Start-up
‘Chilling effect’: Here’s what an Indonesian startup scandal means for the region struggling with fundraising
EFishery “was supposed to be reflective of what the local ecosystem could do, what Indonesian founders could do. This was supposed to be one of the better companies from Southeast Asia. This was supposed to be a winner,” Justin Hall, partner at Golden Gate Ventures, told CNBC. Dimas Ardian | Bloomberg | Getty Images Southeast […]
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HR unicorn Deel prepares for IPO as soon as 2026 after revenue jump
Key Points Human resources software startup Deel has hit an annual revenue run rate of $800 million, the company told CNBC. Deel also added two major new shareholders to its capitalization table, General Catalyst and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, as part of a $300 million secondary share sale. “We are getting ready to […]
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DeepSeek’s breakthrough emboldens open-source AI models like Meta’s Llama
Omer Taha Cetin | Anadolu | Getty Images DeepSeek’s powerful new artificial intelligence model isn’t just a win for China — it’s a victory for open-source versions of the tech from the likes of Meta, Databricks, Mistral and Hugging Face, according to industry experts who spoke with CNBC. Last month, DeepSeek released R1, an open-source reasoning […]
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Alphabet-backed fintech GoCardless halves losses, targets first annual profit in 2026
Key Points British payments startup GoCardless reported a net loss of £35.1 million ($43.8 million) in the full year ending June 2024. GoCardless CEO Hiroki Takeuchi said its his aim for the company to post its first full-year profit in 12 to 18 months’ time. Source
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Why thermal batteries could replace lithium-ion batteries for energy storage
Thermal batteries could transform renewable energy storage and provide a cheaper and scalable alternative to lithium-ion technology. “Intermittent wind and solar power are becoming the cheapest forms of energy that humans have ever known, and all kinds of energy storage is now being used to harness that, to drive transportation, to drive the electricity grid,” […]
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‘Many dark times’: How this startup founder overcame self-doubt and started a $100-million-a-year business
Jeffrey Tiong, founder and CEO of PatSnap. Courtesy of Jeffrey Tiong. Many entrepreneurs will say that building a successful startup is costly — both financially and emotionally. Just ask Jeffrey Tiong. The 40-year-old is the founder and CEO of intellectual property and research and development startup Patsnap, a Singapore-based unicorn company that has surpassed an […]
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This Australian quit her job at 24 and started a business out of her parents’ garage—now, it brings in over $100 million a year
Jane Lu, founder and CEO of Showpo. Courtesy of Jane Lu. Growing up, Jane Lu dreamt of waking up every morning and putting on a power suit to go to work at a fancy corporate finance job in one of the tall city buildings. Today, the 38-year-old is the founder and CEO of online fashion […]
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European Google rivals partner on search engine infrastructure to counter Big Tech
A Google logo displays on a smartphone screen and the European flag on a computer screen. Nikolas Kokovlis | Nurphoto | Getty Images LISBON, Portugal — Ecosia and Qwant, two search engines competing with Google, announced a partnership Tuesday to build a European search index and reduce their dependence on U.S. Big Tech firms. The two […]
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Amazon cashierless tech competitor Grabango shutters after failing to secure funding
Grabango’s mobile app Grabango Grabango, a venture-backed startup that was vying to take on Amazon in cashierless checkout technology, is shutting down after it was unable to raise enough money to stay afloat. “Although the company established itself as a leader in checkout-free technology, it was not able to secure the funding it needed to […]
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How I built a $2 billion a year super app called Grab: ’20 hour’ work days
Anthony Tan didn’t need to start a business to be rich. He grew up as the youngest of three sons in one of Malaysia’s wealthiest families. His father, Tan Heng Chew, is the president of Tan Chong Motor, a multinational automobile distributor founded by Tan’s grandfather in the 1950s, that’s publicly listed on the Kuala […]
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