Investments

Investments
Inference Firm Baseten Eyes Funding Round at $11 Billion Valuation
May 27, 2026

Artificial intelligence (AI) inference startup Baseten has reportedly been holding talks with investors to raise $1 billion. That funding would value the company at $11 billion, The Information reported Tuesday (May 26), citing a source familiar with the matter. Baseten was valued at $5 billion...

IPO
Bank of America Expects Surge of Brazilian IPOs After 5-Year Drought
May 26, 2026

Bank of America expects Brazilian companies to launch at least 10 initial public offerings in 2027, Reuters reported Monday (May 26). These listings are expected to take place in both Brazil and the United States, and the deals should start at around $500 million, the report said,...

Investments
OpenRouter Raises $113 Million to Expand AI Model Marketplace
May 26, 2026

Artificial intelligence (AI) model marketplace OpenRouter has raised $113 million in new funding. The company said its Series B round, announced Tuesday (May 26), will allow it to expand its routing, governance, and optimization capabilities as businesses increasingly deploy AI. The announcement cited a 2026...

Fintech Investments
Branch International Cuts Staff in Africa Amid $30 Million Profit
May 25, 2026

Visa-backed digital lending startup Branch International is reportedly cutting staff at its Kenyan and Nigerian offices. That’s according to a report Friday (May 22) from Business Insider (BI), which said the layoffs are indicative of a large shift among African FinTechs, with startups focused on...

Investments
Fresha Raises $80 Million to Bring AI to Beauty Scheduling
May 21, 2026

Beauty-and-wellness scheduling software firm Fresha is now a $1 billion company. The startup announced the new valuation Thursday (May 21) along with news it had received $80 million from funds managed by investment giant KKR. “Fresha has built a differentiated platform, combining software, financial services,...

Investments
Variational Raises $50 Million for On-Chain Derivatives Protocol
May 21, 2026

On-chain derivatives trading protocol Variational has raised $50 million in new funding. The company said its Series A round, announced Wednesday (March 20), coincides with the launch of the protocol’s first real-world asset (RWA) markets. “This initial rollout allows traders to access perpetuals on select...

Investments
Hark Raises $700 Million For AI Hardware Development
May 21, 2026

Artificial intelligence (AI) lab Hark has been valued at $6 billion following a $700 million funding round. The company says its Series A, announced Thursday (May 21), will help it with its effort of pairing Hark’s foundation models with hardware “to create a universal interface...

IPO
SpaceX IPO Filing Ties 93% of $28.5 Trillion Market to AI
May 21, 2026

The final frontier of space has had relatively few flags planted to claim it. SpaceX’s newly released registration statement signals that’s about to change. Beneath the expected references to launch cadence, satellite deployment and Elon Musk’s personal ambitions around colonizing Mars, the 200,000-word initial public...

IPO
Blockchain.com Files Confidentially for IPO
May 21, 2026

Blockchain.com is the latest in a series of crypto companies going public. The company announced Thursday (May 21) that it had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its initial public offering (IPO). “The number of shares...