Terra’s Drones Will Now Come with Weapons as It Begins Building Combat Ready Systems for the Nigerian Military
Terra Industries, a Nigerian‑focused defence startup, is now fitting its UAVs with machine guns and rocket launchers, turning surveillance platforms into combat‑ready systems for the Nigerian military. The classified project will be operated remotely by military personnel rather than Terra’s Artemis OS AI. The shift follows a recent $11.75 million seed round that enabled the company to re‑enter Africa’s defence market after a brief exit. Terra says the move aims to protect critical infrastructure from terrorist threats.
MakeMyTrip Eyes India Listing to Tap Domestic Capital Markets
MakeMyTrip, the NASDAQ‑listed travel platform, is exploring an IPO for its India operations to access domestic capital markets. Its market cap has fallen from $10 billion to $4.5 billion in six months, while operating revenue rose 11% but profit plunged 74% year‑over‑year....
Record Number of Female Founder Startups Raised Funding in 2025
TechIreland’s Female Founder Funding Review 2026 shows a record 82 Irish women‑founded startups raised €131 million in 2025, the highest annual total since 2017. While the number of deals surged, the average round shrank to €2.3 million and the median fell sharply...
Nigerian Fintech Duplo Gets Licenced for E-Invoicing and Tax Transmission
Duplo, a Nigerian B2B payments platform, secured Systems Integrator and Access Point Provider licences from the Nigeria Revenue Service. The dual licences let the company generate NRS‑compliant e‑invoices, transmit them automatically, and settle payments within its platform. Nigeria’s digital tax...
Ola Electric To Raise ₹2,000 Cr By Selling Stake In Ola Cell Technologies: Report
Ola Electric plans to raise up to ₹2,000 Cr by selling a minority stake in its battery arm, Ola Cell Technologies. The fundraise targets sovereign wealth funds and global infrastructure investors, with Avendus Capital and Motilal Oswal advising. The move follows...
Visa Processing Startup Atlys Raises $36 Mn in Series C Funding
Visa‑processing startup Atlys announced a $36 million Series C round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital, with participation from existing backers and new investor MakeMyTrip. The funding will fuel expansion into additional international markets and accelerate the company’s AI‑driven visa platform, covering...
Dare2Scale 2026 Opens for Applications, Expanding Endeavor’s Network Across SEE
Endeavor Bulgaria has opened applications for the 2026 edition of its Dare2Scale growth program, now entering its eighth year. The four‑month cohort, running September‑December, will expand beyond Bulgaria and the Western Balkans to include the Adria region—Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia—while...
Oxford Medical Simulation Secures €5.78 Million to Tackle Healthcare Training Gap with Virtual Reality
Oxford Medical Simulation (OMS) has secured €5.78 million in growth funding from Salica Investments. The capital will fund OMS’s expansion into U.S. health systems and universities, and accelerate product innovation such as AI‑driven scenarios, learning analytics, and workflow tools. The round...
Biotech Building ‘Molecular Glues’ AI Platform Raises £3.6m
London‑based Ternary Therapeutics announced a £3.6 million seed round to fund its AI‑driven platform for designing molecular glues, a class of drugs that can bind previously "undruggable" proteins. The startup, founded in 2024, merges machine learning, physics‑based molecular modelling and rapid...
The Ultimate Investment Pitch: How to Win Funding on Conviction, Not Cash
The article argues that successful fundraising depends on conviction and narrative, not expensive pitch decks. Founders should prioritize a three‑act story—problem, solution, team—while keeping slides minimal and data‑driven. Financial credibility is conveyed through a few clear metrics and a precise...
Startup News and Updates: Daily Roundup (March 16, 2026)
Indian tech services firm Hexaware is positioning itself to make the country’s 1,900 global capability centres AI‑ready, while Accel and Google’s AI Futures Fund have selected five early‑stage startups for the 2026 Atoms AI cohort, each receiving up to $2 million...
NODWIN Gaming Ropes In MTG’s Arnd Benninghoff To Board Amid Fundraise Plans
Indian esports platform NODWIN Gaming has appointed Modern Times Group EVP‑Gaming Arnd Benninghoff to its board as it prepares a pre‑IPO funding round. The round will combine fresh primary capital for global expansion and acquisitions with a secondary component to...
Grapevine Bags $4.1 Mn To Scale Its AI Job Discovery Platform TAL
Grapevine, a corporate networking platform, secured $4.1 million from Kae Capital, Peak XV Partners, and upGrad founder Ronnie Screwvala to expand its AI‑driven job discovery service, TAL. TAL acts as a talent agent, scanning listings and recommending matches for users. The round...
Sidebrief, Diligence Africa and Impact Hub Launch ‘Signal’ a Quarterly Event Series Bridging Founders, Investors and Regulators in Africa’s Startup...
Sidebrief, a regulatory‑tech platform, has launched Signal, a quarterly event series co‑hosted with Diligence Africa and Impact Hub Lagos. The inaugural edition will take place on March 27, 2026, at Impact Hub Lagos and features 20 speakers across five moderated...
FabHotels Parent Travelstack Tech Gets SEBI Green Light for IPO
FabHotels' parent Travelstack Tech has secured SEBI approval to launch its IPO, featuring a Rs 250 crore fresh equity issue and an offer‑for‑sale of up to 2.68 crore shares. Early investors such as Accel, Goldman Sachs, Qualcomm and founder Vaibhav Aggarwal will offload...
Nigeria to Provide up to ₦1 Billion ($735,000) in Funding for 100 Startups Through iDICE Startup Bridge
Nigeria’s government launched the iDICE Startup Bridge, a programme to fund and mentor early‑stage tech and creative startups. The 12‑week Founders Lab will award up to ₦10 million grants to the top 100 applicants, representing a total of ₦1 billion in funding....
Many Founders Waste Time and Money Solving the Wrong Problems. Here Are 3 Big Ones
Founders often chase obvious fixes—more marketing, hiring, or capital—while the real issue lies elsewhere. Two case studies illustrate this: a SaaS startup wasted resources on acquisition despite an unbuildable product, and another over‑engineered features that customers found unnecessary. In both...
Excello Launches AI Platform to Help Founders Turn Strategy Into Weekly Execution
Excello unveiled an AI‑powered executive intelligence platform that turns a founder’s long‑term vision into disciplined weekly actions. The system blends strategic planning, performance tracking, and personalized AI coaching calibrated through a DISC‑based assessment. Users can set North Star goals, cascade...
PhonePe Puts IPO on Hold as Iran–Israel–US War Rattles Public Markets
PhonePe, one of India’s largest digital‑payments platforms, has temporarily halted its planned initial public offering due to heightened geopolitical tensions involving Iran, Israel and the United States. The company cited volatility in global capital markets and said it will resume...
QuikBot Technologies, the Singapore Startup Teaching Robots to Navigate a World Built for Humans
QuikBot Technologies, a Singapore robotics and AI startup, has built QuikSync – an "Ambient Permission Plane" that lets autonomous machines communicate with elevators, access‑control and building‑management systems. The platform, marketed as an Autonomous Final‑Mile Delivery PaaS, enables robots to perform...
Top 5 Security Mistakes Startups Make and How to Avoid Them
Startups often prioritize growth over security, leaving them vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. Recent data shows 59 % of SMBs faced attacks in the past year, with financial motives driving 99 % of breaches targeting small firms. Common mistakes include insufficient...
European Tech Weekly Recap: More than 85 Tech Funding Deals Worth over €4B
Tech.eu tracked more than 85 technology funding rounds across Europe last week, collectively raising over €4 billion. The cloud sector attracted the most capital at €1.7 billion, followed by artificial intelligence with €1 billion and legaltech at €488.9 million. Regionally, the United Kingdom led...
Pain Care Startup Betterhood Raises Seed Round Led by Kairon Capital
Preventive pain‑care startup Betterhood announced a Rs 5 crore seed round led by Kairon Capital, with participation from several angel investors. The funding will accelerate product development, expand the team, and scale both online and offline distribution. Founded in October 2024, Betterhood provides...
Peak XV Alumni to Launch Ambition Capital Targeting $250 Mn Early-Stage Fund: Report
Former Peak XV Partners executives Shailesh Lakhani, Harshjit Sethi and Mayank Porwal are establishing Ambition Capital, a Bengaluru‑based venture‑capital firm. The new fund aims to raise $250 million to back seed and Series A startups across AI, fintech, deep‑tech and consumer technology....
From School Dropout to China’s 'Steamed Bun King': Entrepreneur Builds a $580M Empire
Liu Huiping, a former school dropout from Anhui, built Babi Steamed Bun into a $580 million empire after a series of early setbacks and a 2001 rebrand. By emphasizing hand‑chopped pork fillings and a Western‑sounding name, he turned a modest Shanghai...
Sunmi Lays the Rails for Brands Chasing Global Chain Expansion
Sunmi, the world’s largest Android‑based BIoT provider, is capitalizing on the wave of “chainization” among retail and F&B brands seeking global scale. With over 10% market share and operations in more than 200 countries, Sunmi supplies integrated hardware like the...
What Scaling in Asia Teaches You that Silicon Valley Doesn’t
The article argues that while Silicon Valley’s scaling playbook emphasizes speed, abundant capital and predictable environments, Asian markets demand a different approach rooted in resilience. Founders in Asia must treat survival as a strategic priority, use capital sparingly, build robust...
The Fly Farm that Made a Young Kenyan Agripreneur a Millionaire
Charity Kelsy, a 26‑year‑old Egerton University master’s student, has built a profitable enterprise turning food waste into protein‑rich feed and organic fertilizer using black soldier flies. Her operation, which generated her first million shillings at age 24, supplies feed for...
Life After Poppi: $1.9 Billion Pop Star Couple Teases Next Project
Stephen and Allison Ellsworth sold their gut‑healthy soda brand Poppi to PepsiCo for $1.95 billion, capping a seven‑year journey that saw the product hit over $100 million in sales and high‑profile celebrity partnerships. At SXSW, the couple announced they are already plotting...
How Captain Fresh Is Wiring AI Into a $600-Billion Seafood Supply Chain
Captain Fresh, an Indian unicorn founded in 2020, is using artificial intelligence to overhaul the $600 billion global seafood supply chain. The startup embeds AI in both its acquisition engine—automating due‑diligence and decision‑making—and its proprietary digital operating system that links fishermen,...
“Don’t Build Your Strategy on Someone Else’s Definition of Success”: Xero MD Urges Founders to Define Their Own Path
At the recent Melbourne Growth Summit, Xero Managing Director Angad Soin warned founders that strategy isn’t a glossy document but a daily set of choices aligned with personal aspirations. He argued that benchmarking to the average leads to average results...
Mktgstack Says the Agency Isn't Broken; the Operating System Is
Mktgstack, a new agency under the Talented Grid, launched with a radical operating system that treats AI as basic infrastructure rather than a headline feature. Its six‑person team solved a bar‑filling challenge by deploying ten branded rickshaws in seven days,...
Hayley Williams Says ‘Being Cool’ Isn’t Enough—Here’s How She Learned to Build a Hair Dye Brand
Hayley Williams, Grammy‑winning frontwoman of Paramore, co‑founded Good Dye Young with longtime hairstylist Brian O’Connor a decade ago. The duo built the vibrant hair‑dye brand from a personal friendship and a shared love of self‑expression, deliberately downplaying Williams' celebrity status....
Saudi AI Startup Infobrim Secures Angel Funding at $3.5m Valuation
Infobrim, a Riyadh‑based artificial intelligence startup, has closed its first strategic angel investment at a $3.5 million valuation. While the round size and investor identities remain undisclosed, the capital will accelerate development of its AI‑native business intelligence lakehouse. The platform aims...
3 High-Profit Revenue Streams Nomadic Founders Can Add to Their Businesses
The article outlines three high‑margin revenue streams that nomadic founders can add, starting with corporate consulting, which taps a market projected to reach $490 billion by 2031. It highlights corporations’ heavy spending on AI, tech, and digital transformation expertise. Nomadic founders...
Rivian’s RJ Scaringe Thinks We’re Doing Robots All Wrong
Rivian founder RJ Scaringe has launched Mind Robotics, a new venture focused on industrial robots that prioritize advanced hand dexterity over humanoid complexity. The company raised a $500 million Series A round led by Accel and Andreessen Horowitz, bringing total funding to...
This Taiwanese Restaurant Group Hopes to Build a National Chain in the U.S. Specializing in Elevated Thai Food
Taiwanese restaurant group TTFB launched its first U.S. concept, Very Thai, in Los Angeles’ Westfield Century City mall. The 5,000‑sq‑ft venue offers an elevated Thai menu, family‑style sharing plates and a bar with Thai‑infused cocktails, with average checks of $60‑$70. TTFB,...
This 18-Year-Old College Student Accidentally Emailed Thousands of Classmates—It Turned His Pet-Sitting Business Into a Valuable Side Hustle
College sophomore Hector Gutierrez unintentionally sent his professor’s recommendation letter to a university listserv, exposing his pet‑sitting venture to thousands of students. The mishap turned Hec’s Pet Sitting into a campus sensation, earning media coverage, a meeting with the university...
This 18-Year-Old College Student Accidentally Emailed Thousands of Classmates—It Turned His Pet-Sitting Business Into a Valuable Side Hustle
18‑year‑old Hector Gutierrez mistakenly sent a professor’s recommendation letter to a university listserv, reaching thousands of students. The mishap turned him into a campus celebrity, boosting his pet‑sitting venture, Hec’s Pet Sitting, into a recognized LLC with ten part‑time staff...
Launch Your Own Private-Label Brand
Retailers are increasingly launching private‑label brands to capture higher margins, tighten supply‑chain control, and create exclusive product assortments. By sourcing directly from manufacturers, merchants can eliminate intermediaries, set unique specifications, and differentiate their shelves from competitors. The article outlines a...
Why the Founder of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Decided to Sell Her Business and Retire at 53
Monica Nassif, the Iowa‑raised founder of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day and its upscale sibling Caldrea, sold both brands to SC Johnson in 2008 after struggling to scale distribution. The brands, inspired by her mother Thelma Meyers' garden herbs, had moved from niche...
I Left Tech to Become an Influencer. I Had $6,000 in My Savings when I Took the Leap, but It's...
Camillia Nwokedi quit her crypto‑startup job in 2025 after the company’s sale, taking $6,000 in savings and a 60‑day TikTok trial to test the waters. Within a year she built a personal brand, secured brand deals, consulting and coaching clients,...
What if the Corner Store Funded the Community? A Cleveland Business Is Exploring the Model
Cleveland’s Be at Ease Convenience Store has reopened with a “Spending With Purpose” model that earmarks a negotiated slice of every purchase for rotating local nonprofits. Partnerships shift every 90 days, currently involving Seeds of Literacy and Community of Hope,...
The AI Upgrade That Could Finally Make Legal Help Easy for Entrepreneurs
The article launches the "Big Tools for Small Business" series, spotlighting an emerging AI solution that promises to simplify legal assistance for entrepreneurs. It notes that while marketing, accounting, and analytics tools have become ubiquitous, legal support remains under‑served. The...
The Points Guy Says One Decision Turned His Hobby Into a Media Empire
Brian Kelly turned his personal fascination with credit‑card points into The Points Guy, a travel‑focused blog launched in 2010. By charging a modest $50 fee and later adopting affiliate marketing, he generated $1 million in six months. The rapid growth led...
Two Founders, Two Live Pivots: The Surprise Revelations Onstage at SXSW
At SXSW, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream announced a surprise pivot, adding frozen‑yogurt to its Miami Brickell store and planning a broader rollout. Simultaneously, Eventbrite co‑founder Julia Hartz disclosed she is stepping down as CEO following the company’s acquisition by Milan‑based Bending Spoons....
Stir-Fried Beef, Zucchini and Sweet Onions
Brys Stephens, co‑founder of the recipe‑search platform Cookthink.com, released a new cookbook that blends Southern comfort food with Asian flavors. The book’s highlight is a stir‑fried beef, zucchini and sweet onion dish that showcases ingredient synergy and a health‑focused profile....
The Steve Jobs Role Model Trap: Why Imitating Icons Is a Sign of a Second-Hand Mind
The piece warns that idolizing Steve Jobs creates a dangerous second‑hand mindset for founders. It argues that copying Jobs' image—his attire, keynote style, or anecdotes—ignores the complex psychology that made him unique. The author cites Elizabeth Holmes as a cautionary...
OATS Africa Becomes Cloudways First Official Agency Partner in Nigeria
OATS Africa has become Cloudways' first official agency partner in Nigeria, marking a key milestone for the Lagos‑based digital agency. Founded in 2019 as a freelance operation, the firm grew by building over 100 Shopify stores and launching products such...
Ember Cookware Bets on Safer Kitchen Products, Aims for ₹100 Crore ARR by 2027
Ember Cookware, a 2024 Indian startup, is targeting ₹100 crore in annual recurring revenue by March 2027 after raising $3.2 million to boost R&D and manufacturing. The company focuses on non‑toxic ceramic and cast‑iron cookware, positioning its products as healthier alternatives to traditional...