Why We Invested in Cobee
Notion is leading a €40 million (≈ $44 million) Series B round in Cobee, the European employee‑benefits platform that lets companies offer flexible, personalized perks. Cobee’s “operating system for benefits” consolidates benefit administration into a single app, giving employers real‑time visibility and enabling cross‑border rollouts from Spain and Portugal into new markets. The business model blends recurring SaaS fees with commissions on the gross merchandise value flowing through its marketplace, positioning it for rapid scaling. Investors believe Cobee can reach $100 million in revenue within the next few years.
Why We Invested in Cyscale
Notion Ventures announced a strategic investment in Cyscale, a startup that delivers a cybersecurity knowledge‑graph platform for cloud visibility and control. The solution extends traditional Cloud Security Posture Management by mapping relationships among virtual machines, containers, and BYOD devices across...
AI Is Separating the Companies Built to Scale From the Ones Built to Sell
Artificial intelligence has moved from a niche add‑on to the core of cybersecurity, reshaping how startups are built, funded, and scaled. Venture capital is concentrating on a handful of AI‑native firms, delivering larger rounds and higher valuations while compressing the...
Doist’s Amir Salihefendic, at Podim 2026: 50M Users, Bootstrapped
Doist founder Amir Salihefendic announced at the Podim 2026 conference that his product‑led company has amassed 50 million users while remaining fully bootstrapped. He credited disciplined growth, a high‑trust remote culture, and a refusal to take external capital for preserving control...
With $18M in New Funding, Adfin Expands AI-Powered Business Finance
London‑based fintech Adfin secured $18 million in a Series A round led by Index Ventures, bringing its total capital to over $30 million. The funding will accelerate the rollout of its AI‑driven platform that automates invoice processing, payment collection, and cash‑movement for businesses....
Rewiring Enterprise Spend: How OmniCard Is Building India’s Smart Financial Operating System
OmniCard has built a fintech operating system for Indian enterprises that unifies RBI‑issued PPI licensing, RuPay cards, UPI settlements, BBPS bill payments, and FASTag fleet services into a single programmable spend platform. The solution replaces fragmented spreadsheets and disparate tools...
Swish Club Rebrands To SwishX, Pivots To AI For Pharma
Swish Club has rebranded as SwishX and shifted from device leasing to an agentic AI platform serving pharmaceutical and med‑tech firms. The new suite includes Tender IQ, Contract IQ, Marketing IQ and Channel IQ, aimed at automating sales, marketing, distribution...
Two Founders Bet that Documentation Is the Missing Layer in the AI Stack. HappySupport Closes Pre-Seed Investment.
HappySupport, a German AI startup, closed a €200,000 (≈$218,000) pre‑seed round backed by sevDesk co‑founder Fabian Silberer, Flip CEO Benedikt Brand, and L‑Bank. The company offers a self‑updating help‑center that syncs documentation with source‑code changes via its HappyRecorder Chrome extension and AI‑generated...
JCB Launches 'Be Your Own Boss' Program to Empower Construction Entrepreneurs
JCB has launched the "Be Your Own Boss" program aimed at Hispanic construction professionals, offering bilingual resources, business coaching, initial capital, and financing for ITIN holders. The initiative addresses the fact that Hispanics represent about one‑third of the U.S. construction...
What if Your Health Had a CIBIL-Like Score? A Hyderabad Startup Is Building It for a Decade
Hyderabad‑based eKincare, founded in 2014, has spent a decade building a continuous health‑score platform that stitches together fragmented medical records from corporate health checks. Leveraging AI, it standardises data from hundreds of diagnostics providers to create longitudinal health timelines for...
Late-Stage Deals Dominate Latin American Funding in Q1
Latin American startups secured $1.03 billion in venture capital during Q1 2026, a 12% year‑over‑year increase but a 6% dip from the previous quarter. Late‑stage and growth rounds dominated, attracting $761 million—up 158% YoY. Mexico emerged as the regional leader, raising $404 million,...
Art Problems: WTF Is an A-Corp?
Colorado lawmakers have introduced a bill to create an Artist Corporation, or A‑Corp, a new business form tailored for creators. Proposed by entrepreneur Yancey Strickler, the structure would let artists form a legal entity with a single form, bypassing the...
Kenny Bednarek Still Believes ‘Sky’s the Limit’ for Grand Slam Track
Two‑time Olympic silver medalist Kenny Bednarek continues to champion Grand Slam Track despite the league’s Chapter 11 filing. The U.S.‑based circuit, launched by Michael Johnson, earned less than $2 million in 2025 while racking up over $40 million in debt, leaving Bednarek owed $195,000....
ONGC Mulls New ₹200 Cr Fund To Back Energy & AI Startups
India's state‑run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGG) announced a new ₹200 Cr (approximately $20 million) alternative investment fund focused on energy‑related and AI/ML startups. The fund will be managed by two contract advisors hired for a 12‑month term, with a possible...
G&D and CT Square Launch New Joint Venture in India
Guntermann & Drunck (G&D) and CT Square have formed a joint‑venture in India to become the exclusive distributor of G&D and VuWall solutions. The new entity will launch a New Delhi showroom and office within months, offering KVM, video‑wall, and...
Cowboy Space, Darkhive Detail Their Series B Rounds
Cowboy Space Corp., founded by Robinhood co‑founder Baiju Bhatt, closed a $275 million Series B that values the company at about $2 billion. The round, led by Index Ventures, will fund its first power‑beaming satellite and an AI‑focused data‑center module in partnership with...
Lunar Outpost Raises $30M Series B for Lunar Surface Mobility; MDA Space Is Among the Consortium Partners
Lunar Outpost closed a $30 million Series B round led by Industrious Ventures, bringing its total venture capital to roughly $52 million. The funding will accelerate development of its autonomous lunar surface mobility suite, including the Starweave swarm software and Stargate command platform,...
Founders Still Building in MENA Understand What Others Miss
MENA startup funding slipped 37% year‑on‑year to $941 million in Q1 2026 as geopolitical risk dampened investor sentiment. Yet high‑net‑worth consumers in Dubai, Riyadh and other Gulf cities kept spending, and sovereign programmes such as Saudi Vision 2030 continued to pour capital into...
Beltone VC and Citadel Exit Bosta with 75% IRR
Beltone Venture Capital and UAE‑based Citadel International exited their joint investment in Egyptian logistics startup Bosta, generating a 75% internal rate of return. The deal marks Beltone's fifth exit since its 2023 launch and the second through the Beltone‑Citadel fund....
ABAN Says Africa’s Startup Funding Recovery Is “More Grounded” Than Previous Peaks
African startups raised $3.4 billion in 2025, a 32% rebound after three years of decline. Angel participation revived, with networks deploying $4.4 million and 65% of backed firms securing follow‑on capital. More than 90% of individual angels now write cheques under $25 K,...
Hungary’s Tech Startups Look Abroad as Domestic Headwinds Persist
Hungary’s tech ecosystem is turning outward despite a sluggish 2025 economy and delayed EU funds, adopting a "born‑global" mindset. Startups such as ABZ Innovation ($7.7 M), Axoflow ($7.4 M) and SEON ($80 M) secured sizable rounds led by international investors, underscoring confidence in...
3one4 Capital’s Fund V In The Works, Eyes $225 Mn Corpus
Venture capital firm 3one4 Capital is preparing its fifth fund, 3one4 Capital IFSC – Fund V, with a target corpus of $225 million (≈₹2,147 crore). The International Finance Corporation has floated a $20 million (≈₹191 crore) equity commitment, underscoring international interest. Fund V will...
Circle Raises $222M To Launch Arc Blockchain Network
Circle announced a $222 million presale that values its new Arc blockchain network at roughly $3 billion on a fully diluted basis. Andreessen Horowitz led the round with a $75 million commitment, joined by BlackRock, Apollo, Intercontinental Exchange, SBI Group and other institutional...
Bill Gates’s Backed Fervo Energy Raises IPO Target to $1.82bn on $7.4bn
Houston‑based geothermal developer Fervo Energy increased its IPO size to a top‑of‑range $1.82 bn, implying a market valuation of about $7.4 bn. The company will offer 70 million shares at $25‑$26 each, a 26 % rise in share count and an 8 % lift in...
Pete Wicks Net Worth: How a Reality TV Star Built a £4M Brand While One Company Collapsed
Pete Wicks turned his seven‑year stint on "The Only Way Is Essex" into a diversified media business worth an estimated £3–4 million ($3.8–$5.1 million). He expanded into podcasting, live touring, publishing and brand deals, with the "Staying Relevant" podcast becoming a major...
Delos Capital and AP Biosciences Launch Collaboration to Create New Biotech Companies
Delos Capital and AP Biosciences have announced a strategic collaboration to launch and incubate new biotechnology companies focused on next‑generation antibodies. Through its Delos Foundry, Delos will lead therapeutic ideation, financing, and strategic development, while APBio supplies its proprietary antibody...
RCSI Spinout Substrato Medical Wins Spinout Showcase Award at Enterprise Ireland’s Start-Up Day 2026
RCSI spin‑out Substrato Medical captured the Spinout Showcase Award at Enterprise Ireland’s Start‑Up Day 2026, delivering a three‑minute pitch on its novel oxygen‑therapy platform for chronic wound care. The company, built on RCSI’s Tissue Engineering Research Group and 25 years...
London’s Fifth Dimension Raises €22 Million to Scale AI-Powered Decision Intelligence for Real Assets
Fifth Dimension, a London‑based AI startup, closed a €22 million ($26 million) Series A round led by HV Capital, bringing its total funding to €33.9 million ($40 million). The platform unifies fragmented real‑asset data into a single intelligence layer powered by its proprietary agentic AI,...
The Exact Hire That Took This Creator From Burned Out to $30K Months
Courtney Johnson, a content creator with 500,000 followers, hired an operations manager for $2,500 a month, later promoting her to COO at $8,000 a month. The hire freed Johnson to focus on content, doubling her monthly revenue from $15,000 to...
Good News About Takealot 30-Minute Deliveries in South Africa
South African logistics startup Shiprazor has secured a partnership with Takealot Fulfilment Solutions (TFS) to enable 30‑minute deliveries for merchants on its platform. The deal follows a R44 million investment from venture fund Norrsken22, which will fund the expansion of Shiprazor’s...
Cowboy Raises $275 Million to Build Rockets with Orbital Data Center Upper Stages
Cowboy Space, the former Aetherflux, closed a $275 million Series B round at a $2 billion valuation, bringing its total funding to roughly $365 million. The startup plans to build launch vehicles whose upper stages transform into orbital data‑center nodes, targeting AI‑intensive compute in...
Aetherflux Rebrands, Pivots Business—And Raises $275M
Aetherflux has rebranded as Cowboy Space Corporation and closed a $275 million Series B round at a $2 billion valuation. The company is pivoting from a sole focus on a solar‑power small‑sat constellation to a dual strategy that adds a dedicated launch vehicle...
US (MI): How an Animator and Architect Launched Petoskey’s First Certified Organic Farm
Anne and Brian Bates transformed 75 acres in Petoskey, Michigan into Bear Creek Organic Farm, the region’s first certified organic operation. Since 2013 the farm has cultivated microgreens, lettuce, herbs and edible flowers, selling produce through an onsite market and...
Google-Backed Adda247 Lays Off over 200 Employees
Google‑backed edtech startup Adda247 announced it has laid off more than 200 employees, roughly 20% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring ahead of a planned IPO. The cuts affect product, design, content, and teaching functions and are expected...
She’s Invested in 13 AI Startups. Her Best Advice for Founders? Stop Waiting for Funding
Mary Minno, former Evergive founder, launched the AI Health Fund with a $1 million anchor from Tim Draper and advisory support from Esther and Anne Wojcicki. The fund, focused on health‑tech AI, has already written checks of $50,000‑$150,000 to 13 startups,...
Rebalance Leads Pre Seed Round in Travel Gear Brand NORI
Bengaluru‑based travel‑gear startup NORI, focused on women’s luggage and accessories, closed a $350,000 pre‑seed round led by Rebalance with participation from Vijay Shekhar Sharma, VSS Investco and other angels. The funding will fuel expansion of its product portfolio and push the brand into...
Superbalist Founders Turning a 102 Year-Old South African Retailer Into a Serious Temu and Shein Rival
The Foschini Group’s online platform Bash, built by former Superbalist founders, posted a 40% year‑on‑year sales jump to R1.4 billion and a 52% surge in gross profit to R521 million in the six months to September 2025. Its share of TFG’s total sales...
These Companies Were Called Moonshots. Now They’re Worth Billions
Moonshot companies—once dismissed as impossible—are now worth billions. Tesla generated a 1,000% return in five years, SpaceX targets a $2 trillion IPO, Anthropic is valued above $300 billion, and Colossal Biosciences sits at $10 billion. These firms cluster together, drawing the world’s most...
Korea’s Biggest Manufacturers Back Config, the TSMC of Robot Data
Config, a Seoul‑San Jose startup that supplies the data layer for robotic foundation models, closed an oversubscribed $27 million seed round led by Samsung Venture Investment, bringing total funding to $35 million and valuing the company at over $200 million. Backed by the...
Infineon Startup Challenge Puts Humanoid Robotics in the Spotlight
Infineon has launched its 2026 Startup Challenge to accelerate innovation in humanoid robotics, inviting deep‑tech startups worldwide to apply until 27 May 2026. The program offers access to Infineon’s semiconductor technologies, prototyping kits, mentorship, and a network of industry partners and investors....
Vendasta Levels up with European Deal to Roll Out MARiO AI
Vendasta, a Saskatoon‑based SaaS provider, signed a deal with Italy’s largest internet firm, Italiaonline, to deploy its AI‑driven employee platform MARiO to over 100,000 Italian SMBs. MARiO can handle phone calls, appointment booking and multilingual customer interactions, aiming to close...
STACKUP: The Stack's Weekly Tech Startups and Funding Wrap
The Stack’s weekly wrap highlights Europe’s quantum surge, with two startups each raising over $100 million, led by Dutch firm QuantWare’s $110 million Series B to boost processor production. A Chinese AI laboratory announced a new breakthrough model, adding pressure to the global...
Ex-Prime Video UK Boss Chris Bird Launches Two AI Ventures, One With ‘The Boy Who Lived’ Director Dan Hartley
Former Prime Video UK chief Chris Bird has launched two AI ventures aimed at content creators. HawksHead AI offers a predictive analytics platform that uses proprietary AI and synthetic panels to forecast audience response and guide script, casting and creative...
Exclusive: Centricity in Talks to Raise $30 Mn Round Led by MUFG and SIG
Wealth‑tech startup Centricity is negotiating a $30 million financing round led by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Susquehanna International Group. The deal would value the Gurugram‑based firm at roughly $250 million, doubling the $125 million valuation from its September 2024 seed round. Centricity plans...
Precision HealthTech Launches, with Minuteful for Wound as Flagship Digital Care Solution
Precision HealthTech, an independent UK health‑tech firm, has launched to scale digitally enabled wound care worldwide. Its flagship solution, Minuteful for Wound, is a CE‑certified Class IIa platform that combines a mobile app, caseload portal and clinical dashboard to standardise...
How UK Investment Can Transform European Scaleups
Funding for UK tech startups surged to €25.7bn (≈$28bn) in 2025 across 1.6k deals, up from €21.7bn (≈$23.6bn) in 2024. A Sifted Talks panel, backed by the Department for Business and Trade, highlighted the need for more growth‑stage capital, especially...
Esk Secures £2.6m to Accelerate Its Live Entertainment Business
Edinburgh‑based entertainment‑tech firm Esk has closed a £2.6 million (≈$3.3 million) funding round led by Maven Capital Partners and backed by the British Business Bank’s Investment Fund for Scotland. The capital will be used to scale its international business development, marketing, and...
Startup News and Updates: Daily Roundup (May 11, 2026)
India’s startup ecosystem saw a flurry of financing on May 11, 2026. Kathy's Beverages secured Rs 6 crore (~$638k) in a pre‑Series A round to boost product innovation and retail rollout. Wingreens Farms completed a 100% acquisition of Safe Harvest and closed a Series D...
Construction Robotics Startup Flo Mobility Raises $2.5 Mn in Pre-Series A Round
Bengaluru‑based Flo Mobility announced a $2.5 million pre‑Series A round co‑led by Mela Ventures and Arali Ventures. The funding will accelerate manufacturing, enhance its AI autonomy stack, and support rollout across India and into the Middle East. Flo’s flagship Flo Hauler,...