A new startup backed by one of the biggest venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), is building a service that allows clients to “orchestrate actions on thousands of social accounts through both bulk content creation and deployment.” Essentially, the startup, called doublespeed, is pitching an astroturfing AI-powered bot service, which is in clear violation of policies for all major social media platforms. https://lnkd.in/dsx64wnR a16zBackedStartup #SellsThousandsOfSyntheticInfluencers #ManipulateMediaAsAService

A new startup backed by one of the biggest venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), is building a service that allows clients to “orchestrate actions on thousands of social accounts through both bulk content creation and deployment.” Essentially, the startup, called Doublespeed, is pitching an astroturfing AI-powered bot service, which is in clear violation of policies for all major social media platforms. https://lnkd.in/eHHxweBb

Welcome back to visibility and strategy tips. Many startups think visibility is luck or just posting more. The truth? Visibility comes from strategy, not chance. 3 actionable way startups can attract attention online. 1️⃣ Understand your audience deeply (Know their challenges, interests and what drives them). 2️⃣ Provide consistent value through content, insight, tips and stories that actually help. 3️⃣ Make each interaction memorable, not just frequent (Thoughtful engagement creates credibility and trust). For startups looking to refine their social media, create engaging content or strengthen digital marketing strategies, these small but intentional steps make a big difference. Which of these strategies could your startup start applying? Follow Unji for more insight on making your startup irresistible and visible online. #Overcominginvisibilitychallenges #Digitalmarketingstrategies #Startupsgrowirresistibly

Pinpoint’s $2.5M seed to turn social actions into sales Pinpoint has secured $2.5 million to develop an “AI-native social operating system” that enables marketers to convert likes, comments, and DMs directly into cash. Pinpoint, founded in 2025, aims to close the gap between audience involvement and purchasing. Instead of redirecting visitors from social channels to external sites, the business automates commerce in places where people already interact: social feeds, discussions, and messaging. Phoenix Capital Ventures and The Sidemen’s Upside Ventures co-led the seed round, which also included Antler, Bulletpitch+, and executives from Google, Twilio, and Spotify, among others. https://lnkd.in/ePrCph46 #ai #ainewstoday #pinpoint #aitugo

The 'Creator Economy' just grew up. The trend isn't just about influencers. It’s about 'Micro-SaaS' startups building tools FOR creators. Think AI video editors, community management dashboards, and e-commerce backends for a single-person brand. #Startups #CreatorEconomy #SaaS #Innovation #MarTech ___ https://lnkd.in/g-GP23ZF

Madica has invested $400K in two AI startups; anavid from Tunisia and Hypeo Ai from Morocco to support companies building AI solutions designed specifically for African markets. Madica also partnered with ABAN (African Business Angel Network) to help more early-stage founders get access to funding across the continent. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/dFJJHmx5 #startup #funding #artificialintelligence #africantech

Just finished reading this year’s LinkedIn Top Startups list, and there are some remarkable companies redefining how technology and innovation intersect — from Perplexity, which claimed the top spot for the second year in a row, to Mercor, MagicSchool AI, and Harvey, all applying AI to modernize recruiting, education, and legal services. But the company that stood out most to me was MrBeast’s Feastables, which ranked #33 on this years list. This recognition perfectly illustrates a principle I emphasize in my Music Entrepreneurship course at the Roc Nation School of Music Sports & Entertainment: 🖊️ Creators — whether artists, influencers, or YouTubers — who generate long-term profit don’t just create hit content and build community; they build strategies that turn their intellectual property into products and services. Feastables is a great case study highlighting that principle. For example, according to Bloomberg, MrBeast’s parent company, Beast Industries, generated roughly $250 million in Feastables sales in 2024, with profits exceeding $20 million. In contrast, his media arm — including YouTube and Beast Games on Amazon Prime — produced similar revenue but lost nearly $80 million. Why? Because each video, often costing $3–4 million to produce, isn’t the profit center — it’s the customer acquisition engine. The videos build community, generate global awareness, and direct attention toward a product with far stronger margins and scalability. Since launch, Feastables has expanded across North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, raised $450 million in funding, and helped push Beast Industries’ valuation to $5 billion. Under CEO Jeff Housenbold (formerly of Shutterfly), it’s evolved into a structured, high-growth CPG company. Feastables certainly reflects a broader shift across the creator economy: the most successful creators aren’t just monetizing attention through platforms — they’re moving that attention into higher margin intellectual properties, products, and ultimately, full-fledged companies. #LinkedInTopStartups

Vansh Wadhwa, a master's student in NYU Tandon's Management of Technology program, brought attention to the trend of "founder-led marketing, pre-launch" where startups increasingly share products before launching. Having personally followed many Gen Z startup journeys, Wadhwa observed that audiences now seek founders to believe in, not just startups to support. He noted in Forbes that in an age craving connection, people want authentic founder stories, making pre-launch sharing a powerful strategy for building trust and community. #NYUTandonMade Department of Technology Management & Innovation

In SF’s ad-tech chaos, AdsGency AI isn’t another startup chasing metrics, it’s the system rewriting them. Founded in 2023 by Bolbi Liu, the company just secured $12M in seed funding led by XYZ Venture Capital, joined by Streamlined, HF0 Residency, Hat-Trick Capital, Index Ventures, Amity Ventures, and several angels. The raise, announced October 20, 2025, lifts total capital to $15M and primes AdsGency for a hiring sprint across #engineering and #gotomarket. Bolbi Liu built AdsGency after years of translating data into dominance. At Amazon Web Services, she led the MarTech platform that drove $500M in incremental ad revenue. At DiDi Global, she engineered the internal ad engine that boosted efficiency by 47% and delivered $200M in growth. Before that, she cut her teeth as a #machinelearning engineer at Sina Weibo and held technical roles at Intel and Bank of America. She holds a master’s in Mathematics and Data Science from Georgia Tech and is advancing through USC’s EMBA program. AdsGency’s product lives up to its name, an autonomous advertising agency powered by #largelanguagemodels. Its platform functions as an agentic operating system for #advertisers, automating strategy, #contentgeneration, #placement, #optimization, and #analytics. It blends Snowflake and Salesforce integrations to transform first- and third-party inputs into proprietary zero-party intelligence. #Campaigns plan, test, and iterate themselves, producing an average eight-times return on ad spend for clients such as TAL Education Group, Halliday, Pika, and Mobvoi. In less than a year, AdsGency scaled to $5.3M in annual recurring revenue and over 10,000 businesses served. Clients collectively generate more than $250M using the platform and have produced 250,000 ads through it. With a lean team of 15, the company’s global footprint stretches from Korea to Europe to India, built entirely through referrals and results. Behind the momentum stands an advisory bench with signal power. Camille Ricketts of XYZ Venture Capital, known for shaping Notion’s early marketing and founding First Round Review, joins alongside Kim Hughes, a 20-year communications veteran guiding AdsGency’s market narrative. Together, they frame an operation where campaigns aren’t managed, they manage themselves. The global advertising market will hit $1.17T next year, with nearly 80% of spend already algorithmic. AdsGency isn’t chasing that future, it’s building the infrastructure it runs on. If traditional agencies sell time, AdsGency sells precision. Its agents don’t rest, don’t stall, and don’t wait for approval. They just execute. In a market obsessed with impressions, AdsGency delivers one that lasts. #Startups #StartupFunding #VentureCapital #SeedRound #AI #AIAgents #AgenticAI #Automation #Advertising #AdTech #Marketing #MarTech #Data #DataDriven #Infrastructure #Technology #Innovation #TechEcosystem #StartupEcosystem If software engineering peace of mind is what you crave, Vention is your zen.

🎬 Rusk Media Raises ₹103 Crore Series B Led by IvyCap Ventures Rusk Media, a mobile-first digital entertainment powerhouse targeting Gen Z and A audiences, has successfully closed a ₹103 crore (~USD 11.6M) Series B round. The round was led by IvyCap Ventures with participation from LC Nueva Capital, InfoEdge Ventures, Woori Venture Partners US, and the company’s founders and family. They’ll use these funds to: ~Build new intellectual properties and formats ~Expand their content footprint into the U.S., European and EMEA markets ~Enhance production, distribution & AI-enabled workflows for scale and efficiency Entrepreneur Rusk Media already has a track record: over 50 seasons across 20+ titles across web, OTT, unscripted, and short-format content arenas. 🔧 How Alacrity EXTN LLP Can Help in This Journey ~At Alacrity EXTN, we specialize in advisory for high-growth digital and content businesses. Here’s where we can add value: ~Valuation & Due Diligence: Building models tuned for content / media / entertainment verticals ~Growth & Market Expansion Advisory: Strategy for entering new geographies (US, EMEA) and scaling content IPs ~M&A / JV Strategy: Identifying partnership or acquisition targets (studios, creators, tech platforms) that complement content scale and tech stack Takeaway: Rusk’s latest raise isn’t just a capital infusion—it’s a signal that content + tech companies continue to attract serious investor belief. In an industry where creativity, data, and scale must align, the right advisory and strategic structuring often make the difference between being a local leader and a global contender. #MandA #BuySide #SellSide #Valuation #DigitalMedia #ContentTech #GrowthStrategy #StrategicAdvisory #AlacrityEXTN