Month: October 2026

More startup ‘mafias’ are coming in Norway, predicts VC Powered by WPeMatico https://sifted.eu/articles/norway-startup-mafia-vc-physical-ai-cognite/

Left alone with nothing to do, AI agents started playing MIT researchers marooned 13 AIs on a virtual island, and they responded by inventing games, mourning a lost ring and, eventually, getting better at their jobs. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/22/left-alone-with-nothing-to-do-ai-agents-started-playing/

Mark Zuckerberg’s creative plan to pay California’s proposed billionaire tax without losing control of Meta A newly launched stock class being offered was partially engineered to help Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg pay the “billionaire’s tax,” should the measure be voted into law. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/22/mark-zuckerbergs-creative-plan-to-pay-californias-proposed-billionaire-tax-without-losing-control-of-meta/

Warhound raises $200M to engineer war dogs and arm them with Anduril gear Warhound, the brainchild of Ben Lamm and Palmer Luckey, emerges from stealth to genetically engineer dogs for military and law enforcement. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/22/ben-lamm-raises-200m-for-warhound-to-engineer-war-dogs-and-arm-them-with-anduril-gear/

As blockchain investing falls out of vogue, a16z Crypto rebrands as a16z Frontier The digital asset unit, helmed by Chris Dixon, broadens its scope. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/22/as-blockchain-investing-falls-out-of-vogue-a16z-crypto-rebrands-as-a16z-frontier/

OpenAI working on new $30B raise at $1.25T valuation ahead of IPO Should OpenAI command an over $1 trillion valuation with this round, it would break records as the most highly valued private company ever. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/22/openai-working-on-new-30b-raise-at-1-25t-valuation-ahead-of-ipo/

Legora’s valuation leaps to $8.8BN as raises $550M Swedish legal AI outfit Legora today said it has raised $550 million at an $8.8bn valuation, just six months after completing its last funding round. The Series E funding round was led by Boston-based investment firm Atreides Management, a new invetstor, and

Mika Games gets $10M boost to support mobile game developers Mika Games, a gaming investment company founded by Wargaming co-founder Nick Katselapov, has raised $10 million in a funding round led by Flint Capital, with participation from several new and existing investors. Early-stage mobile game studios often struggle to secure

Opply raises $7.5M to expand its agentic AI platform for CPG brands Opply, a company developing an AI-powered operating platform for consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands, has raised $7.5 million in a funding round led by Chalfen Ventures, with participation from Index Ventures, Anthemis, Entrepreneurs First, In This Together and

Dutch photonics startup Photon Bridge raises €10M to tackle AI’s looming laser bottleneck Dutch photonics company  Photon Bridge has raised €10 million to tackle an emerging bottleneck in AI infrastructure: producing the millions of lasers that will be needed to connect increasingly large clusters of AI processors. The round was