Conxai Raises €5M to Bring Agentic AI to Construction Industry
Munich‑based Conxai secured €5 million (≈$5.4 million) in a new funding round, adding to its €2.7 million (≈$2.9 million) pre‑seed from early 2022. The startup’s vertical AI platform, built exclusively on construction‑specific data, automates reporting, document processing and project‑control workflows, with a real‑time SiteLens module for labour and equipment visibility. Its Neuro‑Agentic Reasoning Architecture fuses user knowledge with multimodal AI to deliver auditable, explainable automation via a no‑code interface. Investors such as Earlybird, Pi Labs, noa and Zacua Ventures backed the round amid rising ConTech AI investment.
Keeper Security Brings Zero-Trust Database Access to Its PAM Platform with KeeperDB
Keeper Security announced KeeperDB, a new database‑access capability embedded in its KeeperPAM privileged access management platform. The feature lets developers and DBAs connect to MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server directly from the vault, eliminating plaintext credential exposure. KeeperDB...
NinjaOne Offers a Free Trial of the IT Management Platform Trusted by 35,000 Organisations
NinjaOne, an Austin‑based unified IT operations platform, now offers a free trial with no credit‑card requirement. The cloud‑native solution consolidates endpoint management, patching, remote access, backup, mobile device management, asset tracking and vulnerability detection into a single console. The company...
Fortis Solutions on the Rise of Human-Governed AI: Building Trust Through Intelligent Infrastructure
Fortis Solutions is positioning human‑governed AI as a core enterprise strategy, emphasizing that AI must operate under clear ethical and operational rules. The firm promotes private large‑language models that learn from verified internal data, reducing hallucinations and security risks. Its...
Dan Pratl Believes the Credibility Economy Is Coming and It Will Redefine Value in the Age of AI
Dan Pratl, founder of Quadron, warns that the rapid commoditization of knowledge by AI is creating a "credibility economy" gap, where visibility outweighs expertise and existing reward systems fail to recognize true judgment. He argues that as AI-generated content floods...
When the Machine Asks You to Stay
In late 2025 Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT would soon offer a verified‑adult erotica mode, promising to treat adults like adults. The rollout has been postponed twice, with OpenAI citing a focus on intelligence, personality and a more proactive chatbot....
What We Can Learn From Avocado: The Unreleased AI Meta’s Model
Meta’s next‑generation AI model, code‑named “Avocado,” has been delayed to May‑June 2026 after internal tests showed it lagging behind Google’s Gemini 2.5/3 and other rivals. The postponement follows a broader strategic shift from the open‑source LlaMa family toward a proprietary...
Covalo Raises €3.5M to Become the Shared Data Infrastructure for an Industry Where 80% of Products Will Need Reformulating by...
Covalo, a Zurich‑based platform linking over 1,500 ingredient suppliers with 6,000 personal‑care brands, secured €3.5 million (≈$3.8 million) in a funding round led by Hi inov. The capital will pivot the company from a discovery marketplace to a shared data infrastructure that plugs...
A 27-Year-Old Just Raised $450 Million to Bet that AI’s Future Runs on Nuclear Power
Valar Atomics, a California startup founded by 27‑year‑old Isaiah Taylor, announced a $450 million financing round that values the company at $2 billion. The capital mix includes $340 million in equity and $110 million in debt, following a $130 million Series A five months earlier. Valar’s...
MyStoria Raises $1.625M to Support Patients Navigating Complex Reproductive Health
Ontario‑based myStoria secured a $1.625 million seed round (≈$1.19 million USD) led by Graphite Ventures to expand its AI‑driven platform that guides patients through complex reproductive‑health journeys. The startup, founded by Jessica Chalk after spending over $100,000 CAD (≈$73,000 USD) on her...
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...
Qover Raises $12M From CIBC, and Sets Its Sights on 100 Million People Protected by 2030
Qover, a Belgian embedded‑insurance orchestration platform, raised a $12 million growth‑capital facility from CIBC Innovation Banking, bringing its total funding to over $100 million. The company now protects 15 million people in more than 32 countries and aims to reach 55 million users by...
Microsoft Commits $1 Billion to Thailand for Cloud and AI Infrastructure
Microsoft announced a commitment of more than $1 billion to build cloud and AI infrastructure in Thailand from 2026 to 2028, its largest Southeast Asian investment to date. The plan covers green‑energy data centers, sovereign‑cloud services, and large‑scale AI skills training...
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...
Mistral Secures $830M From Seven Banks to Build Its Own AI Data Centre
Mistral AI has secured an $830 million syndicated loan from seven banks to finance a new AI data centre near Paris, slated to launch in Q2 2026. The facility will house 13,800 Nvidia GPUs, giving the French startup direct control over its...
PaperShell Secures €40.3M EU Grant to Build Its First Full-Scale Factory
PaperShell, a Swedish deep‑tech firm, secured up to €40.3 million (≈ $43.5 million) from the EU Innovation Fund, part of an €83 million (≈ $89.6 million) project to expand its Tibro plant to 23,000 tonnes annual capacity by 2030. The grant covers roughly half the cost, with...
ActiveCampaign’s Free Trial Lets You Test AI-Powered Marketing Automation Before You Commit
ActiveCampaign has launched a 14‑day free trial that provides full access to its AI‑enhanced marketing automation platform without requiring a credit card. The suite, branded as Active Intelligence, adds more than 25 autonomous agents that handle send‑time optimization, segmentation, content...
OpenAI Backs a Nine-Month-Old Startup Building Swarms of AI Agents at a $650 Million Valuation
San Francisco‑based Isara, a nine‑month‑old AI startup, secured $94 million in funding at a $650 million valuation, with OpenAI among the backers. The company is developing software that coordinates thousands of specialized AI agents to tackle complex analytical tasks, demonstrated by a...
Ysios Capital Launches €100M Fund to Build Biotech Companies From Spanish Science
Ysios Capital, Spain’s largest life‑sciences venture firm, has launched InceptionBio, a €100 million (≈$108 million) fund dedicated to creating biotech startups from university and research‑centre spin‑outs. The fund, anchored by public‑sector investor CDTI, aims to establish at least three new companies in...
Tozero Launches Europe’s First Industrial Battery Recycling Plant
Munich‑based deep‑tech startup tozero has activated Europe’s first industrial‑scale battery recycling plant at Chemical Park Gendorf, Bavaria. The demo facility handles 1,500 tonnes of end‑of‑life battery waste each year and yields over 100 tonnes of high‑purity lithium carbonate, using an acid‑free hydrometallurgical process that...
AI Amplifies Whatever You Feed It, Including Confusion
Organizations are stumbling not because AI technology is flawed, but because they lack clarity on which data truly matters. While global AI spending is projected to hit $2.52 trillion, only 14 % of CFOs report measurable returns and 42 % of firms abandoned...
Xero Partners with Anthropic to Put Small Business Finances Inside Claude
Xero announced a multi‑year partnership with Anthropic to embed Claude directly into its accounting platform, letting small‑business owners ask the chatbot about cash flow, overdue invoices and profit margins using live data. The integration works both ways: Claude powers Xero’s...
Automate ISO 27001, SOC 2, and DORA Compliance with Expert CISO Support, Starting at -2,999/Year
Copla, an EU‑based compliance‑automation platform, offers automated ISO 27001, SOC 2, DORA and other frameworks with dedicated CISO support, starting at €2,999 ($3,269) per year. The tool claims up to 80% reduction in compliance workload by reusing controls across six standards and...
Uber, Pony.ai, and Rimac’s Verne Announce Europe’s First Commercial Robotaxi Service
Uber, Pony.ai and Verne’s Verne announced Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service, launching in Zagreb. The fleet will run Pony.ai’s Gen‑7 autonomous system on the Chinese‑built Arcfox Alpha T5 while Verne handles operations and regulatory approvals. Uber will embed the service in...
OpenUp Raises €20M to Scale Employee Mental Health Platform
Amsterdam‑based OpenUp announced a €20 million ($21.8 million) Series B round led by Smartfin, bringing its total disclosed funding to about €35 million ($38.2 million). The platform provides employer‑funded, anonymous, on‑demand access to psychologists, lifestyle and financial experts for more than 2,000 organizations across the...
A New App Wants to Cure Loneliness by Getting People Off Their Phones and Into the Same Room
Friending, a Raleigh‑based startup, launched a social app that nudges users toward in‑person meetings by restricting chat and confirming proximity via phone detection. The platform verifies identities through a third‑party service, aiming to combat the loneliness epidemic highlighted by the...
Pepper Acquires YC-Backed Alima to Bring AI to Food Distribution’s Messy Product Catalogues
Pepper, a New York‑based platform for independent food distributors, announced the acquisition of Alima, a Y Combinator‑backed startup that built ordering software for small distributors in Latin America. The deal, terms undisclosed, adds Alima’s co‑founders to Pepper’s leadership and bolsters...
Your Finance Team Is Still Chasing Invoices. Here’s Why that Costs More than You Think
Small businesses process roughly 500 invoices each month, costing $15‑$40 per invoice when handled manually. Manual accounts payable adds hidden expenses such as late‑payment penalties, duplicate payments, and fraud exposure, creating an operational tax on growth. A 2024 Institute of...
BNESIM on the Evolving Role of AI in Travel eSIM as Connectivity Adapts to Accelerating Innovation Cycles
BNESIM, a global travel eSIM provider, is embedding artificial intelligence across its organization to accelerate product cycles and improve operational efficiency. The company’s AI and automation team works with every department, from fraud detection to procurement, to turn data into...
Tony Siu on Building AI-Enabled Developer Communities Through Servitude Leadership and Human Connection
Tony Siu, founder of Coffee & Code Philadelphia, is pioneering AI‑enabled developer communities that blend servitude leadership with genuine human connection. Drawing on McKinsey’s 2026 report, he argues that combining AI‑driven operations—such as event coordination and sponsorship management—with organic collaboration...
Pagaya Just Proved Wall Street Will Buy AI-Underwritten Auto Loans Twice
Pagaya Technologies closed a $450 million auto resecuritization deal, marking the first time AI‑underwritten auto loans have been refinanced for a second round of investor capital. The RPM 2026‑R1 transaction repackages receivables from three prior securitisations, extending the life of the same...
NeuReality Taps Former Google AI Director to Steer Its Inference Operating System Into the Market
NeuReality, an Israeli AI inference startup, appointed Shalini Agarwal, former Google AI product director, as a strategic adviser to drive market adoption of its NR‑NEXUS inference operating system. NR‑NEXUS, launched in March, promises hardware‑agnostic orchestration of pre‑fill and decode tasks...
The Dummy Server and the Chip War
A federal indictment unsealed on March 19, 2026 accuses three men, including Super Micro co‑founder Wally Liaw, of diverting roughly $2.5 billion in AI‑focused servers containing Nvidia GPUs to China. The scheme relied on dummy servers with swapped serial‑number stickers, staged in...
DORA Is Reshaping How Europe’s Financial Sector Thinks About Compliance, and Most Firms Still Aren’t Ready
Fourteen months after DORA became enforceable, European financial institutions are still struggling to meet its requirements. Surveys show only about a third feel confident about full compliance by the Jan 2025 deadline, while half expect to finish by end‑2025 and many...
Apollo.io Acquires Pocus as It Pushes to Build an AI-Native Operating System for Sales Teams
Apollo.io announced the acquisition of revenue‑intelligence startup Pocus, aiming to embed an AI‑native signal layer into its sales platform and create a full‑stack GTM operating system. Apollo, now approaching $200 million in ARR and serving over 600,000 companies, has long excelled...
GlobalComix Raises $13M, Acquires INKR, and Appoints New CEO to Build the Infrastructure for Global Comics Distribution
GlobalComix announced a $13 million funding round, the acquisition of Singapore‑based AI localisation startup INKR, and the appointment of Henrik Rydberg as chief executive. The round was co‑led by SBI US Gateway Fund and Point72 Ventures, building on a 2023 Series A....
German Biotech Kupando Raises €10M More to Take Its Innate Immunity Drug Into the Clinic
German biotech Kupando announced an extra €10 million Series A raise, bringing total Series A funding to €23 million. The capital will launch a Phase 1b trial of its dual TLR4/7 agonist KUP101 in advanced solid tumours and speed pre‑clinical work on drug‑resistant infections. The...
Ofiniti Raises $6.8M to Push Its Maritime Fuel Software Into Global Shipping Hubs
Ofiniti, an Oslo‑based spin‑out of DNV, raised $6.8 million in a growth round led by Verb Ventures, bringing its total capital to $9 million. The funding will fuel its expansion beyond Singapore, where it commands roughly 40 % of the digital bunkering market,...
Most Marketing Agencies Are Held Together by Duct Tape. GoHighLevel Wants to Fix That.
Marketing agencies typically juggle six to twelve separate tools, driving up costs and operational friction. GoHighLevel offers a single‑platform alternative that bundles CRM, email, SMS, funnel building, scheduling, reputation management and AI‑driven automation. Its architecture provides unlimited, isolated sub‑accounts per...
Endform Raises €1.5M as Faster AI-Generated Code Puts New Pressure
Swedish startup Endform secured €1.5 million seed funding to accelerate AI‑generated code testing. Its platform distributes Playwright tests to individual cloud machines, collapsing CI pipeline time to the duration of the slowest test. Early adopters like Lovable cut runtime in half,...
Why 2026 Will Be the Year of Governed Cybersecurity AI
The 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report shows a 9% drop to $4.44 million, driven largely by security AI and automation that slash detection times. Yet organizations that fully automate see breach costs up to $1.9 million lower than manual peers,...
Clarity as Strategy
Consulting and professional services firms often operate without clear, real‑time insight into project profitability, a gap highlighted by the Bluevine 2026 BOSS Report’s declining profit expectations. CuraeSoft’s new coAmplifi Pro platform centralizes project planning, time tracking, and billing to connect operational...
Anchr Raises $5.8m to Automate Food Distribution’s Manual Back Office
Anchr, a New York AI startup, closed a $5.8 million pre‑seed round led by a16z to automate the back‑office of independent food distributors. The platform layers AI agents on top of existing ERP systems, promising to halve order‑processing time and drive...
Breakout Ventures Closes $114m Fund III to Back AI-Powered Science Startups
Breakout Ventures announced the close of its third fund, raising $114 million, the firm’s largest to date and bringing total assets under management above $230 million. The AI‑focused fund will invest from pre‑seed through Series A in startups that fuse artificial intelligence with...
Augur Raises $15m From Plural to Turn Existing Surveillance Infrastructure Into Real-Time Intelligence
London‑based Augur has closed a $15 million seed round led by Plural to turn Europe’s existing camera and sensor networks into real‑time threat intelligence. The startup’s AI platform ingests video and sensor feeds, delivering live situational awareness without requiring hardware replacement....
Plato Closes $14.5M to Bring AI Automation to Wholesale Trade
Plato, a Berlin‑based startup, secured a $14.5 million seed round led by Atomico to embed generative AI into wholesale distribution. The company links AI directly to legacy ERP systems, turning historical sales data into automated quotes, revenue alerts, and risk flags....
How the Uninvestable Is Becoming Investable
Venture capital is moving into traditionally “hard” sectors—government, defence, energy, manufacturing—after years of avoidance. Rapid growth in public‑sector tech spending, which more than doubled between 2021 and 2025, and the rise of AI‑first solutions are reshaping procurement cycles and lowering...
Stanhope AI Raises $8M to Build Adaptive AI for Robotics and Defence
London‑based deep‑tech startup Stanhope AI closed a €6.7 million ($8 million) seed round led by Frontline Ventures to develop adaptive AI for robotics and defence. The company’s “Real World Model” leverages neuroscience principles, especially the Free Energy Principle, to enable edge‑run perception,...