Enlightra, a Lausanne, Switzerland-based deeptech startup building chip-scale multiwavelength lasers for future data transmission, raised a total of $15m in funding.
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​Backers included Y Combinator, Runa Capital, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Protocol Labs, Halo Labs, Asymmetry Ventures, and TRAC VC, among others.

The company intends to use the funds to develop and demonstrate its multi-color laser technology, which connects computing chips (GPUs, TPUs) in AI clusters faster and more efficiently than copper cables can.

Led by John Jost, and Maxim Karpov, Enlightra has developed laser technology to replace electrical data transmission with ultra-efficient optical communication, powered by its patented multicolor comb-laser platform. Each color functions as an independent data channel, creating dozens of high-bandwidth connections from one laser source.

Enlightra’s lasers can be produced at scale, and, according to the company, this opens the door to millions of units per year for global data center deployment.


With a 25-person team, Enlightra has designed and built 8- and 16-channel lasers meeting customer specifications for AI chip interconnects. The pilot production is slated for 2027.


The company has participated in Y Combinator (W22) and Intel Ignite (2023).

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FinSMEs

Katalist, a San Francisco, CA provider of an AI platform for professional video production, raised $1.5M in funding.

The round was led by South Central Ventures.

Led by CEO Andraz Zvonar, Katalist provides a video production platform that enables them to turn scripts into shotlists, storyboards, and videos, scaling production while maintaining the control.

The company aims to make AI video accessible for all types of creatives.

Today, over 250,000 professionals use it for their businesses.

source[FinSMEs]

Endra, a Stockholm, Sweden-based provider of an AI-powered mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) platform, raised $20M in Seed funding.

The round was led by Notion Capital, with participation from existing investor Norrsken VC.
The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its development efforts.

Founded in October of 2024 by Niklas Lindgren, Anton Juric, Gustav Hammarlund, and David Rydberg, Endra is a provider of an AI-powered, end-to-end infrastructure for MEP engineering. It imports architect’s 3D model in its platform that automatically models all core MEP systems, from outlets, switches and lighting to fire alarms, cabling and ventilation. Endra then outputs building code compliant and clash free 3D models, together with all required documentation including drawings, schematics, calculations and tables.
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source[FinSMEs]

Platform helps companies monitor and deploy AI agents across web and voice interactions

NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- InfiniteWatch, an AI-native platform for customer interaction intelligence, today announced its emergence from stealth mode with $4 million in pre-seed funding led by Base10 Partners, with participation from Sequoia and A16Z scouts, Kibo Ventures Kfund, LifeX, and four unicorn founders.

​Founded by the founding and leadership team of CoverWallet, a popular insurance tech business that scaled to more than $1B in premium revenue and became the US category leader before being acquired by Aon, InfiniteWatch closes the visibility and implementation gaps companies face with AI agents, analyzing over 2M customer interactions monthly for its customers. The platform's two core products—Session Replay Agent and Voice Agent—both monitor existing interactions and deploy production AI systems.


Turning Customer Insights into Revenue - In Hours, Not Months

InfiniteWatch's Session Replay Agent automatically analyzes web sessions and surfaces the exact UX issues killing conversions. "Within 24 hours of deployment, we had 10x more visibility into critical conversion blockers that were costing us revenue every single day," said Aitor Gumiel, VP of Product of TheGuarantors. "InfiniteWatch didn't just show us the problems—it told us precisely how to fix them. We implemented the recommendations and saw a great increase in conversion rates within the first week."

The Voice Agent deploys synthetic personas to test voice AI systems at scale, uncovering edge cases and quality issues before customers encounter them. In monitor mode, it continuously monitors calls for insights on performance, compliance, and customer satisfaction.

"When we deploy our observability solution, we can immediately offer to run the production AI voice agents for our customers—turning insights into live AI systems in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional approaches," said Iñaki Berenguer, co-founder and President of InfiniteWatch.

The Agentic Internet Needs Observability

"Trillions of AI-powered interactions are coming—agents talking to customers, agents talking to agents," said Pablo Molina, CEO and co-founder of InfiniteWatch. "Companies won't hand over critical operations to agents without visibility across QA, UX, compliance, revenue leakage, learning, reputation, and customer satisfaction. We've built the AI observability layer for this new reality. Traditional tools show you historical data. We predict what's about to break and tell you how to fix it."

InfiniteWatch has built a unified AI engine that continuously learns from thousands of interactions daily.

Throughout 2026, the company is expanding with Messaging Agent, Email Agent, and AI Co-Browsing capabilities—each sharing intelligence across the platform. As AI browsing agents like those from OpenAI and Anthropic become mainstream, companies will need to understand how these agents interact with their websites. InfiniteWatch's AI models automatically identify patterns, predict issues before they impact customers, and recommend optimizations in real-time—whether those customers are humans or AI agents.

About InfiniteWatch

Founded in Oct 2025 by the former CoverWallet leadership team in New York and Madrid, InfiniteWatch serves enterprise customers across financial services, e-commerce, and healthcare. Learn more at infinitewatch.ai.

About Base10 Partners
Founded by Adeyemi Ajao and TJ Nahigian, Base10 is a San Francisco-based venture capital fund investing in founders who believe purpose is key to profits and in companies that are automating sectors of the Real Economy. Through its program the Advancement Initiative, Base10 donates 50% of profits to underfunded colleges and universities to support financial aid and other key initiatives. Portfolio companies include Notion, Figma, Nubank, Stripe, Popmenu, Aurora Solar, and Chili Piper. Connect via base10.vc.

SOURCE InfiniteWatch

Finding Hope Through MMA
In a heartfelt moment captured on video, Coleman reflects candidly on a period in his life when he felt adrift. After years away from the spotlight, he described a time marked by aimless routines and personal struggles. But then, he said simply, “the UFC gave me hope.” That realization didn’t come from fame or glory — it came from rediscovering purpose.

This sentiment resonates strongly because it mirrors the path many fighters walk — the discipline, the grind, and the community around the sport often provide structure and identity long after the applause fades.

More Than a Fighter: Resilience in Everyday Life
Coleman’s life outside the Octagon has been marked by both heroism and hardship. In 2024, he risked his own safety to rescue his parents from a house fire in Ohio, sustaining serious injuries in the process. He later awoke from a medically induced coma, expressing profound gratitude that his loved ones survived. His emotional reaction — calling himself “the happiest man in the world” — reflected a gratitude that transcended competition and championships.

His story underscores that for many athletes, the lessons learned through their sport — courage, persistence, resilience — extend far beyond competition.

Why His Words Matter
When Mark Coleman speaks about the impact the UFC had on his life, it’s more than just nostalgia. It’s a testament to what purpose and community can do for someone struggling to find their footing again. For fighters and non-fighters alike, it’s a reminder that meaning is often found not just in success, but in the journey toward rediscovering hope.

In a world where athletic careers are fleeting, Coleman’s reflections remind us that influence — real influence — lives in the lives we touch and the stories we share.

Watch the interview below: