Nickie Louise - Tech Startups

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Meta’s Llama AI models hit 1.2 billion downloads as open-source bet starts paying off

Nickie Louise Posted On April 29, 2025

Meta announced Tuesday that its Llama AI model family has been downloaded 1.2 billion times—a staggering number that highlights how quickly developers are adopting the company’s open-source models. The update was shared during the first-ever LlamaCon developer conference. The news […]

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Mastercard wants AI bots to handle your online shopping. Here’s what that could mean

Nickie Louise Posted On April 29, 2025

Mastercard is teaming up with Microsoft and a few big names in AI to change how online shopping works. The company just announced its new initiative, called Agent Pay, which lets AI agents make purchases and handle payments on your […]

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Meta launches standalone AI app in bold challenge to ChatGPT

Nickie Louise Posted On April 29, 2025

Meta is stepping up its AI ambitions with the launch of a standalone Meta AI app, putting it in direct competition with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The timing is hard to ignore. The announcement comes less than a month after Meta’s longtime […]

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Zest Equity raises $4.3M pre-Series A to digitize private market deals across emerging markets

Nickie Louise Posted On April 29, 2025

Most private market deals under $100 million get ignored by big investment banks. For founders and investors trying to close these transactions, it often means dealing with messy spreadsheets, scattered emails, and slow-moving legal paperwork. That’s where Zest Equity comes […]

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Alibaba launches Qwen3, China’s boldest open-source AI response to U.S. models yet

Nickie Louise Posted On April 29, 2025

Just a month after rolling out its Qwen2.5-Omni-7B model, the Chinese tech giant is back with Qwen3—a new family of large language models that’s already generating buzz in China’s thriving open-source scene. In a blog post on Tuesday, Alibaba described […]

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Nexo re-enters the U.S. market with high-profile endorsements

Nickie Louise Posted On April 28, 2025

Nexo, the global digital assets wealth platform, has officially announced its return to the United States. The news was unveiled at an exclusive business event featuring keynote addresses from Donald Trump Jr., Executive Vice President of The Trump Organization; Gila […]

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Palo Alto Networks to acquire AI security startup Protect AI to strengthen AI defense

Nickie Louise Posted On April 28, 2025

Palo Alto Networks is making another big move. The cybersecurity giant announced today that it plans to acquire Protect AI, a fast-rising name in AI and machine learning security. The news comes a year after Palo Alto Networks acquired IBM’s […]

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Flare launches USD₮0 to boost cross-chain stablecoin liquidity for XRP DeFi

Nickie Louise Posted On April 28, 2025

Flare is stepping up its interoperability game with the launch of USD₮0, the omnichain deployment of USDT, the world’s most widely adopted stablecoin. Now that USD₮0 is live, Flare is connecting the world’s largest stablecoin directly to XRP, the second-biggest […]

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London AI startup Nscale seeks $2.7B in funding to build global data centers in partnership with ByteDance

Nickie Louise Posted On April 28, 2025

London-based AI startup Nscale is seeking $2.7 billion to build global data centers in partnership with ByteDance, aiming to power the next wave of AI development. Nscale, which launched from stealth in May 2024, is already setting its sights high. […]

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Musk’s AI startup xAI in talks to raise $20 billion at $120 billion valuation to challenge OpenAI and Google

Nickie Louise Posted On April 28, 2025

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI is gearing up for a major fundraising push that could surpass $20 billion, according to Bloomberg. The new round would push xAI’s valuation past $120 billion, marking another big leap for the company just […]

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DoorDash offers to acquire Deliveroo for $3.6 billion in bold expansion into Europe

Nickie Louise Posted On April 25, 2025

DoorDash is making another big move in Europe. The U.S.-based meal delivery company has set its sights on Deliveroo, offering $3.6 billion to acquire the British firm, per Reuters. Deliveroo’s board said on Friday it reviewed the proposal, received on […]

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Smart Contracts and Startup Employment: Automating HR Functions for Growing Teams

Nickie Louise Posted On April 25, 2025

In 2025, startups face intense competition for talent while managing limited resources. With the Bitcoin price stabilizing after years of volatility, one technology has emerged as a powerful solution to these challenges: blockchain-based smart contracts. These digital agreements automatically execute […]

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AI search wars? Google still dominates as Alphabet’s revenue jumps 46% to $90 billion

Nickie Louise Posted On April 25, 2025

Despite mounting fears that AI-powered search engines could erode Google’s dominance, Alphabet crushed expectations in Q1 and delivered a resounding message: the empire is still standing strong. In its latest quarter, Alphabet stunned Wall Street with a 46% profit spike […]

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British fintech unicorn Revolut reports record $1.4B profit ahead of U.K. bank launch

Nickie Louise Posted On April 24, 2025

British fintech firm Revolut just crossed a major milestone, reporting a record $1.5 billion in net profit for 2024, the unicorn startup announced Thursday. Profits surged 149% year over year, driven by strong performance across its business units. According to […]

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Google to remote workers: Return 3 days a week—or lose your job

Nickie Louise Posted On April 24, 2025

Just a week after Google laid off hundreds in its Android, Pixel, and Chrome units amid a strategic shift to AI, the company is now tightening the screws on remote workers—many of whom were previously cleared to work from home. […]

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Cloud Capital emerges from stealth with $7.7M to tackle the $344B cloud cost crisis for CFOs

Nickie Louise Posted On April 24, 2025

CFOs are staring down a growing financial black hole—and it’s coming from their cloud bills. As companies double down on AI infrastructure, cloud usage is spiking at a rate most finance teams can’t keep up with. Costs are ballooning, long-term […]

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Musk’s brain implant startup Neuralink eyes $500M raise at $8.5B valuation for brain-computer interface expansion

Nickie Louise Posted On April 24, 2025

Neuralink, the brain implant startup founded by Elon Musk, is planning to raise around $500 million in fresh funding at a pre-money valuation of $8.5 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the deal. The round, still in its early […]

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Security startup Chainguard raises $356M at $3.5B valuation as demand for secure software supply chains surges

Nickie Louise Posted On April 23, 2025

Open source has supercharged modern software development. Roughly 90% of production code today is pulled from public repositories, turning what once took weeks into something developers now ship in hours. But there’s a catch—one that teams feel every day. That […]

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CIV launches $200M VC fund to invest in manufacturing, energy, and infrastructure startups

Nickie Louise Posted On April 23, 2025

While Silicon Valley remains hooked on AI, a quieter movement is taking shape—one that’s focused on rebuilding what keeps society running. The latest sign? A new venture capital firm called CIV has just raised $200 million to back technology startups […]

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Lattica emerges from stealth with $3.25M to make encrypted AI a reality using FHE

Nickie Louise Posted On April 23, 2025

AI adoption has grown quickly since ChatGPT’s breakout two years ago, but trust hasn’t kept pace. While businesses are eager to explore AI, concerns around data privacy and security are slowing progress, especially in industries that handle sensitive information. According […]

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