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Encircled by geopolitical risks, Armenia builds a lively tech startup scene The idea of an Armenian tech company bringing a product to market was once viewed as “super unique”, Mikayel Vardanyan, chief product officer at Picsart, told Al Jazeera on the sidelines of WCIT 2024. But these days, there are “many, many companies doing it and every year this number is growing because they are looking at each other,” said Vardanyan, whose startup in 2021 became Armenia’s first unicorn with a valuation exceeding $1bn. “They are looking at a couple of successful ones, including ours, and they are thinking, ‘OK, it’s possible to do it, it’s possible to do it in Armenia, and let’s invest in Armenia.’” Tech founders in Armenia readily acknowledge that Silicon Valley remains the place to be for fundraising and networking opportunities. But they say that, increasingly, opportunity beckons at home, too. Davit Baghdasaryan, the CEO and co-founder of noise cancellation software startup Krisp, said that many Armenian entrepreneurs have a setup that splits operations between their home country and Silicon Valley. “Armenia has been growing and people from the US, they see that there are actually interesting entrepreneurs and founders coming out of Armenia. They get so much more motivated, to not only give back, but come over,” Baghdasaryan, who moved home in 2017 after a decade in the US, told Al Jazeera. Baghdasaryan said that the growing number of success stories has inspired others to take a bet on the country. “So that’s very exciting for me to watch. Because I stayed there for 10 years, I came back. I know both worlds very well.” Armenia’s government says it is committed to doing what it can to make doing business seamless, including simplifying the process of registering a company to the point that it can now be completed in as little as 15 minutes. Last month, the Ministry of High-Tech Industry introduced legislation, called the New Law on High-Tech Support, to reduce rates of personal income tax and corporate tax for tech start-ups during their formative years. The government has also allocated 1.940 billion Armenian dram ($5m) to fund the construction of “Engineering City”, a public-private project that is envisaged to include facilities such as an engineering business accelerator, an advanced research centre, and supercomputing and cybersecurity facilities. Armenian-founded startups such as Piscart, the creator of a popular photo and video editing app, meanwhile, have found success in Silicon Valley, which founders have in turn used to support offices and jobs back home. The flow of investment has gone the other way, too, with big-name players such as Nvidia and Adobe in recent years announcing plans to set up operations in the country. #Startup #Investment #Economy #Business #Financial #Investor #Economic #Investing #Founding #Invest #Fund #US #USA #UK #Europe #America #Asia #Bangladesh #World #News #WorldNews #BDNews

Amazon Doubles Down on AI Startup Anthropic with $4 Billion Investment Amazon.com pumped another $4 billion into OpenAI competitor Anthropic, as the e-commerce giant goes up against Big Tech rivals in a race to capitalize on generative artificial intelligence technology. This doubles Amazon's investment in the firm known for its GenAI chatbot Claude, but it remains a minority investor, the startup said on Friday. Similar to Amazon's previous $4 billion investment, it comes in the form of convertible notes and comes in phases, first at $1.3 billion. Anthropic is also in talks with additional investors to raise more capital on the back of Amazon backing, sources added, who requested anonymity for discussing private matters. Anthropic declined to comment. Amazon, which has gradually established itself as Anthropic's primary cloud partner, is fiercely competing with Microsoft and Alphabet's Google to offer AI-powered tools for its cloud customers. AWS is bringing significant revenue to Anthropic as a major distributor of its latest models. "The investment in Anthropic is essential for Amazon to stay in a leadership position in AI," said D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria. The e-commerce company's increased investment in Anthropic underscores the billions of dollars funneled into AI startups over the past year, as investors look to cash in on a boom in the technology, which became popular with the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT in late 2022. Microsoft-backed OpenAI raised $6.6 billion from investors last month, which could value the company at $157 billion and cement its position as one of the most valuable private companies in the world. Anthropic plans to train and deploy its foundational models on Amazon's Trainium and Inferentia chips. The intensive process of training AI models requires powerful processors, making securing pricey AI chips a top priority for startups. "It (partnership) also allows Amazon to promote its AI services such as leveraging its AI chips for training and inferencing, which Anthropic is using," Luria said. Nvidia currently dominates the market for AI processors and counts Amazon among its long list of so-called hyperscaler customers. Still, Amazon has been working to develop its own chips through its Annapurna Labs division, which Anthropic said it was "working closely with" to aid in developing processors. Amazon has also been trying to build its own AI model code-named “Olympus,” which it hasn't released. Anthropic, co-founded by former OpenAI executives and siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, said last year it had secured a $500 million investment from Alphabet, which promised to invest another $1.5 billion over time. The startup also uses Alphabet's Google Cloud services as part of its operations. #Startup #Investment #Economy #Business #Financial #Investor #Economic #Investing #Founding #Invest #Fund #US #USA #UK #Europe #America #Asia #Bangladesh #World #News #WorldNews #BDNews

Kazakh AI Startup Enters U.S. and Japanese Transportation Markets Astana-based startup Call2action.ai, a resident of the Astana Hub International Technology Park, is making strides in the US market. Currently, over 40 transportation companies in the United States have expressed an interest in the startup’s product. Two companies have already become commercial clients, and three others are engaged in pilot projects. Call2action.ai has developed the world’s first SaaS solution based on Generative Artificial Intelligence for automating hiring in the transportation and logistics sectors. This innovative platform streamlines the hiring process, making it more efficient and cost-effective. Following the successful validation of its project hypotheses, Call2action.ai has launched an investment round and entered negotiations with venture capital funds and business angels, some of whom are already supporting the startup and planning investments. “The American market is vastly different from the Kazakh market, but its potential for revolutionizing hiring processes is enormous,” said Ersultan Dzhusakinov, CEO and co-founder of Call2action.ai. “Participation in the Silicon Valley Residency Program, supported by Astana Hub and the Ministry of Digitalization, has allowed us to accelerate our progress in Silicon Valley. Within a few months, we’ve secured contracts with two companies, three pilot projects, and attracted interest from major Japanese corporations like Persol Group and Mitsui Group. We expect our product to reach a valuation of $1 billion in the coming years.” The startup collaborates with US innovation hubs, including the Silkroad Innovation Hub, and actively participates in international trade shows such as TechCrunch Disrupt and CESV 2024. Additionally, Call2action.ai has been selected to join Mitsui Group’s accelerator program, which begins in 2025. Call2action.ai is among 22 Central Asian startups that participated in accelerator programs in Silicon Valley under the AlchemistX and Silicon Valley Residency Program initiatives. These programs were organized by Astana Hub and Silkroad Innovation Hub, with support from the World Bank and FPIP projects. #Startup #Investment #Economy #Business #Financial #Investor #Economic #Investing #Founding #Invest #Fund #US #USA #UK #Europe #America #Asia #Bangladesh #World #News #WorldNews #BDNews

Meet 16 startups taking AI innovation to the next level with Twilio They say a sequel is never as good as the original, but Twilio's AI Startup Searchlight 2.0 brought major The Empire Strikes Back vibes to the award program's sophomore season as it celebrated 16 honorees from across the global startup community, selected from over 500 applicants. The program highlights the imagination and ingenuity of Twilio's vibrant founder ecosystem, exceptional entrepreneurs, and standout startups at the intersection of communications and technology innovation. Eligible businesses had to have raised less than $200 million, have a product or demo in market, and use LLMs or generative AI on Twilio channels. These honorees showcase how AI-powered solutions married with Twilio can solve business challenges and revolutionize customer interactions across diverse industries and regions. 11x automates entire workflows powered by a fleet of AI digital workers. 11x uses AI in conjunction with Twilio's voice, IVR, and SIP Trunking as the backbone for their initial products: "Alice," an outbound email and LinkedIn sales representative, and "Jordan," a fully autonomous AI phone representative. Alpharun is an AI phone interview platform that accelerates screening for high-volume hiring teams by integrating Twilio's messaging, voice, IVR, and SIP Trunking. By enabling candidates to showcase their skills and experience in AI-driven interviews, it fosters a more meritocratic hiring process and saves recruiters time. Althea Health is a voice AI agent designed to transform patient engagement by automating critical healthcare tasks, from complex calls to care management and medication support. Althea handles repetitive processes more efficiently, reducing costs, and easing staff workload. Leveraging Twilio's SMS, Voice, and IVR capabilities, the company seamlessly integrates multiple communication channels to enable secure, automated, and personalized patient interaction Appella AI Appella AI offers hyper-personalized customer service solutions by leveraging Twilio's technology to adapt interactions in real time based on user preferences and company data. By integrating products like SMS, Voice, IVR, and 2FA, they ensure seamless, secure, multi-channel support that moves beyond static chatbots. Their goal is to create customer experiences that feel uniquely tailored and responsive at every touchpoint. #Startup #Investment #Economy #Business #Financial #Investor #Economic #Investing #Founding #Invest #Fund #US #USA #UK #Europe #America #Asia #Bangladesh #World #News #WorldNews #BDNews

Founder of AI education chatbot charged with defrauding investors of $10 million The founder of an artificial intelligence startup, promoted to strengthen communication between school districts and families, has been arrested on charges of defrauding investors. Joanna Smith-Griffin, the founder and CEO of AllHere Education, Inc., was arrested in North Carolina on Tuesday on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud and identity theft, according to a news release from the Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney's Office. An indictment unsealed on Tuesday alleges that Smith-Griffin lied to potential investors about the revenue that AllHere Education generated and the number of school districts the startup had contracts with over the last few years. In total, prosecutors allege in the indictment, Smith-Griffin fraudulently obtained nearly $10 million from AllHere Education investors, transferring at least $600,000 to her personal bank account, and using some of the money to pay for a home down payment and to finance her wedding. No attorney was listed for Smith-Griffin in court records. USA TODAY emailed AllHere Education but had not heard back by Wednesday evening. All of AllHere Education's employees had been laid off and the company was under control of a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee as of Tuesday, according to the office of Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. In November 2020, prosecutors allege that AllHere told investors that the company generated $3.7 million in revenue that year, when in fact the real figure was more like $11,000, the indictment says. During a fundraising campaign to raise $8 million from investors, Smith-Griffin told them that AllHere Education worked with eight educational institutions: the New York City Department of Education, Atlantic Public Schools, Boston Public Schools, Baltimore County Public Schools, Prince George's County Public Schools, Durham Public Schools, Grand Rapids Public Schools and the Bureau of Indian Education, according to the indictment. In reality, only Boston Public Schools and Prince George's County Public Schools had contractual relationships with AllHere Education, the indictment says. #Startup #Investment #Economy #Business #Financial #Investor #Economic #Investing #Founding #Invest #Fund #US #USA #UK #Europe #America #Asia #Bangladesh #World #News #WorldNews #BDNews

Self-Driving Startup Pony.ai Seeks Up to $195 Million in US IPO  Pony.ai Inc. is looking to raise as much as $195 million from its US initial public offering as automotive-related companies lead a modest pickup in Chinese listings.  The autonomous driving startup set a price range of $11 to $13 for its American depositary shares, according to a regulatory filing Thursday. The top of the price range implies a market value for the company of about $4.5 billion, based on the filing. Investment Global Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Beijing Automotive Group Co., and ComfortDelGro Ventures Pte Ltd. indicated an interest in purchasing up to roughly $75 million worth of the offering. Guangzhou Automobile Group, a top Chinese automaker and backer of another self-driving car company, WeRide Inc., is among the investors that struck a deal to buy about $153 million worth of shares from the company in a concurrent deal, the filing shows. Pony.ai had considered selling shares in the US in 2021 but put that plan on hold, Bloomberg News reported at the time.  About $40 billion has been raised via IPOs on US exchanges this year, a roughly 60% jump from same period in 2023 but still below the average in the decade before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The two biggest Chinese listings in the US this year have been WeRide and Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding Ltd., the data show. Founded in Silicon Valley in 2016, Pony.ai develops and operates self-driving fleets in the US and China. Its vehicles include trucks and robotaxis. In December, it received a permit to provide fare-charging, fully driverless taxi services in Guangzhou.  Pony.ai’s backers include Toyota Motor Corp. and Saudi Arabia’s Neom Co. China’s securities regulator approved the New York IPO in April as Beijing loosened its clampdown on domestic tech companies trying to list overseas.  #Startup #Investment #Economy #Business #Financial #Investor #Economic #Investing #Founding #Invest #Fund #US #USA #UK #Europe #America #Asia #Bangladesh #World #News #WorldNews #BDNews

BUET grad’s robotics startup secures USD 45mln in funding GrayMatter Robotics, co-founded by BUET graduate Ariyan Kabir, has raised USD 45 million in Series B funding led by Wellington Management, a Boston-based investment firm. Headquartered in Los Angeles, GrayMatter Robotics tackles surface treatment and finishing challenges faced by high-mix, high-variability manufacturers. Its GMR-AI™ technology integrates into smart robotic cells designed to assist humans in performing tedious and ergonomically challenging tasks. Over the past two years, GrayMatter has deployed systems across North America, supporting industries including aerospace, defence, specialty vehicles, marine, metal fabrication, sports equipment, furniture, and sanitary ware. The company has processed over 7.5 million square feet of surface area, showcasing significant operational efficiency and impact. Additionally, the company has been recognised as one of the top 50 Best Places to Work in LA by BuiltIn and received the RBR50 Award in 2022 for its innovation in the robotics market. In case of funding, alongside Wellington Management, participants included NGP Capital, Euclidean Capital, Advance Venture Partners, and SQN Venture Partners and Existing investors such as 3M Ventures, B Capital, Bow Capital, Calibrate Ventures, In-Q-Tel (IQT), OCA Ventures, Pathbreaker Ventures, Stage Venture Partners, and Swift Ventures. #Startup #Investment #Economy #Business #Financial #Investor #Economic #Investing #Founding #Invest #Fund #US #USA #UK #Europe #America #Asia #Bangladesh #World #News #WorldNews #BDNews

Europe’s Tech Startups Staggered by Lilium, Northvolt ‘Disaster’ That’s her assessment of the nosediving fortunes of German electric aircraft maker Lilium, until recently one of Europe’s top tech bets. At the end of October, the Nasdaq-listed startup was forced to file for insolvency after the German government denied it a guarantee on a €50 million loan. Saharova, speaking to me on Bloomberg TV, says Lilium's plight is symptomatic of a bigger problem. “It very clearly shows we, as Europe, fail to support innovative deep tech companies through the growth phase. There is no such thing as a growth market in Europe, especially in Germany,” the Munich-based VC operator says. World Fund invested in battery startup CustomCells, which supplies Lilium. You can almost hear Mario Draghi whispering,“I told you so” from the sidelines. Europe does have its Green Deal, aimed at countering theInflation Reduction Act, or IRA, the US government’s effort to invest in clean energy industries, and, at least in part, attracting growth funding. But according to Natalia Luna, senior thematic investment analyst at Columbia Threadneedle, it doesn’t go far enough. “The simplicity and clarity of the IRA will likely remain the key factor in investment decision-making in a US versus EU scenario and result in a smaller scale of support in the EU,” she wrote in a report published last year. And that seems to be being born out. Investors funneled $45 billion into European tech startups in 2023, versus $120 billion in the US, according to the State of European Tech Report 2023. To drive her point home, Saharova argues Europe may have just deprived itself of a Musk-sized opportunity. Lift the hood of a Lilium jet and you’ll find a lithium-ion battery, similar to the packs produced by another deep tech continental startup, Sweden’s Northvolt AB. The Stockholm-headquartered firm is also struggling to survive. Once pitched as a homebred European alternative to China’s dominant CATL, the Volkswagen AG- and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.-backed battery maker has been hemorrhaging cash, while missing production targets and seeing contracts from its own investors canceled. Northvolt is rushing to raise new capital to stem the bleed. But when I asked Jim Rowan, the chief executive officer of one of Northvolt’s earliest backers, Volvo Car AB, if a fresh liquidity injection was on the table, he replied with an emphatic “no.” “We’re rooting for the Northvolt guys that they can get the funding that’s required,” he told me, but it won’t be his company that provides it. Volvo is “triple-sourced on our batteries,” Rowan said, so it isn’t vulnerable if Northvolt ultimately runs out of juice. #Startup #Investment #Economy #Business #Financial #Investor #Economic #Investing #Founding #Invest #Fund #US #USA #UK #Europe #America #Asia #Bangladesh #World #News #WorldNews #BDNews

Brain-computer interface startup raises $3.5m Nexstem, a startup in Bengaluru, has raised US$3.5 million to develop its brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. InfoEdge, Zupee, Smile Group, and Gruhas participated in this funding round announced on Thursday. The funding will enhance Nexstem’s Instinct Ecosystem product and expand its intellectual property portfolio. It will also strengthen the company’s presence in the American and European markets. Additionally, the capital will support deploying Nexstem’s biosignal infrastructure to make BCI solutions accessible in various sectors. #Startup #Investment #Economy #Business #Financial #Investor #Economic #Investing #Founding #Invest #Fund #US #USA #UK #Europe #America #Asia #Bangladesh #World #News #WorldNews #BDNews

Will End Economic Disaster Of Kamala Harris, Launch Brand New Trump Economic Miracle: Donald Trump Describing the economic policies of Vice President Kamala Harris as a disaster, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday said he would launch a brand new economic miracle after he wins the elections. Trump promised to build American, buy American, and hire American. "We will end Kamala's economic disaster and launch a brand-new Trump economic miracle," Trump said at a campaign rally in Detroit, Michigan, a battleground State where he is slated to hold his last rally on Monday night. He said Harris' failed economic agenda wiped out nearly 30,000 private sector jobs just recently, and nearly 50,000 manufacturing jobs just over the last short period of time. "You lost 50,000 manufacturing jobs." Trump alleged that under Harris' "nation-wrecking policies, the American worker is absolutely drowning. 'You're drowning". "Kamala is a radical left Marxist, rated even worse than crazy Bernie Sanders and Pocahontas herself. She destroyed our economy. She was an original creator of the Defund the Police movement. Anybody who wants to defund the police for even one week is not worthy of being President of the United States," Trump said. "Kamala vowed to abolish ICE. She pledged to confiscate your guns... she even called for free sex changes for illegal aliens in detention. All at taxpayer expense. But perhaps most significant of all, she lied about working at McDonald's. She never worked," he said. "With your vote, this November, we are going to fire Kamala and we are going to save America. We will cut your taxes, end inflation, slash your prices, raise your wages. and bring thousands and thousands of factories back to America and back to Detroit, Michigan," he said. He promised, "I will end the war in Ukraine. Would have never started if I was president. "We will strengthen and modernise our military. We will build a missile defense shield, the biggest in the world, all over our country, made in the USA, much of it made in Michigan. We will rebuild our cities, including our capital in Washington, D.C., making them safe, clean, and beautiful again. Again, our cities are a mess. They're a mess, a crime-ridden mess," he said. "We will teach our children to love our country, to honour our history, and to always respect our great American flag. I'm going to put a bill in. If you burn the American flag, you get one year in jail. It is just happened a few weeks ago in Washington. They're burning American flags all over the place. We will get critical race theory and transgender insanity out of our schools. We ill keep men out of women's sports," he said #Startup #Investment #Economy #Business #Financial #Investor #Economic #Investing #Founding #Invest #Fund #US #USA #UK #Europe #America #Asia #Bangladesh #World #News #WorldNews #BDNews