Latest news with #PaloAlto
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tensec raises $12M to boost growth
This story was originally published on Payments Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Payments Dive newsletter. Tensec, the Palo Alto, California-based cross-border payments startup, has raised $12 million, the company announced Wednesday. Costanoa Ventures led the funding round, with seven other firms, including Quiet Capital, WillowTree Investments, Cambrian VC and Ignia Partners, also participating in the round, the release said The funding will support the company's efforts to facilitate cross-border payments, real-time payments and transaction banking services for global trading companies and their clients, per the press release. With its latest funding round, the company aims to expand real-time payments and banking services to more small and medium-sized companies, the release said. Tensec says its clients handle $10 billion in annual trade volume. The company anticipates that its pending expansion into Europe and Asia will increase this annual trading volume to $30 billion, per the press release. 'SMBs drive nearly half of global trade but have long been excluded from the financial tools that larger players rely on,' Helcio Nobre, CEO and co-founder of Tensec, said in a statement. 'We're flipping the model by empowering global trading companies to deliver these services directly to their partners—making global commerce faster, cheaper and more accessible.' Tensec, like other cross-border fintechs, says it's 'targeting the massive cross-border payments infrastructure that still runs on 40-year-old SWIFT technology.' Global cross-border payments 'remain largely untouched by innovation,' Tensec said in the release. Meanwhile, other cross-border payment providers have been attracting investors recently. Last month, Palla Financial, another cross-border payments provider, received $14.5 million from Revolution Ventures, Y Combinator, Meta Fund and other investors. That same week, Conduit Technology, the cross-border payments provider using stablecoins, raised $36 million from Dragonfly and Altos Ventures and other investment firms. Alongside fundraising activities among cross-border payment companies, payment veterans are partnering with their international counterparts. In April, PayPal Holdings subsidiary Xoom teamed up with Tencent to provide cross-border payments for Weixin Pay users. As part of the deal, customers in the U.S., Canada and Europe can access the service, but the company said it planned to expand the offering to more markets. Recommended Reading Payoneer CEO sees trade bumps as short-term Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNA
7 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
Travel tech firm Navan confidentially files for US IPO
Corporate travel and expense company Navan said on Friday it had confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering, as it looks to take advantage of growing investor optimism for new listings after a dry spell. The terms of the offering were not disclosed. The Palo Alto, California-based company, backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed among others, raised $304 million in equity and structured debt financing in 2022 and was valued at $9.2 billion at the time, according to the company. Activity in the U.S. IPO market, which started the year on a slower footing, has shown signs of a sustained revival in recent weeks after a couple of fresh flotations received overwhelming investor support. The technology sector has been dominating the U.S. IPO headlines in the recent revival along with finance, with companies such as space and defence tech firm Voyager Technologies and adtech MNTN making stellar debuts. Chime Financial's shares also surged in one of the most hotly anticipated New York debuts of the month, paving the path for public offerings of a few big names like crypto exchange Gemini and fintech firm Klarna later in the year. "We do see the IPO pipeline building, and forecast an active fall (season)," said Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs. "In addition to the core institutional IPO buyers, who are looking for strong growth, profitability, and reasonable valuations, it's healthy to see traders looking to get in on a hot deal," Kennedy added. Navan, founded in 2015 as TripActions, began as a corporate travel management platform aiming to streamline services offered by traditional players such as American Express and SAP Concur. It later expanded into corporate payments and expense management.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Navan Announces Confidential Submission of Draft Registration Statement
PALO ALTO, Calif., June 20, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Navan, Inc. has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the SEC relating to a proposed initial public offering. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. The proposed initial public offering remains subject to the completion of the SEC review process as well as market and other conditions. This announcement is being issued pursuant to, and in accordance with, Rule 135 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act"). This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Any offers, solicitations of offers to buy, or any sales of securities will be made in accordance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act. About Navan Navan, the leading all-in-one business travel and expense management solution that makes travel easy for frequent travelers. From finding flights and hotels, to automating expense reconciliation, with 24/7 support along the way, Navan delivers an intuitive experience travelers love and finance teams rely on. See how Navan customers benefit and learn more at View source version on Contacts Eric Smithesmith@
Forbes
11 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Connected Minds: Preparing For The Cognitive Gig Economy
Alex Lazovsky is a General Partner at Palo Alto Growth Capital, a VC firm based in Palo Alto, California—the heart of Silicon Valley. Imagine a future freelancer leasing out a slice of their own mind to a multinational corporation for an hour. In this speculative future, neural implants could allow human brains to plug into a shared 'neural cloud' on demand. Brainpower becomes a tradable resource—cognitive gig workers for hire. It sounds like science fiction, yet rapid advances in neurotechnology and big investments in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) could someday bring that vision closer to reality. To understand how these advancements could affect businesses and investors, let's take a closer look at the existing technology and where it may be heading. Neurotech startups are already blurring the line between man and machine. Neuralink recently raised over $600 million in a funding round, catapulting its valuation to about $9 billion. This investor enthusiasm reflects the 'convergence of neuroscience and AI' and the belief that it could redefine how humans interact with technology. Neuralink demonstrated a human patient controlling a cursor and even browsing the internet using only their thoughts—early evidence of the transformative potential of high-bandwidth brain implants. Neuralink is not alone. Synchron, an Australian-American firm, has developed a less invasive implant that can be fed into the brain's blood vessels via the jugular vein, avoiding open brain surgery. Meanwhile, Precision Neuroscience raised over $100 million to develop an implant enabling users to control devices with thought. Venture capital is flooding into neurotech—total funding topped $2.3 billion in 2024, a more than threefold increase from just two years prior. From medical device firms to Big Tech, many investors see the brain as the next big platform. These efforts focus initially on healing—giving paralyzed patients new means to communicate or control prosthetics. But their long-term implications could reach further. Futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts that by the early 2030s, we may be able to network the human neocortex to the cloud over high-bandwidth connections. Companies like Neuralink, Paradromics and Blackrock Neurotech are already working on the technical substrate—micron-scale electrode threads and wireless interfaces—that might one day support a neural internet. Early research offers intriguing hints. In one experiment, neuroscientists connected three people's brains so they could jointly play a Tetris-like game via brain-to-brain communication. The system, dubbed BrainNet, showed that multiple minds can collaborate through a direct neural link, even across the internet. 'Our results raise the possibility of future brain-to-brain interfaces that enable cooperative problem-solving by humans using a 'social network' of connected brains,' the team noted. If human brains become nodes on a neural network, a new marketplace may emerge around cognitive capacity on demand. Just as cloud computing turned computing power into a utility, a 'cognitive gig economy' could turn mental work into a cloud service. Individuals might rent out spare brain bandwidth in exchange for payment, performing data analysis, pattern recognition or creative brainstorming via direct neural link. A company of the future might hire 1,000 connected minds for an hour to crowdsource a tough research problem—not by convening a meeting but by literally tapping into distributed human brains through the neural cloud. Such scenarios sound surreal, yet they extrapolate from trends already in motion. Automation and AI are transforming traditional jobs, but paradoxically, human intelligence may become a commodity itself—outsourced, fractional and ubiquitous. Knowledge workers could one day freelance their neurons, akin to Uber drivers lending their cars or time. A 'Brain-as-a-Service' industry might arise, with exchanges or platforms matching those who need cognitive help with those willing to provide it via neural link. For all its promise, this cognitive gig economy raises profound ethical and societal questions. If your brain is connected to the cloud, who safeguards your mental privacy? Brain data can reveal deeply personal information—emotions, memories, even subconscious biases. Questions of cognitive liberty loom large: Would people feel pressured to get brain implants to compete in the future job market? Could employers favor workers who can literally 'multitask' with an AI coprocessor in their heads? There's also the risk of neuro-exploitation. In a world where disadvantaged individuals might rent out their mental processing to make ends meet, new forms of inequality could emerge. The cognitive gig economy might empower people to earn money with their minds, but it could also commoditize human cognition, treating thoughts as labor units. If the 'main products of the 21st-century economy' indeed become 'bodies, brains and minds,' as Yuval Noah Harari suggests, society must grapple with how to value and protect those minds in the marketplace. What steam power and electricity were to past centuries, neural interfaces might be to this one—a general-purpose technology that could transform economies and lives. For forward-looking investors and executives, I recommend keeping a close eye on your head because it may also be your next capital asset. If the next era becomes one of connected minds, those who can balance bold innovation with human-centered ethics might shape a future where brainpower for hire could truly benefit humanity. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Associated Press
13 hours ago
- Business
- Associated Press
DeepBrain AI: AI Studios 4.0 Enables Cinematic-Grade Video Generation from Text Prompt
2,000+ AI avatars from DeepBrain AI enable scalable, next-level video creation Palo Alto, California--(Newsfile Corp. - June 20, 2025) - DeepBrain AI has launched AI Studios 4.0, enabling users to create cinematic-quality videos from simple text prompts—no cameras, actors, or editing tools needed. This marks a major leap in fast, easy, and cost-effective video production. With these capabilities, the platform becomes even more valuable for YouTube creators and individual content producers seeking scalable, high-impact video solutions. [ This image cannot be displayed. Please visit the source: ] To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: Next-Level AI Video Creation - From YouTubers to Global Content Creators With version 4.0, AI Studios enhances creative freedom through prompt-based cinematic storytelling. Marketers can now launch multilingual campaigns with ease, educators can develop engaging learning content more efficiently, and enterprise teams can deliver global branded videos—all without the delays or complexities of traditional production workflows. New and Enhanced Features in AI Studios 4.0 AI Studios 4.0 introduces a range of powerful updates aimed at optimizing the creative process: These updates aim to support use cases across education, corporate training, marketing, and social media, reinforcing AI Studios' role as a versatile production solution. Flexible Subscription Plans AI Studios 4.0 offers flexible plans tailored to individuals, teams, and enterprises—ranging from complimentary access with essential features to advanced tools for professional collaboration and large-scale production. Positioning for Global AI Video Innovation AI Studios 4.0 makes it easier than ever to create powerful content for education, marketing, and business—thanks to its multilingual support, creative freedom, and simple, user-friendly design. With this latest update, DeepBrain AI is redefining what's possible in AI video generation—helping creators around the world communicate and tell stories in smarter, faster, and more engaging ways. Media Contact Ava Seo DeepBrain AI, Inc. 540 University Ave., Suite 200 Palo Alto, CA 94301, USA To view the source version of this press release, please visit
