A former Uber Eats exec saw how Latin American doctors are drowning in patient WhatsApp messages. Her startup, Leona Health, just raised $14 million to give them an AI copilot. The goal? Give doctors hours of their day back.
Embedded banking platform Thread has secured a $30.5 million funding round. The capital will fuel its growth as it aims to be a model for community banks in the embedded finance space.
Analyst Anna Andreeva projects Warby Parker will sell 300,000 AI frames in 2026, ramping to 2 million by year three. The move leverages growing awareness built by Ray-Ban Meta, but with more features.
The breakneck adoption of tools like ChatGPT is forcing a reckoning. According to a Stanford expert, the next phase for AI won’t be about flashy demos, but about rigorous, domain-specific results and real return on investment.
Mastercard is partnering with fintech LoanPro on a new “Loan on Card” program. The initiative aims to give lenders a new way to deliver funds by combining installment loans with the convenience of a Mastercard.
Citi analysts are bullish on EssilorLuxottica, the maker of Ray-Bans, calling AI glasses “the next fast-growing edge device.” The company’s smart glasses with Meta already contributed over 4 percentage points to its 12% Q3 growth.
Databricks has raised a massive $4 billion funding round, valuing the data analytics company at a staggering $134 billion. The company is growing revenue at 55% year-over-year and shows no signs of going public soon.
Researchers are now using affordable gene sequencing to solve surprising environmental puzzles. From analyzing the biological contents of Saharan dust storms to verifying the origin of Amazonian fish, the technology is providing critical data for conservation and agriculture.
PayPal is officially trying to become a bank in the United States. The move, enabled by looser federal regulations, would let it offer FDIC-insured savings accounts and make loans.
Boris Cherny, creator of Claude Code, says vibe coding is only for “throwaway code and prototypes.” For critical systems, he pairs with AI and often writes by hand. The tech is improving fast, but leaders warn of mistakes and security gaps.
