Latest News, Trends, and Insights | Kivo Daily

Whatnot co-founders Grant LaFontaine and Logan Head shifted their business from an early marketplace concept to collectibles before introducing live shopping in 2020. The focused approach helped the company develop a marketplace model that expanded beyond its initial niche and later supported substantial sales growth and a multibillion-dollar valuation. Key

AI startup Photon has raised $4.5 million in seed funding after reporting rapid adoption of its technology among developers. Founded by Daniel Tian and Ryan Zhu, the company builds infrastructure that allows developers to create AI agents that operate through messaging channels rather than requiring users to interact with separate

Boston-based startup Atomic has raised $12.5 million in Series A funding to expand its AI-powered supply chain platform. Founded by former Tesla supply-chain leaders, the company traces its technology to production-planning challenges encountered during Tesla’s Model 3 ramp and now works with customers including DoorDash and HelloFresh. Atomic uses AI

Profound has raised $180 million at a $1.8 billion valuation as it expands its AI search marketing platform from brand-visibility analytics into broader marketing execution. The New York startup, founded by James Cadwallader and Dylan Babbs, now combines AI-search measurement with tools for content, fact-checking and agent-driven marketing workflows. Key

San Francisco-based AI cybersecurity startup Hacktron identified vulnerabilities in OpenAI’s systems during authorized security research using Anthropic’s Claude. Led by co-founder and CEO Zayne Zhang, the team reported its findings to OpenAI and received a $6,500 bug bounty, giving the young company a concrete business milestone from its cybersecurity research.

Y Combinator’s Summer 2026 Demo Day featured AI infrastructure startups developing technologies for data-center power, optical networking, specialized computing hardware and robotics. The cohort included companies pursuing floating data centers, energy-efficient networking, custom AI inference chips and systems for training or controlling robots, drawing attention from early-stage venture investors. Key

Eric Wu’s NavigateAI has raised $25 million in seed funding to develop AI copilots for construction workers, with technology designed to provide real-time, hands-free access to building specifications, manufacturer manuals and company policies through smartphones and Meta’s AI glasses. Key Takeaways Eric Wu founded NavigateAI after previously leading real estate

Fervo Energy has signed a 396-megawatt power purchase agreement with Google for electricity from its Cape Station geothermal project in Utah. The agreement supports continued development of the project, which is expected to begin operations in 2028, and gives Google an option to purchase an additional 600 megawatts. Key Takeaways