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    Payr, cofounded by Mohy Jishi, Victor Della Faille, Sami Hassan, and Arthur Greenwood, raises $2.1M in Seed funding

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    GLOBENEWSWIRE

    Rent is one of the largest recurring payments in the UK economy, yet it still largely runs on traditional bank transfers. While consumers can pay for travel, groceries and even taxes by card, rent — often their biggest monthly expense — has remained structurally locked to legacy payment rails.

    London-based fintech Payr has raised $2.1 million in seed funding to change that.

    The company has built what it describes as the first one-sided payments infrastructure that enables tenants to pay rent with their existing credit cards, while landlords receive the full rent amount via standard bank transfer. Crucially, landlords and agents do not need to onboard, integrate new systems or alter their workflows.

    “The rent payment experience has barely evolved in decades,” said Arthur Greenwood, CEO and Co-Founder of Payr. “Consumers can pay almost everything by card except the one expense that matters most. We’ve rebuilt the payment architecture so tenants gain flexibility and rewards, while landlords simply receive their rent as normal. No new systems, no operational friction.”

    ​The problem Payr is addressing is both behavioural and structural. Tenants increasingly expect flexibility, rewards and international usability across their financial lives. At the same time, property professionals have little incentive to adopt new payment tools, particularly when card fees and compliance constraints complicate the model. Payr’s solution removes that friction by allowing tenants to pay by card while preserving the existing settlement experience for landlords.

    “Teaming up with these four passionate young entrepreneurs has been an absolute blast; they’re incredibly tenacious and truly embody the spirit of entrepreneurship,” said Michael Boocher, Managing Partner at Ingenii Capital. “It’s going to be one wild adventure ahead as they seize this overlooked $165 billion market.”

    The $2.1M round was led by Ingenii Capital, with participation from Haatch, Velocity Capital, the British Business Bank and a group of strategic angel investors. The funding will be used to expand integrations, deepen product infrastructure and accelerate distribution partnerships across the residential sector.

    “Rent is a $165 billion annual market in the UK alone,” Greenwood added. “We’re not building a feature, we’re building infrastructure for a payment category that has been overlooked for too long.”

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/59227a9e-0bf5-4198-81cd-e4f183b1c652

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    NationGraph, cofounded by Kimia Hamidi and Eden Ding, Raises $18M in Series A Funding led by Menlo Ventures,

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    NationGraph, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-native intelligence platform for businesses selling to the government, raised $18m in Series A funding.

    The round was led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from Perplexity’s Fund, XYZ Venture Capital, Reach Capital, and angel investors.

    The company, which has raised total funding to $22.5m, intends to use the funds to improve the platform by adding more data types, strengthening the Signals engine, and enhancing the user experience for customers.

    Founded in 2024 and led by Kimia Hamidi, CEO, and Eden Ding, CTO, NationGraph is making public sector data accessible and actionable for businesses selling to cities, counties, state agencies, schools, and special districts. Its data and intelligence engine provides buying signals derived from millions of public sector sources.

    NationGraph indexes data from approximately 110,000 government entities across roughly four million websites and applies AI reasoning to enable key capabilities:
    • Signals, which deliver predictive intelligence on government purchasing decisions by cross-referencing all key data sources tailored to each supplier’s products and services.
    • Public Record Request Automation, which allows customers to define the data they need, and NationGraph handles the full request, extraction, and delivery process, pushing structured data directly into existing sales platforms and workflows.
    • Contacts, which uses AI to identify key buyer titles across departments, validate email addresses, and map results to Signals.

    ​source[FinsMes]
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    Quill, cofounded by Michael Daugherty, Yacob Berhane, and Nick Adams, raises $6.5M in Seed Funding led by Basis Set Ventures

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    Quill, a San Francisco, CA-based privacy-focused desktop application that transcribes, summarizes, and generates actionable notes from meetings directly on devices, raised $6.5M in Seed funding.

    ​The round was led by Basis Set Ventures, with participation from 500 Global, Naval Ravikant, Morado Ventures, and AME Cloud Ventures.

    The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its development efforts.

    Led by Michael Daugherty, Yacob Berhane, and Nick Adams, Quill gives users complete control over where their data lives, how AI inference runs, and how their workflows evolve over time. It provides Quilliam, a sovereign Chief of AI Staff agent for modern professionals. The solutions can connect to other tools via Model Context Protocol (MCP), including Notion, Linear, Affinity, Obsidian, Airtable, Manus, and Gamma.

    Quilliam uses context from meetings and user history to proactively suggest and execute workflows:
    • After a product meeting, Quilliam can create or modify tickets in Linear, update documentation in Notion, and draft stakeholder updates.
    • Before a client call, Quilliam surfaces relevant history and prepares briefing materials.
    • Over time, Quilliam will help to customize Quill with automations, templates, and other improvements.

    source[FinSMES]
  • Published on

    Smart Bricks, founded by Mohamed Mohamed, Raises $5M in Pre-Seed Funding

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    Photo from TechCrunch

    ​Smart Bricks, a San Francisco, CA-based AI startup building agentic AI infrastructure for real-estate investing, raised $5M in Pre-Seed funding.
    ​The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

    Bakers included Techstars, 500 Global, Cornerstone VC, South Loop Ventures, Harvard Business School Alumni Angels, Cento Ventures, alongside angel investors from OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepMind, Airbnb, and Blackstone.

    The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its development efforts.

    Led by CEO and Founder Mohamed Mohamed, Smart Bricks designs and deploys autonomous reasoning systems that allow capital to identify, evaluate, and execute real-estate investments end-to-end, compressing a process that traditionally takes three to six months into minutes.

    sources[FinsMes]
  • Published on

    Oxide raises $200M in Series C funding

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    Oxide Computer Company, the on-prem cloud computing company, today announced it has raised its $200 million Series C led by Thomas Tull's US Innovative Technology Fund (USIT), with participation from existing investors including Eclipse, Riot Ventures, Jane Street, and more.

    Oxide designs and manufactures the Oxide Cloud Computer, a rack-scale integrated system, with purpose-built hardware and open-source software, that delivers a modern cloud experience on-premises. For enterprises historically forced to cobble together their own on-premises systems, the Oxide Cloud Computer provides the self-service, API-driven experience previously available only from hyperscale cloud providers, with better performance, sovereignty, and economics.

    "We built Oxide to fundamentally rethink how on-prem infrastructure is delivered, bringing organizations the simplicity and automation of cloud computing with the highest levels of security," said Steve Tuck, CEO and co-founder of Oxide. "This investment ensures our ability to serve customers for the long term, so they can confidently plan and execute projects measured in decades."

    On-premises infrastructure customers count on the longevity of their providers, and Oxide's latest funding round provides clear validation of the company's long-term vision. By doubling total funding for the second time, Oxide has secured the capital and the strategic support to invest in its product roadmap, expand manufacturing, and provide best-in-class customer support for enterprises worldwide for years to come.

    "Infrastructure demands long-term partners," said Bryan Cantrill, CTO and co-founder of Oxide. "Oxide took a first-principles approach to the neglected world of on-premises compute. That path was arduous, but the benefits are now clear: a secure, reliable platform designed to endure and scale — offering the modernity of cloud computing in the on-prem data center."

    "Thomas Tull's strategic vision for sovereign compute infrastructure aligns with Oxide's accelerating momentum," said Gaetano Crupi, Managing Director at USIT. "Given the pace of customer adoption and Oxide's execution since our Series B investment, we recognized a compelling opportunity to increase our commitment to support their growth. We're backing a platform that redefines how compute is built and operated, ensuring the U.S. is equipped with best-in-class, secure digital infrastructure as the cloud becomes increasingly central to economic and national competitiveness."

    "Oxide delivers the simplicity of the cloud on-premises, with superior performance, reliability, and cost efficiency. Through a single, vertically integrated, rack-scale system, Oxide brings hyperscaler-grade cloud capabilities directly into the data center," said Seth Winterroth, partner at Eclipse. "As the global market searches for every possible advantage in compute and power efficiency, Oxide stands apart with a solution that has no real competition. This kind of platform shift defines categories, and Oxide is leading the way."

    To learn more about Oxide and its products, visit https://oxide.computer.

    To apply to join Oxide, visit https://oxide.computer/careers 

    About Oxide
    Oxide Computer Company designs and delivers unified hardware and open-source software to deliver hyperscaler-class efficiency, performance, and ease of use on-premises, enhancing security, latency, and control. Founded in 2019 and based in Emeryville, California, Oxide is backed by leading investors and trusted by enterprise customers across industries.

    source[PRNewswire]
  • Published on

    Free Business Growth Strategies, Pitch Deck, Data Rooms, Term Sheets Templates shared by Colaeb

    by Colaeb and numerous contributing sources

    When fundraising, it's important to remember to be confident and have a captivating story, and then:
    1) Pitch Deck: Here is the template ~  Only 10 Slides that You Need:
    Note: After you put together your deck, use your favorite AI for feedback. Prompt: "Evaluate my pitch deck from the perspective of an early-stage VC."

    2) Data Room 
    (Copy/Duplicate when needed)
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10Ooipj_l2iCOu_VSajQP-350rR_Ur9LvpqZtPRZ8B4c/edit?gid=1989100068#gid=1989100068​

    3) Financial / Capital Access Plan template. See example: 
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-OowmPwHEzbUdTLYBPTRTD7ueZwxN0ro/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=114262631655136489106&rtpof=true&sd=true​
    Colaeb: Framework to run your Business

    The 4D ModelDefine, Distill, Deliver, Drive — is a framework for creating clarity, alignment, execution, and sustained motivation in business projects, helping teams focus, collaborate, and deliver results.

    It emphasizes that having the right people and clear strategies is essential for business success and that this structured approach can prevent confusion and chaos while improving performance. 
    Ready to raise capital?

    1) View 20 free investor lists/databases for startup founders: https://www.yourinfodaily.com/blog/here-are-20-free-investor-listsdatabases-for-startup-founders-by-colaeb

    2) ​View this sample term sheet from the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) - 
    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qx7lXTWbsZeVcdywhgDziAl3AYY129Oh3iYzDz-Xp8k/edit?usp=sharing

    3) ​Founder Advisor Template (Copy/Duplicate when needed) - ​https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_jB0v4TPeVqWpTT77Kxq81qwzdGU4BPL/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115967584093872480102&rtpof=true&sd=true
    Would you like more in-depth feedback?

    Join Colaeb to speak directly to an expert - free or paid plans available.

    You can also talk to a Colaeb representative by scheduling below:
    About Colaeb
    Colaeb is a business-to-business global network that connects brands with new customers, capital, talent, and advertising solutions. Since our launch in 2020, we have helped thousands of entrepreneurs, venture-scale founders, and Fortune 1000 companies accelerate high-impact innovation. 

    Our Accelerator
    Our accelerator is a highly selective, equity-free accelerator that amplifies 12-20 visionary entrepreneurs. Through virtual mentorship, global visibility, and investor access — we empower founders worldwide to scale their business. Participants retain full equity while gaining access to the network and tools necessary to secure capital and drive change.