Read article

AI

Jul 3, 2026

Thiel Capital's Jack Selby Builds a $300M Arizona Fund

Jack Selby, a managing director at Thiel Capital, is quietly assembling stakes in high-profile AI startups like Etched through his Arizona-based venture firm Copper Sky Capital. The firm is currently raising a $300 million second fund, according to a new regulatory filing. Here's what we know about Selby's emerging investment thesis.

Venture Capital

Startups

Jul 2, 2026

Meta Quietly Launches Pocket, an AI Vibe-Coding App

Meta has soft-launched Pocket, an experimental app that lets users generate and share interactive mini games using simple text prompts. The release signals Meta's growing interest in AI-native, user-generated gaming experiences. Here's what we know so far.

The 10 Biggest US Startup Funding Rounds This Week

U.S. startups closed a wave of major funding rounds during a shortened holiday week, led by a $1.75B strategic investment in energy infrastructure firm Joulent. AI infrastructure, compliance tech, and biotech also featured prominently across the top 10 deals.

Funding Rounds

Energy

Jul 2, 2026

AI Won't Save Advertising, Says Digitas' Amy Lanzi

Digitas North America CEO Amy Lanzi sat down with Nilay Patel at Cannes Lions to cut through the AI hype flooding the ad industry. She compares today's AI promises to the programmatic advertising bubble — and warns the real danger isn't automation, it's bad commercial deals dressed up as innovation.

Advertising

Cannes Lions

Jul 2, 2026

BidScript Tops $1M Pre-Seed for AI-Powered Tendering

UK-based BidScript has closed an $800,000 funding round, pushing its total pre-seed capital past $1 million. The AI-native platform helps businesses find, manage, and submit bids for public and private sector contracts — with early customers reporting win rate improvements of up to 50%.

Funding

govtech

Jul 2, 2026

HousApp Raises €4.3M for an AI Real Estate Platform

Dutch proptech startup HousApp has closed a €4.3 million seed round led by Arches Capital and Antler to expand its AI platform for real estate agents. The platform automates administrative workflows — from first seller contact to final property transfer — freeing agents to focus on clients. The raise follows HousApp's acquisition of proptech firm Friva earlier this year.

Netherlands

proptech

Jul 2, 2026

Bending Spoons Surges 40% on IPO Day, Defies SaaS Slump

Italian software company Bending Spoons made a dramatic stock market debut, jumping 40% on its first day of trading. The company has built its empire by acquiring and AI-powering legacy tech brands like Evernote, Vimeo, and Eventbrite. Its strong debut bucks a broader downturn in SaaS valuations.

Bending Spoons

Eventbrite

Jul 1, 2026

Meta Uses Your Instagram Photos to Ad Smart Glasses

Instagram has begun pulling users' personal photos into ads for Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, marking a significant — and controversial — step toward hyper-personalized advertising. The move signals Meta's deepening integration of user-generated content into its AI-driven ad machine.

The Software Factory Illusion: More AI Bugs, Not Code

AI has made it easier than ever to generate code at scale — but data shows incidents and bugs are rising sharply alongside productivity metrics. Building a real software factory takes more than speed; it demands platforms, traceability, and quality control baked into every step.

Software Development

Engineering

Jun 30, 2026

Riverside Moves Beyond Podcasting Into AI Newsletters

Riverside, the popular podcast recording platform, is expanding into newsletter publishing — letting creators automatically generate written content from their audio and video recordings using AI. The move signals a broader push toward becoming an all-in-one creator platform.

Riverside

Podcasting

Newsletters

Jun 30, 2026

European Tech Roundup: €2.1B Across 75+ Deals

European tech had a busy week, with more than 75 funding deals totalling over €2.1B tracked across the continent. Fintech, security, and semiconductors dominated by sector, while Germany, France, and the Netherlands led by country. Tech.eu also launched its Funding Explorer — now free and open to all.

European tech

Fintech

Jun 30, 2026

Hypefy AI Raises $7.2M Series A for Influencer Ops

Croatian startup Hypefy AI has closed a $7.2M Series A led by AYMO Ventures to scale its end-to-end AI platform for influencer marketing. The tool replaces spreadsheets and fragmented workflows with automated creator discovery, contracting, and payments — and already counts NIVEA, Unilever, and Samsung among its clients.

adtech

Creator Economy

Jun 30, 2026

5 German Startups to Watch: peeps, Zelara, More

A fresh wave of German startups is making moves across AI, materials, and beyond. Here's a quick rundown of five newly launched ventures worth putting on your radar: peeps, Zelara, MARIMET, encosa, and Whaaat AI.

German Startups

Deep Tech

Jun 30, 2026

New Data Complicates the Narrative That AI Destroys Jobs

A new report challenges the assumption that AI adoption leads to layoffs. Companies described as 'high-intensity AI adopters' actually grew headcount by over 10% — including a 12% surge in entry-level roles. The findings add serious complexity to one of tech's most heated debates.

Jobs

Labor Market

Jun 29, 2026

Q2 2026 Sees Most Billion-Dollar Exits Since 2021 Peak

Crunchbase data shows Q2 2026 delivered the highest count of billion-dollar-plus startup exits since the 2021 boom — led by SpaceX's record-shattering IPO and a wave of landmark acquisitions and public offerings across AI, quantum computing, and beyond.

IPO

Startup Exits

SpaceX

Jun 29, 2026

The Best AI Content Marketing Automation Tools for 2026

Generative AI has turned content production into a fully automated operation. With 80% of marketers now using AI tools, the landscape has shifted from basic chatbots to sophisticated engines wired directly into business data. Here's what you need to know.

Content Marketing

Marketing Automation

Jun 27, 2026

How a Founder Used AI to Navigate a Cancer Diagnosis

When Connor Christou was diagnosed with cancer despite being in peak physical condition, he turned to AI to make sense of his medical data. By feeding blood results, scan data, wearable outputs, and journal entries into Claude, he built a surprisingly sophisticated personal health intelligence system.

Health Tech

Personal AI

Jun 25, 2026

Ex-Databricks AI Chief Bets on 1,000x Energy Cuts

Ali Ghodsi's former AI lead has launched a startup claiming its technology can reduce AI's power consumption by up to 1,000 times. The company's first product, Un0, is an image-generation system that demonstrates the approach can replicate conventional AI workloads at a fraction of the energy cost.

Energy

Startups

Jun 25, 2026

Figma Adds Code Layers, Animation, AI Plugins

Figma's latest update introduces a dedicated code layer, native motion and shader support, and AI-driven custom plugin creation. The changes signal a significant push toward bridging design and development workflows within a single platform.

Figma

Design Tools

Jun 25, 2026

Meta Halts Employee-Tracking Program After Data Leak

Meta has paused its controversial Model Compatibility Initiative after an internal security lapse exposed sensitive employee-collected data to other workers. The program — which logged mouse movements, keystrokes, and screen content — had already faced fierce internal pushback since its April rollout.