## Meta Platforms Inc. has inked a multi-year contract valued at over $100 million to leverage technology from **AI image startup Black Forest Labs**. This move represents the latest in a series of investments by the social media giant to bolster its artificial intelligence capabilities.

As part of the agreement, Meta will invest **$35 million in the first year** and **$105 million in the second year** into the German-based startup, according to sources familiar with the deal who requested anonymity due to the private nature of the information.

Meta Platforms Inc. has signed a multi-year contract worth more than $100 million to use technology from AI image startup Black Forest Labs, the latest investment by the social media firm to expand its artificial intelligence offerings.

Meta's $140M AI Image Deal with Black Forest Labs: A Game-Changer for Tech Startups?

## The Rise of Mistral AI's Founders

The three founders of **Mistral AI** have become France's first artificial intelligence billionaires following a funding round that valued the tech firm at **€11.7 billion ($13.7 billion)**.

### Who Are the Billionaires?

- **Arthur Mensch**, the 33-year-old chief executive officer
- **Timothee Lacroix**, 34 years old
- **Guillaume Lample**, 34 years old

Each holds a net worth of **$1.1 billion**, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This wealth is derived from their stakes of at least **8%** in Mistral AI, which they established in Paris in **2023**.

The three founders of Mistral AI emerged as France’s first artificial intelligence billionaires after a funding round valued the tech firm at €11.7 billion ($13.7 billion).

Meet France's First AI Billionaires: How a Homegrown Startup Soared to a €11.7 Billion Valuation

Perplexity, a leading artificial intelligence-powered search engine, has successfully finalized a new funding round, securing $200 million at a valuation of $20 billion. This development comes just under two months after the startup raised capital at an $18 billion valuation, highlighting its rapid growth and investor confidence.

**Key details** of the funding include commitments from various investors, underscoring the strong interest in AI-driven technologies. The company, which is only three years old, has been engaging in frequent but relatively modest financings, indicating a strategic approach to scaling its operations.

For more in-depth coverage and exclusive insights, readers are encouraged to explore further resources. This article is styled with markdown for clarity and engagement.

 Perplexity, which runs an artificial intelligence-powered search engine, has secured commitments from investors for $200 million in new funding at a $20 billion valuation, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The new capital comes less than two months after the three-year-old startup raised money at a $18 billion valuation. 

 The frequent but relatively modest financings, at

Perplexity AI Soars to $20 Billion Valuation in Stunning Funding Round

# The Inspiring Journey of Sandra Oh Lin and KiwiCo

Sandra Oh Lin, a 50-year-old from Los Altos, California, leveraged her engineering background to start a side hustle that evolved into **KiwiCo**, a company generating over **$1 billion in lifetime revenue**. What began as a way to foster creativity and problem-solving in her children through hands-on play has grown into a global enterprise shipping more than 50 million crates to families in over 40 countries.

## From Inspiration to Action

After stepping away from a seven-year stint at **eBay**, where she launched PayPal Mobile and led the fashion business, Sandra was exploring a new startup idea. However, her focus shifted when she sought to engage her kids with educational activities. Drawing on her own childhood memories of building things with her mom, she started creating projects in her garage. These initial efforts were shared with friends during playdates, sparking enthusiasm that convinced her to pursue it as a business.

## Building the Business

To get KiwiCo off the ground, Sandra raised over **$10 million in venture funding** by leveraging her network. Despite her strong background in product design and ecommerce from roles at Procter & Gamble, PayPal, and eBay, she lacked experience in fulfillment and operations. She surrounded herself with experts, like Mike Smith, former COO of Walmart, who provided invaluable guidance.

KiwiCo quickly became profitable and self-funded, with a subscription-based model ensuring consistent monthly revenue from the start. The company has created over 1,500 hands-on products and activities, emphasizing **creativity** and confidence-building for children.

## Challenges and Lessons Learned

One of the biggest hurdles was during the **pandemic**, when surging demand made it difficult to source supplies. Sandra emphasizes the importance of strong relationships with suppliers to navigate such challenges. Reflecting on her journey, she wishes she had focused earlier on defining and cultivating a strong company culture to avoid costly hiring mistakes.

A memorable early setback was the first alpha shipment, which took a team of five an entire day to box and ship just 19 crates. This highlighted the need for better systems to scale efficiently.

## Growth and Impact

Today, KiwiCo has expanded into wholesale channels, with products now available in **Target** and Barnes & Noble. Sandra takes pride not just in the financial success but in the millions of moments of creativity and discovery facilitated for families worldwide. Her children remain involved as testers, ensuring the products resonate with kids.

## Key Advice for Entrepreneurs

Sandra's top piece of advice is to find a community of founders. Sharing challenges and opportunities with peers provides both actionable insights and empathetic support, which is crucial for navigating the ups and downs of building a business.

![Sandra Oh Lin](https://assets.entrepreneur.com/images/misc/1757436923_sandra_headshot_vertical_720.jpg?width=1000)
*Image Credit: Courtesy of KiwiCo. Sandra Oh Lin.*

![KiwiCo Labs](https://assets.entrepreneur.com/images/misc/1757439370_1600x900_Labs4.jpg?width=1000)
*Image Credit: Courtesy of KiwiCo*

![KiwiCo Sprout](https://assets.entrepreneur.com/images/misc/1757439399_1600x900_Sprout1.jpg?width=1000)
*Image Credit: Courtesy of KiwiCo*

![KiwiCo Clubs](https://assets.entrepreneur.com/images/misc/1757439425_kiwico-clubs.jpg)
*Image Credit: Courtesy of KiwiCo*

Sandra Oh Lin, 50, drew on her engineering background to start a side hustle to help her kids get creative and problem solve with play. Here's her success story.

From Garage to $1 Billion: How a Mom's Side Hustle for Kids Sparked a Global Empire

# OpenEvidence Acquires AI-Powered Amaro to Revolutionize Healthcare Advertising

In a major move, **OpenEvidence** has announced its acquisition of **Amaro**, an AI-native advertising startup backed by **Google Ventures** and **Greycroft**. Founded by brothers **Kush Khosla** and Sauren Khosla, Amaro specializes in using intelligent automation to analyze and optimize end-to-end advertising deployment for companies.

![OE x Amaro](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2764857/OpenEvidence_Frame_1__1.jpg?w=350)

Sangeen Zeb, general partner at GV, expressed excitement, stating, "I've had the privilege of backing both OpenEvidence and Amaro, and it's thrilling to see them join forces. The Khosla brothers have built an exceptional team—combining resilience, vision, and technical excellence. This acquisition is a perfect fit, as Amaro's team and technology will help OpenEvidence accelerate its growth and expand access to trusted tools for clinicians."

This partnership enhances OpenEvidence's platform, scaling its capabilities for healthcare professionals by integrating Amaro's innovative advertising infrastructure. Zachary Ziegler, cofounder of OpenEvidence, highlighted the impact: "OpenEvidence powers over half a million clinical conversations daily for free to verified American clinicians. We believe every patient deserves care from physicians with access to the world's highest quality information. Our ad-supported model ensures that practices of all resource levels can leverage this technology. The Amaro team's speed, relentless shipping, and obsession with quality make this acquisition a natural fit that accelerates our vision."

The deal follows OpenEvidence's recent **$210 million Series B financing**, which valued the company at **$3.5 billion**. Currently, over 40% of physicians in the United States use OpenEvidence daily for high-stakes clinical decisions, with the platform adding 90,000 clinicians per month. This acquisition underscores OpenEvidence's momentum in building the nation's dominant medical search and AI platform for healthcare professionals.

/PRNewswire/ -- OpenEvidence announced today its acquisition of Amaro, an AI-native advertising company founded by Kush Khosla and Sauren Khosla and backed by...

OpenEvidence's Game-Changing Acquisition: How an AI Startup Supercharges Healthcare Advertising

# UPMC Enterprises Invests in Vision Startup Optain Health

UPMC Enterprises, the venture capital arm of the health system giant, has made a strategic investment in **Optain Health**, a New York-based company leveraging **artificial intelligence** and **robotic retinal imaging** for early disease detection. This move is part of a broader $26 million Series A funding round that was oversubscribed and led by Insight Partners, with participation from notable institutions like Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Northwell Health.

Optain Health was co-created in 2023 by Aegis Ventures, which also established the Aegis Digital Consortium—a collaboration of 11 leading U.S. health systems focused on co-developing **AI-driven healthtech** companies. UPMC Enterprises joined this consortium last year, strengthening its commitment to innovation in healthcare technology.

The core of Optain's technology is a **portable robotic camera** that quickly captures retinal images. Integrated AI algorithms analyze these images to detect vision-threatening conditions such as **diabetic retinopathy**, **glaucoma**, and **age-related macular degeneration**. Remarkably, the platform can also assess risks for **cardiovascular disease**, showcasing its potential for broader health applications.

Dr. John Noseworthy, chair of the Aegis Digital Consortium, emphasized the importance of this innovation: "Early retinal screening for diabetic retinopathy and chronic disease closes a critical care gap. By deploying Optain in patient care and investing in the company, consortium members have shown strong confidence in its value for enabling early detection and better outcomes."

In a related development, UPMC opened the UPMC Mercy Eye Pavilion in May 2023, housing the UPMC Vision Institute. This facility offers a wide range of vision-related services, marking a first-of-its-kind center in Western Pennsylvania and underscoring UPMC's dedication to advancing eye care.

This investment highlights the growing trend of **healthtech startups** using AI to transform diagnostics and improve patient outcomes, with significant backing from major health systems and investors.

UPMC Enterprises is investing in a New York company that uses artificial intelligence and robotic retinal imaging in the early detection of eye and other...

Revolutionizing Eye Care: How AI and Robotics Are Detecting Diseases Early with a $26M Boost

## AI Coding Startup Replit Valued at $3 Billion With New Funding

AI coding startup **Replit Inc.** has raised **$250 million** in a funding round that nearly triples its valuation to **$3 billion**, the latest sign of investor demand for companies using artificial intelligence for software development.

Prysm Capital is leading the financing round, which includes investors such as **American Express Ventures** and **Google's AI Futures Fund**, the company said on Wednesday. Existing backers such as **Andreessen Horowitz** and **Y Combinator** participated in the round, too. **Bloomberg Beta**, the venture capital arm of Bloomberg LP, is also an investor in the startup.

AI coding startup Replit Inc. has raised $250 million in a funding round that nearly triples its valuation to $3 billion, the latest sign of investor demand for companies using artificial intelligence for software development.

Replit's AI Coding Platform Skyrockets to $3 Billion Valuation with Massive $250M Funding Round

# Brain Co.: Jared Kushner's New Venture to Help Businesses and Governments Harness AI

Jared Kushner, former White House advisor and son-in-law of President Donald Trump, has co-founded **Brain Co.**, a startup aimed at assisting large corporations and governments in applying **artificial intelligence** to their operations. He teamed up with prolific investor **Elad Gil** and former Mexican foreign minister **Luis Videgaray** to launch the company, which recently emerged from stealth with a $30 million Series A funding round led by Kushner's private equity firm Affinity Partners and Gil's Gil Capital.

![Jared Kushner at the white house](https://imageio.forbes.com/specials-images/imageserve/68c0b6cf0c8daf16de816cc7/Jared-Kushner-at-the-white-house/0x0.jpg?format=jpg&width=144)
*Getty Images*

## Key Developments and Funding

Founded in 2024, Brain Co. is based in San Francisco and has around 40 employees. It has secured backing from high-profile angel investors including **Brian Armstrong** (Coinbase CEO), **Patrick Collison** (Stripe CEO), **Reid Hoffman** (LinkedIn co-founder), and **Nikesh Arora** (Palo Alto Networks CEO). The startup has already partnered with major clients such as Sotheby's, Warburg Pincus, and various government institutions, energy providers, healthcare systems, hotels, and restaurant chains.

## Addressing the AI Implementation Challenge

Many companies struggle with integrating AI, with a recent MIT study indicating that 95% of generative AI pilot programs fail. Brain Co. aims to solve this by developing custom applications and providing a central platform for clients to interface with AI software. The company leverages foundation models like OpenAI's GPT-5, along with proprietary in-house models and agents, to tackle tasks such as streamlining hotel bookings and optimizing energy consumption in industrial plants.

## Cross-Industry Applications

CEO Clemens Mewald, formerly of Google Brain and Databricks, emphasizes that Brain Co. does not specialize in one sector. Instead, it focuses on use cases that are similar across industries, such as processing construction permits and insurance claims, which both involve rule-based assessments. This approach allows knowledge and technology to transfer between different clients.

## Origins and Team Building

The idea for Brain Co. originated from a meeting in February 2024 between Kushner, Gil, and Videgaray. They were joined by co-founders including Eric Wu (Opendoor CEO) as chairman and Mewald as CEO. In September 2024, the company acquired Serene AI, bringing in its co-founders to enhance application development. Additional team members include former Trump administration officials Charlton Boyd and Nick Butterfield, who are helping forge partnerships.

Kushner, who founded Affinity Partners in 2021 with over $4.8 billion in assets, will act as an involved board member. The startup's strategic partnership with OpenAI and plans for collaborations with other AI labs underscore its commitment to driving global impact through AI innovation.

Kushner teamed up with prolific solo investor Elad Gil and Luis Videgaray, the former Mexican foreign minister, to launch Brain Co., which helps businesses and governments apply AI to their operations.

Meta's $140M AI Image Deal with Black Forest Labs: A Game-Changer for Tech Startups?

Summary:

Meta Platforms Inc. has inked a multi-year contract valued at over $100 million to leverage technology from AI image startup Black Forest Labs. This move represents the latest in a series of investments by the social media giant to bolster its artificial intelligence capabilities.

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Other Latest News

Meet France's First AI Billionaires: How a Homegrown Startup Soared to a €11.7 Billion Valuation

Perplexity AI Soars to $20 Billion Valuation in Stunning Funding Round

From Garage to $1 Billion: How a Mom's Side Hustle for Kids Sparked a Global Empire

OpenEvidence's Game-Changing Acquisition: How an AI Startup Supercharges Healthcare Advertising

Revolutionizing Eye Care: How AI and Robotics Are Detecting Diseases Early with a $26M Boost

Replit's AI Coding Platform Skyrockets to $3 Billion Valuation with Massive $250M Funding Round

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Other Latest News

Meet France's First AI Billionaires: How a Homegrown Startup Soared to a €11.7 Billion Valuation

Perplexity AI Soars to $20 Billion Valuation in Stunning Funding Round

From Garage to $1 Billion: How a Mom's Side Hustle for Kids Sparked a Global Empire

OpenEvidence's Game-Changing Acquisition: How an AI Startup Supercharges Healthcare Advertising

Revolutionizing Eye Care: How AI and Robotics Are Detecting Diseases Early with a $26M Boost

Replit's AI Coding Platform Skyrockets to $3 Billion Valuation with Massive $250M Funding Round

Jared Kushner's AI Startup Brain Co. Raises $30M to Bridge the Gap Between Silicon Valley and Global Giants