Browsing: raise

Sidd Motwani, Ian Anderson and Shivaditya Sinha spent years building the behavioral intelligence infrastructure behind Spotify’s recommendation engine. Called Vector AI, the system is designed to predict a person’s intent and next actions instead of relying only on their past behavior. It powers about 90% of Spotify’s recommendations to its 800 million users. 

MENA startup funding rose modestly in July 2026, but the rebound was largely debt-driven, with equity investment remaining subdued. Startups across the Middle East and North Africa raised $172.6 million across 45 deals during the first month of the second half of 2026, up 16% from June but still 78%…