June 2024

Semperis, a specialist in Active Directory security now worth more than $1B, raises $125M

June 20, 2024

Active Directory – the Microsoft directory service for connecting users with network resources – is used by more than 90% of all Fortune 1000 companies and many more besides. So it’s no surprise that it’s a giant target for malicious hackers.  That also means a lot of attention for security companies that are building tools […]

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Daydream rakes in $50M seed funding to build an AI-powered search engine suited for e-commerce

June 20, 2024

For retailers, e-commerce is a bit of a puzzle at the moment. Online shopping trends are expected to stay strong this year, so companies can’t afford to curtail their e-commerce budgets, but at the same time, e-commerce is more fragmented than ever before. There is a seemingly endless number of avenues to exploit — from […]

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Cadana, an emerging markets payroll services provider for global hiring platforms, banks $7.1M seed

June 20, 2024

The global freelancer market, a $1.3 trillion industry fueled by over 200 million knowledge workers, drives demand for solutions that automate payroll and streamline employment and tax regulations worldwide. However, most existing products fail to address the legal landscape of emerging markets, such as differences in employment laws.  This oversight means global hiring platforms, which […]

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Amazon extends generative AI-powered product listings to Europe

June 20, 2024

Amazon is bringing its generative AI listing smarts to more sellers, revealing today that those in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. can now access tools designed to improve product listings by generating product descriptions, titles, and associated details. Additionally, sellers can also “enrich” existing product listings by automatically adding missing information. The announcement […]

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Kenya closes its probe of Worldcoin, opening the door to a relaunch of its orbs after a year-long suspension

June 20, 2024

Worldcoin — the crypto startup co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman — has been given the green light to resume iris-scanning and other operations in Kenya after a year-long government probe over privacy concerns was dropped. Kenya was one of the Worldcoin’s launch countries for its iris-scanning scheme — which the startup was building out as […]

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How generative AI could reinvent what it means to play

June 20, 2024
First, a confession. I only got into playing video games a little over a year ago (I know, I know). A Christmas gift of an Xbox Series S “for the kids” dragged me—pretty easily, it turns out—into the world of late-night gaming sessions. I was immediately attracted to open-world games, in which you’re free to…

Paris-based VC Breega hits first close of $75M Africa fund to back pre-seed and seed startups

June 20, 2024

Paris-based VC firm Breega is launching a $75 million fund to invest in early-stage startups in Africa, with 70% of the capital already committed at the first close, the firm revealed to TechCrunch. Since entering the VC scene in 2015, Breega has fully raised four funds: a first seed fund (€45 million), a second seed […]

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PQShield secures $37M more for ‘quantum resistant’ cryptography

June 20, 2024

Malicious hacking is getting increasingly sophisticated, and that’s leading to a very clear trend in security technology. To keep people and organizations safe, security also has  to continue advancing its own complexity.  Security startup PQShield has gotten an early start on that concept with a focus on “post-quantum” cryptography: software and hardware solutions that, in […]

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Hero wants to save the day for companies facing a working capital crunch

June 20, 2024

Hero, a new fintech startup based in Paris, is announcing an €11.3 million all-equity funding round led by Valar Ventures ($12.2 million at today’s exchange rate). For the past couple of years, the company has been quietly building an ambitious banking product for small companies that can essentially replace everything you’d expect from a traditional […]

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