Tom Matsuda / Sifted:
London-based digital bank Allica, which caters to over 30K SMBs across the UK, raised a $155M Series D from Ventura Capital and others at a $1.2B valuation  —  The funding comes from Ventura Capital, GLG, Sona AM and existing investors TCV and Blue Owl  —  Allica Bank has become Europe's newest unicorn …

Financial Times:
A look at VW's robotaxi unit MOIA, which has 100 test vehicles across Germany, Norway, and the US, and plans to launch its robotaxis this year in LA with Uber  —  German carmaker plans to launch driverless taxis in the region next year, after Los Angeles launch with Uber

Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is in talks with Visa, Mastercard, and Indian banks ICICI, HDFC, and Axis as part of its plans to launch Apple Pay in India around mid-2026  —  Apple Inc. is in discussions with key Indian banks and global card networks in preparation to start Apple Pay in the world's most populous country.

Alex Heath / Sources:
Q&A with Skild AI CEO Deepak Pathak on building a general-purpose brain for robots, standing out among big tech's robotics efforts, the path to AGI, and more  —  Deepak Pathak has spent 15 years trying to solve one of the hardest problems in AI: getting machines to move through and manipulate the physical world.

Michelle Chan / Financial Times:
Tech companies are increasingly turning to GPU-backed debt, a model pioneered by CoreWeave, using SPVs to shift debt off their balance sheets  —  Investors attracted by high yields as companies look to shift debt off their balance sheets  —  Tech companies are increasingly turning …