African neobank Kuda raised $20M at flat valuation in 2023, missed user milestone projection by 3M

Earlier this month, Kuda co-founder and CEO Babs Ogundeyi told users that the Nigerian online challenger bank had reached almost ₦56 trillion (~$60 billion) in transaction value since its 2019 launch.  Ogundeyi also said that Kuda had achieved a notable milestone, with 7 million retail and business customers as of today. However, the figure falls…

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Goodnotes acquires an AI-powered video summary startup as it looks beyond education

London-based notetaking startup Goodnotes said today it is acquiring South Korean startup Dropthebit, which operates a meeting and video summary tool called Traw. With the acquisition, Goodnotes is looking to move beyond classrooms and explore making productivity tools for professionals. As part of the deal, all three co-founders of Dropthebit will move to Goodnotes. Plus,…

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Snyk acquires Helios to bolster its AppSec platform

Snyk, the well-funded developer-focused security company, today announced that it has acquired Helios, a Tel Aviv-based startup that helps developers troubleshoot and understand their microservices in production. Snyk will use Helios to bolster its recently launched AppRisk service, its application security play, and to provide them with a better overall security service both at build…

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Microsoft launches a Pro plan for Copilot

Microsoft evidently envisions Copilot, the umbrella brand for its portfolio of AI-powered, content-generating technologies, becoming a significant future revenue line-item. And that’s perhaps not far off base; according to the company, more than 40% of the Fortune 100 participated in its Copilot early access program. But given the enormous cost of running GenAI models in…

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How to mobilize generalist VCs for a moonshot idea

Noor Siddiqui Contributor Noor Siddiqui, a Thiel Fellow and Stanford-trained computer scientist, is the CEO and founder of Orchid. Moonshot startups, those daring ideas that promise to reshape our world, are inherently about venturing into uncharted territory, giving us new superpowers and creating new markets. They’re high stakes, high reward, and, more often than not,…

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How resilient SaaS startups continue to build and scale in an era of efficiency

Christine Edmonds Contributor Christine Edmonds is a General Partner at ICONIQ Growth. She was the founding member and now leads the ICONIQ Growth Analytics team, supporting our portfolio companies with quantitatively backed advisory and thought leadership. Christine also helps oversee internal applications of data analytics to support and enable our broader investing platform. Building a…

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