A new white paper identifies a USD 140 billion opportunity across leading AI companies and argues that the UAE’s integrated policy architecture — from the National AI Strategy 2031 to its Ethics Guidelines — uniquely positions the UAE as a center of artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure.

DUBAI, UAE, April 24, 2026 — Global Millennial Capital Ltd. (“GMCL”), a research-driven venture capital firm investing in new-age technologies, today released its Progress Research and Insights White Paper on Artificial Intelligence, examining how AI technologies, emerging business models, and evolving regulation are reshaping the global economy — and how the United Arab Emirates is emerging as one of the most deliberately positioned AI ecosystems in the world.

The report arrives at a defining moment for the UAE and the broader Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), where AI has become central to national strategies for economic diversification, competitiveness, and the development of a knowledge-based, innovation-led economy anchored in advanced AI – compute and services.

Broader context: the UAE as a global innovation hub for AI infrastructure and services

The paper concludes that the UAE is positioning itself as a global leader in AI by pursuing a coherent agenda built on innovation, governance, and the ethical use of AI technologies, supported by three structural pillars. The first is the UAE National AI Strategy 2031, a national roadmap to make the country a global hub for AI by integrating the technology across government, healthcare, transportation, and education, and by building international partnerships in AI research and implementation. The second is the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence, established in 2017 as the world’s first ministry of its kind, tasked with policy development, ethical standards, and promoting AI innovation through funding and start-up programs. The third is the UAE AI Ethics and Governance Guidelines, a principles-based framework grounded in transparency and explainability, accountability, privacy and data protection, and fairness and non-discrimination. Taken together, and combined with deep pools of sovereign and private capital, a fast-expanding data-center and compute footprint, strong digital connectivity, and a maturing venture and enterprise ecosystem, these foundations position the UAE as a global innovation hub and one of the most compelling destinations for the next generation of AI infrastructure, platforms, and enterprise services.

Economic value: A 10x growth for leading AI companies OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks

GMCL’s original research, published in July 2024, captured a cumulative valuation of approximately USD 140 billion across three leading AI companies based in San Francisco, California — OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks. As of March 2026, the same three companies command a cumulative valuation of approximately USD 1.37 trillion, reflecting a nearly tenfold increase in under two years.  At a macro level, PwC estimates that AI could contribute USD 320 billion to the Middle East economy by 2030, with the UAE seeing the largest relative impact — close to 14% of GDP, or approximately USD 96 billion, while McKinsey estimates that generative AI alone could add a further USD 21–35 billion per year to GCC non-oil GDP, on top of approximately USD 150 billion from earlier AI technologies.

Leadership quote

“The near-tenfold revaluation of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks between July 2024 and March 2026 is not a bubble signal — it is a repricing of AI as critical economic infrastructure, and that has profound implications for private capital in the region. Investing in the knowledge-based economy is how GCC capital converts hydrocarbon surplus into durable, compounding productivity: intellectual property, proprietary data estates, specialized talent, and the enterprise adoption layer that turns foundation models into tangible economic output across banks, healthcare systems, logistics corridors, and sovereign digital infrastructure. For sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and corporate venture arms, the strategic question has shifted from ‘should we allocate to AI’ to ‘how do we secure privileged access — through direct primaries, secondaries, structured equity, and regional co-investment — to the compounding layer of this decade’s most important platform shift, while simultaneously building the domestic knowledge base that ensures the UAE and GCC remain net creators, not just consumers, of the value being repriced.” — Andreea Danila, General Partner, Global Millennial Capital Ltd.

The future of jobs and skills: a great reset, with the UAE moving first

AI is reshaping the labor market at a pace few economies are prepared for. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 projects that 92 million jobs will be displaced and 170 million new jobs created globally by 2030 — a net gain of 78 million roles — with 39% of core job skills evolving over the same period, and with AI and big data, networks and cybersecurity, and technological literacy emerging as the three fastest-growing skill areas.

The UAE is moving ahead of this curve on several fronts. According to Human Capital Consulting, 80% of UAE CEOs are redesigning roles around AI collaboration, and 92% believe their organizations are ready to deploy AI responsibly — among the highest confidence levels globally. At the same time, the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) continues to graduate specialized talent in computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing, and has trained dozens of senior executives across energy, finance, health, and government. These efforts are reinforced by Dubai‘s government-wide AI training program – and federal initiatives such as Nafis, which are embedding AI fluency into both public-sector and Emirati private-sector career pathways. Collectively, these investments position the UAE workforce as one of the most AI-ready in the world, reinforcing the country’s role as a destination for enterprises deploying AI at scale.

Emerging business models: where value will be captured

The paper further identifies six exponential business models shaping AI investment: AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS), data monetization, AI-enhanced products, AI-driven platforms, customized AI solutions, and AI-powered analytics. These models align directly with the UAE’s ambitions to build sovereign data infrastructure, home-grown AI champions, and world-class compute capacity, reinforcing the country’s position as a global innovation hub and a strategic base for AI infrastructure and enterprise services.

“From a technology research lens, these five predictions map almost perfectly onto the GCC’s policy thesis: AI ubiquity, Arabic-English NLP parity, automation-led productivity gains, and hyper-personalization are no longer frontier bets — they are board-level capital-allocation decisions. What makes the UAE’s positioning distinctive is the fifth pillar: ethical AI and regulatory compliance are maturing into a growth driver rather than a cost center, mirroring how the region has consistently converted regulatory rigor into a trust advantage across its most strategic sectors. Investors should treat governance, data sovereignty, and Arabic-language model performance as first-order diligence criteria — the firms that institutionalize these early will define the region’s next decade of AI-enabled returns.” AJ Jena, Research Collaborator, Global Millennial Capital Ltd. (former Harvard Business School Research)

The role of venture capital and private equity in knowledge-based economies

The transition to an AI-driven, knowledge-based economy cannot be financed through public markets alone. Venture capital and private equity play an indispensable role in channeling long-duration, risk-tolerant capital into frontier technologies, enabling research-stage innovations to become globally scaled businesses. OpenAI’s trajectory — from USD 1 billion in early funding commitments to an enterprise value of USD 852 billion — is a clear illustration of how private capital converts scientific breakthroughs into national and global economic value. For the UAE and the wider GCC, where sovereign wealth, family offices, and a new generation of research-driven VC and PE firms are deploying capital into AI, compute infrastructure, data platforms, and enterprise software, this capital stack is becoming a core pillar of economic diversification. Strengthening the region’s venture and private equity ecosystem is, in effect, strengthening the foundation of a knowledge-based economy — funding the founders, infrastructure, and talent that will define the UAE’s next decade of growth and its leadership in AI infrastructure and services.

Investor takeaway

“The future of AI technologies promises significant advancements that will transform industries and business models,” the paper concludes. “Companies that embrace AI integration, personalization, and ethical practices will be well-positioned to capitalize on these changes … businesses must stay agile and adapt to the changing landscape to remain competitive and thrive in an AI-driven future.”

For UAE and GCC stakeholders, the conclusion is clear: AI is both a platform for national competitiveness and a defining investment theme — and the UAE’s next phase as a global innovation hub, and as a leader in AI infrastructure and services, will be shaped by how decisively the ecosystem acts on it.

About Global Millennial Capital Ltd.

Global Millennial Capital Ltd. is a research-driven venture capital firm focused on new-age technologies, including artificial intelligence, decentralized finance, autonomous systems, fintech, cybersecurity, and energy management services. GMCL publishes proprietary research and thought leadership to support investors, policymakers, and corporate leaders as they navigate the transition to an AI-driven economy.

About the authors

Andreea Danila, MBA, is General Partner at Global Millennial Capital Ltd., leading the firm’s investment strategy and research agenda across new-age technology verticals, including artificial intelligence, decentralized finance, and autonomous systems.

AJ Jena, PhD, is a Research Collaborator with Global Millennial Capital Ltd. and a former Harvard Business School Research Fellow, contributing to GMCL’s thought leadership on frontier technologies, business models, and global regulatory frameworks.

Media Contacts — Brunswick Group

For media inquiries, please contact:

Brunswick Group Email: [email protected] Middle East: +971 (0)4 560 9600

Source

Global Millennial Capital, Research and Insights White Paper — Artificial Intelligence (July 2024).

Disclaimer

GLOBAL MILLENNIAL CAPITAL LTD. IS A VENTURE CAPITAL FUND REGISTERED WITH THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMISSION. NO PART OF THIS PRESS RELEASE IS INTENDED TO BE, OR MAY BE RELIED UPON, AS INVESTMENT ADVICE, INVESTMENT RECOMMENDATION, AN OFFER TO SELL, OR THE SOLICITATION OF ANY OFFER TO BUY, ANY SECURITY, OR ADOPT ANY INVESTMENT STRATEGY. GLOBAL MILLENNIAL CAPITAL LTD. IS NOT A REGISTERED INVESTMENT ADVISOR.

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SOURCE Global Millennial Capital

• Community-led workspace platform targets rising demand from startups and SMEs in Saudi Arabia
• A bridge between Saudi and Pakistani ecosystems, COLABS will help companies launch, scale, and operate through COLABS’ business support platform.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, April 23, 2026 — COLABS, a Saudi headquartered community-led workspace platform backed by regional investors, has launched a 4,000 sqm campus in northern Riyadh, marking its entry into Saudi Arabia as competition grows to serve the Kingdom’s expanding startup and SME sector.

COLABS has raised more than $8 million to date from investors including Shorooq, Waseel Partners, Zayn VC, Indus Valley Capital, Fatima Gobi Ventures, and other regional backers. This marks the beginning of COLABS international expansion. The company aims to become the largest workspace provider for startups and scaleups in the Middle East, North Africa & Pakistan, over the next few years.

Located in Al-Narjis, COLABS Narjis is designed to accommodate more than 500 members, including early-stage startups, scaling companies, and enterprise teams. The campus forms part of the company’s broader strategy to create work environments that combine thoughtfully designed space, curated networks, and year-round programming.

The launch event drew more than 300 attendees, including founders, investors, policymakers, and members of the creative industries. Speakers included representatives from BECO Capital, Shorooq, 500 Global, Sotheby’s, and Aqar.

“Saudi Arabia represents a significant long-term market for us,” said Omar Shah, CEO of COLABS. “Our focus is on building environments where ambitious companies can work more effectively and where networks strengthen over time.”

Faisal AlRashed, Managing Partner at Waseel, said “the partnership reflects deepening economic ties between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and highlights the potential for greater cross-border collaboration across the region.”

Through their curatorial initiative, COLABS Creative Collective (CCC), art, design, and culture are embedded into the COLABS experience, reflecting the shared Saudi–Pakistan Islamic cultural heritage. With local partners such as the Abdul Monem Arts Foundation and Noura Arts, the platform brings together artists from both countries through initiatives like the “Love Across Borders” series by Zahid Mayo and Ola Hejazi, alongside engagements across Lahore and Jeddah.

Beyond entrepreneurship, COLABS is committed to promoting culture, art, and music—deepening the cultural connection between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

The campus includes event space for more than 200 people, a rooftop terrace, a podcast studio, and more than 10 meeting rooms, alongside amenities such as a daycare facility and on-site café. COLABS said it will also run a year-round calendar of programming designed to foster interaction among founders, investors, and operators.

COLABS currently operates more than 500,000 square feet of workspace across more than 10 locations, supporting over 5,000 members and 300 companies

About COLABS

COLABS develops and operates workspace campuses designed for startups, SMEs, and enterprise teams, combining physical infrastructure with curated communities and programming. It is supported by regional investors including Shorooq, Waseel Partners, Fatima Gobi Ventures, and Indus Valley Capital, alongside strategic operators across venture and real estate.

Through its campuses, COLABS brings together founders, operators, investors, and creatives into environments designed for focused work and consistent progress. COLABS works alongside 250+ partners across the ecosystem, such as EY, Digital Ocean, Canva, Coca Cola, Spotify, and Endeavor.

For more information, please visit https://www.colabs.sa/

About Waseel Partners 

Waseel Partners is a Saudi privately owned investment group with a regional mandate, boasting a well-diversified portfolio of holdings across the GCC and the broader Middle East. Waseel Partners Investment’s strategic focus spans a range of sectors including capital markets, private equity, venture capital and acquisitions. Key industry focus includes food & beverage, finance, medical, technology, entertainment, hospitality, real-estate and automobile.

For more information please visit: https://waseelinvest.com

About Shorooq

Founded in 2017, Shorooq is the leading alternative investment manager across the Middle East and North Africa regions. The firm’s venture capital and private credit funds invest in the most innovative technology companies, with deep sectoral expertise in Fintech, Platforms, Software, Gaming, and Web3.0. Shorooq has backed market leading disruptors including Pure Harvest Smart Farms, Nymcard, Tamara, Sarwa, Lean Technologies, TruKKer, Mozn and Lendo.

Since its inception, Shorooq was built on the principle of being founders’ partners, company builders and value investors. Shorooq is a pan regional firm with direct and indirect presence across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, Egypt and Korea.

For more information please visit: https://www.shorooq.com

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Contact: 
[email protected] 

SOURCE COLABS

La colaboración con LA4LA acelerará la construcción de viviendas asequibles y de uso mixto en el condado de Los Ángeles

SACRAMENTO, California, 23 de abril de 2026 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Health Net, uno de los planes de atención médica administrada de Medi-Cal con mayor experiencia de California y una empresa de Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC), anunció una inversión de 10 millones de dólares en el “Fondo de garantía” de LA4LA, que respaldará la construcción acelerada de viviendas asequibles y para personas de nivel de ingreso variado en el condado de Los Ángeles.

El “Fondo de garantía” ofrece subsidios con el propósito de ayudar a los promotores de vivienda a acceder con rapidez a financiamiento destinado a proyectos de alquiler asequible y así, reducir los tiempos de puesta en marcha de la construcción y poner más rápidamente a disposición de las comunidades necesitadas las nuevas opciones de vivienda.

“Una vivienda segura y estable es una de las recetas más eficaces para la buena salud; hemos visto que transforma vidas”, afirmó Dorothy Seleski, presidenta de Medi-Cal en Health Net. “Esta inversión no solo financiará proyectos, sino que fomentará la disponibilidad de más viviendas, devolverá la esperanza y ofrecerá a miles de angelinos un futuro más saludable. Esto se traduce en una sensación de estabilidad, así como en conexiones más sólidas con el sistema de atención de salud, menos visitas a la sala de urgencias y más tiempo cada día para que las personas trabajen, aprendan y sanen”.

En el condado de Los Ángeles, existen:

La inversión de Health Net está diseñada para ayudar a subsanar estas deficiencias al facilitar la construcción de viviendas que incluyan una combinación de unidades para familias/personas de bajos ingresos, dependientes de bonos del estado y de ingreso medio, con hasta un 30 % reservado para beneficiarios de bonos de asistencia.

“Esta inversión permitirá mantener el progreso alcanzado hasta ahora al acelerar la construcción de viviendas asequibles y reducir el número de personas sin hogar en Los Ángeles”, señaló la alcaldesa Karen Bass. “Quiero agradecer a los equipos de LA4LA y Health Net por su colaboración constante y por apoyar soluciones innovadoras para subsanar deficiencias y construir viviendas más asequibles y estables en toda la ciudad”.

Cuando las entidades crediticias confían en que los pagos subsidiados, como los bonos de asistencia de la Sección 8 o VASH, se realizarán con toda seguridad, entonces pueden proporcionar préstamos de mayor envergadura y financiar más proyectos. LA4LA ayuda a las entidades crediticias a proporcionar mayores préstamos y fomentar más proyectos de vivienda, especialmente en vecindarios cercanos a centros de trabajo, parques y escuelas, así como en lugares donde los residentes pueden acceder a recursos comunitarios. Esto elimina los déficits de financiamiento que puedan paralizar las construcciones aprobadas y promueve una mayor participación por parte de los propietarios de bienes raíces.

“Agradecemos a Health Net su compromiso con las soluciones de vivienda innovadoras”, comentó Sarah Dusseault, estratega principal de LA4LA. Su inversión en la herramienta de garantía transformará la manera en que los proyectos acceden a financiamiento e incrementará la viabilidad de las viviendas asequibles. A medida que se completen los proyectos y ya no requieran garantías, el capital de Health Net se puede reasignar, lo que genera un ciclo sostenible para respaldar otros proyectos en el transcurso del tiempo”.

La inversión de Health Net se puede invertir en varias obras de construcción en todo el condado y, si se combina con los subsidios públicos y crédito privado, ayuda a promover de manera significativa un mayor desarrollo habitacional en la región.

Esta inversión se basa en el compromiso más amplio de Health Net de resolver el problema habitacional y la carencia de vivienda en toda California. Desde 2020, Health Net ha destinado un total de 93 millones de dólares a inversiones habitacionales y servicios de apoyo para personas sin hogar.

Acerca de Health Net
Health Net, LLC (“Health Net”), una empresa de Centene Corporation, fundada en California hace más de 45 años, considera que todas las personas merecen atención médica de calidad, independientemente de su edad, ingresos, situación laboral o estado de salud actual. En la actualidad, ofrecemos planes de salud para individuos, familias, negocios de todos los tamaños y a quienes califican para Medi-Cal o Medicare. Con más de 117,000 proveedores en nuestra red, Health Net atiende a más de tres millones de afiliados en todo el estado. Asimismo, ofrecemos acceso a programas contra el abuso de sustancias, servicios de salud conductual y productos sanitarios gestionados para acceder a medicamentos con receta. Otorgamos acceso a estos planes y servicios de salud mediante Health Net y sus filiales: Health Net of California, Inc., Health Net Life Insurance Company y Health Net Community Solutions, Inc. Estas entidades son filiales de propiedad exclusiva de Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC), empresa sanitaria líder comprometida con la transformación de la salud en las comunidades que atendemos, una persona a la vez. Health Net y Centene Corporation emplean a más de 5,700 personas en California, que trabajan en una de las cinco oficinas regionales del Centro de talentos. Para obtener más información, visite www.HealthNet.com.
http://www.healthnet.com/

Acerca de LA4LA
LA4LA es una asociación público-privada con sede en la California Community Foundation y respaldada por financiamiento fondo inicial de la Conrad N Hilton Foundation. Nuestros donantes y colaboradores incluyen instituciones filantrópicas y financieras, así como personas y empresas que se preocupan por el futuro de Los Ángeles. LA4LA reúne a expertos en vivienda, desarrollo urbanístico y finanzas para hacer frente a los obstáculos más habituales que paralizan la construcción de viviendas asequibles en la actualidad: escasez de financiamiento, alto costo y volatilidad de los intereses. Para obtener más información o participar, visite www.la4la.org o comuníquese con [email protected].

FUENTE Health Net, LLC

SHENZHEN, China, 23. April 2026 — Pudu Robotics, ein weltweit führendes Unternehmen im Bereich der kommerziellen Servicerobotik, gab heute bekannt, dass es in einer neuen Finanzierungsrunde fast 150 Millionen US-Dollar eingesammelt hat. Nach dieser Finanzierungsrunde hat die Unternehmensbewertung die Marke von 1,5 Milliarden US-Dollar überschritten, was das große Vertrauen des Kapitalmarkts in die technischen Vorteile, die kommerzielle Skalierbarkeit und die weltweite Führungsposition von Pudu widerspiegelt. Mit dieser jüngsten Finanzierungsrunde beläuft sich das Nach dieser Finanzierungsrunde hat die Gesamtfinanzierungsvolumen von Pudu nun auf über 300 Millionen US-Dollar.

Die Finanzmittel werden strategisch eingesetzt, um die Entwicklung von Technologien für verkörperte KI zu beschleunigen, das Produktportfolio des Unternehmens zu erweitern, die globale Marktexpansion voranzutreiben, die Produktionskapazitäten zu vergrößern und die Lieferkettenkapazitäten weiter zu stärken. Diese Initiativen zielen darauf ab, die Führungsposition des Unternehmens im sich rasch entwickelnden Sektor der kommerziellen Servicerobotik zu festigen und eine solide Grundlage für künftige Meilensteine auf dem Kapitalmarkt zu schaffen.

Pudu Robotics hat sich zu einem der am schnellsten wachsenden Unternehmen im Bereich der kommerziellen Servicerobotik entwickelt und verfügt über ein diversifiziertes Portfolio, das Dienstleistungserbringung, gewerbliche Reinigung, industrielle Lieferungen und allgemeine verkörperte KI-Robotik umfasst. Dieser branchenübergreifende Ansatz führte im Jahr 2025 zu einem bemerkenswerten Umsatzanstieg von 100 % gegenüber dem Vorjahr. Insbesondere ist das Segment der gewerblichen Reinigung auf über 70 % des Gesamtumsatzes angewachsen, während die industriellen Lieferroboter eine rasante Verbreitung erfahren haben: Innerhalb von nur einem Jahr nach ihrer Markteinführung wurden über 4.000 Einheiten ausgeliefert.

Dieser kommerzielle Erfolg wird durch die umfassende globale Präsenz von Pudu weiter untermauert, da seine Lösungen von führenden globalen Marken wie Carrefour, Walmart und EDEKA weitreichend eingesetzt werden. Laut der „Marktstudie zur globalen kommerziellen Servicerobotik (2023)” von Frost & Sullivan hält Pudu Robotics einen weltweiten Marktanteil von 23 %, rangiert weltweit an erster Stelle und behauptet seine führende Position in der Branche bei internationalen Einsätzen.

Das Unternehmen mit Hauptsitz in Shenzhen und eigenen Forschungs- und Entwicklungszentren in Chengdu und Hongkong setzt weiterhin neue technische Maßstäbe durch die Full-Stack-Entwicklung von Kernkomponenten, darunter Navigationsalgorithmen, Multi-Roboter-Planung, Bewegungssteuerungen und integrierte Gelenkmodule.

Felix Zhang, Gründer und CEO von Pudu Robotics, sagte: „Dieser Meilenstein bei der Finanzierung ist eine eindrucksvolle Bestätigung für die Branchenführerschaft, die Produkt- und Technologiekompetenz, die globale Marke und die kommerzielle Infrastruktur von Pudu. Mit der Unterstützung unserer strategischen Investoren und Industriepartner wird Pudu die Grenzen der verkörperten KI und der kommerziellen Servicerobotik weiter verschieben. Wir bleiben dem Innovationsgeist eines Erfinders verpflichtet und nutzen unsere globale Vision, um die Einführung von Robotern zu beschleunigen und die Branche in der globalen Wertschöpfungskette auf neue Höhen zu heben.”

Informationen zu Pudu Robotics

Pudu Robotics, ein weltweit führendes Unternehmen im Bereich der gewerblichen Servicerobotik, hat es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, durch KI und Robotik die Arbeit zu erleichtern und das Leben zu verbessern. Die Vision ist der Aufbau einer globalen intelligenten Robotik-Infrastruktur, die 10 Milliarden Menschen weltweit dient.

Auf der Grundlage von drei Kerntechnologien – Mobilität, Manipulation und Interaktion – hat Pudu Robotics eine Architektur nach dem Prinzip „One Brain, Multiple Embodiments” entwickelt und ein umfassendes Produktportfolio aufgebaut, das Spezialroboter, halbhumanoide Roboter und humanoide Roboter umfasst.

Derzeit bietet Pudu vier zentrale Produktlinien an: Servicerobotik, gewerbliche Reinigung, industrielle Logistik sowie verkörperte KI. Die Lösungen des Unternehmens werden in vielen Branchen eingesetzt, z. B. im Einzelhandel, im Gastgewerbe, in Produktions- und Industrieanlagen, in der Lebensmittel- und Getränkeindustrie, in der Immobilienbranche, im Gesundheitswesen, in der Unterhaltungs- und Sportbranche, im Bildungswesen und in der öffentlichen Verwaltung.

Bis heute hat Pudu Robotics weltweit über 120.000 Einheiten ausgeliefert und ist in mehr als 80 Ländern und Regionen vertreten.

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SHENZHEN, Chine, 23 avril 2026 — Pudu Robotics, leader mondial de la robotique de service commerciale, a annoncé aujourd’hui avoir levé près de 150 millions USD dans le cadre d’un nouveau tour de table de financement. À l’issue de ce tour de table, l’évaluation de la société a dépassé 1,5 milliard USD, signe de la grande confiance du marché des capitaux dans les avantages technologies difficiles à imiter, l’évolutivité commerciale et le leadership mondial de Pudu. Avec cette dernière levée de fonds, le financement cumulé de Pudu dépasse désormais 300 millions USD.

Les produits du financement seront stratégiquement déployés pour accélérer le développement des technologies d’IA intégrées, élargir le portefeuille de produits de l’entreprise, approfondir l’expansion du marché mondial, augmenter la capacité de fabrication et renforcer les capacités de la chaîne d’approvisionnement. Ces initiatives visent à renforcer le leadership de l’entreprise dans le secteur en pleine évolution de la robotique de service commerciale et à poser des fondations solides pour les futures étapes de financement.

Pudu Robotics s’est imposée comme l’une des entreprises à la croissance la plus rapide dans le secteur de la robotique de service commercial, avec un portefeuille diversifié couvrant la prestation de services, le nettoyage commercial, la livraison industrielle et la robotique d’IA incarnée en général. Cette approche multisectorielle a engendré une augmentation remarquable de 100 % des recettes en glissement annuel en 2025. En particulier, le segment du nettoyage commercial de l’entreprise représente aujourd’hui plus de 70 % du chiffre d’affaires total, tandis que ses robots de livraison industrielle ont été rapidement adoptés, avec plus de 4 000 unités expédiées moins d’un an après leur lancement sur le marché.

Ce succès commercial est également validé par l’importante présence mondiale de Pudu, dont les solutions ont été largement adoptées par des marques mondiales de premier plan telles que Carrefour, Walmart et EDEKA. Selon l’étude « Market Research on Global Commercial Service Robotics (2023) » de Frost & Sullivan, Pudu Robotics détient 23 % du marché international, se classant au premier rang mondial et conservant la position de leader du secteur dans les déploiements internationaux.

Basée à Shenzhen et disposant de centres de recherche et développement dédiés à Chengdu et Hong Kong, l’entreprise continue de repousser les limites techniques grâce au développement complet de composants de base, notamment les algorithmes de navigation, la programmation multi-robots, les contrôleurs de mouvement et les modules d’articulation intégrés.

Felix Zhang, fondateur et PDG de Pudu Robotics, a déclaré : « Cette étape de financement est une validation éclatante du leadership industriel de Pudu, de la force de ses produits et de sa technologie, de sa marque mondiale et de son infrastructure commerciale. Soutenue par nos investisseurs stratégiques et nos partenaires industriels, Pudu continuera de repousser les limites de l’IA incarnée et de la robotique de service commerciale. Nous restons déterminés à innover avec l’esprit d’un inventeur et à tirer parti d’une vision mondiale pour accélérer l’adoption des robots, en élevant l’industrie à de nouveaux sommets dans la chaîne de valeur mondiale. »

À propos de Pudu Robotics

Pudu Robotics, leader mondial dans le secteur de la robotique de service commercial, a vocation à faciliter le travail et la vie grâce à l’IA et à la robotique, avec l’ambition de construire une infrastructure robotique intelligente mondiale au service de 10 milliards de personnes dans le monde.

S’appuyant sur trois technologies de base – la mobilité, la manipulation et l’interaction – Pudu Robotics a été le pionnier d’une architecture « Un cerveau, des incarnations multiples », établissant un portefeuille de produits complet qui comprend des robots spécialisés, semi-humanoïdes et humanoïdes.

Actuellement, Pudu propose quatre grandes lignes de produits : la prestation de services, le nettoyage commercial, la livraison industrielle et l’IA incarnée en général. Ses solutions sont largement déployées dans des secteurs tels que la vente au détail, l’hôtellerie, la fabrication et les installations industrielles, l’alimentation et les boissons, les services immobiliers, les soins de santé, le divertissement et le sport, l’éducation et les services publics.

Forte d’une présence dans plus de 80 pays et régions du monde, Pudu Robotics a expédié à ce jour plus de 120 000 unités dans le monde.

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SHENZHEN, China, 23 de abril de 2026 — Pudu Robotics, líder mundial en robótica de servicio comercial, anunció hoy que ha recaudado cerca de 150 millones de dólares en una nueva ronda de financiación. Tras esta ronda, la valoración de la compañía supera los 1.500 millones de dólares, lo que refleja la gran confianza del mercado de capitales en las barreras técnicas, la escalabilidad comercial y el liderazgo global de Pudu. Con esta última ronda, la financiación acumulada de Pudu supera ya los 300 millones de dólares.

Los fondos obtenidos mediante esta financiación se destinarán estratégicamente a acelerar el desarrollo de tecnologías de IA integradas, ampliar la cartera de productos de la empresa, consolidar su expansión en el mercado global, aumentar la capacidad de fabricación y fortalecer aún más la cadena de suministro. Estas iniciativas buscan reforzar el liderazgo de la empresa en el sector de la robótica de servicios comerciales, un sector en rápida evolución, y sentar bases sólidas para futuros logros en el mercado de capitales.

Pudu Robotics se ha consolidado como una de las empresas de más rápido crecimiento en el sector de la robótica para servicios comerciales, con una cartera diversificada que abarca la prestación de servicios, la limpieza comercial, la entrega industrial y la robótica con inteligencia artificial integrada. Este enfoque multisectorial se tradujo en un notable aumento interanual del 100% en los ingresos de 2025. Cabe destacar que el segmento de limpieza comercial de la compañía ha crecido hasta representar más del 70% de los ingresos totales, mientras que sus robots de entrega industrial han experimentado una rápida adopción, con más de 4.000 unidades enviadas en tan solo un año desde su lanzamiento al mercado.

Este éxito comercial se ve reforzado por la amplia presencia global de Pudu, cuyas soluciones son ampliamente adoptadas por marcas líderes a nivel mundial, como Carrefour, Walmart y EDEKA. Según el informe “Market Research on Global Commercial Service Robotics (2023)” de Frost & Sullivan, Pudu Robotics ostenta una cuota de mercado global del 23%, ocupando el primer puesto a nivel mundial y manteniendo la posición de liderazgo del sector en implementaciones internacionales.

Con sede en Shenzhen y centros de I+D propios en Chengdu y Hong Kong, la empresa sigue ampliando los límites técnicos mediante el desarrollo integral de componentes clave, incluidos algoritmos de navegación, programación de múltiples robots, controladores de movimiento y módulos de articulación integrados.

Felix Zhang, fundador y consejero delegado de Pudu Robotics, declaró: “Este hito financiero es una poderosa confirmación del liderazgo de Pudu en la industria, la solidez de sus productos y su tecnología, su marca global y su infraestructura comercial. Con el respaldo de nuestros inversores estratégicos y socios industriales, Pudu seguirá ampliando los límites de la IA integrada y la robótica de servicios comerciales. Mantenemos nuestro compromiso de innovar con espíritu inventor y aprovechar una visión global para acelerar la adopción de robots, elevando así la industria a nuevas cotas en la cadena de valor global”.

Acerca de Pudu Robotics

Pudu Robotics, líder mundial en el sector de la robótica de servicios comerciales, se dedica a facilitar el trabajo y mejorar la calidad de vida mediante la IA y la robótica, con la visión de construir una infraestructura robótica inteligente global que preste servicio a 10.000 millones de personas en todo el mundo.

Pudu Robotics, basada en tres tecnologías fundamentales (movilidad, manipulación e interacción), ha sido pionera en una arquitectura de “un cerebro, múltiples formas”, estableciendo una cartera de productos integral que incluye robots especializados, semihumanoides y humanoides.

Actualmente, Pudu ofrece cuatro líneas de productos principales: prestación de servicios, limpieza comercial, entrega industrial e inteligencia artificial integrada. Sus soluciones se utilizan ampliamente en sectores como el comercio minorista, la hostelería, la fabricación y las instalaciones industriales, la alimentación y las bebidas, los servicios inmobiliarios, la sanidad, el entretenimiento y el deporte, la educación y los servicios públicos.

Hasta la fecha, Pudu Robotics ha enviado más de 120.000 unidades a nivel mundial, con presencia en más de 80 países y regiones.

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With Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, and executives from Stripe and OpenAI also participating, the SEC-registered platform uses AI to deliver personalized investment guidance to the millions of Americans who can’t access traditional financial advice.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 23, 2026 — Astor, an AI-native investment advisory platform registered with the SEC, today announced a $5 million seed round led by Monashees, with participation from Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, Gilgamesh Ventures, 468 Capital, Valutia, Sunshine Lake and executives from Stripe and OpenAI. Since launch, the platform has attracted thousands of users and more than $200 million in connected accounts. The funding will be used to grow Astor’s product, engineering, and growth teams, and expand its service lines.

Investing Has Become a Spectator Sport

More Americans are investing than ever before. But for many, investing has started to look a lot like gambling. Meme stocks, crypto speculation, and prediction markets have turned financial markets into a form of entertainment. According to FINRA, 61% of investors under 35 now rely on social media for investment decisions.

Meanwhile, the people and institutions designed to help — financial advisors — remain out of reach for most. Traditional advisors typically require $500,000 or more in assets just to take you on as a client. Only about 35% of Americans work with one, and among adults under 30, that figure drops below 5%.

A Problem the Founders Lived

Co-founders Bruno Koba and Daniel Tulha grew up in Brazil, where it’s standard practice to be paired with a financial advisor the moment you open a brokerage account, regardless of how much money you have. When they moved to the United States, they found the opposite: most people are investing entirely on their own.

“We looked around and everyone we knew was investing on their own, with many treating their brokerage accounts like a casino,” said Koba, co-founder and CEO of Astor. “Back home, even the most basic advisor gives you the sense that someone is paying attention to your money. Here, unless you’re wealthy, nobody is.”

Koba previously worked as a fintech investor at Monashees and as a data scientist at Nubank, where he built machine learning models to scale credit to millions of Brazilians. Tulha was a software engineer at Stripe and Robinhood, building financial infrastructure at global scale.

The pair joined Y Combinator’s Summer 2025 batch to build Astor: an AI advisor designed for the millions of American households that the traditional advisory industry has left behind.

An Advisor That Knows Your Portfolio

Astor connects to users’ existing brokerage accounts, evaluates their holdings across performance, risk, and diversification, and delivers tailored recommendations based on what the user owns. The platform is SEC-registered and operates under a fiduciary duty to act in clients’ best interest, setting it apart from social media advice and generic AI chatbots.

“Most people don’t need more investment products, they need someone in their corner. Astor gives people the knowledge and guidance to actually take control of their financial future”, said Fabiola Quinzaños, Partner at Monashees. “Bruno brings the investor perspective from his years at Monashees and the personal conviction of having lived this problem, while Daniel brings technical depth from building financial products at Stripe, and Bruno going from Monashees investor to Monashees-backed founder is the kind of full-circle story we love to be part of.” 

To connect with the Astor team, reach out at [email protected].

About Astor

Astor is an AI-native, SEC-registered investment advisory platform that connects to users’ existing brokerage accounts and delivers personalized investment recommendations through conversational AI. Founded by Bruno Koba and Daniel Tulha, Astor’s mission is to make quality financial guidance accessible to every investor. Learn more at astor.app

About Monashees

Monashees is a Latin American venture capital firm, founded in 2005, and one of the pioneer investors in Latin America’s tech ecosystem. Today, the Monashees community spans more than 150 companies and 300+ founders. Monashees has offices in Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Silicon Valley.  Learn more at monashees.com

Media Contact:
Bruno Koba, Co-founder & CEO | [email protected]

SOURCE Astor

Petual, an AI-powered platform for audit and compliance, has raised $20 million from Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, and Cowboy Ventures, among others, to transform internal audit and SOX teams into AI-native functions, beginning with control test automation.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 23, 2026 — Petual, an AI-powered platform for audit and compliance, today announced it has raised $20 million from Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, Cowboy Ventures, and Elad Gil. The new capital will be used to accelerate product development and go-to-market.

Today, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance and internal audit are among the most resource-intensive and manual processes in public enterprises. Auditors are required to wade through hundreds of unstructured files per control, collecting, enriching and reasoning through evidence, performing tests, and generating documentation. This work repeats year-over-year and leaves little room for risk management activities that demand auditor judgement and stakeholder engagement. Well over $8B is spent annually on SOX in the US market alone.

Petual’s platform brings agentic AI to SOX testing and internal audit, making autonomous execution of evidence gathering and work paper generation possible for the first time at enterprise scale. The platform ingests both structured and unstructured evidence such as screenshots, PDFs, and Excel files to generate complete work papers in minutes, compared to the double or triple-digit hours spent manually by most teams today. Its outputs are formatted to meet external auditor expectations and templates, with detailed reasoning traceable to source documents. A built-in review workflow supports the approval chain, ensuring human oversight always remains central to the process.

Petual’s customers can see efficiency gains of 68 to 80 percent on current SOX workflows. Early Petual customers include both S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 companies and span every industry: energy, software, infrastructure, manufacturing, financial services, and more.

“As a large public company, maintaining audit quality while scaling efficiently is critical. Petual enables us to do both, delivering structured, auditor-ready workpapers in a fraction of the time it would take manually,” said Petual customer Erin Dempsey Heuwetter, Head of Audit, Risk and Compliance at Navan.

Eos Energy customer Sumeet Puri, Chief Accounting Officer added, “Strengthening audit execution while staying focused on risk is a priority for Eos. Petual’s AI agents help us accelerate audit testing in a disciplined way, allowing our team to focus on risk analysis and oversight.”

The team behind Petual brings deep experience at the intersection of technology, AI, risk, and audit. They’ve built internal audit teams and engineering organizations alike, with backgrounds spanning Stripe, Retool, Lyft, and the Big Four. Before founding Petual, Founder and CEO Snir Kodesh led engineering at Retool. The team also includes leaders like Eliot Walker, former CTO of Fleet at Lyft, and David Coulombe, former VP of Audit and Chief Audit Executive at Lyft.

“It’s not often that we see an early-stage company able to reach large enterprise customers so early in their journey. This is a testament to both how compelling the market opportunity is for Petual and the strength of the product they’ve built,” said Brian Roberts, a16z general partner, Petual board member, and former CFO at Lyft and Splunk.

About Petual Petual is an AI-powered audit and compliance platform that helps drive toward AI-native audit functions. By bringing agentic AI into control testing, Petual enables organizations to operate more efficiently, improve audit quality, and scale. Learn more at petual.ai.

Andreessen Horowitz Andreessen Horowitz (aka a16z) is a venture capital firm that backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology. We are stage agnostic: We invest in seed to venture to growth-stage technology companies, across bio + healthcare, consumer and enterprise apps, crypto, fintech, infrastructure, and companies building toward American dynamism. a16z has over $90B under management across multiple funds.

SOURCE Petual, Inc

Seasoned investor relations leader to deepen global investor engagement and support next phase of better-for-you consumer PE firm’s growth

DENVER, April 23, 2026 — Manna Tree, a global private equity firm investing in companies that empower consumers to live better, longer, today announced that Jessica Schmitt has joined the firm as Managing Director of Capital Formation focused on deepening and expanding relationships with institutional investors as the firm continues to scale. Ms. Schmitt is based in Los Angeles, expanding the firm’s senior leadership footprint across major U.S. consumer and capital markets, including New York, Minneapolis, Denver, San Francisco and Austin.

Ms. Schmitt brings more than 15 years of experience in fundraising and investor relations, with a career dedicated to building long-term partnerships with institutional investors. At Manna Tree, she will oversee capital formation initiatives, serve as a senior point of contact for the firm’s global investor community, and support the firm’s growth as consumer interest in health and wellness continues to accelerate. With an exclusive focus on the health and wellness ecosystem, Manna Tree has established a clear strategy and a strong track record of scaling founder-led brands into category leaders. Over the past year, the firm successfully exited better-for-you leaders Health‑Ade and Good Culture and made a strategic investment in Plant People, reinforcing its ability to deliver strong outcomes while advancing its mission of empowering consumers to live better, longer through improved health and wellness.

“Unlike the broader consumer sector, health and wellness remains one of the most compelling areas within the private markets, and Manna Tree is at the forefront with our leading investment platform in this space,” said Ellie Rubenstein, Co‑Founder and Managing Partner at Manna Tree. “With a demonstrated ability to create value across investments and exits, we are entering an exciting next chapter of growth as consumer and investor interest in health and wellness continues to build. Jessica’s experience and relationship‑driven approach will be critical as we expand the firm, deepen partnerships with our investor community, and build on the momentum we have created.”

“Jessica has spent her career working closely with institutional investors and building trusted relationships,” added Ross Iverson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Manna Tree. “Her background and perspective complement our leadership team as we scale, and we’re excited to have her guide our capital formation efforts as the firm continues to grow and be a leader in the trillion-dollar health and wellness market.”

Prior to joining Manna Tree, Ms. Schmitt led the Investor Relations team at Waud Capital Partners, a growth-oriented, multi-billion-dollar private equity firm focused on healthcare and software buyout investments, where she was responsible for fundraising and investor relations. Before that, she served as Arrowroot Capital’s first Head of Investor Relations, establishing and building the firm’s investor relations function as it scaled to over half a billion dollars in assets under management. Earlier in her career, Ms. Schmitt spent nine years at The Riverside Company, a global private equity firm with more than $10 billion in assets under management, as part of its investor relations and fundraising team.

“Manna Tree has a clear strategy investing in, scaling and successfully exiting leading brands that empower consumers to live better, longer and a differentiated focus on the rapidly growing health and wellness sector, utilizing strong industry expertise, relationships and a deep commitment to growing high-quality companies,” said Ms. Schmitt. “I’m excited to help expand and strengthen its investor relations platform and support its continued growth.”

Ms. Schmitt holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University.

About Manna Tree

Founded by Gabrielle (Ellie) Rubenstein and Ross Iverson in 2018, Manna Tree is a global private equity firm committed to investing in companies that empower consumers to live better, longer. The firm strategically invests in the consumer sector, particularly within the health and wellness ecosystem, focusing on growth-stage and buyout opportunities. Manna Tree has made investments in 15 companies to date, including companies like: Health-Ade, Gotham Greens, Vital Farms, Good Culture, Plant People, Verde Farms, Urban Remedy, and the New Primal.

Media Contact: 
Kate Schneiderman, ICR
[email protected]

SOURCE Manna Tree Partners