Should Wasabi Technologies Make the Move From Direct Sales to a Channel Strategy?
Wasabi Technologies, a fast‑growing cloud storage startup, has built its revenue engine on a pure direct‑sales model. Founder David, a serial entrepreneur with a music‑tech background, now faces a go‑to‑market dilemma: whether to preserve the simplicity of direct relationships or add a channel partner layer to reach larger enterprise accounts. The Harvard Business School case highlights trade‑offs between focus and scale, short‑term momentum and long‑term ambition. The discussion explores how a shift to VARs, MSPs, and OEMs could unlock new markets but also introduces complexity and potential channel conflict.
What You Have Is More Than You Think: A Lesson From Marcus Aurelius and a $1,000 Loan
Dave Tate, co‑founder of elitefts, reflects on a Marcus Aurelius lesson that shaped his business. Starting in 1998 with a $1,000 loan and a simple Q&A forum, elitefts grew into a 27‑year‑old power‑lifting brand. Tate emphasizes that gratitude for existing resources—knowledge,...
FastCasual Opens Nominations for 2026 'Perfect Pitch'
FastCasual has opened nominations for its 12th‑annual Perfect Pitch competition, inviting emerging fast‑casual brands to pitch for a national spotlight. Entrants have until June 8, 2026 to apply, and the live showdown will run Oct. 4‑6 at the Fast Casual Executive Summit in...
Wasbar Launches a Franchise Scheme in Belgium and the Netherlands
Wasbar, a Belgian hospitality concept, is launching its first franchise location in Antwerp’s historic Melkmarkt district. The franchise will be operated by 25‑year‑old entrepreneurs Florjan Bex and Jonathan Habex, who have already worked within the brand. Owner Top Brands is...
Eloelo Burns Rs 59 Cr on Ads to Generate Rs 69 Cr Revenue in FY25
Eloelo, an Indian social‑entertainment platform, posted FY25 revenue of about Rs 69.5 crore (~$8.4 million), driven entirely by in‑app purchases and a modest Rs 6.3 crore (~$0.8 million) non‑operating income. Advertising and promotions were the biggest expense, rising 46% to Rs 59 crore (~$7.1 million), while creator payouts jumped...
Enkei Raises a Pre-Seed Round to Scale a Material Made From Construction Waste that Replaces Marble and Concrete
Enkei, a Stockholm startup, closed a pre‑seed round at a €3 million (~$3.3 million) valuation to commercialise ReCeramix™, a surface material made from over 90 % recovered construction and ceramic waste. The composite can replace concrete, marble and terrazzo while cutting cement use...
Chip Maker Fractile in Talks to Raise $200m at Unicorn Valuation, Reports Say
London‑based AI chip maker Fractile is courting $200 million in new capital at a $1 billion unicorn valuation. The round is being led by Accel and early backer Oxford Science Enterprises, with interest from other investors. Fractile, founded in 2022, develops AI...
Venture Studio AXL Appoints Fellows From Nvidia, NASA, Samsung
Toronto‑based venture studio AXL has recruited nine senior scientists, all University of Toronto professors, as its inaugural Faculty Fellows. The cohort includes former leaders from Nvidia, NASA, Samsung, Intel, and Adobe, bringing deep AI expertise to the studio’s portfolio. Fellows...
Wealthtech Startup Bachatt Raises $12 Mn in Series A Led by Accel
Bachatt, an AI‑driven savings and wealth platform focused on India’s self‑employed, closed a $12 million Series A round led by Accel, with Lightspeed and Info Edge Ventures also participating. The funding follows a $4 million seed raise last year and will be used...
Databricks to Invest over £600m to Expand UK Presence
Databricks announced a $850 million (£644 million) investment in the United Kingdom over the next three years. The plan includes a new 137,000‑square‑foot headquarters in London’s Fitzrovia, which will quadruple the company’s physical footprint. The London office will support a workforce that...
Beiersdorf to Boost Its Innovation Agenda With New, 100 Million-Euro Venture Capital Fund
Beiersdorf has launched a second‑generation Skin Care Innovation Fund with a €100 million ($109 million) commitment, doubling the size of its 2020 venture capital vehicle. The fund will back early‑ to growth‑stage startups worldwide in skin‑care, life sciences, sustainability, AI‑enabled technologies and...
Standing Ovation Raises €30M to Scale Precision Fermentation Dairy Proteins Globally
Standing Ovation, a French precision‑fermentation startup, closed a €30 million Series B round (≈$32.5 million) led by the France 2030‑backed Ecotechnologies 2 fund and Crédit Mutuel Innovation, with participation from Danone Ventures, Bel Group and other investors. The financing includes €25 million in equity (≈$27 million) and...
Wysemarket Lets African Users Forecast Real-World Outcomes, Bringing Prediction Markets to a New Generation of Digital Participants.
Wysemarket has launched Africa’s first dedicated prediction‑market platform, letting users trade outcomes on economics, politics, sports and entertainment. The mobile‑first service offers low‑latency access across varied network conditions and settles results instantly. By rewarding accurate forecasts, the platform turns collective...
Starlink to Appeal Namibia Licence Rejection
Starlink will appeal Namibia's telecom regulator decision that rejected its licence and spectrum access because the company is fully foreign‑owned, violating the country's 51% local‑ownership rule. Nigeria's communications authority has mandated that telcos compensate customers with airtime credits when service...
Swedish Endform Raises €1.5 Million to Speed up Web Testing for AI-Era Development
Swedish startup Endform announced a €1.5 million (approximately $1.6 million) Series A round led by Alliance VC and other investors. The funding will accelerate its platform that slashes Playwright end‑to‑end test execution from roughly 30 minutes to under two minutes by running thousands of...
RepAir Carbon Opens a Luxembourg Office to Scale Its Electrochemical Carbon Capture Tech Across Europe
RepAir Carbon, an Israeli deep‑tech firm, opened a Luxembourg office to drive its electrochemical direct‑air‑capture (DAC) technology across Europe. The solid‑state system claims 70% lower energy use than conventional DAC and already backs projects with Shell, Mitsubishi, and C‑Questra. RepAir’s...
Credit Is Now a Primary Growth Lever: Flipkart Wholesale on the Future of B2B Commerce
Flipkart Wholesale says credit has shifted from a peripheral service to the primary growth lever for India’s kirana stores. The company highlights three concurrent trends—localized supply chains, range‑driven buying, and deeper credit penetration—fueling higher ticket sizes and repeat orders. GST...
Cedar and Myrrh Founder Discusses Nordstrom Partnership and Brand Building
The U.S. wellness market has surged to $6.8 trillion and is projected to reach $10 trillion by 2029, fueling demand for mindful lifestyle products. Cedar and Myrrh, a sustainably‑focused skincare and home‑goods brand, leverages ritual‑centred design to meet this demand. Founder Misun...
Early-Stage Funding Value Ticks up 46 Pc, but Numbers Decrease
Early‑stage startup funding in India rose sharply in value, climbing 46% to $879 million in FY 2025‑26, even as the total number of deals fell from 192 to 129. The surge is driven by larger cheques in Series A and B rounds, which...
Home Halo Kicks Off Franchise Push With 10–15 Location Goal In First Year
Home Halo, a non‑medical home‑care provider, is entering franchising with a goal of opening 10‑15 locations in the next year and scaling to 20‑30 new sites annually thereafter. The company’s first franchisee controls twelve territories in eastern Massachusetts, using a...
WNBA Player Lexie Hull Launches Forta, Aimed at Creating a New Category of Performance-Driven Makeup
WNBA star Lexie Hull and investor Bella Guller have launched Forta, a performance‑driven makeup line built around sweat‑resistant polymers. After two‑and‑a‑half years of formulation, the brand debuted direct‑to‑consumer, seeding products to athletes across the WNBA, gymnastics, soccer and volleyball. TikTok...
Exclusive: FreshToHome Set to Bag Another Debt Round Led by BlackSoil
FreshToHome is close to securing about $16 million in debt across two tranches, the latest led by BlackSoil with $7.2 million and Stride Ventures contributing $1.8 million via OCRPS. The round adds to a prior $9 million January debt and follows a $104 million Series D...
AI-Generated Code Verification Startup Qodo Raises $70M
Qodo, operating as Codium Ltd., announced a $70 million Series B round, bringing its total capital to $120 million. The startup offers an AI‑driven code verification platform that inserts a governance layer into developers' CI/CD pipelines, using specialized agents to detect bugs, compliance...
Outsourced Viewing Service Founded by Former Estate Agent Hits Major Milestone
Viewber, the UK‑wide on‑demand property service founded by former estate agent Ed Mead, has hit its 1,000,000th appointment milestone. Since its 2016 launch, the company has broadened from assisted viewings to inspections, marketing, tenant checks and fire‑door compliance, with estate‑agency...
As a VC, I Can Predict a Startup’s Success in Minutes — And It Comes Down to 3 Traits (Not...
A veteran VC argues that a startup’s fate can be judged in minutes by assessing three founder traits—clarity, context, and chemistry—rather than relying on a polished pitch deck. He explains that clear, jargon‑free storytelling reveals true problem insight, while deep...
Would You Share Your Phone Calls With a Company to Make Money? This Startup Is Banking on It
Neon, a new app, pays users to record and sell their phone calls for AI training, quickly rising to the top of the App Store. An early security flaw exposed call metadata and transcripts, prompting a public backlash. After securing...
A LatAm Fintech’s Guide to Florida and the US Market
LatAm fintechs eyeing the U.S. market face a choice between obtaining their own state money‑transmitter license—often starting in Florida—or partnering with Banking‑as‑a‑Service (BaaS) providers. A Florida license costs roughly $10,000‑$50,000, while a national rollout can exceed $250,000 in fees and...
The Small Saskatchewan City Putting Big Money Behind Rural Tech Founders
Saskatchewan’s Southeast Tech Hub (SETH) in the 10,000‑person town of Estevan is reviving its annual pitch competition, offering a $20,000 CAD (≈$14,800 USD) seed prize to rural entrepreneurs. The event, held April 16 at Southeast College and livestreamed region‑wide, showcases startups from...
What We’re Looking for in Startup Battlefield 2026 and How to Put Your Best Application Forward
TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield 200, part of Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco (Oct 13‑15), invites early‑stage founders to apply by May 27. The program prioritizes truly disruptive, category‑defining ideas over polished traction, requiring only a working MVP and a compelling founder narrative. Diversity across...
Hopper’s Tech Will Power RBC’s Travel Reward Program
Hopper’s B2B arm, Hopper Technology Solutions, has secured a long‑term partnership with the Royal Bank of Canada to run the Avion Rewards Travel platform, replacing Expedia. The agreement is expected to lift Hopper’s annual revenue by hundreds of millions of...
Mevo Raises $18M Round Led by Prosus
Brazilian digital prescription platform Mevo secured an $18 million funding round led by Prosus, with participation from Matrix, Jefferson River Capital and Floating Point. The capital will fund expansion of exam‑scheduling tools, patient‑support program integration, and growth of its online pharmacy...
Invences Empowers Small Businesses With Smart Telecom Networks
Invences, founded in 2023 by telecom veteran Bhaskara Rallabandi, delivers autonomous, low‑cost private 5G/6G networks for small businesses, farms, factories and universities, especially in underserved areas. The Texas‑based startup leverages Open RAN, virtualized RAN, digital twins and agentic AI to...
This Skincare Founder Changed the Rules—Now Her Brand Is One of the Biggest in the Industry
Priscilla Tsai, a Wharton‑trained former J.P. Morgan analyst, founded clean‑beauty brand Cocokind in 2014 after battling hormonal acne. Leveraging a community‑first approach, she built the brand through transparent social media engagement and secured national retail placements at Target (2019) and Ulta (2022)....
Dresses for Rent: Hawke’s Bay Mother Builds a Business From Her Wardrobe to Stay Home with Her Baby
Nina Woodham, a Havelock North mother, launched Dress NZ, a home‑based dress‑rental service, using her own wardrobe as seed inventory. Within a year she expanded from 10 to about 60 dresses, each rented for roughly $36 USD with delivery included. The business...
Another Rocket Startup in India Hopes to Launch From Its Own Spaceport
Bharath Space Vehicle (BSV), an Indian rocket startup founded by former ISRO engineers, is developing the liquid‑fueled Agasthya‑1 small‑sat launch vehicle. The company has submitted a proposal for a private spaceport near Kodinar in Gujarat, a coastal site offering open...
Huskeys Raises $8m Seed to Modernise Legacy Web Security
Edge security startup Huskeys announced its emergence from stealth after closing an $8 million seed round led by investors such as 10D, SV Angel and a roster of athlete angels. The company launched its Edge Security Management platform, which sits atop...
SoFire’s Hot Campaigns: Alix Earle’s Skincare Launch Proves Why Authenticity Always Wins
Alix Earle, a 14‑million‑follower influencer, has launched the skincare line Reale Actives in partnership with dermatologist Dr. Kiran Mian. A cryptic teaser campaign sparked strong pre‑launch engagement, turning curiosity into a ready‑made audience. Earle’s content has long documented her cystic acne journey and Accutane...
Why SimplyCast Bet Early on Student Talent
Canada’s youth unemployment rose to 14.1% in February, the highest level since 2010. SimplyCast CEO Saeed El‑Darahali has built a hiring model that relies on student co‑ops, using the ICTC’s Work‑Integrated Learning (WIL) Digital program to offset salaries. The program...
Sett Raises $30m to Scale AI-Driven Marketing Automation Platform
Sett, a 2023 startup, raised $30 million in a Series B round to expand its AI‑driven marketing automation platform. The platform automatically generates playable and video ads while optimizing campaign performance across the user‑acquisition funnel for game publishers. The funding, led by...
US Startup Begins Manufacturing Grid-Scale Flywheel ESS
Qnetic, a SOSV‑backed startup, is launching low‑volume production of its Q500 solid‑state flywheel energy storage system at a new Sacramento factory. The Q500 is designed for 500 kWh capacity, 125 kW power, and up to twelve hours of discharge at lower power,...
(Event News) Games Growth Summit Welcomes New Speakers for June Lineup
The Games Growth Summit announced two new speakers for its June lineup: industry veteran Jason Avent and HR specialist Emma Smith. Avent brings over 20 years of experience with major publishers and founded Boss Alien, the studio behind CSR Racing....
Progress Ochuko Eyaadah Is Building the Blockchain Infrastructure Africa’s Payments Ecosystem Deserves and Teaching Women to Do the Same
Progress Ochuko Eyaadah, a senior blockchain engineer at Toyow and developer‑relations mentor at Women in DeFi, is designing Africa‑focused blockchain frameworks that tokenise real‑world assets and link fiat with crypto. Her work on platforms like Toyow and Sytemap creates transparent,...
Italy’s VC Ecosystem Matures Into €10B Engine — but Structural Gaps Still Hold It Back
P101’s tenth State of Italian VC report shows the ecosystem now generates about $10.8 B in output and employs roughly 62,000 people. Venture capital funding has quadrupled to $1.5 B annually in 2025, though the number of deals fell 35% and the...
Starcloud Raises $170M Series A at $1.1B Valuation
Starcloud, a Redmond‑based orbital data‑center startup, closed a $170 million Series A round that values the company at $1.1 billion. The financing, led by Benchmark and EQT Ventures with participation from institutional and angel investors, follows the successful November launch of Starcloud‑1, which...
Non-Profit Guinness Enterprise Centre Celebrates €50M Investment Milestone
Guinness Enterprise Centre (GEC), Ireland’s leading non‑profit startup campus, has invested roughly $55 million since its 2000 founding, supporting 1,500 startups and housing 160 companies on a five‑storey campus. Revenues reached about $2.8 million last year and are projected to exceed $3.3 million...
Three Questions for Five African Businesses: Insights From Sankalp Africa Summit’s ‘Enterprise Showcase’
The Sankalp Africa Summit 2026 featured an Enterprise Showcase where five emerging African businesses shared their stories. Interviews focused on three core questions: biggest challenges, needed support, and funder misconceptions. Companies highlighted ranged from clean‑energy storage at AceleAfrica to menstrual...
UK Cyber Group Joins PSG’s Innovation Accelerator
London‑based Nothreat, an AI‑driven cybersecurity startup founded in 2023, has been selected for PSG Labs, the accelerator run by French football giant Paris Saint‑Germain at Station F. The programme offers startups business mentorship, product testing in professional sports, and fundraising support. Nothreat...
Midas Closes $50M Series A to Scale On-Chain Investment Products
On-chain investment platform Midas announced a $50 million Series A round, bringing its total funding to $58.75 million. The round was led by RRE Ventures and Creandum, with participation from major crypto investors including Coinbase Ventures and Franklin Templeton. Midas’ technology tokenizes institutional‑grade...
CaoCao Mobility’s Growth Begins to Translate Into Profit
CaoCao Mobility posted a $2.9 billion revenue for 2025, a 38% year‑on‑year increase, and recorded its first quarterly adjusted net profit. Gross margin rose to 9.4% as scale, AI‑driven dispatch efficiency, and depreciation leverage improved unit economics. The firm now serves...
UK ‘Venture Scientist’ Fund Secures £10m Commitment
Empirical Ventures, a UK investment group focused on scientific founders, has secured a £10 million (≈ $12.7 million) commitment from the British Business Bank, raising the bank’s total backing to £15 million (≈ $19.1 million). The funds will be channeled into deep‑tech and life‑science startups led...