BuzzFeed's New Spinoff Is a 'Creative Studio' Trying to Make the Internet Fun Again
BuzzFeed has spun off a new venture called Branch Office, a creative studio aimed at reshaping online social interaction with AI. Announced at SXSW, the unit unveiled three experimental apps—Conjure, BF Island and Quiz Party—designed to turn AI‑generated prompts into shared experiences. The initiative moves away from content saturation, focusing instead on community‑driven creativity inspired by Nintendo’s design ethos. Peretti says the venture will counteract the flood of low‑quality AI content by emphasizing culture and taste.
People Don’t Want to Pay For Service — They Want Results. This New Business Model Solves That Problem.
In 2026 service businesses are pivoting from time‑based billing to outcome‑based models that guarantee measurable results. AI‑generated strategies and an oversaturated education market have shifted buyer demand toward execution and accountability. Companies that adopt Done‑For‑You (DFY) frameworks assume risk, deliver...
Chocolate 3D Printer Startup Cocoa Press Levels up with Former Prusa Executive
Cocoa Press, the first consumer chocolate 3D printer, has appointed David Randolph—formerly CEO of Printed Solid and a veteran of Prusa Research—as its new chief executive. The startup also added Prusa‑experienced COO Matt Stultz and Print Kits manager Caleb Kraft to...
Exclusive: Workspace Interiors Startup OfficeBanao Raises ₹34.8 Cr
Workspace interiors startup OfficeBanao secured ₹34.8 Cr (≈$3.76 M) in a funding round led by Lightspeed, with Mangum II and Medra Family participating. The round valued the company at a pre‑money ₹522.7 Cr (≈$56.5 M) and was split into two tranches, allocating ₹10.62 Cr to Lightspeed,...
How Longevity Startup Foxo Wants To Turn Individuals Into “CEOs Of Their Health”
Foxo, a Bengaluru‑based longevity startup, offers a premium, membership‑driven health platform that combines systems biology with AI‑assisted clinical coaching. The company raised $0.5 million in a pre‑seed round led by Blume Ventures and targets high‑income executives willing to invest lakhs annually...
Rox Secures $1.2 Billion Valuation as AI Sales Agents Scale
Rox, an AI‑driven sales‑automation startup, closed a funding round that lifted its valuation to $1.2 billion. The company projects $8 million in annual recurring revenue by the end of 2025. Launched in November 2024 with $50 million in seed and Series A capital from...
You Can Scale a Startup Without Silicon Valley. Here’s What Founders Need to Know
The article argues that a startup’s greatest competitive edge often lies outside Silicon Valley, rooted instead in a small‑town mindset that emphasizes longevity. It highlights Overland Sheepskin Co.’s founder Roger Leahy, who leverages his Iowa and New Mexico bases for...
Kind Snacks Founder Daniel Lubetzky Says to Build a Great Brand, You Must Keep This Promise to Consumers
Daniel Lubetzky, founder of Kind Snacks and Shark Tank investor, told SXSW entrepreneurs that a brand’s promise must be authentic and tied to real social impact. He argued that purpose‑driven products can be both healthful and profitable, and that genuine...
Citing Market Conditions, Loopio Cuts 12 Percent of Staff
Loopio, the Toronto‑based B2B RFP software provider, announced a 12 percent workforce reduction in March, cutting roughly 36 positions and bringing headcount to 260. The layoff follows a series of previous cuts in 2020, 2023 and 2024, as the company...
Wyvern Launches International Partnerships in Agtech, Oil and Gas
Wyvern, an Edmonton‑based hyperspectral imaging startup, announced two international deals: a reseller agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Neo Space Group (NSG) to deliver its Dragonnette satellite data through the UP42 marketplace, and a direct customer contract with U.S. firm Orbital Advisors...
Young Founders Share 12 Pitch Decks that Raised Millions in the AI Boom
Business Insider interviewed 12 founders aged 25 or younger who have raised multi‑million‑dollar rounds in the AI boom. The founders, ranging from high‑school dropouts to college students, secured seed to Series A funding from $1.6 million to $22 million using concise pitch decks....
Gubra Plots Roivant-Like Model as Partnered Obesity Drugs Take Flight
Gubra, a 300‑employee Danish biotech known for its obesity drug partnerships, announced plans to adopt a Roivant‑style incubation model. The strategy will spin out a series of focused biotech companies, each targeting niche therapeutic areas beyond obesity, such as metabolic...
LenDenClub Eyes ₹350 Cr In FY26 Revenue After Turning Profitable In FY25
LenDenClub projects FY26 revenue of ₹330‑350 cr, roughly a 50% year‑on‑year increase after posting a ₹28.6 cr net profit in FY25. FY25 revenue rose 28% to ₹227 cr, with total earnings of ₹241.4 cr including other income, while expenses grew only 5% to ₹201 cr....
Snabbit Says The Discount Game Is Almost Over; The Hard Part Comes Next
Snabbit, one of India’s leading instant‑home‑services platforms, says its era of heavy discounting is ending as it shifts focus to market depth and higher average order values. The company processed 8.3 lakh monthly orders in February 2026, nearly matching Urban Company’s...
Aldi Marketing Director Kyrsten Halley Departs
Aldi’s marketing director Kyrsten Halley has left after two and a half years to launch a boutique consultancy aimed at delivering bold, commercially‑driven campaigns. She will also expand her non‑executive role at the British Horseracing Authority. Laura Conlon stays as...
UK Tech Funding Roundup: This Week’s Deals From Nscale to Combat Medical
UK tech funding hit a record £1.64 bn between 9‑13 March, driven largely by AI hyperscaler Nscale’s massive £1.5 bn Series C round. The week also saw significant raises for ag‑tech gene‑editing firm Tropic (£79.2 m) and aerospace component maker Isembard (£37 m), among others. Investors...
Hélène Huby, CEO of The Exploration Company: ‘Only the Crazy People Change the World’
Hélène Huby, founder and CEO of The Exploration Company, leads a five‑year‑old spacetech startup that builds reusable, refillable cargo vehicles for low‑Earth‑orbit missions. The firm has already demonstrated semi‑successful cargo deliveries to and from space at a fraction of traditional...
Selina Hotels: When the Digital Nomad Dream Met Financial Reality
Selina Hotels rode a wave of digital‑nomad hype, launching via a $1.2 billion SPAC merger in 2022 and expanding to 163 destinations. The rapid rollout delivered only a 47% occupancy rate, while an asset‑light, lease‑heavy model inflated operating costs and debt....
VeryAI Secures $10M to Launch Biometric Palm Identity System
VeryAI raised $10 million in seed funding, led by Polychain Capital and backed by Solana co‑founder Anatoly Yakovenko, to launch a smartphone‑based biometric palm verification system. The solution creates a blockchain‑anchored digital identity using mathematical representations of palm prints, leveraging zero‑knowledge...
MetaComp Raises $13M to Expand Web2.5 Payment and Wealth Platform
MetaComp Pte. Ltd., a pioneer of unified Web2.5 payments and wealth management, closed a $13 million Pre‑A+ round, bringing its three‑month funding total to $35 million. The capital will fuel expansion of its StableX Network and accelerate AI development for hybrid fiat‑stablecoin...
How M&A Can Supercharge Your Startup’s Success
The article argues that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) can accelerate a startup’s growth more efficiently than an IPO, especially for deep‑tech and fast‑moving consumer sectors. It cites Korean examples—Stylenanda, Woowa Brothers, and Have & Be—each achieving multibillion‑dollar exits through strategic sales to...
Why Do Many Firms Start Informal Before Formalising a Few Years Later?
Many firms in sub‑Saharan Africa, especially Nigeria, operate informally for years before registering, using informality as a stepping‑stone to accumulate assets. Approximately 31% of Nigerian formal firms started informal, and similar patterns appear across the region. A structural model shows...
Chipmaker Axelera AI Hoping to Benefit From European Businesses Wanting to Run AI Locally
Dutch chipmaker Axelera AI is positioning itself as a European alternative to Nvidia by focusing on AI inference chips for edge devices. The company recently raised over $250 million, bringing total funding to more than $450 million and supporting a portfolio that...
Dmitry Shubov Consulting Attends Founders Meet Up | B2B Networking in Dubai Spotlights Deep, Founder-to-Founder Collaboration
Founders Connects hosted its second Founders Meet Up in Dubai on Jan. 29, 2026, bringing together SaaS, fintech, and enterprise startups with investors and service providers. The event featured structured matchmaking, small‑group Spotlight sessions, and topic‑specific discussions on go‑to‑market, B2B sales, and...
PayCaptain Founder: Overconfidence Is the Enemy
Simon Bocca, founder of payroll platform PayCaptain, says he abandoned overconfidence in favour of meticulous, forensic implementation after a costly parallel‑run error for Pizza Express. He stresses that the first critical hire must own onboarding and combine technical expertise with...
5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed: Blood-Drawing Robots, Inboxes For AI Agents, Franchised Defense Manufacturing, And More
February set a venture‑funding record, yet a slice of capital flowed to lesser‑known startups. Dutch Vitestro secured $70 million Series B to commercialize autonomous phlebotomy robots, aiming for U.S. regulatory clearance and hospital rollout. London‑based Isembard raised $50 million Series A to launch a...
Teybridge Capital Europe Plans €5.2 Million UK Expansion, 30 London Jobs and Pledges €694.9 Million for British SMEs
Dublin‑based fintech Teybridge Capital Europe announced a €5.2 million investment in the UK over the next three years. The plan includes creating up to 30 new jobs in its London office and pledging €694.9 million to finance British SMEs. The UK now...
New Indian Startup RaagaPay Wants to Fix AI’s Hindustani Classical Music Problem
Delhi‑based startup RaagaPay launched in October 2025 to create India’s first ethical Hindustani classical music dataset for AI. The initial phase delivered ten hours of recordings across sitar, tabla, vocals and other instruments, with a goal of 1,000 hours from...
CEE Startup & Tech Weekly: Croatian Drone Tech Startup Orqa Raises €12.7M Series A
Croatian drone startup Orqa closed a €12.7 million Series A round, led by Expeditions with participation from AYMO Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Taiwania Capital, and Radius Capital. The funding will accelerate development of its first‑person view (FPV) unmanned aerial systems and support...
Vilnius-Based WhiteBridge AI Raises €2.6 Million for Its AI-Powered People Research Engine
Vilnius‑based startup WhiteBridge AI announced a €2.6 million seed financing round. The round was led by FIRSTPICK VC with participation from several other VCs and angels. WhiteBridge offers an AI‑powered people research platform that aggregates, verifies and analyses publicly available personal...
Quantinuum, Nelipak, and Global Innovation Labs Establish New Innovation Hubs in Singapore
On 11 March three firms announced new Singapore innovation hubs. Quantinuum will house its Helios quantum computer and partner with universities and startups to develop quantum applications in finance, pharma and materials. Nelipak opened an Asia‑Pacific Technical Development Centre to accelerate...
Tower Secures €5.5M to Support Data Engineers in the AI Era
Berlin‑based Tower announced a €5.5 million raise across pre‑seed and seed rounds, led by DIG Ventures and Speedinvest. The startup offers a unified storage‑compute platform that lets data engineering teams retain full data ownership while accelerating AI‑driven pipeline development. Leveraging Apache...
Exclusive: PhysicsWallah Co-Founder Prateek Boob Set to Invest in Newton School
Newton School, the Gurugram‑based certification platform, is raising roughly Rs 25 crore through an extension of its Series B round, issuing 72,738 preference shares at Rs 3,437 each. The fresh capital comes from Prateek Boob, co‑founder of PhysicsWallah, giving him about a 2.37% stake...
Meet the Female Operators Helping Africa’s Startup Ecosystem Scale
The article spotlights a cohort of female operators who form the operational core of Africa’s venture‑capital ecosystem. These women lead accelerators, government‑backed programs, angel networks and venture studios, linking founders to capital, policy and talent. Profiles include Ireayomide Oladunjoye at...
PixVerse Hits Unicorn Valuation with New Series C Funding
AI startup AIsphere's PixVerse achieved unicorn status after closing a Series C round led by CDH Investments. Although the amount raised and valuation were undisclosed, the company already reports over 100 million users in 175 countries and subscription revenue covering...
Finland’s Behavix Teams up with Fair Response to Expand Behavioral Data Platform in the US
Finland‑based Behavix has entered a strategic partnership with U.S. panel operator Fair Response to integrate its AI‑powered passive behavioral data with Fair Response’s high‑quality survey responses. The combined platform will enable clients in market research, advertising and finance to link...
2 Million for 1: Olympian Bronte Campbell on Being a Team Player and Founder Mindset
Olympic triple‑gold medallist Bronte Campbell has transitioned from the pool to the boardroom as CEO of Earthletica, a sustainable active‑wear label. The brand, which avoids virgin plastics and PFAS chemicals, has already sold out its inaugural collection and generated over...
The Anatomy of Venture Capital
The piece reframes venture capital as a body composed of distinct investor archetypes—Brains, Hands, Amygdala, Assholes, and Hearts—each fulfilling a specific function. It argues that these roles, from data‑driven analysts to intuition‑driven believers, are all necessary for the ecosystem to...
Smart50 to the ASX: Business Points Platform Pay.com.au Eyes IPO
Pay.com.au is preparing an April ASX listing that could value the fintech at $850 million and raise an additional $85 million. The platform lets SMEs earn PayRewards points on everyday payments, including payroll and tax, with 75,000 business customers redeeming 10 billion points...
China Signals ChiNext Reforms to Tilt Listings Toward Consumer Companies
At the March 6 press conference, CSRC chairman Wu Qing announced plans to introduce a more targeted, inclusive listing framework for the ChiNext board, aimed at high‑quality emerging consumer and modern service companies. The proposal would add a fourth listing standard,...
Climate Tech Startup MGA Thermal Raises $17 Million
Australian climate‑tech startup MGA Thermal announced a $17 million financing round, bringing its total capital raised to $50 million. The round was led by IP Group Australia, with board seat for Shane Meaney, and included a mix of venture firms and government...
Y Combinator-Backed Random Labs Launches Slate V1, Claiming the First 'Swarm-Native' Coding Agent
Random Labs, a YC‑backed startup, launched Slate V1, the first “swarm‑native” autonomous coding agent. Slate uses a dynamic pruning algorithm and a Thread Weaving architecture to orchestrate parallel worker threads, preserving context across large codebases. The system separates strategic orchestration from...
From Raffles to 6M Users: How Agnes AI Is Building “Everyday AI” For the 99.5%
Agnes AI, founded by ex‑Microsoft researcher Bruce Yang, has reached $10 million ARR and over 6 million users by offering low‑cost, multilingual AI tools aimed at the 99.5 % of netizens outside premium markets. Its proprietary DSPO, Universal Verifier and RLAF technologies enable...
Safety Isn’t Optional: How Indian Bike Gears Gave Me Reasons to Smile
The Indian motorcycle‑riding‑gear market has surged, crossing $800 million in 2024 and projected to hit $1.2 billion by 2030. Home‑grown brands such as Rynox, Raida and ViaTerra are delivering protection‑focused jackets, pants and accessories at a fraction of imported prices, while tailoring...
Clutch Towing: Built for NYC’s Toughest Roads
Clutch Towing Inc., launched in Brooklyn in 2020, has expanded to serve the greater New York City area and parts of New Jersey. The company offers 24/7 emergency towing, roadside assistance, and heavy‑duty services for both private drivers and commercial fleets. By...
Naboo
Naboo.ai announced a Series B round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with partner Antoine Moyroud joining the deal. The AI‑driven platform automates corporate event planning across the UK and Europe, handling venues, catering, activities, and transport in a single invoice. It...
Femtum Thinks Its Semiconductor Cutting Lasers Are Better than Yours
Quebec‑based startup Femtum announced an oversubscribed CAD 16 million Series A round, led by BDC Capital and joined by FTQ, Cathay Venture and other backers. The company’s flagship laser cleaning and trimming system claims to cut chip power consumption by 20‑40 % while boosting...
Clean Cement Startup Sublime Cuts Jobs After Trump Pulled Funding
Sublime Systems, an MIT‑spun low‑carbon cement startup, announced layoffs affecting roughly two‑thirds of its 90‑person staff after the Trump administration rescinded an $87 million Department of Energy grant. The funding pull forced the company to pause construction of its Holyoke, Massachusetts,...
From 500 Conversations to Product-Market Fit with Asad Tirmizi
Trener founder Asad Tirmizi spent 14 years turning robotics research into a commercial product. After leaving academia and ByteDance, the team conducted 500 industry conversations to pinpoint a market where robots already had traction. They adopted a beachhead strategy, targeting...
Exclusive: GalaxEye Raises ₹44 Cr In Ongoing Series A Funding Round
Indian spacetech startup GalaxEye announced it has secured about ₹44.2 cr (≈$4.8 m) in an extended Series A round. The round featured existing backers such as Mela Venture, Rainmatter, Mounttech Growth Fund and Speciale Invest, with institutional commitments ranging from ₹8 cr to ₹18 cr....