Anna Heim

Mistral AI, the French company behind AI assistant Le Chat and several foundational models, is officially regarded as one of France’s most promising tech startups and is arguably the only European company that could compete with OpenAI. But compared to its $6 billion valuation, its global market share is still relatively low.  However, the recent launch of its chat assistant on mobile app stores was met with some hype, particularly in its home country. “Go

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. Hype can be good or bad. This week, we’ve seen startups on both sides of that fence — and being on the good side warranted large funding rounds. Most interesting startup stories from the week Image Credits:Proxima Fusion As the week comes to a close, it is

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. Startup life is a story of births and deaths. This week confirmed this, and it confirmed that unicorn rounds are not dead. Most interesting startup stories from the week Image Credits:Natalie Christman / Humane As happens often in the startup world, it’s been a week of beginnings

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week confirmed that even when current events cloud the outlook, some startups still manage to raise significant amounts of funding, with those tied to security and sovereignty finding tailwinds. Most interesting startup stories from the week Image Credits:Nathan Laine / Bloomberg / Getty Images Uncertainty usually

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This first week of February was busy on the geopolitical front, as well as in the world of startups and VC news, with many announcements and significant amounts of capital changing hands. Most interesting startup stories from the week Image Credits:Waabi Startups took different views on the

Stress isn’t just bad for you — it’s also bad for your employer. Factoring in absenteeism, diminished productivity, turnover, medical costs, and accidents, the nonprofit American Institute of Stress estimates that workplace stress costs U.S. businesses over $300 billion annually. One way to measure stress is by monitoring cortisol levels. Even influencers know this, with “cortisol face” becoming a trending TikTok topic. But to approach things scientifically, the hormone needs to be measured throughout the

We live in a very different world since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. With global military expenditure reaching $2.4 trillion last year, startups are hoping to get a share of the pie, and formerly reluctant investors are keen to help them do so. The U.S. budget is by far the largest, with contracts worth $53 billion to major tech firms between 2019 and 2022. But the

There are plenty of resources to learn English, but not so many for near-native speakers who still want to improve their fluency. That description applies to Stan Beliaev and Yurii Rebryk, and this is what inspired them to create Fluently. Making use of AI, Fluently operates as a coach that gives users feedback and tips on their spoken English. This makes it akin to ELSA and its AI speech tutor, as well as online and offline

While funding for Italian startups has been growing, the country still ranks eighth in Europe by VC investment, according to Dealroom. Newly created Italian Founders Fund (IFF) hopes to help with the catching up, both in quantity and in quality. With €50 million to invest into 25 companies, it also positions itself as a sector agnostic, founder friendly fund that understands the pain points of entrepreneurs. IFF’s portfolio already includes four companies, with a fifth

Welcome to Startups Weekly — Haje’s weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Anna will be covering for him this week. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Most interesting startup stories from the week As the end of 0% interest rates keeps taking its toll, SoftBank-backed Norway-based online supermarket delivery startup Oda has confirmed 150 layoffs and a refocus on Norway and Sweden, where it