Private equity deals hit an all-time high in 2021, peaking at a total value of more than $1tn, with an average deal size exceeding $1bn for the first time. Founders were media darlings, valuations soared, and investors raced to get a piece of the action.   By 2023, many of those same companies — such as Klarna and Stripe — had lost billions in value. Klarna’s valuation plummeted by 85% from its 2021 peak of $45.6bn to $6.7bn in 2022. Stripe also fell dramatically, from $95bn in 2021 to $50bn in 2023.   Fast forward to today, and even more tech companies…

This story continues at The Next Web

AI agents are now being embedded across core business functions globally. Soon, these agents could be scheduling our lives, making key decisions, and negotiating deals on our behalf. The prospect is exciting and ambitious, but it also begs the question: who’s actually supervising them? Over half (51%) of companies have deployed AI agents, and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has targeted a billion agents by the end of the year. Despite their growing influence, verification testing is notably absent. These agents are being entrusted with critical responsibilities in sensitive sectors, such as banking and healthcare, without proper oversight. AI agents require…

This story continues at The Next Web

Watching robots awkwardly flop around, cause robot body pile-ups on the soccer field, and accidentally lose their heads while taking part in a 1500-metre sprint at the first Robot Humanoid Games in China was not only entertaining, it was a reminder of just how far robotics has come — and how far it still has to go. While humanoid robots still struggle to walk across a stage, in other corners of the world automation is quietly revolutionising industries. At Picnic Technologies, the Netherlands’ fastest growing online supermarket, robots are compiling your grocery orders so delivery ‘shoppers’ can get them from…

This story continues at The Next Web

Vibe coding is redefining who can build software. By enabling code generation through natural language prompts, it’s quickly gained traction among startups and indie developers. But the biggest opportunity lies ahead: the enterprise.   The rapid rise of Lovable — which recently raised a $200mn Series A at a $1.8bn valuation — illustrates the remarkable progress of vibe coding. Having backed the Swedish startup at the seed stage, I see this as just the beginning. What’s next? A fundamental upheaval of who can build software — a cultural shift set to transform entire industries.     The vibe coding revolution The disruptive power of…

This story continues at The Next Web

The European space industry is booming. Yet despite the boom, the industry is struggling to find commercial buyers for arguably its most valuable output: data.  At the Living Planet Symposium 2025 in Vienna, the European Space Agency (ESA) and private sector leaders laid out Europe’s bold space ambitions and called for increased cooperation to address deep commercial gaps. Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s director general, highlighted one key focus. “Earth observation within the European Space Agency is a major priority,” he said. ESA has had recent successful missions. Its miniature satellite Φsat-2, for example, has started transmitting high-definition images back to Earth…

This story continues at The Next Web