Prusa Research bootstrapped open-source 3D printing to ~3.6B CZK revenue, no investors
A Czech student's open-source printer kits grew into a no-VC hardware empire shipping 100,000+ machines a year and €160M+ in revenue.
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2,000 CAS PUBLIÉS · MIS À JOUR RÉGULIÈREMENTWaterlily bets AI predictions can get families to plan long-term care early
Founded after an aunt's illness financially devastated her family, Waterlily sells AI long-term-care forecasts to advisors and insurers; $9.2M raised by 2026.
Lire le casGetASAP bets software-led distribution beats legacy wholesalers; teens raise $3.45M
A teen founder's candy-arbitrage hustle became a YC-backed 8-hour SEA distributor, then pivoted to AI-native US produce logistics.
Lire le casRerun bets physical AI needs its own data stack; $17M seed from Point Nine
Stockholm startup open-sourced the logging/visualization layer for robots and sensors, adopted by Meta/Google/Unitree, then raised $17M to build the database.
Lire le casComfyUI: node-based open-source AI engine backed to a $500M valuation
ComfyUI's bet that node workflows beat prompt boxes grew from a solo repo to 4M users and a $500M valuation.
Lire le casMemphis Meats serves first lab-grown chicken strips as cost halves to $9,000/lb
Memphis Meats served the first chicken strips grown from cells in a lab in March 2017, its cost per pound halving to $9,000 in under a year.
Lire le casAmber bets Australia's 5-minute market lets households win the grid; $45M Series D
Amber passes wholesale prices to households and automates batteries and EVs, riding Australia's five-minute settlement reform to its largest VPP.
Lire le casEnvato: bootstrapped 18 years, then sold to Shutterstock for $245M
Sydney garage marketplace for digital assets grew to $50M+ turnover and 650k subscribers with zero VC, then sold for $245M cash.
Lire le casiROKOtv's 'Netflix of Africa' bet: $100M spent, Nollywood streaming shut down in 2025
Lagos-born iROKOtv bet Nollywood fans would pay for legal streaming; Tiger Global, Kinnevik and Canal+ backed it, and $100M later the service was shut down.
Lire le casYoLearn.ai bets Indian students will talk to AI tutors hidden inside textbooks
Noida startup YoLearn.ai embeds voice AI tutors in school textbooks across 22 languages; ABP Education's seed gives it a 25,000-school distribution route.
Lire le casQuidax's regulation bet: first SEC-licensed Nigerian exchange
A homegrown Nigerian exchange, founded after its CEO was scammed, bet that licensing would beat the gray market — and won the SEC's first approval.
Lire le casBlue Origin's New Glenn bet reaches orbit, then loses its first customer payload
New Glenn reached orbit on flight one (Jan 2025), landed its booster on flight two — then flight three stranded a customer's satellite.
Lire le casPebble's 2025 comeback: open-source PebbleOS, $149 Core 2 Duo sells out
Eric Migicovsky relaunched Pebble via Core Devices after Google open-sourced PebbleOS; preorders sold out and 2,960 units shipped by Oct 2025.
Lire le casSalva Health bets portable AI screening can close LatAm's mammogram gap; wins Disrupt 2024
Colombian startup Salva Health built Julieta, a portable breast-screening device, won TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield, and is charging payors per test.
Lire le casGO bets Japan's 2024 ride-share law locks its taxi-app dominance; 25M downloads
Japan's #1 taxi app starts matching private-driver ride-share vehicles right after the April 2024 law, keeping Uber at bay; record 10M monthly rides.
Lire le casQdrant bets dedicated vector search wins AI retrieval; $50M Series B
Berlin's open-source Rust vector database: 250M+ downloads, 29k stars, used by Canva, HubSpot and xAI; $50M Series B in 2026.
Lire le casStability AI's open-model bet: $1B unicorn, 2024 rescue, $76M entertainment Series B
Stable Diffusion's creator went from a $1B seed valuation to a cash crisis and 2024 rescue, then a $76M Series B backed by music labels and EA.
Lire le casIntellia's in-vivo CRISPR bet passes first human test: infused editor cuts disease protein
Intellia's first systemic CRISPR infusion data (2021): disease protein plunged in six patients, validating gene editing inside the body
Lire le casBattery Smart's pay-per-swap bet: 95M swaps, 1,600 stations, EBITDA positive
Battery Smart bet e-rickshaw drivers would rent batteries, not own them; a $350K seed became 1,600+ swap stations, 90,000 drivers and EBITDA positivity.
Lire le casSwappie bets refurbished iPhones go mainstream; first full-year EBITDA profit
Swappie rebuilds used iPhones in its own centers and sells them with warranty; 2025 revenue EUR 249M (+20%), first full-year EBITDA profit of EUR 2.5M.
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