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 CASOS PUBLICADOS · ATUALIZADOS REGULARMENTEWaterlily 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.
Ler o casoGetASAP 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.
Ler o casoRerun 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.
Ler o casoComfyUI: 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.
Ler o casoMemphis 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.
Ler o casoAmber 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.
Ler o casoEnvato: 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.
Ler o casoiROKOtv'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.
Ler o casoYoLearn.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.
Ler o casoQuidax'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.
Ler o casoBlue 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.
Ler o casoPebble'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.
Ler o casoSalva 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.
Ler o casoGO 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.
Ler o casoQdrant 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.
Ler o casoStability 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.
Ler o casoIntellia'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
Ler o casoBattery 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.
Ler o casoSwappie 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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