Spacecubed’s AI Fellowship Closes Soon With More Than $500,000 In Credits For Founders
Western Australia is accelerating its medtech ecosystem as the national AusMedtech conference lands in Perth for the first time, showcasing eight local startups in a dedicated Startup Alley. The state’s flagship robotic bronchoscope at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital has now performed 100 procedures, enabling a single‑anesthetic lung‑cancer diagnosis and treatment pathway. Meanwhile, the Future Health Research and Innovation Fund receives a $348 million (≈$230 million USD) boost over four years, adding to the $292 million (≈$193 million USD) already distributed. DevelopmentWA also released nine lots at Bentley Technology Park to attract new research, lab and data‑centre tenants.
This Startup Is Betting on Tap-to-Pay in a Transfer-Dominated Market
CashAfrica, a two‑year‑old Nigerian fintech, is building a tap‑to‑pay infrastructure to shift the country’s payment habits from cash and transfers toward contactless transactions. The startup has piloted tap‑to‑pay on 1,000 PalmPay POS terminals and partnered with ChamsSwitch for settlement and...
The Philippines Never Lacked Talent, It Lacked Leverage and AI Is Changing That
StellarPH, a Philippine‑based founder hub, observes that AI tools are letting students and non‑technical entrepreneurs build MVPs in days rather than months. Weekend hack‑sessions and AI‑driven workshops are producing functional prototypes without full development teams. The author argues that the...
He Started an Industry-Disrupting Business with Just $15K. Here Are His Secrets to Growth: ‘We’re On Our Way to $1...
Josh York founded Gymguyz in 2008 with $15,000, turning a dining‑room concept into a global franchise that now operates in seven countries, 30 U.S. states, and over 283 locations. The company generates high‑eight‑figure revenue and is on a trajectory toward...
Seeds | FIVEAGES Closes Hundreds of Millions of Yuan in A-Round Financing
FIVEAGES, a Chinese robotics startup founded in September 2024, closed an A‑round financing of roughly ¥200 million (about $28 million), its third funding round in 2026. The round was led by Futeng Capital and included several domestic venture firms and an increased...
AI Coding Startup Cognition Raises $1B at $25B Pre-Money Valuation
Cognition, the creator of the autonomous AI software engineer Devin, announced a funding round exceeding $1 billion, valuing the startup at $25 billion pre‑money. The round was led by Lux Capital and General Catalyst, with participation from Founders Fund, 8VC, Ribbit Capital,...
The Unlikely Origin of a $2.5 Billion Hospitality Unicorn: A Bored Teenager Working the Night Shift at His Family Business
Richard Valtr turned a frustrating night‑audit job at his family’s Prague hotel into Mews, a cloud‑based property management platform now valued at $2.5 billion. The SaaS solution, launched in 2012, automates bookings, check‑ins, payments and operations for over 15,000 hotels across...
ProVeg Incubator Opens Applications for Second Cohort of Free Alt-Protein Programme
ProVeg Incubator has opened applications for the second cohort of its Fast‑track to Impact programme, a three‑month, equity‑free, fully digital accelerator for early‑stage alternative‑protein startups. The deadline is 21 June 2026 and the cohort welcomes global founders with a minimum viable product...
Bharat Innovates 2026: From a Bengaluru Lab to Nice. Meet the Startup Bringing AI-Powered Diagnostics to Underserved India
Bharat Innovates 2026, a flagship India‑France deep‑tech showcase in Nice, will feature about 120 R&D‑backed Indian ventures. Among them, Bengaluru‑based 5C Network is scaling an AI‑powered diagnostics platform that links scans from small towns to radiologists nationwide. The startup’s Bionic...
Is CEE Deep Tech Being Held Back by Its Own Institutions?
The Nuqleus Liftoff conference in Zagreb (June 30‑July 1, 2026) will showcase over 80 deep‑tech startups and attract 30 leading European venture capitalists. Organisers introduced a “Phase Zero” pre‑incubation stage to compensate for the lack of functional Technology Transfer Offices in Central and Eastern...
KollegeApply Crosses 600 Institutions; Posts Rs 15 Cr Revenue in FY26
KollegeApply, a Gurugram‑based edtech startup, onboarded more than 600 colleges in FY26 and generated over Rs 15 crore (≈$1.8 million) in revenue, posting a profit in its first fiscal year. The platform, which leverages AI to match students with suitable courses, engaged 2 million...
Exponent Energy Cofounder Sanjay Jagannath Steps Down
Exponent Energy, the Indian EV rapid‑charging startup, announced that co‑founder Sanjay Jagannath has stepped down from day‑to‑day duties and will remain in an advisory capacity. The move is part of a broader restructuring as the company expands beyond charging into...
EMotorad Ropes in Ex-CARS24 CEO Himanshu Ratnoo as Co-Founder
EMotorad, the Indian electric‑cycle maker, has appointed former CARS24 India CEO Himanshu Ratnoo as a co‑founder. The company, which began in a garage, now ships its e‑bikes to 18 countries and has seen European sales surge five‑fold in recent months....
Kiln-Free Recycled Tile Startup Agrees Pilot Deal with Major UK Supplier
Manchester‑based startup Dekiln has secured a pilot partnership with Johnson Tiles to commercialise its kiln‑free, low‑carbon tile process at a trial plant in Stoke‑on‑Trent. The technology cures recycled plaster and plant‑based binders at 35 °C, eliminating the need for kilns that...
Neural Notes: Is AI Making Australia a Better Place to Build Startups?
At Blackbird’s Sunrise festival, Australian founders and an Anthropic executive debated whether AI is eroding Silicon Valley’s geographic advantage. They argued that frontier AI models are now democratized, shifting the competitive edge from access to execution and domain expertise. While...
Crushin’ In: Sinclair Commits To Pickleball and ‘Eatertainment’
Crush Yard, a 2023‑born eatertainment brand that fuses pickleball courts with chef‑driven food and craft beverages, has secured a strategic franchise partnership with Sinclair Ventures. Sinclair, the parent of Tennis Channel and Pickleball TV, will become an official franchisee, opening...
Podim 2026: Inside Europe’s Emerging Growth Networks
Podim 2026 turned Maribor into a hub for Europe’s startup ecosystem, drawing more than 1,100 participants from 34 countries, 220 startups and over 60 venture capital funds that collectively manage roughly $10.8 billion. The three‑day event featured 1,100+ pre‑arranged meetings, deep‑tech...
A Doctor Tried to Prescribe Him Statins. He Decided to Take a More Entrepreneurial Route
Former O‑Town pop star Ashley Parker Angel, diagnosed with high cholesterol and hypertension in his early 40s, rejected prescribed statins and is now launching a medical‑grade supplement line. He teamed up with a world‑renowned cardiologist to formulate products that aim...
His Business Was Burning Cash and Nearly Closed in the First 6 Months — Here’s the Counterintuitive Strategy That Turned...
Seth Gerger turned Boston’s Mida from a cash‑burning, near‑failed eatery into a multi‑location brand by redefining its concept to a warm, neighborhood‑focused experience that finally hit product‑market fit. He then doubled down during the COVID‑19 shutdown, opening a second site...
Stablecoins Are Hard to Spend. This Startup Wants to Make It Easy.
Rach Finance, founded by Keji Pius and CTO Martins Chigoziem in January 2026, offers a non‑custodial payment gateway that lets African merchants accept USDT and USDC and settle instantly in local currencies. The startup has already processed about $250,000 across...
Vastnaut Wraps Up Its First Los Angeles Demo Day, Letting Supporters Live-Test the 4x4 Exoskeleton
Vastnaut concluded a three‑day Demo Day in Beverly Hills, letting the public physically test its AI‑powered Vastnaut One 4×4 exoskeleton while its Kickstarter campaign remains active. Attendees performed stairs, deep crouches, and heavy‑backpack hikes, reporting up to 35% knee‑impact reduction...
v4c.ai Announces Investment From Databricks Ventures
v4c.ai announced a Series A investment from Databricks Ventures and Tquila, joining an exclusive Databricks portfolio. The boutique partner now boasts over 600 Databricks certifications, supports more than 150 joint customers, and employs a global team of 400 data and AI...
What Leads Companies to Betray Their Own Principles
In a May 26 2026 HBR IdeaCast, Eric Ries warns that companies founded on purpose often betray their principles as short‑term shareholder pressure and weak corporate structures dominate decision‑making. His new book *Incorruptible* frames this drift as a systemic force rather than...
Amazon Fulfillment Competitor Stord Raises $250M at $3B Valuation
Atlanta‑based Stord raised $250 million, valuing the company at $3 billion—double its valuation from a year ago. The round was led by Strike Capital with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, Franklin Templeton, Baillie Gifford, G Squared and Bond. Founded in 2015, Stord...
Phytolon Raises $23.6M to Launch Yeast-Derived Beetroot Red Dye for Food
Israeli food‑tech startup Phytolon raised $23.6 million in a Series B round to launch a yeast‑derived beetroot red food colour approved by the U.S. FDA. The funding, led by an undisclosed strategic investor and backed by existing backers, will finance sales, supply...
UK Startups Could Benefit From £3bn EU Fund
The United Kingdom is poised to re‑enter the EU’s Horizon Europe startup fund, a €4 billion (~$4.3 billion) programme that could be finalized later this year. Joining requires the UK to reverse a treaty decision that opted it out of the scheme....
Slice Reports Profitability in First Full Year as Bank; Revenue Jumps 2.3X in FY26
Slice, the AI‑native digital bank from India, posted its first full‑year profit in FY26, reporting revenue of roughly $169 million— a 132% jump from the prior year. Net income swung from a $26 million loss to a $5.8 million profit, while Q4 alone...
After NBFC Approval, MobiKwik Gets RBI Nod for Offline Payment Aggregator Business
Mobikwik Systems Ltd has received in‑principle RBI approval for a Payment Aggregator‑Physical (PA‑P) licence, clearing the way to expand its offline merchant payments network. The fintech, which already serves 4.9 million merchants through UPI QR, Soundbox and EDC devices, aims for...
D2C Footwear Brand Yoho Raises Fresh Funds
Direct‑to‑consumer footwear brand Yoho announced a fresh funding round comprising ₹15 crore in equity and ₹8 crore in debt, roughly $2.8 million in total. The round was led by Gulf Islamic Investments and Rajeev Misra, former SoftBank Vision Fund CEO, with participation from...
How We Hit £1 Million per Employee
MAGIC AI, a 15‑person AI‑fitness startup, has surpassed £1 million (≈$1.27 million) in revenue per employee. The milestone stems from a hiring policy that only brings in world‑class experts who own their domains, rather than scaling headcount. Founder Varun Bhanot emphasizes that...
Why Everyone Is Obsessed with Jon-Paul’s Balls
Jon‑Paul Wheatley turned a makeshift lockdown football into 12 Pentagons, a cult studio that now creates bespoke soccer balls and high‑profile collaborations with brands like adidas and Burberry. The venture began with a hand‑stitched, pillow‑stuffed prototype and evolved through relentless...
Lessons Learned From 60 Years of Additive Manufacturing
At the 2024 AMUG conference, a panel of four seasoned entrepreneurs—representing 60 years of additive manufacturing experience—shared hard‑won lessons about launching and scaling a 3D‑printing business. They highlighted common false assumptions, such as believing printing alone generates profit and over‑estimating...
South Africa’s bPOWERd Expands Into Nigeria with Solar Battery Rental Hubs
South African clean‑energy startup bPOWERd has entered Nigeria, rolling out a solar‑battery‑rental service across seven sites in Lagos using Mobil service stations as swapping and charging hubs. Customers pay a refundable $10.96 deposit and rent 300‑Wh or 1,000‑Wh batteries for...
Perplant Raises €1 Million to Equip Tractors with AI “Eyes” To Cut Herbicide Use and Boost Profits for Farmers
Danish AgTech startup Perplant announced a €1 million ($1.08 million) investment round backed by angels, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, the European Space Agency and Innovation Fund Denmark. The company’s edge‑AI camera sensor, mounted on tractor roofs, claims to cut...
#AfricaMonth | “We Are Real Players” Says Zoe Ramushu on Building African Film Tech for the Global Industry
Cape Town filmmaker Zoe Ramushu’s tech platform Wrapped, which streamlines film‑crew hiring, has been shortlisted for the Impact Leadership Award at the 2026 Global Production Awards, marking its third consecutive Cannes nomination. The platform, described as “LinkedIn meets Upwork for...
Lithuania’s Backoffice Secures €150k to Build the Operating System for European Hospitality
Vilnius‑based startup Backoffice, which offers an all‑in‑one operations platform for restaurants, cafés and hotels, has raised €150,000 (about $163,500) from venture capital funds FIRSTPICK and Lost Astronaut. The funding will support its expansion across Europe and further product development. Backoffice...
Slovic Claims Rs 200 Cr ARR, Turns EBITDA Positive
Slovic, the Indian sports‑and‑fitness gear brand, announced that its annualised recurring revenue (ARR) hit roughly ₹225 crore (about $27 million) in April 2026 and that it turned EBITDA‑positive the same month. The company posted a 250% compound annual growth rate over the...
Peripheral Establishes First Biomechanics Basketball Shooting Lab in Toronto
Peripheral Labs has teamed with the Quantum Sports and Learning Association to launch North America’s first arena‑scale biomechanics basketball shooting lab in Toronto. The facility houses 36 off‑the‑shelf cameras and an AI‑driven large reconstruction model that converts 2D footage into...
Got a Startup Idea? IHatch Cohort 5 Wants to Help You Build It
The Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), under the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has opened applications for iHatch Cohort 5, a government‑backed incubator for early‑stage startups in Nigeria. The program runs until 27 May 2026 and offers hands‑on business training, mentorship,...
In MENA, the Day After the Crisis Begins Today
The article warns GCC founders, CEOs, and investors that cash liquidity is the single most reliable defense against the region’s frequent political and economic shocks. Drawing on the author’s experience at Aramex and citing startups like Insider and Maktoob, it...
Funded: The Startup World Has a Fundraising Addiction
The article warns that Southeast Asian startups have turned fundraising into a performance ritual, often chasing venture capital before proving their business fundamentals. Accelerators, demo days and social platforms reinforce this bias, rewarding glossy decks over unit economics. The author...
Franchising Has Quietly Made Countless Americans Rich
Greg Flynn, a Stanford MBA graduate, built a franchise empire after the dot‑com boom, buying eight Applebee’s and eventually operating more than 3,000 outlets across seven brands in three countries. His portfolio now exceeds $1 billion in value, making him the...
What African SaaS Companies Need to Build Before International Enterprises Will Trust Them
Nigerian founder Issa Ajao recounts how his Lagos‑based SaaS platform won a US security firm by focusing on enterprise‑grade infrastructure and self‑service controls rather than just features. The client’s IT team demanded answers on data residency, audit trails, incident response...
Greg Brockman: Inside the 72 Hours That Almost Killed OpenAI
Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s co‑founder and president, recounts the 72‑hour turmoil that followed Sam Altman’s sudden dismissal, detailing how the board’s decision nearly derailed the company. He describes the rapid creation of a backup venture, dubbed “Phoenix,” built at Altman’s house...
Berlin’s Peec AI More than Doubled Revenue to $10M ARR in Six Months. Its Product Helps Brands Show up in...
Berlin‑based Peec AI announced it has surpassed $10 million in annualised recurring revenue (ARR), more than doubling its $4 million ARR six months after closing a $21 million Series A round. The startup’s platform enables brands to monitor and optimise their presence in AI‑generated...
This 39-Year-Old Quit His Lineman Job During the Pandemic and Built a $50 Million Company in His Backyard
In December 2020, journeyman lineman Josh Smith left his union job to focus on Montana Knife Company, a business he had registered two decades earlier. Leveraging his lifelong bladesmith expertise, he shifted from custom $4‑5k knives to $300‑price point hunting...
4 AI Prompts to Build a One-Person Business in 2026 (No Team, No Funding, No Guessing)
Entrepreneur Maor Shlomo shows how AI prompts let a solo founder turn paid expert tasks into profitable products without hiring or raising capital. By pinpointing bottlenecks and mapping them to AI‑run workflows, founders can launch and scale with as little...
In a Sea of Identical Smartphones, Nothing Stands Out
Nothing’s Phone 3, priced at $799, is carving a niche in a saturated smartphone market by leaning heavily on bold design and a distinct cultural stance. Founded by Carl Pei in 2020, the London‑based brand has already generated over $500 million in...
Foundation Closes $6.4M Round for Human Authority Hardware
Foundation, a hardware security startup, closed a $6.4 million round led by Fulgur Ventures, bringing its total capital to $16.5 million. The funding will fund the launch of Passport Prime, a U.S.-made device that merges a Bitcoin wallet, FIDO key, two‑factor authentication,...
How to Choose Office Space for a Startup
The article provides a step‑by‑step guide for startups to choose office space that matches their growth trajectory, runway and work patterns. It breaks down four primary options—traditional lease, serviced office, coworking membership, and virtual office—detailing commitment length, cost structure and...