a funding round led by Venturi Partners, with participation from Nippon India Alternative Investments, Titan Capital Winners Fund and existing backers. The round values the company at roughly $130 million post‑money and brings total capital...
Noise, the Bose‑backed Indian wearables brand, reported FY25 revenue of Rs 1,048 crore, a 24% drop from the prior year. Operating expenses fell 25% to Rs 1,067 crore, aligning with the revenue contraction. A deferred tax benefit of Rs 47 crore pushed the...
HDFC Bank, in partnership with AIC at ISB, has launched ArthX, a sustainability‑focused grant initiative under the Parivartan Startup Grants program. The scheme allocates a Rs 1 crore corpus to support Punjab‑based revenue‑stage startups, offering up to Rs 10 lakh per company along with...
Mark Essien’s newest venture, Tripdesk, an AI‑driven travel‑management platform, generated $2.3 million in revenue within four months, serving fewer than 30 enterprise customers and delivering a 30% profit margin. The product grew out of Hotels.ng’s VIP client needs, automating travel requests,...
A recent India‑focused survey shows 74% of employees would trade a higher salary for stronger long‑term benefits, signaling a shift from paycheck‑centric expectations to holistic well‑being. Employers are responding by moving toward modular, choice‑driven benefit models, with 78% prioritising personalised...
A corollary for AI tooling: its outputs will only ever be as good as the person wrangling them from it. That's really all it is. Yet another powerful tool (like a compiler, or k8s) that can only be run effectively by...
yeah I guess technical founders never had to deal with being (self-)promoted to management. Those who never wanted to work for a boss again now are becoming the ultimate pencil-pushers. I'm going through the same sobering realization. The antidote? Painting Warhammer.
The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and TXTK Tax Tech will co‑host the UAE Horizon 2026 roadshow in Singapore on March 8. The invite‑only event targets CEOs, family offices and high‑net‑worth individuals seeking to tap the UAE’s low‑tax environment and free‑zone ecosystem....
Entrepreneurship is one the greatest means to wealth creation and venture capital is one of the levers that fuels that, yet it’s gate kept by insiders… My goal has always been to change that.
hi! if you want to work at some of the most interesting startups in AI, come to our next mixture-of-experts event at @conviction and hear from the founders of Harmonic, Worktrace, Sunday, Treehouse and Trajectory https://t.co/ZL7mdnszUl
AI voice assistants have surpassed eight billion units in 2024, and the vast majority default to female voices and gendered names. Research shows up to 50 % of interactions involve verbal abuse, with female‑embodied agents attracting significantly more sexual harassment than...
Indonesia’s equity market faces a potential $60 bn outflow if MSCI downgrades it from emerging to frontier status. MSCI halted new Indonesian inclusions on Jan 27, citing weak transparency and low free‑float ratios, prompting a 7.3% drop in the Jakarta Composite. Regulators...
Melbourne‑born SaaS firm Operata secured an $11 million Series A round, lifting its valuation to $100 million. The funding, led by Tidal Ventures with participation from Glitch Capital and existing backers, will accelerate integration with major contact‑centre platforms and global expansion. Operata positions...
The episode explores how teenage founders, led by 25‑year‑old Kit Chilvers, built Pubity Group into a media powerhouse with 170 million followers and an estimated 240 billion annual views, all without external funding. Chilvers explains his early start on Instagram in 2014,...
Neara, a Sydney‑based digital‑twin startup, secured $90 million in a Series D round, pushing its valuation above $1 billion. The round, led by TCV and joined by existing backers, brings total external capital to roughly $180 million. Neara’s AI‑driven platform now models 15 million assets...
BIG NEWS: I just launched Pulse. The world's first news reader that cuts research from 2 hours to 5 mins👇
Harvey, the legal‑AI startup, is reportedly negotiating a $200 million raise that would push its valuation to $11 billion, led by Sequoia and Singapore’s GIC. This follows a rapid funding series: a $300 million Series D at $3 billion, a $300 million Series E at $5 billion, and...
Entrepreneurs: if you spent more time on Sunday building than watching the Super Bowl, you're going to WIN.
African startups raised just $174 million in January 2026, $102 million less than the same month last year and far below the 12‑month average of $263 million. Only 26 companies secured more than $100,000, the lowest January count since 2020. Two deals –...
Posting jobs and waiting fails. Demand beats supply in hiring. A headhunter mindset shifts recruiters from process to market mapping and relationships. You map talent, build ties, and engage before rivals. Do you treat recruiting as a task or a strategy?
Pluria, a Romanian‑founded hybrid‑work platform, has seen its strongest growth in Latin America, especially Colombia, Mexico and Argentina, with 2025 revenue expanding 2.5 times versus the prior year. The company entered the region opportunistically, bypassing traditional market analysis, and quickly...
Haply Robotics announced a $11.75 million USD (CAD $16 million) seed‑plus financing round, led by Sound Media Ventures and backed by Amazon’s Industrial Innovation Fund, Hanwha, Two Small Fish Ventures, and BDC Capital. The Montreal‑based startup builds high‑precision haptic controllers—such as the Inverse3...
The Africa Business Convention 2026 convened in Lagos to chart a faster, fairer, and more sustainable growth path for the continent. The two‑day event, now in its fifth edition, centered on six strategic pillars ranging from agriculture to fintech and...
The British Business Bank has named Charlotte Lawrence as managing director of direct equity, tasking her with overseeing the bank’s direct and co‑investment activities. Her appointment follows 2025 reforms that require the bank to increase both the number and size...
Payscribe, a fast‑growing payment infrastructure firm, launched Global Accounts, Stablecoin Payments, and a Merchant Growth Support credit line to broaden financial access for fintechs and SMEs across Africa and emerging markets. The new multi‑currency accounts let businesses receive USD, GBP,...
A house being sold at 90% of the value you think is appropriate, is a great deal. A house at 50%… you suspect a major flaw… probably it’s not worth dealing with it. First time founders often price like the second, ...
eir’s Digital Ireland Report shows the country has become one of Europe’s most connected societies, with broadband traffic more than doubling since 2019 and household fibre usage rising 61%. Mobile data volumes have surged sevenfold, while regions such as Cavan,...
The article argues that designing products and services with disability in mind catalyzes broader innovation. It cites early examples like the Safety Tub walk‑in bathtub, showing how solutions for seniors sparked new market categories. The authors, a mix of academic...
NaJasia, a Denmark‑based community organisation, has launched a platform that combines a women‑focused club, a neurodiverse art studio, and a digital storytelling hub. The Mosaic Circle Ladies Club tackles social isolation among immigrant women, while James Fox Art Studio offers...
Toronto‑based Kiwi Charge is piloting its autonomous EV‑charging robot in a $1.7 million project with General Motors Canada and Pfaff Automotive. The robot, dubbed the “R2‑D2 for EV charging,” can self‑charge in 30 minutes and fully charge a vehicle in another 30 minutes,...
Google has broadened its WAXAL speech dataset initiative, increasing coverage from 21 to 27 Sub‑Saharan African languages and outlining a pipeline for additional tongues. The expansion is driven by a partnership with the Masakhane African Languages Hub, shifting focus toward...
John Glen, former city minister and ex‑Treasury official, has been appointed as a non‑executive director to the board of Open Banking Limited (OBL). His appointment comes just before OBL publishes its Long‑Term Regulatory Framework and Payments Forward Plan, which will...
Poland’s venture‑capital market deployed €0.8 billion across 183 transactions in 2025, marking a 28% increase over 2024 when mega‑rounds are excluded. Seed‑stage deals dominated, with 134 rounds – a 20% year‑on‑year rise – and average ticket sizes steady at €1.5 million. Public...
Canadian startup Kaster Technologies announced a CAD 1.6 million pre‑seed round led by Graphite Ventures, with participation from Hidden Layers Capital and angel investor Louis‑Martin Rousseau. The company offers an AI‑guided software platform that optimizes pharmaceutical production cycles, promising up to...
Monzo’s first “Money Pulse” survey of 1,000 Irish adults uncovers a €1.5 billion savings gap, with two‑thirds eager to save more but a third of savers earning no interest. Respondents say instant‑access accounts would add €40.80 per month per person, unlocking...
MVPs are overrated. You don’t need a smaller product. You need real demand. Code comes second. Agree or disagree? Comment below.
When the typical outcome for a post seed, post series A, and post series B startup is death. Perhaps the best strategy is to be careful how much you copy the startups around you. Are you brave enough...
Pandorum Technologies, an Indian‑US biotech focused on exosome‑based regenerative therapies, closed an $18 million Series B round led by Protons Corporate. The round, completed in two tranches, values the company at roughly $91 million post‑money, bringing total capital raised to about $43 million. Proceeds...
Aspiring VCs - do you know VC is a ton of sales? Externally: - Pitching to LPs - Winning over founders & other VCs - Recruiting talent Internally: - Pitching new deals to your team - Proposing new firm initiatives - Suggesting new firm processes
A corporate position that workers should "just use AI to do stuff" has never been enough. AI use in companies is a leadership problem that involves answering fundamental questions about what people should do with their time, how work is...
Southeast Asian founders often chase equity financing even at the validation stage, leading to unnecessary dilution. The article argues that non‑dilutive grants—such as those from the Gates Foundation, UNICEF Innovation Fund, and Enterprise Singapore’s SLINGSHOT—can fund proof‑of‑concept work while preserving...
If you use any software, you will hit bugs. Only a tiny 5% of your users will ever report bugs. The speed at which those bugs are fixed is the true measure of a founder in mastery of their craft.
Dream Sports, the parent of fantasy‑gaming leader Dream11, posted a Rs 479 crore net loss for FY25, a sharp reversal from a Rs 1,295 crore profit a year earlier. The loss was driven by a one‑time Rs 575 crore tax charge linked to the US‑to‑India domicile...
Elevate Now, a doctor‑led clinical weight‑loss platform, secured Rs 18 crore in a seed round headed by Physis Capital, with Inflection Point Ventures and Titan Capital also participating. The Bengaluru startup previously raised $2 million in a pre‑seed round from W Health Ventures,...
The UK is accelerating its clean‑energy transition with a £200 billion Clean Power Action 2030 plan, targeting 43‑50 GW offshore wind, 27‑29 GW onshore wind, expanded nuclear, and hydrogen projects. Since July 2024, £52 billion of clean‑energy capital has been secured, backed by mechanisms like Contracts...
Preventify, a clinic‑led healthtech startup focused on preventive and chronic care, closed a Rs 2 crore pre‑seed round led by accelerator PedalStart. The funding will finance a first cluster of ten clinics in Kerala, expand chronic disease programs, and upgrade its tech...
Global HealthX, the venture studio of the Global University Foundation, announced it has surpassed $15 million in investments across Indian healthcare and life‑science startups over the past two years. The latest cohort features five companies—TapHealth, Wellytics, Monitra Health, Merry Health and...
Airtel Nigeria announced a second internet breakout point in Akwa Ibom, leveraging the 2Africa submarine cable to diversify traffic away from Lagos, promising faster speeds and greater resilience. The carrier cites a 15% increase in fibre sites and expanding 4G/5G...
Busy Ming, founded by former real‑estate agent Yan Zhou, grew from a single Changsha store in 2017 to over 21,000 outlets across China after merging with Zhao Yiming Snacks in 2023. The chain focused on price‑sensitive mass‑market consumers, using standardized...
