**SoftBank** is set to invest in **Skild AI**, a groundbreaking robotics startup, at a staggering **$4 billion valuation**. This investment illustrates **Masayoshi Son's** confidence in the company's mission to develop an advanced **artificial intelligence 'brain'** specifically designed for robots. As the demand for intelligent automation grows, Skild AI aims to be at the forefront, revolutionizing how robots interact with their environment. With this strategic decision, SoftBank continues its trend of backing innovative technologies that have the potential to reshape industries. Expect to see more news on how this investment unfolds and the impact it may have on the robotics sector.

Masayoshi Son bets on company building an artificial intelligence ‘brain’ for robots

SoftBank's Bold Bet: Investing $4 Billion in Robotics Pioneer Skild AI

### Understanding Tabular Data
A significant amount of information within companies is classified as **tabular data**, typically seen in **spreadsheets** and **database entries**. However, **AI models** face challenges when analyzing this type of data due to its complex nature, which combines both text and numbers, often in varying units of measurement. 

### A Breakthrough Solution
Researchers have proposed a **large foundation model** specifically designed to address tabular data issues. This model, akin to large language models like **ChatGPT**, has shown promising results in making accurate predictions and inferences about relationships within data sets. 

### Meet Prior Labs
Founded by computer scientists **Frank Hutter** and **Noah Hollman**, along with finance expert **Sauraj Gambhir**, **Prior Labs** is dedicated to commercializing this innovative technology. Recently, they announced a successful **€9 million ($9.3 million)** pre-seed funding round, led by **Balderton Capital** and other notable investors. 

### The TabPFN Model
The model at the core of their research, called **Tabular Prior-Fitted Network (TabPFN)**, is trained exclusively on numerical data. Plans are in place to enhance TabPFN to understand both numbers and text, enabling natural language interaction similar to that of chatbots. 

### Performance and Applications
TabPFN has demonstrated superior performance in **time series predictions**, outperforming existing models by significant margins. This capability has vast applications across industries, particularly in **medical** and **financial domains**. 

### Open Source and Collaboration
Prior Labs offers TabPFN as an **open-source model**, with a requirement for users to acknowledge its use. The company aims to generate revenue through tailored solutions for specific customers and by developing applications for targeted markets. 

### The Competitive Landscape
Prior Labs is not alone in this endeavor. Other startups, such as **Ikigai Labs** and **Neuralk AI**, are also exploring methods to leverage AI for tabular data. Tech giants like **Google** and **Microsoft** are actively researching similar challenges, indicating a growing interest in this field. 

### Future Developments
Looking ahead, Prior Labs plans to enhance its models further, focusing on relational databases and causal discovery, as well as developing user-friendly chat interfaces for data interaction.

'Tabular data' has stymied AI systems, including OpenAI's best models. A breakthrough from Germany-based Prior Labs could change that

Unlocking the Future of AI: Prior Labs Secures $9.3 Million to Tackle Tabular Data Challenges

## Flō Optics Revolutionizes Lens Coating

![Flo Optics employees.](https://pic1.calcalist.co.il/picserver3/crop_images/2025/02/05/ryvVMoltJx/ryvVMoltJx_0_0_1815_852_0_large.jpg)

Flō Optics, an **Israeli startup**, has successfully raised **$35 million** in a **Series A funding round** aimed at redefining the lens coating industry. The primary investor is the **Jaglom family**, known for their prior investments in companies like **Stratasys**. Previously, Flō Optics had only secured a few million dollars during its **Seed round**.

The company has also gained investment from **MEI Systems**, an Italian firm specializing in lens-edging machines, which will take a minority stake in Flō Optics.

### Innovative Technology

Jonathan Jaglom, Chairman and CEO of Flō Optics, explained their groundbreaking approach:  
> "We are a company that specializes in coating optical lenses through a digital printing process. Traditionally, every lens undergoes coating using wet processes, but we are developing technology that enables the coating to be printed directly onto the lens. Our technology allows for **pixel-level precision**."

The company plans to transition from the technology development phase to the **early growth phase** this year, with installations in optics labs worldwide.

### Growth and Expansion

The funds raised will accelerate **product development**, expand **production capabilities**, and enhance operations to meet the increasing demand for their innovative solutions. This marks a pivotal growth period for Flō Optics as they leverage their technological advancements to establish a **significant presence** in the **global ophthalmic market**.

Founded in **2019** by **Claudio Rottman**, the CTO, Flō Optics currently employs around **60 staff** and operates in both **Israel and Switzerland**.

The Israeli startup aims to substitute traditional wet processes with pixel-level precision technology.

Flō Optics Secures $35 Million to Innovate Optical Lens Coating with Digital Technology

### Ecoceres: Pioneering Sustainable Aviation Fuel

**Ecoceres**, a groundbreaking spinoff from Hong Kong billionaire **Lee Shau Kee**’s Towngas, is on a mission to become a **leading producer** of **sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)** by the end of 2025. This innovative startup converts **animal fat** and **used cooking oil** into environmentally-friendly jet fuel, significantly reducing the **greenhouse gas emissions** associated with air travel.

### Making a Difference in Aviation

As the aviation industry strives to lessen its climate impact, companies like Ecoceres are stepping up to meet the rising demand for **green jet fuel**. Their SAF can reduce emissions by up to **90%** compared to traditional kerosene-based fuels. The company is also exploring additional feedstocks to diversify its production capabilities, aligning with the aviation sector's **net zero emissions** goal by 2050.

### Setting Industry Standards

Ecoceres aims to differentiate itself from industry giants by achieving the **highest yield** in SAF production. With a new plant in **Malaysia** set to begin operations, the company anticipates reaching a yield of **85%**, significantly higher than the industry average of **40-55%**. This expansion is expected to increase Ecoceres' annual SAF production from **100,000 tonnes** in 2023 to **700,000 tonnes** by 2025, capturing over **30%** of the global market share.

![Matti Lievonen, Chief Executive Director of Ecoceres.](https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/67a1e2d7357d39b9f04f6ff5/Matti-Lievonen--Chief-Executive-Director-of-Ecoceres-/0x0.jpg?fit=scale)

### Future Prospects and Opportunities

Founded in **2008**, Ecoceres transitioned from a research project to a unicorn startup valued at nearly **$1.5 billion** after securing significant investments, including a **$108 million** Series A round. The company is also contemplating an **initial public offering (IPO)** in Europe, potentially valuing it at **$5 billion**.

### Meeting Regulatory Demands

The timing of Ecoceres' growth aligns perfectly with the **European Union's mandate** for SAF, which requires at least **2%** of total jet fuel supply to be SAF, escalating to **70%** by 2050. Major airlines like **Lufthansa** are already turning to Ecoceres for their SAF needs, as demand continues to surge in the **U.S.** and **Asia**.

### Overcoming Challenges

Despite its potential, SAF currently accounts for less than **0.1%** of total jet fuel consumption, primarily due to higher costs and limited availability of feedstocks. To address this, Ecoceres is researching alternative sources, including **cabinata**, a resilient plant that thrives in less fertile soils, and developing **alcohol-to-jet** technology to convert agricultural waste into usable fuel.

![Ecoceres' Jiangsu plant.](https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/67a1e35e9bbbe5791b23c09c/Ecoceres--Jiangsu-plant-/0x0.jpg?fit=scale)

With over **100 R&D experts** focused on innovative technologies and feedstocks, Ecoceres is poised to lead the charge in sustainable aviation fuel production, providing airlines with a viable pathway to significantly reduce their environmental impact.

Ecoceres, a spinoff from Hong Kong billionaire Lee Shau Kee’s Towngas, has set its sights on becoming a leading green jet fuel producer by the end of 2025. 

Meet Ecoceres: The Hong Kong Unicorn Transforming Aviation with Green Jet Fuel

### SEALSQ Invests Big in Quantum Technologies

**SEALSQ Corp (NASDAQ: LAES)** has made headlines by announcing a strategic allocation of **up to $20 million** for investments in startups focused on **quantum computing**, **Quantum-as-a-Service (QaaS)**, and **AI-driven semiconductor technologies**. This investment initiative is a key component of SEALSQ's **Quantum Roadmap**, aimed at delivering **quantum-safe transformation solutions**.

The investment strategy specifically targets startups that are developing:
- **Quantum computers**
- **Quantum networking solutions**
- **Cloud-based quantum services**

These startups will be enhanced by SEALSQ's robust security protocols, prioritizing those making advancements in **quantum key distribution (QKD)**, **lattice-based cryptographic protocols**, and **quantum-secured cloud environments**.

### Addressing Quantum Threats

This strategic move is a direct response to the increasing threat posed by quantum computing to current cryptographic standards. As conventional encryption methods like **RSA** and **ECC** are becoming vulnerable to quantum attacks, SEALSQ's initiative aligns with the **NIST's** recent publication of official standards for **post-quantum cryptography (PQC)**, emphasizing the urgency for enterprises to adopt **quantum-resistant security frameworks**.

### Insights from the Investment

The **$20 million** investment is poised to significantly impact SEALSQ's market position in the evolving quantum security landscape. Here are some key insights:
- **Strategic Market Positioning:** The quantum computing security market is estimated to grow to **$15 billion by 2028**. SEALSQ targets critical segments including quantum computing infrastructure and AI-enhanced semiconductors, potentially creating multiple revenue streams.
- **Financial Impact:** This investment represents a prudent approach to R&D that maintains financial flexibility while committing to high-return potential through equity appreciation.
- **Competitive Advantages:** By integrating post-quantum cryptography into semiconductor architectures, SEALSQ is establishing significant barriers to entry, addressing the need for scalable security solutions in **IoT** and **5G applications**.

### Risk Considerations

While the initiative presents numerous opportunities, it also entails risks:
- Uncertainty in the timeline for quantum technology development
- Technical challenges within portfolio companies
- Regulatory risks related to evolving cryptographic standards
- Competition from larger tech firms

This initiative positions SEALSQ at the intersection of **quantum computing**, **cybersecurity**, and **semiconductor technology**, aiming to create substantial shareholder value through direct returns and enhanced competitive positioning in the quantum-safe security market.

![SEALSQ Quantum Investment](https://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/ti?nf=OTM1MzAwMiM2NzM1NzY0IzIyNTQ4NTY=)  
![SEALSQ Semiconductors](https://ml.globenewswire.com/media/OWQ2NTFhMzUtNWM5NC00ZWI0LThjZTktMzY3MGNlMzI1ZjcwLTEyNjY0MDU=/tiny/SEAL-Semiconductors.png)

SEALSQ announces $20M strategic investment initiative in quantum computing startups, focusing on quantum-safe security solutions and AI semiconductor tech to combat emerging quantum threats.

SEALSQ's $20M Bet on Quantum Computing and AI: What You Need to Know

Advertising technologies may have lost their shine among investors, but **StackAdapt** is turning heads with its innovative approach. The Toronto-based company has successfully raised **$235 million** in a growth round led by **Teachers’ Venture Growth**, the late-stage venture arm of the **Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan**, alongside participation from **Intrepid Growth Partners** and other unnamed investors.

### Revolutionizing Advertising with AI

StackAdapt is a **multichannel programmatic advertising platform** that harnesses the power of **AI and automation** to enhance user experience and improve advertising effectiveness. Co-founder and CEO **Vitaly Pecherskiy** emphasized the **rapidly evolving challenges** that marketing teams face and the pressure they bear to drive growth. He stated, "To help them stay ahead of the curve, we are relentlessly focused on building the most advanced, intelligent, and automated platform to make their success inevitable."

### Significant Funding Milestone

This funding round comes on the heels of a **$300 million** investment from **Summit Partners** in 2022, bringing StackAdapt's total funding to over **$500 million** since its inception in **2014**. 

### The Advertising Landscape

The advertising tech sector has seen a slowdown in investor interest, primarily due to the dominance of **Big Tech** and changing consumer preferences. Notably, StackAdapt's recent funding round marks the largest for an advertising startup since **Madhive** raised **$300 million** from **Goldman Sachs Asset Management** in 2023. According to **Crunchbase**, advertising startups raised less than **$1 billion** in venture capital last year and only **$1.3 billion** in 2023.

![Startup Funding](https://news.crunchbase.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/startup_funding.jpg)

*Illustration by [Dom Guzman](https://www.domguzman.com/)*

StackAdapt raised a $235 million growth round led by Teachers’ Venture Growth — the late-stage venture and growth investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

StackAdapt Secures $235M Investment: A Game Changer for AI in Advertising

You might not think much about the **humble toilet seat** until it demands your attention. Rob Poleki, the CEO & Founder of **Washie**, recalls a particularly unpleasant experience at an airport toilet: "Why hasn’t anyone had any innovation in the stall?" After realizing that toilet seat covers have remained unchanged for over **70 years**, he decided to take action.

In **2015**, while serving as the Bannock County Clerk, Poleki founded **Washie** to tackle the issue of dirty toilet seats. The company offers a **smart toilet seat** designed for businesses, equipped with a cartridge of cleaning solution. Users can activate the cleaning solution via a sensor, ensuring the toilet seat is hygienic before use. Each cartridge provides about **2,000 cleans** and connects to Wi-Fi, alerting maintenance when it’s time for a replacement.

Now on its **fourth iteration**, Washie has gained traction in various public spaces, including **airports**, **gas stations**, and **hospitals**. However, Poleki is ready to expand into the home market. 

### Enter Alturas
Blake Hansen, a venture capitalist from Eagle, Idaho, has taken an interest in Washie. After meeting Poleki during **Boise Entrepreneur Week**, he was impressed by Poleki's scrappy approach to entrepreneurship. Hansen decided to invest in Washie, aiming to provide not just capital but also resources to help scale the business.

Hansen emphasizes the importance of community support for entrepreneurs in Idaho. He believes that while Washie has been successful in the commercial sector, the demand for a home version of the product is significant. With plans to launch the home version in the next year, Poleki points out the success of products like **Squatty Potty** and **Poo-pourri**, noting that there hasn't been a similar product in the bathroom space recently.

### Home Sweet Home
As they prepare to introduce Washie for residential use, both Poleki and Hansen are excited about the potential market. Poleki states, "It’s a great time to launch in the home; there’s nothing like it." With a focus on engineering and developing the product to meet consumer needs, they are optimistic about the future. 

Hansen sums it up succinctly: "People just want to have a **clean toilet seat** when they sit down."

You might not think much about the humble toilet seat. That is, until the seat demands attention. Then you likely can’t think of much else. “Me and my son were at the airport, and we encountered a disgusting toilet seat,” Washie CEO & Founder Rob Poleki said. “‘Why hasn’t anyone had any innovation in the […]

Revolutionizing Cleanliness: Idaho Startup Washie Aims to Transform Toilet Seats for Home Use

The **meteoric rise** of DeepSeek—the Chinese AI startup now challenging global giants—has stunned observers and put the spotlight on China’s AI sector. Since **ChatGPT’s debut in 2022**, the country’s tech ecosystem has been in relentless pursuit of homegrown alternatives, giving rise to a wave of startups and billion-dollar bets.

Today, the race is dominated by tech titans like **Alibaba** and **ByteDance**, alongside well-funded rivals backed by heavyweight investors. But two years into China’s generative AI boom we are seeing a shift: Smaller innovators have to carve out their own niches or risk missing out. What began as a sprint has become a **high-stakes marathon**—China’s AI ambitions have never been higher.

An elite group of companies known as the **“Six Tigers”**—Stepfun, Zhipu, Minimax, Moonshot, 01.AI, and Baichuan—are generally considered to be at the forefront of China’s AI sector. But alongside them, research-focused firms like DeepSeek and ModelBest continue to grow in influence. Some, such as **Minimax** and **Moonshot**, are giving up on costly foundational model training to hone in on building consumer-facing applications on top of others’ models. Others, like **Stepfun** and **Infinigence AI**, are doubling down on research, driven in part by **US semiconductor restrictions**.

We have identified these four Chinese AI companies as the ones to watch:

### **Stepfun**  
Founded in April 2023 by former Microsoft senior vice president **Jiang Daxin**, Stepfun emerged relatively late onto the AI startup scene, but it has quickly become a contender thanks to its portfolio of foundational models. It is also committed to building **artificial general intelligence (AGI)**, a mission a lot of Chinese startups have given up on.

With backing from investors like **Tencent** and funding from Shanghai’s government, the firm released **11 foundational AI models** last year—spanning language, visual, video, audio, and multimodal systems. Its biggest language model so far, **Step-2**, has over **1 trillion parameters** (GPT-4 has about 1.8 trillion). It is currently ranked behind only ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Claude, and Gemini’s models on [LiveBench](https://livebench.ai/#/), a third-party benchmark site that evaluates the capabilities of large language models.

Stepfun’s multimodal model, **Step-1V**, is also highly ranked for its ability to understand visual inputs on **Chatbot Arena**, a crowdsource platform where users can compare and rank AI models’ performance. This company is now working with AI application developers, who are building on top of its models. According to [Chinese media outlet 36Kr](https://36kr.com/p/3090736042736004), demand from external developers to use Stepfun’s multimodal API surged over **45-fold** in the second half of 2024.

### **ModelBest**  
Researchers at the prestigious **Tsinghua University** founded ModelBest in 2022 in Beijing’s Haidian district. Since then, the company has distinguished itself by leaning into **efficiency** and embracing the trend of **small language models**. Its **MiniCPM series**—often dubbed “Little Powerhouses” in Chinese—is engineered for on-device, real-time processing on smartphones, PCs, automotive systems, smart home devices, and even robots. Its pitch to customers is that this combination of smaller models and local data processing cuts costs and enhances privacy.

ModelBest’s newest model, **MiniCPM 3.0**, has only **4 billion parameters** but matches the performance of GPT-3.5 on various benchmarks. On **GitHub** and **Hugging Face**, the company’s models can be found under the profile of OpenBMB (Open Lab for Big Model Base), its open-source research lab. Investors have taken note: In December 2024, the company announced a new, third round of funding worth **tens of millions of dollars**.

### **Zhipu**  
Also originating at Tsinghua University, **Zhipu AI** has grown into a company with strong ties to **government** and **academia**. The firm is developing foundational models as well as AI products based on them, including **ChatGLM**, a conversational model, and a video generator called **Ying**, which is akin to OpenAI’s Sora system.

**GLM-4-Plus**, the company’s most advanced large language model to date, is trained on **high-quality synthetic data**, which reduces training costs, but has still matched the performance of GPT-4. The company has also developed **GLM-4V-Plus**, a vision model capable of interpreting web pages and videos, which represents a step toward AI with more **“agentic” capabilities**.

Among the cohort of new Chinese AI startups, Zhipu is the first to get on the US government’s radar. On January 15, the Biden administration revised its export control regulations, adding over **20 Chinese entities**—including 10 subsidiaries of Zhipu AI—to its restricted trade list, restricting them from receiving US goods or technology for national interest reasons. The US claims Zhipu’s technology is helping China’s military, which the company denies.

Valued at over **$2 billion**, Zhipu is currently one of the biggest AI startups in China and is reportedly soon planning an **IPO**. The company’s investors include **Beijing city government-affiliated funds** and various prestigious VCs.

### **Infinigence AI**  
Founded in 2023, **Infinigence AI** is smaller than other companies on this list, though it has still attracted **$140 million** in funding so far. The company focuses on **infrastructure** instead of model development. Its main selling point is its ability to combine chips from lots of different brands successfully to execute AI tasks, forming what’s dubbed a “heterogeneous computing cluster.” This is a unique challenge Chinese AI companies face due to **US chip sanctions**.

Infinigence AI claims its system could increase the effectiveness of AI training by streamlining how different chip architectures—including various models from **AMD**, **Huawei**, and **Nvidia**—work in synchronization. In addition, Infinigence AI has launched its **Infini-AI cloud platform**, which combines multiple vendors’ products to develop and deploy models. The company says it wants to build an effective compute utilization solution “with **Chinese characteristics**,” and native to AI training. It claims that its training system **HetHub** could reduce AI models training time by **30%** by optimizing the heterogeneous computing clusters Chinese companies often have.

### **Honorable mentions**  
### **Baichuan**  
While many of its competitors chase scale and expansive application ranges, **Baichuan AI**, founded by industry veteran **Wang Xiaochuan** (the founder of Sogou) in April 2023, is focused on the domestic Chinese market, targeting sectors like **medical assistance** and **health care**. With a valuation over **$2 billion** after its newest round of fundraising, Baichuan is currently among the biggest AI startups in China.

### **Minimax**  
Founded by AI veteran **Yan Junjie**, Minimax is best known for its product **Talkie**, a companion chatbot available around the world. The platform provides various characters users can chat with for emotional support or entertainment, and it had even more downloads last year than leading competitor chatbot platform [Character.ai](http://character.ai). Chinese media outlet 36Kr reported that Minimax’s revenue in 2024 was around **$70 million**, making it one of the most successful consumer-facing Chinese AI startups in the global market.

### **Moonshot**  
Moonshot is best known for building **Kimi**, the second-most-popular AI chatbot in China, just after ByteDance’s Doubao, with over **13 million users**. Released in 2023, Kimi supports input lengths of over **200,000 characters**, making it a popular choice among students, white-collar workers, and others who routinely have to work with long chunks of text. Founded by **Yang Zhilin**, a renowned AI researcher who studied at Tsinghua University and Carnegie Mellon University, Moonshot is backed by big tech companies, including **Alibaba**, and top venture capital firms. The company is valued at around **$3 billion** but is reportedly scaling back on its foundational model research as well as overseas product development plans, as key people leave the company.

Four Chinese AI startups to watch beyond DeepSeek. These companies are all in a position to compete both within China and beyond.

SoftBank's Bold Bet: Investing $4 Billion in Robotics Pioneer Skild AI

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Meet Ecoceres: The Hong Kong Unicorn Transforming Aviation with Green Jet Fuel

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Discover the Rising Stars: 4 Chinese AI Startups Ready to Compete Globally