Startups 22 January 2026 - 12 May 2026

Indaptus Therapeutics Drops on Cash Runway Worries
····

Indaptus Therapeutics Drops on Cash Runway Worries

Indaptus Therapeutics shares fell Tuesday, underperforming the biotech sector as traders returned after the U.S. holiday break and took a harder look at the cancer-immunotherapy name’s cash situation. The stock dropped 6.6% to $1.14 by early afternoon. It opened at $1.22 and fell to an intraday low of $1.115. Volume was near 52,700 shares, which is light. The stock usually trades in small bursts.
May 26, 2026
SAP’s n8n Bet Just Created Germany’s Most Valuable AI Startup
····

SAP’s n8n Bet Just Created Germany’s Most Valuable AI Startup

SAP has picked up a strategic stake in Berlin’s n8n, putting a $5.2 billion price tag on the AI workflow automation outfit and more than doubling its valuation inside of a year, according to n8n on Tuesday. The pair struck a multi-year commercial agreement as well, which will see n8n’s technology woven into Joule Studio, SAP’s AI agent builder for automating business tasks. Timing is key here. SAP wants to prove enterprise AI isn’t just for show—it can handle real-world work in finance, procurement, HR, and the supply chain, where a misstep has consequences and oversight is tight. Joule Studio is built into the company’s new Business AI Platform. According to SAP, this platform lets developers create agents, apps, and
May 12, 2026
Algorithmiq Raises €18M and Moves HQ to Milan in Europe’s Quantum Software Race
···

Algorithmiq Raises €18M and Moves HQ to Milan in Europe’s Quantum Software Race

Algorithmiq has picked up €18 million in fresh funding and shifted its global headquarters to Milan—staking on software as the key to bringing quantum computing out of the lab and into real-world business. Company execs and backers say this is Italy’s biggest venture capital round yet for a quantum-focused startup. Timing is key here, with most of the quantum sector still zeroed in on hardware—the machines at the heart of it all. Algorithmiq, on the other hand, is all about the “algorithmic layer”: software, algorithms, and workflows designed to let quantum hardware tackle real-world problems in chemistry, materials science, and the life sciences.
May 11, 2026
NatWest Group plc’s Big Startup Banking Push Lands Before a Q1 Profit Test
···

NatWest Group plc’s Big Startup Banking Push Lands Before a Q1 Profit Test

NatWest Group plc rolled out a new venture banking unit aimed at UK high-growth firms and their investors, stepping further into startup finance just days ahead of its Q1 earnings report. According to the bank, NatWest Venture Banking plans to support businesses from the seed stage all the way to global expansion, and has tapped Amazon Web Services as a strategic partner. Timing’s key here. Citi projects NatWest’s adjusted pretax profit for Q1 will beat consensus by roughly 7%—a stronger showing than its estimates for Barclays and HSBC. Lloyds Banking Group, on the other hand, is expected to land about 3% below consensus. That places NatWest firmly ahead as UK banks start reporting results, with investors watching to see if
April 24, 2026
NatWest ramps up Scotland startup push: RBS Accelerator targets 5,000 entrepreneurs, adds £1m EDGE deal
····

NatWest ramps up Scotland startup push: RBS Accelerator targets 5,000 entrepreneurs, adds £1m EDGE deal

Royal Bank of Scotland, part of NatWest Group, is ramping up its Accelerator programme, aiming to reach 5,000 Scottish entrepreneurs this year. The push comes before the bank’s new Edinburgh hub, due to open in 2026. Royal Bank is also committing 1 million pounds to the Scottish EDGE Awards over three years, with 200,000 pounds earmarked for the Scale EDGE prize. “In our tenth anniversary year, we are going to turbocharge our support for Scotland’s entrepreneurs,” said Darren Pirie, head of accelerator and partnerships at the bank. UK banks are looking to land and keep smaller business clients, focusing on more than just offering cheaper loan rates. Getting in front of founders early can pave the way for stickier ties
March 5, 2026
Intel and Vista jump into $350M+ SambaNova raise as AI chip fight widens
····

Intel and Vista jump into $350M+ SambaNova raise as AI chip fight widens

Vista Equity Partners is leading a new funding round of more than $350 million in artificial intelligence chip startup SambaNova Systems, people familiar with the matter said. Intel, already an investor, plans to put in about $100 million, with commitments that could rise to $150 million, two of the people said. https://www.reuters.com/business/vista-equity-partners-intel-lead-investment-ai-chip-startup-samba-nova-sources-2026-02-06/ The money is aimed at inference hardware — chips that run trained AI models and spit out answers fast — as startups try to sell alternatives to Nvidia’s graphics processors, or GPUs. Demand has been building as more companies shift from training models to deploying them in products and services.
February 7, 2026
ElevenLabs snags $500 million at $11 billion valuation in Sequoia-led Series D
···

ElevenLabs snags $500 million at $11 billion valuation in Sequoia-led Series D

NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2026, 10:15 a.m. Voice-cloning AI startup ElevenLabs has reached an $11 billion valuation after closing a $500 million funding round, according to the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The Series D round was led by Sequoia Capital, the report stated.https://www.reuters.com/technology/elevenlabs-raises-500-million-11-billion-valuation-wsj-reports-2026-02-04/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
February 4, 2026
Humans& grabs a $480 million seed at a $4.48B valuation — Nvidia and Bezos join the round
··

Humans& grabs a $480 million seed at a $4.48B valuation — Nvidia and Bezos join the round

AI startup Humans& has secured $480 million in a seed round, pushing its valuation to $4.48 billion—a staggering amount for an early-stage AI lab. The funding round was spearheaded by Ron Conway’s SV Angel and co-founder Georges Harik, with backing from Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, and Alphabet’s venture capital arm GV, the company announced Tuesday. CEO Eric Zelikman told Reuters the model is designed to “coordinate with people” and other AIs “where appropriate,” aiming for a product launch early this year. The size of the financing is crucial since seed rounds—the first institutional funding many startups secure—usually cover early research, hiring, and initial product development. In this case, investors are deploying late-stage capital right from the start, highlighting just how costly
January 22, 2026
Intel talks stall as AI chip startup SambaNova hunts up to $500 million in fresh funding
···

Intel talks stall as AI chip startup SambaNova hunts up to $500 million in fresh funding

SambaNova Systems is considering a funding round that could reach $500 million after its talks to sell the AI chip startup to Intel hit a dead end, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the situation. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-21/sambanova-seeks-up-to-500-million-funding-after-intel-takeover-talks-stall The move comes at a sensitive time in the AI hardware sector. Major chipmakers are expanding their AI product ranges, while venture-backed startups scramble to manage cash flow and keep pace in a field largely controlled by a few key players.
January 22, 2026
Bezos’ Blue Origin takes on Starlink with 5,408-satellite TeraWave network plan
···

Bezos’ Blue Origin takes on Starlink with 5,408-satellite TeraWave network plan

Blue Origin revealed on Wednesday plans for a massive 5,408-satellite communications network named TeraWave. Targeting data centers, governments, and major corporations, the project takes on Elon Musk’s SpaceX in a competitive market. Jeff Bezos’s company aims to begin satellite deployment by the fourth quarter of 2027. The announcement comes amid soaring demand for fast, reliable connections to handle massive data transfers, fueled partly by the rise of AI tools and the related expansion in computing infrastructure. Major users are seeking backup paths when fiber networks get congested, damaged, or face geopolitical risks.
January 22, 2026