Q&A with Bond and Matter’s Deb Pan Dorner: Leading with Science, Creativity, and Mentorship
Deb Pan Dorner, a former Merck medicinal chemist with degrees from MIT and Johns Hopkins, co‑founded the healthcare communications agency Bond and Matter. The firm blends scientific rigor with creative storytelling, hiring scientists who want to move beyond the lab. Dorner discusses the challenges of launching the agency during COVID, navigating gender and immigrant‑background biases, and building a mentorship‑focused culture. She emphasizes that combining science and creativity helps make complex drug information compelling for physicians and patients.
How to Fix Canadian VC
The BetaKit Podcast returned to dissect the sharp contraction of Canadian venture capital that began in 2023, erasing a decade’s worth of capital raised and deployed. A panel of senior venture figures attributes the slump to a thin limited‑partner base...
The New Seed Filter: What Investors Look for Beyond the Demo
Partech partner Alison Imbert says polished AI demos mean little at seed stage; investors now demand gritty customer research, clear distribution plans and technical depth. Managing the €53 million (≈$57 million) Paris‑Saclay Seed fund, she backs engineering‑centric B2B SaaS startups that can prove...
Ineos Automotive: Startup Backed by a Knighted Billionaire and Soccer Mogul Wants to Rekindle the Rugged SUV Market
Ineos Automotive, the venture of billionaire Sir James Ratcliffe, is pushing its rugged Grenadier 4×4 into a broader U.S. market. The company plans a 30‑35% year‑over‑year sales increase and hopes to break even in 2026, while evaluating limited assembly in the...
How TinyBuild Survived 15 Years of Game Publishing | Alex Nichiporchik Interview
TinyBuild, founded in 2011 by Alex Nichiporchik and Tom Brien, began as a Kickstarter‑backed indie studio and has evolved into a publicly traded publisher valued at roughly $474 million. The company’s breakout hit, Hello Neighbor, has amassed over 300 million downloads since...
STACKUP: The Stack's Weekly Tech Startups and Funding Wrap
The Stack’s weekly roundup highlights a surge of AI‑centric funding across Europe and Asia‑Pacific, with the largest raises coming from those regions. Notable deals include a $100 million‑plus round for a data‑centre startup, a similar-sized investment in RISC‑V chip designer SiFive,...
How Shipway Is Rewriting the Economics of D2C Shipping
Shipway, the AI‑driven logistics platform owned by Unicommerce, has reached a Rs 100 crore annualised run‑rate and breakeven adjusted EBITDA after crossing 1 million monthly shipments. Its ShipSense AI engine evaluates warehouse proximity, courier performance, payment mode and return patterns in real time...
David Beckham’s Supplement Brand Is Doing $10 Million A Month. The Secret Goes Beyond Just Celebrity.
David Beckham and biotech entrepreneur Danny Yeung launched the IM8 supplement brand in November 2024, quickly reaching $120 million in annual recurring revenue and $10 million in monthly sales. The company relies on rigorous scientific testing, a high‑profile advisory board, and a direct‑to‑consumer model...
MUA Bobbi Brown Claims Last Two Years at Namesake Brand Left Her ‘Miserable’
Bobbi Brown, the iconic makeup artist who sold her namesake brand to Estée Lauder for $74.5 million in 1995, stayed on for 22 years before departing in 2016, describing her final two years as "pretty miserable." A 25‑year non‑compete prevented her from...
Taiwan Launches National Robotics Center with $629 Million Startup Funding Plan
Taiwan has inaugurated the National Center for AI Robotics (NCAIR) and unveiled a NT$20 billion ($629 million) funding program slated for 2026‑2029. The initiative targets the creation of at least three home‑grown robotics startups and aims to accelerate testing, talent development, and...
China Leads Asia’s Startup Funding To Its Highest Level In More Than 3 Years
Asia’s venture capital market rebounded in Q1 2026, with investors deploying $27.4 bn across seed to growth stages—a 20% rise from the previous quarter and nearly double year‑over‑year. China led the surge, accounting for $16.5 bn (60% of the region’s total) driven...
Polybee Scales Physical AI Agents for “Immediate, Bankable ROI” In Specialty Crops
Polybee, a Singapore‑based agtech startup, deploys fleets of self‑charging drones that act as "physical AI agents" to monitor crop health, forecast yields, and perform pollination in specialty vegetables and fruits. The drones autonomously scan every plant, delivering data‑driven harvest timing...
Q&A: Building a Broadband Constellation for a Contested Space Era
Logos Space Services, founded by former NASA and Google executive Milo Medin, received FCC approval to launch up to 4,178 low‑Earth‑orbit broadband satellites operating in K‑, Q‑ and V‑band frequencies. The company’s private‑network architecture uses super‑narrow beams to boost capacity,...
Kayali’s Mona Kattan on Building a Fragrance Empire that Taps Into the ‘Personal’
Kayali, founded in 2018 by Mona Kattan, has evolved from a Huda Beauty offshoot into a standalone fragrance brand backed by private‑equity firm General Atlantic. The company’s "fragrance wardrobe" strategy encourages consumers to layer scents, resulting in some of the...
Finnish Venture Capital Fundraising Reaches Record €678 Million
Finnish venture capital (VC) investors raised a record €678 million (≈ $746 million) in 2025, while Finnish startups secured a historic €1.9 billion (≈ $2.09 billion) in total investments. Lifeline Ventures led the fund‑raising wave with a €425 million (≈ $468 million) vehicle, the largest ever in Finland. About...
Harmix Was a Profitable Music Startup, Before AI Tools Tempted Them to Build Something New
Toronto‑based Harmix Group, founded in 2018, built a profitable multimodal AI search engine for music, licensing its technology to brands like Red Bull and Sky TV. The company recently pivoted to a Proactive AI Manager (PAM) product that uses generative...
How Remote Helps Companies Hire Global Talent without Borders
Remote’s global HR platform lets companies hire, pay, and manage employees anywhere while staying compliant with local employment laws. By bundling payroll, benefits, tax, and contract administration, the solution removes the legal and operational friction that traditionally hampers international hiring....
Why Shark Tank’s Daymond John Says You Should Keep Your Full-Time Job When You Start Your Own Business
Daymond John advises entrepreneurs to keep their full‑time job while launching a startup, allocating roughly 20 percent of their time to the new venture. He built FUBU by working nights at Red Lobster, earning $30,000 a year and using job benefits...
Zell Raises €500K to Scale AI-Powered Sales Management
Berlin‑based AI startup Zell announced a €500,000 (approximately $550,000) funding round co‑led by P3 Ventures, SkyDeck Europe, UC Berkeley SkyDeck and others. The capital will accelerate the rollout of its platform that layers automated coaching on top of CRM and...
I'm a 6-Time Surrogate Who Wasn't Fulfilled in My Finance Career. I Quit to Start a Surrogacy Agency and Make...
Angela Richardson-Mook left senior finance and consulting roles, including a vice‑president position at Bank of America, to launch Alcea Surrogacy in 2019. The agency now employs 23 staff, generates roughly $5 million in annual revenue, and pays her more than her...
Nesto Raises €11m From Expedition to Scale AI Workforce Management for Restaurant Groups
Karlsruhe‑based Nesto Software raised €11 million (≈$12 million) in growth equity from Expedition Growth Capital to accelerate its AI‑driven workforce‑management platform. The round, Nesto’s first institutional financing after bootstrapping to over €5 million ARR, will fund product development, sales expansion, and the evolution...
WengAI Targets Hong Kong IPO After Confidential Filing
Beijing‑registered Zhongke WengAI filed a confidential prospectus to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, aiming to become the first AI company emerging from the Chinese Academy of Sciences ecosystem to go public. The firm, founded by three CAS scientists,...
Eka Ventures Launches £80m Fund to Back Health and Sustainability Startups
Early‑stage impact VC Eka Ventures has closed a second fund of £80 million (about $102 million) to back UK‑founded health, wellbeing and sustainability startups. The British Business Bank is committing £40 million (~$51 million), matching its support for the firm’s first fund. The fund...
Let Them Pitch Cake: How This Founder Used AI to Build a Thriving Cake Business
William Lindholm, a 20‑year‑old Norwegian entrepreneur, launched Daymaker, a startup that replaces cold emails with custom‑printed cakes showcasing sales pitches. Leveraging AI coding platforms Lovable and later Cursor, he built the service without any technical background, scaling it from $10,000...
Why 98% of Startups Fail? A BigBasket Competitor’s Journey From Early Traction to Shutdown
Sushant Junnarkar’s online‑grocery venture captured early traction in the 2010s, reaching 70‑80 orders a day and earning coverage in the Economic Times and Business World. The startup’s low‑inventory model faltered when well‑capitalised rivals like BigBasket entered, raising customer expectations and...
Nu Holdings: Doubling Down Despite U.S. Expansion Concerns
Nu Holdings (NU) continues to pursue aggressive growth in Latin America, leveraging its founder‑led, digital‑first model that delivers 45% FX‑neutral revenue growth and a 33% return on equity. The bank’s unit economics remain strong, with low‑cost customer acquisition and prudent...
How Marta Bralic Kerns Built a $1.7 Billion Femtech Unicorn From a Mother’s Experience
Marta Bralic Kerns turned a frustrating pregnancy experience into Pomelo Care, a virtual maternal‑health platform now valued at $1.7 billion. Founded in 2021, the New York‑based company uses predictive analytics and 24‑hour clinical support to identify risks early and deliver personalized care...
Finnish Proptech Jaakko.com Secures €500K to Scale Beyond Domestic Market
Finnish proptech startup Jaakko.com secured €500,000 (about $545,000) in a mixed angel‑institutional round to accelerate product development and push beyond Finland. The marketplace already hosts over 2,000 hidden properties and 3,000 active buy‑sell listings, with seller activity more than doubling...
OxygenCare Launches New Online Medical Device Shop – Easing Access to Hospital-Grade Breast Pumps Across Ireland
Irish medical‑equipment provider OxygenCare has unveiled a new online shop and rental platform, giving the island of Ireland exclusive access to Medela’s Symphony hospital‑grade breast pump. The service lets parents and healthcare providers rent or purchase the pump, with delivery...
The Loneliness of Leadership and How to Reconnect with Yourself
Emma’s fast‑growing startup left her feeling isolated despite external success. She realized that loneliness is a built‑in aspect of leadership, not a personal weakness. By accepting her solitude, deliberately constructing a multi‑layered support network, and pruning echo‑chamber relationships, she reclaimed...
Why Europe’s Deep Tech Startups Struggle to Scale And What Actually Works
Europe’s deep‑tech sector is drawing record investment—€17.6 billion ($19 billion) projected for 2025—but many startups still fail to scale due to fragmented ecosystems. The D2XCEL programme, which supported 102 ventures across two cohorts, showed that targeted ecosystem integration, mentorship, and investor access...
Round Raises $6M to Automate the Finance Workflows that Still Require a Human to Press a Button
London fintech Round announced a $6 million seed round led by Alstin Capital, with participation from Backed VC, Love Ventures, and several angel investors including Indeed co‑founder Paul Forster. The funding backs the launch of two new products—a natural‑language Agentic Workflow Builder and an...
Startup Funding: Q1 2026
Q1 2026 saw private semiconductor startups raise over $8 billion across 80 companies, with 18 rounds exceeding $100 million and two mega‑rounds—Cerebras and Rapidus—reaching $1 billion each. AI‑centric chip designs for inference and high‑bandwidth interconnects dominated the capital, while photonics and agentic EDA...
Smart Garage Raises Rs 2.4 Cr in Pre-Series A Round
Smart Garage, an AI‑driven auto‑service marketplace, closed a pre‑Series A round raising Rs 2.4 crore (about $290,000). The startup aims to raise a total of Rs 15 crore (~$1.8 million) to fund expansion and hit an Rs 80 crore (~$9.6 million) revenue run‑rate by FY27. Proceeds will enhance...
How 3 Sisters Turn Indonesian Brand Peggy Hartanto Into Global Fashion Name
Peggy Hartanto, founded in 2012 by sisters Peggy, Petty and Lydia, has grown from a Surabaya workshop into a globally recognized Indonesian fashion label. Backed early by Singapore retailers, the brand now ships to Asia, the Middle East, Europe and...
‘I’m Playing the Long Game’: Journalists Are Striking Out Alone and Discovering the Business Is Toughest Beat of All
Independent journalists are finally finding a viable business model as platforms, audiences, and distribution infrastructure mature, but many still lack business fluency. CNTI research shows only three of 26 indie info providers fully fund their lifestyle, while half cannot cover...
Candy Brand Behave Bet Everything on TikTok Shop, Went Viral and Secured a Target Launch
In summer 2024, low‑sugar candy brand Behave faced bankruptcy with only 60 days of cash left. The founders pivoted to TikTok Shop, posting multiple daily videos until a viral post of their Super Sour Skulls sold out in three days...
How Clean Metrics Scaled Us in Asia (and Narrowed Our Vision)
Rapid expansion across Asian markets often leads companies to simplify reporting by adopting a handful of “north star” metrics. While this streamlines meetings and accelerates execution, the article warns that static dashboards can mask divergent local conditions and delay critical...
AI Could Make MEDVi $1b in Sales – but It Could Also Break It
MEDVi, an online GLP‑1 weight‑loss drug retailer, posted $401 million in 2025 sales and is projected to reach $1.8 billion in 2026 after scaling from a $20,000, two‑person AI‑built operation. Founder Matthew Gallagher leveraged generative AI for everything from code to customer...
Seedlab’s Bootcamp 13 Shifts Beyond ‘Better-for-You’ Products
Seedlab, Australia’s leading food‑tech incubator, has launched the thirteenth cohort of its six‑week Bootcamp, a springboard for early‑stage FMCG founders across Australia and New Zealand. While the program traditionally taught commercial fundamentals, this round signals a strategic pivot away from generic...
Ex-PHD Boss Simon Lawson Launches Media Advisory With Principal Media In Crosshairs
Former PHD Australia MD Simon Lawson has founded Chilon Media Governance, an independent advisory firm aimed at helping advertisers recover lost value and improve transparency in complex media supply chains. Leveraging his two‑decade experience at Omnicom and Publicis, Lawson’s firm...
He Taught Himself Watchmaking and Left the Factory Floor Behind
Chinese self‑taught watchmaker Qian GuoBiao is debuting his AB‑05 Skyline Original and AB‑05S Skyline Sun at the Time to Watches fair in Geneva. The hand‑wound, 39‑mm steel models feature an in‑house skeletonized movement, blue heat‑treated hands and a green leather...
Neuroscientist's AI-Powered Startup Aims To Transform Human Cognition With Perfect, Infinite Memory
Former Harvard Medical School professor and neuroscientist Amir Kreiman, together with co‑founder Spandan Madan, launched Engramme, an AI startup that claims to give humans perfect, infinite memory by linking a personal "memorome" to large memory models. The platform promises automatic...
VC Activity in LatAm Region Exhibited Renewed Strength in Q1 2026 : Research
Venture capital activity in Latin America rebounded in Q1 2026, with startups securing $1.03 billion—a 12% year‑over‑year rise. Late‑stage and growth‑equity deals drove the surge, delivering $761 million, more than two‑and‑a‑half times the prior year’s Q1 amount. Mexico emerged as the regional leader,...
Slate Auto: Everything You Need to Know About the Bezos-Backed EV Startup
Slate Auto, a stealth‑mode EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos, emerged in April 2025 with an ultra‑low‑cost, modular electric pickup truck. The company announced a base price under $20,000, contingent on the $7,500 federal tax credit, and quickly amassed over...
'Single-Player Tarkov' Road to Vostok's Solo Dev Admits Its Huge Popularity Is "Running Away From Me," But He Has a...
Finnish solo developer Antti Leinonen’s survival shooter Road to Vostok sold roughly 140,000 copies within five days, attracting over 25,000 daily active users. The rapid uptake has generated a flood of player communications—more than 11,000 unread emails—forcing Leinonen to plan...
Don’t Mistake Commercialization For Actual Sales Growth — Here’s Why the Difference Matters and How to Turn Ideas Into Revenue
The article distinguishes sales—a transactional function—from commercialization, a strategic system that defines positioning, pricing, and repeatable go‑to‑market logic. Startups often chase early sales to prove traction, but this confuses short‑term wins with sustainable market validation. Premature selling can create false...
4 Must-Have Skills Every Nomadic Founder Needs to Build a Successful Online Business
The article outlines four essential skills for nomadic founders building online businesses: automation, systemization, strategic mentorship, and geo‑arbitrage. It explains how automating repetitive tasks and creating repeatable processes keep operations smooth while traveling. The piece also stresses the importance of...
I Grew up in a Family of Entrepreneurs. Here’s What I Had to Unlearn to Build a $1 Billion Business
The founder of Swiss‑based Scandit reflects on how his family‑business upbringing both helped and hindered the company’s rise to a $1 billion enterprise. Early lessons in resilience, cash‑flow discipline and local focus enabled bootstrapping, but scaling required unlearning those instincts. By...
These Cofounders Quit Corporate Jobs, Took on $100K in Credit Card Debt, and Slept in a Denny’s—Now Their $1.2B Company...
Esusu, a fintech platform that reports on‑time rent payments to credit bureaus, was launched by co‑founders Wemimo Abbey and Samir Goel after they quit stable corporate jobs, racked up $100,000 in credit‑card debt and even slept in a Denny’s. Their...