Month: August 2026

QMUL spinouts looking to raise Powered by WPeMatico https://sifted.eu/articles/qmul-spinouts-looking-to-raise

Inside Pleo’s culture crisis: Executive exodus, unhappy staff and sale speculation Powered by WPeMatico https://sifted.eu/articles/pleo-culture-crisis

OpenAI says it slowed Astra model development over security concerns OpenAI said this model, which is still in development, reached its “critical cybersecurity threshold,” meaning it could independently identify and carry out cyberattacks against traditionally well-protected real-world systems. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/07/openai-says-it-slowed-astra-model-development-over-security-concerns/

After Rippling blew millions on AI in months, it built an employee ROI tool After its own AI usage wake-up call, Rippling this week unveiled AI Spend Console, a product that tracks individual and team employee AI spending. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/07/after-rippling-blew-millions-on-ai-in-months-it-built-an-employee-roi-tool/

Wacom’s MovinkPad 11 is a fun, midpriced entry point for digital artists The MovinkPad 11 a versatile little graphics tablet that can help make your wildest digital art dreams come true. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/07/wacoms-movinkpad-11-is-a-fun-and-mid-priced-entry-point-for-digital-artists/

Security researchers scanned the Polish web and found courts, hospitals, and airports at risk of hacks Researchers found common points of failure, like software used to organize and display web content, could have allowed hackers to run riot through government websites. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/07/security-researchers-scanned-the-polish-web-and-found-courts-hospitals-and-airports-at-risk-of-hacks/

Cloudflare launches Kitesurf, a browser built for AI agents Kitesurf is a cloud-hosted browser designed for AI agents instead of people. It uses less computing power than Chromium for common automation tasks, helping developers build browser-based AI agents more efficiently. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/07/cloudflare-launches-kitesurf-a-browser-built-for-ai-agents/

Vangrid raises $9M seed to build a decentralised spatial intelligence network for the Physical AI era Vangrid, a  Dutch startup developing a decentralised spatial intelligence network to be deployed on smartphones, has raised $9 million in seed funding. Vangrid’s goal is to make high-fidelity spatial data accessible at the scale

The UK’s top-funded tech companies in H1 2026 According to Tech.eu’s H1 2026 report, the UK remained Europe’s largest technology funding market in the first half of 2026, raising €18.7 billion across 423 deals. Capital was concentrated in a limited number of large transactions, with cloud (€5.9 billion), artificial intelligence

Mobilise launches investment arm to scale telecom software companies through strategic partnerships Telecom software provider Mobilise has launched Mobilise Platforms & Investments, a new division created to help specialist telecom technology businesses scale by combining strategic investment, telecom expertise and shared technology.  The division will focus on businesses operating across