Why Africa’s Electric Mobility Is No Longer a Venture Bet
African electric mobility startups have attracted $1.28 billion across 129 deals since 2019, with debt financing now representing 34% of total capital. The shift toward larger, infrastructure‑style rounds is driven by lenders and development banks, exemplified by the African Development Bank’s $300 million Green Mobility Facility. Funding peaked at $313 million in the first half of 2026, largely due to Spiro’s $272 million raise, underscoring the sector’s move from venture bets to quasi‑utility financing. However, capital remains highly concentrated, with four companies capturing 82% of all investment.
Titan Secures $3M in New Funding to Further Scale Its Banking Native AI Platform for Financial Services
Titan, a banking‑native AI platform, secured $3 million in Series A funding led by Entropy Ventures, marking the venture firm’s inaugural Fund I investment. Launched from stealth in October 2025, Titan reported a seven‑figure ARR that has tripled in just seven months, serving community,...
NewOrbit Raises $18.5m to Build a Satellite to Survive VLEO for up to 5 Years
UK‑based NewOrbit closed an $18.5 million Series A round led by Voyager Ventures to fund its 50 kg NEO‑1 satellite. The craft is designed to operate in very low‑Earth orbit (200‑300 km) for up to five years without on‑orbit refueling, targeting a commercial launch...
Executive Interview: Ronald Wilting, CEO of Forefront RF
Ronald Wilting, CEO of Forefront RF, explains that the company’s proprietary tunable duplexer, Foretune™, uses adaptive signal cancellation to replace numerous fixed SAW/BAW filters, enabling dynamic multi‑band operation from 600 MHz to 6 GHz. This software‑controlled architecture cuts component count, insertion loss,...
AI-Powered Nutrition Company Rem3dy Health Raises £14M to Scale Internationally
Rem3dy Health, the Birmingham‑based AI‑powered nutrition firm behind the 3D‑printed gummy brand Nourished, closed a £14 million ($18 million) funding round backed by strategic investors including Suntory, Estrella Galicia, Apollo Hospitals and UPSA. The capital follows a 61% revenue surge to £10.2 million...
Foodstories Raises Rs 50 Crore From Nikhil Kamath to Expand Retail and Digital Business
Foodstories, a Bengaluru‑based food lifestyle platform, raised roughly ₹50 crore (about $6 million) from investor Nikhil Kamath, with the Narotam Sekhsaria family office also participating. The capital will accelerate its digital commerce, expand its delivery network, and fund new retail outlets. The company now...
Qorelo Raises $3.5M to Streamline SAP Migrations
Qorelo, an AI‑focused startup launched in late 2025, announced a $3.5 million seed round led by HPI Ventures and Caesar Ventures. The funding will accelerate development of its AI‑powered layer that automates functional workstreams in SAP S/4HANA migrations. Qorelo claims the...
Funded: SEA Climate Tech Has US$1.1B and a Problem No One Wants to Name
Southeast Asia’s climate‑tech ecosystem has drawn roughly $1.1 billion in equity across 268 rounds, with a peak of $288 million in 2023. Yet 79 % of that capital sits in seed and early‑stage deals, leaving late‑stage equity and debt virtually absent. Funding is...
How to Position Yourself for Selling Your StartUp
Colin Hodge outlines a strategic playbook for founders who aim to sell their startup within the next 12‑24 months. He treats potential acquirers as customers, urging entrepreneurs to build relationships, showcase accelerating growth, and frame the company as a solution...
Science Says Neurodivergent Women Founders Have a Built-In Advantage
A 2024 study in the Journal of Clinical and Developmental Psychology found that nearly two‑thirds of neurodivergent women entrepreneurs struggle to secure traditional employment, prompting many to launch their own ventures. Research published in 2025 by Creative Spirit shows that...
Our Budgeted $180 Million Year Ended in the Red After the Ukraine War. Here’s How We Survived
Swedish furniture group NGLM, which expected €180 million ($195 M) revenue in 2022, saw sales plunge 30% after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted oak supplies and triggered a luxury‑goods downturn. The shock erased a €6 million ($6.5 M) profit and pushed the company into...
Teen Plans to Leave Uni 'Debt Free' After Making £35,000 Selling Vintage Football Shirts
Teenager Eleri Williams, 18, turned a hobby of reselling vintage football shirts into a £35,000 (≈$44,500) profit business, now opening Ballers CP in Cardiff’s Royal Arcade. The earnings will fund her law studies at Cardiff University, allowing her to graduate debt‑free....
Fearn Banks $5.5 Million Seed Funding
Fearn, an AI‑native patent platform, secured a $5.5 million seed round led by Kindred Ventures with participation from a16z speedrun, Designer Fund and Essence VC. The capital will fund expansion of purpose‑built patent models and new features such as automated labeled...
Ather Energy Board Approves Rs 2,500 Cr Fundraise via QIP and Other Routes
Ather Energy’s board approved a capital raise of up to Rs 2,500 crore (≈ $300 million) using a mix of QIP, preferential allotment, rights issue and FCCBs. The plan splits into a Rs 1,500 crore (≈ $180 million) QIP and an additional Rs 1,000 crore (≈ $120 million) via other securities. Ather’s...
Mistral AI Seeks 3 Billion Euros to Fund Its European AI Push
French AI startup Mistral AI is in early talks for a new funding round of about €3 billion (roughly $3.3 billion) that would value the company near €20 billion ($22 billion). The valuation marks a steep rise from the €11.7 billion ($12.8 billion) level recorded in...
A VC’s Guide to Picking Winners
Venture capitalist Tom Bradley outlines the human‑centric rubric his firm uses to pick early‑stage UK tech winners. He emphasizes that founders’ mental agility, deep drive, ruthless resourcefulness, calibrated risk‑taking and magnetism outweigh pure metrics, noting investments of $1.3‑$6.3 million in startups...
Meet the Deep Tech Startups National GRIP Brought to Echelon Singapore 2026
National GRIP, the joint venture‑creation platform of NTU and NUS, used Echelon Singapore 2026 to showcase a slate of deep‑tech startups spanning AI‑legal services, biotech, medtech, quantum‑safe cybersecurity, and sustainable protein. The highlighted companies—AITHENA, MetaSen, Synnan, Healbac, PhloSyn, PQStation, among...
Rekise Marine Raises $9.7 Mn Seed Round Led by Accel and NKSquared
Rekise Marine, a Bengaluru‑based marine robotics firm, closed a $9.7 million seed round co‑led by Accel and NKSquared, adding to a prior $4.72 million raise. The capital will fund sea trials of its flagship autonomous underwater vehicle Jalkapi, expand its in‑house AI/ML...
Remedy Science Closes Series A Funding Round Led by L Catterton
Remedy Science, a dermatologist‑founded skincare brand, closed a Series A round led by private‑equity firm L Catterton, with participation from existing backer Norwest and new investor Sonoma Brands Capital. The Los Angeles‑based company, launched in 2024, has expanded its presence across its DTC...
Applications Open for the 7th Edition of TiE Women MENA Program 2026
TiE Dubai has opened applications for the seventh TiE Women MENA Program, targeting women founders who own at least 33% of startups launched after January 1 2019. The cohort will select 45‑50 entrepreneurs across five regional tracks, offering mentorship, investor access, pitch...
F2 Bags $14M Seed Round
F2, a compounding intelligence platform for private markets, closed a $14 million seed round led by HighlandX, bringing its total equity raised to $24 million. Existing backers Left Lane Capital, NFX, Y Combinator and Torch Capital also participated. The capital will fund...
Pogo Scores $32M
Pogo, an AI‑powered consumer research platform, announced it has secured $32 million in funding from a roster of high‑profile investors and creators. The company’s flagship AI researcher lets brands converse directly with thousands of purchase‑verified buyers within hours, a speed and...
She Watched Doctors Give Her 92-Year-Old Grandmother ‘the Worst of the Worst’ Nutrition. Now She’s Coming for a $6 Billion...
Jess Haghani, a Harvard MBA student, founded Lucille Health after her 92‑year‑old grandmother’s post‑surgery diet revealed the low‑quality nutrition available to seniors. The startup offers ready‑to‑drink shakes with higher protein, five grams of fiber, and a cleaner ingredient list, positioning...
Endurance Energy Raises $54M to Harness a Massive Untapped Energy Source
Endurance Energy, founded by former SpaceX engineer Andrew Redd, closed a $54 million Series A led by Founders Fund to develop offshore geothermal power plants along the Pacific Ring of Fire. The startup aims to tap the ocean’s untapped heat, targeting terawatts...
Interview: Tom Holland’s BERO Is Betting on a New Generation of Drinkers – and Britain Is Leading the Way
BERO, the premium alcohol‑free beer co‑founded by actor Tom Holland, is scaling quickly by tapping Britain’s strong on‑trade adoption and a younger, affluent consumer base. The brand recently launched a limited‑edition shandy that mixes lemonade and beer to attract Gen Z...
AWS’ Former CEO Launches New AI Infrastructure Startup Helix Digital, Backed By Nvidia And $10B In Capital
Former AWS chief Adam Selipsky has been named CEO of Helix Digital Infrastructure, a new AI‑focused startup created by KKR. Helix launches with over $10 billion in long‑duration capital commitments, backed by Nvidia, the Kuwait Investment Authority and Vistra. The firm...
Italian FinTech Unicorn Satispay Plans €120 Million Raise; with Nearly €60 Million Already Committed by Existing Investors
Italian super‑app Satispay announced a €120 million ($130 million) capital raise, with roughly €60 million ($65 million) already pledged by existing backers such as Greyhound, Addition and Lightrock. The funding supports its push to become a full‑stack financial platform, adding stock and ETF trading,...
Biodimension Secures Rs 8 Cr From IAN Angel Fund, Others
Biodimension, a Bengaluru‑based life‑sciences startup, closed an Rs 8 crore (~$960,000) funding round led by IAN Angel Fund, with participation from Campus Angels Network, Dr. Sampath Srisailam and angel Aaryan Baid. The capital will accelerate product development, expand laboratory infrastructure, and strengthen...
How Ruralis Is Building a Startup in Rural Italy
Ruralis, founded in 2022 in a 3,000‑person town in southern Italy, has become one of the country’s largest short‑term rental managers, overseeing more than 700 listings and ranking 43rd on the Sifted 100 Southern Europe list. The bootstrapped firm acts as...
Memebox CEO Dino Ha on His 14-Year Journey Building a K-Beauty Brand
Memebox, founded by Dino Ha in 2012, pioneered K‑beauty in the U.S. with a curated subscription box that combined product sampling and mobile checkout. The company later shifted to a direct‑to‑consumer marketplace and, from 2017, became a data‑driven incubator launching...
GAME Creative: B&T’s Agency Scorecard 2026
GAME Creative, a freelance‑centric boutique founded in 2024 by former Royals director Dan Beaumont, completed its first full year in 2025 with nine clients and a B&T Agency Score of 7.1. The agency delivered notable work including the cinematic “The...
Andromeda Increases Warehouse Size by 400% to Scale Abi Robot Production
Andromeda Robotics has moved from a 500‑square‑metre warehouse to a 2,500‑square‑metre facility, a five‑fold increase that underpins its next growth phase. The Australian startup, which raised $23 million in September 2025, now employs over 80 staff and is scaling production of its...
Dentroid Raises $32 Million for Needle-Free Dental Technology
Dentroid, an Australian medtech startup, raised AUD 32 million (~US$21 million) at a AUD 265 million (~US$175 million) valuation and secured a global licensing partnership with French dental‑products maker Septodont to commercialise its needle‑free Nuralyte technology. The device uses precise light pulses to create temporary analgesia,...
4baseCare Bags ₹38 Cr To Close Series B Round At ₹128 Cr
Healthtech startup 4baseCare has closed its Series B round at ₹128 crore ($13 million), adding a ₹38 crore ($4 million) infusion led by growX Ventures. The funding follows a prior ₹90 crore ($10.8 million) raise six months earlier and a ₹50 crore ($6.2 million) Series A in 2024. 4baseCare will...
Nesto Secures Nearly $1.5-billion Valuation in New Series E Round
Montreal‑based online mortgage lender Nesto announced a Series E round that raised CAD 302 million (approximately $224 million USD), bringing its post‑money valuation to roughly CAD 1.5 billion ($1.1 billion USD). The capital, split between CAD 107 million in primary and CAD 195 million in secondary investments, will fund the rollout...
Manam Chocolate Secures $9 Million Funding to Expand Retail Footprint in India
Manam Chocolate, a Hyderabad‑based farm‑to‑bar chocolate maker, secured $9 million in Series A funding led by Omnivore with participation from the Turner Morrison consortium. The capital will fund the rollout of new experiential retail outlets in the Delhi NCR region over the next...
Datadog Veterans Launch AI Coding Startup Niteshift on a Bet Against Big AI Lock-In
Datadog veterans Sajid Mehmood and Conor Branagan launched Niteshift, an AI coding‑agent platform, and closed a $7 million seed round led by Greylock’s Jerry Chen. The startup aims to unbundle coding models from the underlying infrastructure, letting enterprises switch between providers...
At 22, He Moved From US to India with a Food Idea. Now It's a Multi-Million-Dollar Business
Bert Mueller, a former study‑abroad student, founded California Burrito in Bengaluru in 2012 after spotting demand for Mexican‑style food among Indian tech professionals. He raised $250,000—double his $100,000 estimate—and the first outlet generated about $500,000 in its debut year. The...
Nigerian Government’s iDICE Programme Onboards 185 Founders Into the First Cohort of Its Startup Bridge Initiative
Nigeria's iDICE Startup Bridge has selected 185 founders for its inaugural Founders Lab, the first cohort of a $617 million government programme designed to boost digital and creative enterprises. Co‑financed by the African Development Bank, AFD and IsDB, the initiative received...
Sidebrief Supports Launch of the BOSS Program, a Quarterly Initiative Connecting African Founders with Investors
Sidebrief is backing the launch of the Building Outstanding Successful Startups (BOSS) program, a quarterly initiative created by Diligence Global and Diligence Africa to help African entrepreneurs become investor‑ready. The program tackles persistent scaling challenges by pairing founders with investors...
Rivvun AI Bags $7.5 Mn To Help Enterprises Reduce Revenue Leakages
Rivvun AI, a Seattle‑based enterprise‑tech startup, closed an oversubscribed seed round of $7.5 million (≈ ₹72 crore) led by Sitara Capital and 3one4 Capital. The funding will expand its agentic AI platform that continuously scans contracts, invoices and pricing agreements to surface revenue...
A Day Late And A Dollar Short: Zepto Fixes Unit Economics, But What About Profitability?
Zepto filed an updated draft red herring prospectus, targeting roughly $960 million in fresh equity via a public offering. FY26 revenue nearly doubled to $2.73 billion, but net loss widened to $613 million as the company continues to burn cash. The startup’s per‑order...
Cyera, a Cybersecurity Start-Up for the A.I. Era, Raises $600 Million
Cyera, a cybersecurity startup focused on AI‑driven threats, announced a $600 million financing round that values the company at $12 billion, taking its total capital raised to $2.3 billion. The round was led by Evolution Equity Partners with Cyberstarts and Temasek participating, following...
Edmonton Unlimited Showcase Broadens Investment Horizons for Deep Tech Founders
Edmonton Unlimited hosted a June 9 showcase that gathered hundreds of attendees, including major Canadian venture capital firms, to accelerate commercialization for the city’s deep‑tech entrepreneurs. The event featured an investor panel with BDC, Panache Ventures, Innovobot and others, followed...
Poetic Emerges From Stealth with $50M From OpenAI to Automate Insurance Underwriting and Compliance
Poetic, an AI startup that operated in stealth, raised $50 million in a Series A round that values the company at $500 million, with investors including OpenAI, Founders Fund and Kleiner Perkins. The platform ingests a firm’s procedures, training videos and expert feedback...
David Worldorf on Building versus the Regulated, Fiat-Native Alternative to Polymarket
David Worldorf founded versus, a regulated, fiat‑native prediction‑market app that launched in the UK, Canada, Latin America and parts of Europe in 2026. The platform combines an ad‑free curated news feed (versus Pulse), a proprietary AI research assistant, and more...
Nanordica Medical Raises €1.6M to Bring Antibiotic-Free Chronic Wound Treatment to Market
Estonian medtech firm Nanordica Medical secured €1.6 million (≈$1.75 million) to bring its Premotiv antibiotic‑free wound dressing to market. The product, which simultaneously prevents infection and promotes tissue regeneration, showed a 43% reduction in wound area after one week in a 30‑patient...
Aryon Security Raises $29M to Stop Cloud Breaches Before They Happen
Aryon Security, an Israeli cloud‑security startup founded by former Matzov cyber unit alumni, closed a $29 million Series A round, bringing total capital to $38 million. The funding, led by Brightmind Partners and joined by investors such as CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz and...
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How a Ghanaian Side Hustle Became a Webby-Winning AI Success Story
Ghanaian‑born entrepreneur Dominic Damoah turned a side‑hustle into Human in the Loop (HITL), a platform that adds human oversight to AI‑driven workflows. HITL earned the 2026 Webby People’s Voice Award for Best Responsible AI Implementation, highlighting its safety‑first design. The...
Why Europe Has the Dream, but Struggles to Build Freight-Tech Giants
Europe’s freight‑tech scene boasts innovative founders and early‑stage capital, but growth‑stage funding remains scarce. CEOs like Sennder’s David Nothacker note that once companies reach Series B‑C, European investors retreat, forcing firms to seek U.S. capital where exit routes are clearer. The...