HiDream's world-model bet: 50M users, ¥2.1B raised, unicorn in three years
HiDream.ai (智象未来) bet visual generation leads to world models; open-sourced top-ranked models, hit 50M users, raised ¥2.1B, and crossed $1B valuation.
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2,000 CAS PUBLIÉS · MIS À JOUR RÉGULIÈREMENTPhagos bets AI-designed phages replace antibiotics in animals; €25M Series A
Paris biotech Phagos pairs AI with bacteriophages, bacteria-killing viruses, to fight antibiotic resistance in livestock first; €25M Series A.
Lire le casBia Energy's software-led power bet: 4,000+ clients, Kaszek-led $18.5M round
Bia Energy bet businesses would switch retailers for data-driven power savings: 4,000+ clients, $18.5M Kaszek round, utility-software spinoff.
Lire le casZepto's 10-minute grocery bet: $2B raised, still private, IPO pushed back
Two teen founders bet India would switch to 10-minute grocery delivery; Zepto raised $1.3B in 2024 and $450M at $7B, then slowed its IPO.
Lire le casFacepunch: a free 2004 mod became a no-publisher studio with nine-figure sales
A free Source-engine mod became Garry's Mod (20M+ sales) and Rust (12M+), all self-published, with no publisher and no outside investment.
Lire le casByju's acquisition spree ends in insolvency: founder says once-$22B edtech is 'worth zero'
Byju's bought two dozen companies on pandemic optimism, then lost investors; insolvency opened in July 2024 over a ₹158.9 crore sponsorship debt.
Lire le casKlar's credit-first banking bet: $190M Series C, 7M users, then Banorte's Bineo license
Mexico's credit-first neobank grew to 7M users and profitability, raised $190M, then bought Banorte's failed digital bank to get a banking license.
Lire le casIQM's on-premises bet lands: Euro-Q-Exa, its 54-qubit Radiance, goes live at LRZ
IQM bets Europe will own rather than rent quantum computers — its 54-qubit Radiance at LRZ becomes Germany's first EuroHPC quantum machine.
Lire le casSelex Motors bet delivery fleets would swap EV batteries, then Hanoi's ban stalled
Selex Motors built 'battery ATM' swap stations for Vietnam's delivery fleets — then Hanoi's petrol-bike ban, the sector's catalyst, unravelled.
Lire le casRenight (Munice) tops Japan App Store Health chart on sleep-debt pitch
Korean Munice's AI brainwave sleep app Renight hit #1 on Japan's App Store Health chart with ~$312K in 30-day revenue, 96% from Japan.
Lire le casNowports bets LatAm SMEs digitize China trade; $150M Series C makes a $1.1B unicorn
Two logistics-family founders digitized freight for LatAm SMEs trading with China, nearly died on cash flow, then hit a $1.1B valuation in ten months.
Lire le casMagiCrew bets open-source AI 'digital workers' beat the stack of AI subscriptions
Apache-2.0 platform from OSS veterans Yaqi Dong and Chen Caoqihao lands PH #3 (2026-09-03, 269 votes) selling AI workers that finish deliverables.
Lire le casNari Labs' open-source Dia TTS drew 100K downloads in two weeks
Two Korean undergrads trained Dia, a 1.6B-parameter open TTS with laugh and cough control, on free Google TPUs and hit 100K downloads in two weeks.
Lire le casAdaptyv Bio bets the wet lab is AI biology's bottleneck and automates it for $40M
A Lausanne startup turned protein testing into an API: AI designs thousands of candidates, Adaptyv's lab tells you which ones work.
Lire le casCandela's flying-ferry bet: electric hydrofoil commuter line spreads from Stockholm
Stockholm's Candela bet foils fix electric boats' drag; its P-12 ferry now runs Stockholm transit, with orders from Mumbai, Berlin and Saudi Arabia.
Lire le casEvermos bet chat-based resellers could move halal goods across small-town Indonesia
A Bandung social-commerce startup that grew a six-figure network of WhatsApp resellers selling curated halal products — still independent and operating in 2026.
Lire le casHabby's Dicero! tops Korea iOS free charts at launch; $2B maker pivots to IAP
Habby (Archero, Survivor.io) launched dice-roguelite Dicero! on Apr 22, 2026, betting IAP over rewarded ads; day one: Korea #1, US and Japan top-10.
Lire le casElevify bets AI-curated courses make a seven-person team a global rival to Coursera
Brazil's Elevify structures scattered online lessons into courses, hit 220,000 new students a month and breakeven, then raised $1.35M for 140 countries.
Lire le casInfinitePay's free-phone-terminal bet wins Brazil: 6.3M sellers, $1.3B run rate
InfinitePay turns any smartphone into a free card terminal for Brazilian micro-entrepreneurs; 6.3M sellers in 2025, $990M revenue, #1 finance app
Lire le casInnospace's hybrid-rocket bet survived a 30-second crash — every client stayed
Korean rocket startup Innospace's first commercial launch crashed at 30 seconds; every satellite client kept its contract and booked the 2026 reflight
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