Lumikai Leads USD600K Pre-Seed Round in Demoverse, an AI Platform Turning Consumers into Product Co-Creators

bahrainnews.net Sep 24, 2026

Lumikai Leads USD600K Pre-Seed Round in Demoverse, an AI Platform Turning Consumers into Product Co-Creators

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Sep 24, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

Demoverse, an AI‑powered co‑creation platform that lets brands build products with consumer input, secured USD600 k in a pre‑seed round led by Lumikai, India's first interactive‑media VC fund. Lumikai contributed USD500 k through its Pixels program, while UAE investor Marlan and several angels also participated. The platform enables brands to post concepts, lets consumers reshape designs via AI, and aggregates community votes to generate a clear product direction and demand signal before production. Winners earn royalties, positioning the service as a shift from user‑generated content to user‑generated products.

💡 Why It Matters

· By turning consumers into co‑designers, Demoverse could slash costly mis‑forecasting in fashion and other consumer goods, offering brands a data‑driven, low‑risk path to market‑aligned products.

AI Capsules Funding Startups

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Xi Jinping has made China’s hard-tech rise core to his policy—and U.S.…

Xi Jinping’s Washington visit underscores China’s pivot to hard‑technology, with AI at the forefront of bilateral talks. Both sides have agreed to an “AI hotline” to prevent runaway systems. Beijing’s hard‑tech surge, accelerated by U.S. sanctions and supply‑chain restrictions, is evident in the success of ChangXin Memory Technologies and Unitree Robotics. The 15th Five‑Year Plan (2026‑2030) outlines a strategy for technological sovereignty, while Xi’s directives in Shanghai and Beijing emphasize early, long‑term investment in basic research and small‑scale projects. The U.S. countermeasures—expanded entity lists, “Pax Silica,” and pressure on allies—aim to curb China’s progress but may instead hasten its self‑reliance.

💡 The U.S. blockade is reshaping global tech alliances, forcing countries to choose sides in the AI race and potentially redefining international supply chains.

egamers.io · Sep 24

Qwen’s New Omni-Flash Model Prices Multimodal AI at a Fraction of Gemini…

Qwen has launched its Qwen 3.8‑Omni‑Flash multimodal model, priced at $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.47 per million output tokens, compared with Google’s Gemini 3.8 Flash at $0.75 and $3.75 respectively. The model targets AI agents, processing audio and video simultaneously, and claims performance close to Gemini on audio‑video tasks. Qwen estimates audio input costs under $0.01 per hour and a 720p video with audio at roughly $0.20, excluding response generation. The model is available via Qwen Studio, Qwen Cloud, and API, with open‑source plugins for video editing and speaker recognition.

💡 By offering comparable multimodal capabilities at a fraction of Gemini’s cost, Qwen lowers the barrier for deploying AI agents in media‑heavy applications, potentially accelerating adoption in video editing, translation, and summarization.

newspatrolling.com · Sep 24

KLH Aziznagar Brings Global Experts Together to Explore AI and Industrial IoT…

KLH Aziznagar inaugurated the IEEE International Conference on AI and Security for Industrial IoT Systems (AI‑SIIS 2026) on September 24, 2026. The three‑day event, concluding on September 26, attracted researchers, industry leaders, academicians, and students to discuss how artificial intelligence can enhance security and reliability in industrial IoT systems. A total of 886 papers were submitted, with 187 accepted and 123 slated for presentation. Over 100 participants, including prominent speakers from Spain, Germany, Sri Lanka, and India, are expected to attend. The conference is led by Dr. Mousmi Ajay Chaurasia under Principal Dr. A. Ramakrishna’s guidance, with support from KLH faculty and staff.

💡 The gathering positions KLH Aziznagar as a hub for cutting‑edge AI‑IoT security research, fostering international collaboration that could accelerate the deployment of safer industrial automation solutions.

theage.com.au · Sep 24

Nice work on the Medicare hack, Albo, but you’re still letting AI…

Australian artist Ben Quilty and 250 other creators allege that OpenAI scraped every image of their work from the internet without permission, claiming a massive theft of creative labor. The claim follows a similar accusation against a novel by Quilty’s wife, Kylie Needham, and has drawn criticism from Microsoft’s applied‑science director, who described the act as the “largest theft of labour in human history.” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese publicly confronted OpenAI over the Medicare data breach, yet critics argue his government remains complicit in AI’s exploitation of artists’ intellectual property.

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technext24.com · Sep 24

Could AI end the world? Nigerian fintechs are more worried about fraud…

At Nigeria Fintech Week 2026, a panel titled “Artificial Intelligence at Work” highlighted how Nigerian fintechs prioritize practical AI applications over global doomsday fears. Moderated by David Afolayan, the discussion focused on the gap between AI adoption and human oversight, coined “cognitive surrender.” CEOs from VFD Technologies, CBI Technologies, and Advansio emphasized the need for robust, secure infrastructure to handle large volumes of financial data and the importance of verifying AI outputs. The session underscored that speed does not equal certainty, and fintechs must decide which AI decisions warrant trust.

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fastcompanyme.com · Sep 24

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Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Commerce reported a 31% rise in commercial registrations for artificial intelligence activities in 2026, totaling 24,552. The growth was driven by expansions in computer programming, information and communications, and logistics services, which saw a 25% increase to 32,154 registrations. Creative arts, cybersecurity, and electronic games also grew, with 8,650, 11,275, and 977 registrations respectively. The Kingdom designated 2026 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence, bolstering AI infrastructure through Humain and a partnership with Canada’s Cohere, targeting deployment in late 2027.

💡 The surge in AI registrations signals Saudi Arabia’s rapid shift toward a data‑driven economy, positioning the kingdom as a regional hub for advanced technology and innovation.