TechCapsules

HIFI Bridge secured $37 million in a Series A round led by Left Lane Capital, aiming to broaden its stablecoin payment, card, and tokenized securities infrastructure. The company currently processes over $7 billion in annualized volume across 87 countries, linking traditional bank rails with on‑chain settlements. The funding will support expansion into stablecoin‑backed card products and infrastructure for tokenized capital‑market transactions, following recent collaborations with DTCC, Visa, and major financial institutions. The round underscores HIFI’s role as a bridge between [...]

Synthesia, the UK‑based video‑generation startup valued at $4 billion, created an interactive digital avatar of journalist Alexandru Voica after he visited its new New York office. The avatar was built from a two‑minute voice recording and a photo shoot, then trained on a specific article about venture‑backed startup fraud, allowing it to answer only questions related to that story. Synthesia’s platform combines its own video and voice models with optional third‑party services, offering three product lines: scripted avatar videos, [...]

Muju Earth unveiled the Aeropod, a fingernail‑sized device that aerates soil without machinery. Farmers drop the pod with seeds, and it bursts open when exposed to temperature, pressure, and moisture, creating channels that improve air, water, and root flow. The startup claims the Aeropod can cut tilling costs by half or more, targeting onion growers in the U.K. where compaction is a major yield issue. Nine farmers are in paid field trials this fall, with over 30 [...]

Vietnamese electric‑mobility firm Green SM launched a pilot electric taxi service in Amsterdam, its second European market after Denmark, using VinFast vehicles. The pilot covers the Centrum, West and Zuid districts, with plans to expand to Oost, Noord, Nieuw‑West and Zuidoost. Green SM will build a driver network, refine operations, and set service standards before scaling across the city. The launch adds a new commercial channel for VinFast in Europe and tests the company’s integrated vehicle‑and‑platform model. [...]

Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg announced a new board and advisory panel, adding two founders of the social‑media startup IRL and Sarah Perez, author of the Silo book series, as members. The move follows a period of internal restructuring and aims to broaden the company’s strategic outlook. Mullenweg highlighted the board’s diverse expertise in community building, content creation, and technology innovation. The announcement was made during a virtual press conference and signals a shift toward a more inclusive governance model. [...]

British neocloud Nscale secured $3.36 billion in convertible financing ahead of its planned NYSE IPO. The round, led by hedge fund Third Point, provides $2.36 billion immediately and an additional $1 billion from Nvidia, due in mid‑November. The notes will convert to equity once the IPO closes. Nscale, spun out of Australian miner Arkon Energy, has filed for a $35 billion valuation and aims to raise $3 billion. It is building AI data‑center campuses in Norway and West Virginia and has over [...]

On 25 September 2026, India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) signed its first high‑value Technology Development Fund (TDF) contract with domestic startup Zero mK India to design and build a 20 millikelvin dilution refrigerator. The project, funded under the expanded ₹500‑crore TDF corpus, aims to secure a domestic supply chain for sub‑kelvin cryogenic hardware critical to quantum computing and defense systems. DRDO’s Solid State Physics Laboratory will mentor and evaluate the work, aligning the effort with the National Quantum Mission to [...]

Overlord Labs announced the close of a $4.35 million Series Seed extension, bringing its total financing to $10 million including prior seed and non‑dilutive capital. The round was led by Band of Angels and included Foothill Ventures, Unlock Pacific Ventures, NuFund Venture Group, Sand Hill Angels and Castle Fund, alongside returning angel investors. The funding supports the company’s shift from tape‑out to product validation for its GENESIS™ Battery Intelligence IC, which integrates proprietary Silicon × Algorithm Architecture to deliver adaptive power‑management [...]