Today's Entrepreneurship Pulse
LoopFeedback launches to close AI feedback gap with $12M seed round
Former Google and Apple researchers Dr. Maya Patel and Dr. Alex Liu have founded LoopFeedback, a startup building a real‑time human‑in‑the‑loop feedback system for large language models. The company announced a $12 million seed round led by Andrees, aiming to improve model alignment and safety.
Also developing:
By the numbers: abcoffee raises $7.35M in pre‑Series B
Lending to Nigeria’s SMEs Is Hard. Nomba Thinks There’s a Better Way
Nomba announced that its 18‑month partnership with Globus Bank generated roughly $26.6 million in loans to Nigerian SMEs, while keeping the non‑performing loan ratio below 1 %. The fintech’s underwriting relies on real‑time payment flows rather than traditional audited statements, and it accepts flexible collateral such as cash, stablecoins or physical assets. Nomba targets firms with about $1 million in annual revenue, disbursing loans averaging 1 % of that revenue. The company now aims to grow its loan book to $500 billion by partnering with banks and development finance institutions.
Bridging India's MedTech Gap with Prototyping Labs
Announcing @BFI_Impact’s latest grant to mPragati. This is one of my most bullish bets on things I am trying to do on the philanthropy side to create an impact in healthcare in India. Here’s why: India has world class research and clinical expertise...
Thin Catalogues Need Browse, Not AI Search
I had a conversation recently that reminded me how badly empty search results can damage an early-stage ecommerce site. The team was excited about adding AI-powered search, and the logic was hard to argue with on the surface. Modern feature,...
SiFive Raises $400M To Double Down On High Performance RISC-V For Data Centers
SiFive announced a $400 million Series G financing round to accelerate its high‑performance RISC‑V offerings for data‑center workloads. The round was oversubscribed, with lead investors including NVIDIA and Apollo Global Management. Proceeds will fund new CPU core designs, accelerators, and system IP,...
OWM Founder Jeff Frommer on Why Creators Are Leaving Money on the Table
Jeff Frommer, founder of creator‑ownership platform OWM, argues that creators are missing out on equity in deals that generate billions of brand value. He identifies three structural blockers—lack of standard contracts, limited equity education, and misaligned manager incentives—and shows how...
&You Scales Global Healthcare Operations with Airwallex
&you, a fast‑growing healthcare platform serving Filipinos, hit financial bottlenecks as it expanded across borders. Opening bank accounts took months, international fees ate margins, and fragmented tools hampered spend management. The company adopted Airwallex, consolidating accounts, payouts, cards, and expense...
Libas’ Next Big Thing After Hitting The ₹600 Cr Revenue Mark
Libas, the Indian ethnic‑wear brand founded in 2014, has surpassed the ₹1,000 Cr (~$120 M) annual revenue run‑rate after a decade of bootstrapped growth. The company began by targeting affordable workwear for women online, later pivoting to a fast‑fashion model that slashed...
Tap Into These 9 Immediate Grants Now
Stop saying there’s no money out here. Y’all just not tapped in. Here are 9 grants you can apply for RIGHT NOW 👇🏾 ⸻ 1. Building Her Community Grant $5,000 For women building communities, memberships, or courses Apply: freelancingfemales.com/heartbeat If you’re building a community based business… this is low...
Audit First, Build Later: Counterintuitive Path to 8‑Figure ARR
Would you pay auditors to audit you 10 times before building your product? This founder did. His startup hit 8-figure ARR. @grease_ is the co-founder of @sprintoHQ, a compliance automation platform that's now at 8-figure ARR with 3,000+ customers....
Brands for a Better World: Coffee with Benefits with Holly Xing of Eightbillion
Holly Xing, a nutritional scientist and formulating chemist, launched JostArriba—an instant coffee infused with nootropic and adaptogen ingredients such as Reishi, Lion’s Mane, Ashwagandha, and L-Theanine. The blend aims to counter typical coffee side effects while enhancing cognition, focus, stress...
Why Non‑UPF Verification Is Emerging as a Strategic Advantage for Startups
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...
Your Launches Are Late Because Your Cadence Is Wrong
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...
Build Systems, Hire Smarter, Let Empires Grow
Stop romanticizing the hustle. Build systems. Hire people smarter than you. Get out of the way. That's how small businesses become empires.
CyberASAP Secures £10m Boost as UK’s Next Wave of Cyber Innovators Take Centre Stage
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 Founder Chris Cocalis on Their New Insanely Powerful Shuttle AMP’d, XC Race Bike Design, 32” Wheels, & More (Ep.321)
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...
Stop Selling to Enterprises. Start Building with Them.
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 Acquires Simtheory and Ortto, Bolstering AI‑driven Design and Marketing Automation
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 Reopens with up to $300,000 in Funding for Third Cohort
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 Launches Its SaaS Platform for Merchants with £1.3m Backing
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...
This Founder Helped Build SpaceX’s Most Powerful Rocket Engine. Now He’s Building a ‘Fighter Jet for Orbit.’
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 Closes $50M Series A
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...
Yao Ming, Marc Lasry Invest in Tsai’s Asian College Hoops League
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...
Deep‑tech Startups Raise Similar Capital, Graduate Faster, IPO More
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 Brings Five MENA Deeptech Startups to Silicon Valley with Kernel Camp
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’s Handhold Secures €3M Seed to Automate B2B Software Sales with AI Agents
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...
Turn One Idea Into Seven Daily Posts
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...
Meet Nigerian Innovator Building STEM Platform to Support Less-Priviliged African Kids
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 Raises $30M To Expand AI Data Solutions
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...
Sora Fuel Raises $14.6 Million to Produce Jet Fuel From Air, Water, and Clean Energy
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 Seeks €100M in Latest Funding Round
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,...
How Temu Gave a Quokka Coffee the Boost It Needed
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 Hits $14.18M in Presale Funding: The Next 100x Crypto Token?
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 $7/Month Mistake — and the Newsletter Pricing Model that Fixes It
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...
Venture Capital Has a Starting Line Problem
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...
Global Investors Help Boost Latin America’s Late-Stage Funding Boom In Q1
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....
The Free Playbook Behind This Week’s Episode
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 Accelerates Expansion as U.S. Entry Nears
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...
How to Make Money in 2026
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...
Exclusive: BRND.ME to Convert Into Public Company; Set to Raise Rs 300 Cr Debt
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 Launches Rs 100 Cr Early-Stage Investment Platform
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 Launches First Auction House for Black and African Diaspora Art at Expo Chicago
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...
Multifamily Veteran Christopher Thomson Honored in Marquis Who's Who
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....
Let Your Top 10% Shape Your Growth Strategy
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...
Australian Startup Sonorus Deploys AI to Spot Rheumatic Heart Disease in Minutes
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,...
YC‑Backed OpenBuilder Secures $2.2 M Seed to Disrupt Vibe‑Coding Pricing
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 Scales Skincare Brand Using Pure Word‑of‑Mouth, No Paid Ads
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 Secures $25 Million Series B to Transform AI Recruiting SaaS
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...
Eight Products, Four Years: My Most Painful Lessons
I built 8 products in 4 years. Here's what each one taught me, ranked by how painful the lesson was.
Conflict of Interest Inspires Independent, Tech‑Agnostic ERP Firm
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
SEADLING Founder Simon Davis on Bringing Long-Term Economic Benefit to SEA’s Seaweed Farmers
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...