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New AI models are decoding the immune system 10x faster, chatbot builders are fighting retailers for the $3T future of agentic shopping, and Europe’s biggest landlords just formed the Avengers of proptech to help 500 startups scale. Amazon Music now lets you blast your playlists straight to TikTok, while AI at work is rescuing teams from 30% of their wasted hours.
Video pick: The Weird (but Exciting) State of Startup Funding
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🎙 Catch the punchline hidden in this week’s headlines 🎙
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Six bullets of updates
🧬 New AI models help decode the immune system, accelerating progress towards personalized disease prevention with 10x faster cell analysis.
🛒 Chatbot builders and retailers vie for valuable data as agentic shopping's $3T future takes shape.
🏢 Europe’s top landlords join forces to help proptech startups scale, aiming to support 500 companies by 2027.
🎵 Amazon Music rolls out a “Share to TikTok” button, letting users post tracks, playlists, and listening stats directly to the app.
🤖 AI is pushing teams to collaborate smarter with machines, saving up to 30% of work hours lost to inefficiency.
💸 [RSVP] Crash course on startup fundraising with Caya happening Nov 17 — free webinar for founders.
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Pine Labs takes a victory lap—even after a valuation haircut
Photo by Blake Wisz on Unsplash
Pine Labs made a strong public debut, rising 14% on its first trading day after a $440M IPO, even though its valuation dipped from over $5B privately to about $3.3B. The Indian payment-tech firm—now operating in 20 global markets—has evolved from a point-of-sale provider into a broad fintech platform and recently turned profitable. Backed by investors like PayPal, Mastercard, Temasek, and Peak XV, Pine Labs’ listing comes amid a surge in Indian IPO activity following Groww’s debut earlier in the week.
With rising revenue, expanding overseas operations, and plans to deepen its product offerings, Pine Labs aims to strengthen its competitive moat and capitalize on strong domestic investor appetite as India’s IPO market accelerates.
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The Weird (but Exciting) State of Startup Funding
Startup deal volume is dropping in 2025, but the checks are getting bigger—fast. In this video, we break down the contradictions behind the surge of “solo employee unicorns”, billion-dollar startups born in under two years, why VCs are moving quicker than ever, and what all of this means if you’re raising your first round.
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Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays
Over the next year, Roku predicts that 100% of the streaming audience will see ads. For growth marketers in 2026, CTV will remain an important “safe space” as AI creates widespread disruption in the search and social channels. Plus, easier access to self-serve CTV ad buying tools and targeting options will lead to a surge in locally-targeted streaming campaigns.
Read our guide to find out why growth marketers should make sure CTV is part of their 2026 media mix.
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SaaS Growth Calculator
A growth calculator that lets you forecast the impact of your ARPU (average revenue per user) and Churn Rate on the long-term potential of your subscription business.
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20 humans, one Bot, zero sleep: OpenAI tests the future of chat
OpenAI is piloting group chats in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan—think WhatsApp-for-prompts with a referee that never sleeps. Works on web/mobile, Free/Plus/Team, and supports up to 20 participants; tag the bot, and only AI replies count toward usage caps. Why it matters: multi-user prompt engineering shifts from docs to chat, pressuring Slack/Teams extensions and boosting retention. Expect enterprise asks next—admin controls, audit trails, data guardrails—and scrutiny on PII leakage and access governance. APAC-first looks like a low-risk probe before a broader rollout.
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Startup Events and Deadlines
Talent TechWalk l Nov 16 l Chicago
Crash Course on Startup Fundraising with Caya (Slidebean CEO) l Nov 17 l Webinar
Crash Course in Financial Modeling l Nov 20 l Webinar