Latest Startups & Entrepreneurship News
China's DeepSeek Unveils AI Training Breakthrough Challenging Industry Scaling Norms
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek published research on January 1, 2026, introducing 'Manifold-Constrained Hyper-Connections' (mHC) for scaling AI models without high compute costs, validating its 2025 model that erased $600B from Nvidia's value. The method, tested on 27B parameter models, drew praise from analysts and triggered alarms at OpenAI and others.
Expectations rise for DeepSeek's next model around February.
Indian Startups Raise $50M in Week Ending Jan 2, Down 61% YoY
Startups secured $50.2M from Dec 27 to Jan 2, a 61.4% drop from last year, with only five deals versus 43 prior. Knight Fintech raised $23.6M led by Accel for banking infra.
Wow! Momo Foods got $8.3M led by Madhusudan Kela.
TechCrunch Predicts AI Shift to Pragmatism in 2026 with World Models and Agents
2026 will feature new AI architectures, smaller models, world models, reliable agents, physical AI, and products, per TechCrunch. Highlights include Yann LeCun's world model lab, DeepMind's Genie, and startups like World Labs' Marble.
New hiring expected in AI governance and low unemployment.
Nvidia's Top AI Startup Investments Include OpenAI and Thinking Machines Lab
Nvidia invested in OpenAI's $6.6B round ($100M check), Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab $2B seed ($12B valuation), and Wayve's $1.05B for autonomous driving. Others: Firmus Technologies $215M for AI factories, Hippocratic AI $141M for healthcare LLMs.
Post updated from 2025.
Meta Acquires AI Startup Manus for $2B; Nvidia Buys Groq for $20B
Meta bought Singapore's Manus for over $2B, planning to keep it operational with 100 employees. Nvidia acquired Groq for $20B amid AI hype at CES.
Meta also invested $14.8B in Scale AI, poaching its CEO.
German InsurTech Enzo Raises €4M Seed Extension for AI Platform
Enzo secured €4M, totaling €6.2M seed, co-led by EquityPitcher Ventures and Start-up BW. Funds will advance AI-driven insurtech/proptech platform and expand markets.
Backers include Silence VC and angels.
Hong Kong Showcases 61 Tech Startups at CES 2026 in AI and Robotics
61 HK firms in AI, robotics, healthtech, sustainability at CES 2026 Eureka Park and Global Pavilion, including CES winners like Dentomi's GumAI and DRESIO's AI physiotherapy. Highlights moftBODY's neuroscience shapewear launch.
Supported by HKSTP for global scaling.
Creator Economy Startups Raised $2B in 2025 on AI Tools and Communities
Over a dozen creator startups got $50M+ each, focusing AI content tools (Synthesia, Suno $250M, ElevenLabs $180M), social commerce, communities like Substack $100M. Trends shift from influencers to AI democratization.
Total ~$2B analyzed by PitchBook.
US AI Startups Shatter Records with $150B Funding in 2025
US AI firms raised $150B in 2025, topping 2021's $92B, led by OpenAI $41B and Anthropic $13B. Over one-third to these two; focus on foundation models.
Investors: SoftBank, a16z, Thrive.
Amsterdam's Orq.ai Raises €5M Seed for Enterprise AI Agents
Orq.ai secured €5M seed to scale platform for reliable production AI agents in enterprises. The funding accelerates development for business deployment.