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Startups News 19 December 2025 - 29 January 2026

Robinhood puts money into Talos at a $1.5 billion valuation as crypto trading plumbing draws fresh backers

Robinhood puts money into Talos at a $1.5 billion valuation as crypto trading plumbing draws fresh backers

Robinhood joined a $45 million Series B extension for crypto trading tech firm Talos, raising Talos’s total Series B funding to $150 million and valuing the company at about $1.5 billion. Talos said stablecoins were used to settle part of the transaction. The firm reported nearly doubling revenue and client numbers annually for the past two years.
29 January 2026
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JioStar makes a fresh sports bet, tapping Debrup Ghosh to run premium portfolio

JioStar makes a fresh sports bet, tapping Debrup Ghosh to run premium portfolio

JioStar has appointed Debrup Ghosh as director of premium sports, assigning him to drive revenue and secure partnerships for its top sports properties. Ghosh, formerly at Myntra, confirmed the move on LinkedIn. The hire follows JioStar’s recent addition of Praveen Kumar as senior vice president for sports digital and long-term value. JioStar, formed from a merger of Viacom18, JioCinema, and Star India, holds major sports rights in India.
21 January 2026
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Deepinder Goyal steps down as Eternal CEO, hands reins to Blinkit boss Dhindsa as Q3 profit jumps

Deepinder Goyal steps down as Eternal CEO, hands reins to Blinkit boss Dhindsa as Q3 profit jumps

Eternal founder Deepinder Goyal will step down as CEO, with Blinkit chief Albinder Singh Dhindsa taking over on Feb. 1. Third-quarter profit rose to 1.02 billion rupees, while revenue from operations surged to 16,315 crore rupees. Shares climbed as investors weighed Blinkit-driven growth against margin pressures. Goyal will remain as vice chairman, pending shareholder approval.
21 January 2026
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DeepSnitch AI’s DSNT presale “surges 135%” as January launch chatter spikes

DeepSnitch AI’s DSNT presale “surges 135%” as January launch chatter spikes

DeepSnitch AI’s DSNT token presale price surged over 130% to $0.03538, raising about $1.2 million, according to crypto promo posts. Bitcoin fell 2% to $91,090 and ether dropped 3.3% to $3,104 as markets turned cautious. Investors shifted focus from rival presales Remittix and Pepeto, with Remittix’s launch date still unclear. Claims about DSNT’s gains remain unverified by independent sources.
20 January 2026
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Palantir billboards pop up in Youngstown, sparking fresh talk about the AI firm’s next move

Palantir billboards pop up in Youngstown, sparking fresh talk about the AI firm’s next move

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, Jan 15, 2026, 06:02 EST At least two new billboards carrying Palantir Technologies’ name have appeared around Youngstown, Ohio, setting off local speculation about why the data-software company is targeting the area and whether it is fishing for hires or something bigger. Palantir told a local outlet it picked Youngstown and other “historic industrial powerhouses” as part of an ad campaign tied to the AI push. https://www.wfmj.com/story/53382496/palantir-billboards-appear-in-youngstown-sparking-questions-and-speculation The signs matter now because Palantir is taking its message out of tech hubs and into old manufacturing cities, where talk of job churn from AI, short for artificial intelligence, tends
15 January 2026
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Octopus Energy’s Kraken lands $1bn funding round as spinout plans sharpen

Octopus Energy’s Kraken lands $1bn funding round as spinout plans sharpen

London, January 6, 2026, 23:14 GMT Octopus Energy’s software arm Kraken has raised about $1 billion in its first standalone equity round, valuing the utility technology business at $8.65 billion, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan said on Monday. Octopus will keep a 13.7% stake in Kraken after the split, it said. OTPP The carve-out puts fresh capital behind a bet that utilities will pay up for modern systems as grids strain under electrification and more variable renewable power. It also aims to make Kraken easier to sell to rival suppliers by loosening its ties to Octopus, which operates a large retail
7 January 2026
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CrowdStrike stock rises as AWS, Nvidia-backed startup accelerator puts AI security in focus

CrowdStrike stock rises as AWS, Nvidia-backed startup accelerator puts AI security in focus

New York, Jan 5, 2026, 13:02 EST — Regular session CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. shares rose on Monday after the cybersecurity firm said it and partners Amazon Web Services and Nvidia had selected 35 startups for a 2026 cybersecurity startup accelerator. Shares were up 1.4% at $459.81 as of 1:02 p.m. EST, having traded between $454.58 and $466.39. The announcement matters now because investors have been rewarding software names tied to corporate spending on artificial intelligence — and the security tools needed to protect it. For CrowdStrike, showcasing deeper work with AWS and Nvidia helps reinforce its pitch that modern security
5 January 2026
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Meta buys AI startup Manus as it races to roll out task-running agents

Meta buys AI startup Manus as it races to roll out task-running agents

NEW YORK, December 30, 2025, 16:42 ET Meta Platforms said it will acquire Manus, a Chinese-founded artificial intelligence startup now headquartered in Singapore, as it accelerates efforts to roll out advanced AI features across its platforms. Financial terms were not disclosed, but a source with direct knowledge said the deal values Manus between $2 billion and $3 billion. Manus has said its agent outperforms OpenAI’s DeepResearch and it has a strategic partnership with Alibaba on AI models. Reuters The purchase matters because AI companies are shifting from chatbots to “agents” — software designed to plan and complete multi-step work, such
30 December 2025
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Meta snaps up Manus AI agent startup as it races to sell “digital employees”

Meta snaps up Manus AI agent startup as it races to sell “digital employees”

NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 19:43 ET Meta Platforms said on Monday it would acquire Manus, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup whose software can operate as a “digital employee” for tasks such as research and automation. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/meta-acquire-chinese-startup-manus-boost-advanced-ai-features-2025-12-29/ The deal lands as Big Tech pushes “AI agents” — programs that can carry out multi-step work with limited direction — from demonstrations into tools that people and companies will pay to use. Meta said it will operate and sell the Manus service and integrate it into its consumer and business products, including Meta AI. Financial terms of the deal were not released,
30 December 2025
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Breeze CEO warns startups face tighter U.S. skies as new rewards tiers near

Breeze CEO warns startups face tighter U.S. skies as new rewards tiers near

NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 09:16 ET Breeze Airways CEO David Neeleman warned that startup airlines are facing a tighter squeeze in the U.S. market, even as his carrier keeps expanding its route map, a Red94 report published on Sunday said. Red94 The timing matters as Breeze heads into 2026 with a revamped loyalty program, one of the biggest levers airlines use to keep customers coming back. Breeze’s updated program rules show its new tier benefits take effect on Jan. 1, 2026. FlyBreeze+1 Neeleman has argued that newer carriers cannot easily go head-to-head with the biggest U.S. airlines, which have
29 December 2025
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UPenn Launches $10 Million StartUP Fund to Back Penn Spinouts as Philadelphia Startups Face a Capital Crunch

UPenn Launches $10 Million StartUP Fund to Back Penn Spinouts as Philadelphia Startups Face a Capital Crunch

The University of Pennsylvania is expanding its role in the region’s innovation economy with a new $10 million seed fund aimed at one of the hardest moments in the startup journey: the gap between a breakthrough in the lab and a venture-backed company ready to scale. Penn’s new StartUP Fund will provide seed-stage investments of up to $250,000 for startups founded by Penn-affiliated faculty or researchers and based on Penn-developed technology, know-how, or ideas. The initiative lands amid fresh reporting on Philadelphia’s persistent shortage of local venture capital, a constraint that founders and investors say continues to push promising companies
19 December 2025
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Stock Market Today

Rio Tinto stock jumps as Glencore mega-merger is shelved; what to watch next week

Rio Tinto stock jumps as Glencore mega-merger is shelved; what to watch next week

7 February 2026
Rio Tinto’s U.S. shares closed up 2.5% at $93.37 Friday after the company ruled out a merger with Glencore, triggering a six-month “no-bid” lockout under UK takeover rules. Both companies cited disagreements over valuation. Attention now turns to Rio’s Feb. 19 results and iron ore prices, which fell below $100 a tonne amid weak Chinese demand.
iFAST share price drops 3% as markets shut; earnings next week in focus

iFAST share price drops 3% as markets shut; earnings next week in focus

7 February 2026
iFAST shares fell 3.2% to S$9.64 in heavy trading Friday, closing near the day’s low as investors awaited FY2025 results due Feb. 12. The stock is about 13% below its 52-week high. iFAST recently agreed to buy a 30% stake in Financial Alliance for S$19.6 million, pending regulatory approval. Assets under administration stood at S$30.62 billion as of Sept. 30.
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