Joyce Shen’s picks: musings and readings in AI/ML, February 23, 2026

📌 Musings and Readings

“Microsoft says it is on pace to invest $50 billion in 'Global South' AI push” (Link)

“World Labs lands $1B, with $200M from Autodesk, to bring world models into 3D workflows” (Link)

“Google’s new Gemini Pro model has record benchmark scores” (Link)

“AI code translation startup Code Metal reels in $125M at $1.25B valuation” (Link)

“Gemini can now create music” (Link)

“European Parliament Proposes Changes to Copyright Protection in the Age of Generative AI” (Link)

👏 Deals

Tembo, a London-based fintech that integrates mortgage broking and savings products into a single digital platform, has raised £16m in funding. 

nuuEnergy, a Munich, Germany-based company providing end-to-end heat pump solutions to help homeowners transition to energy-efficient, low-carbon heating systems, has raised €4.3m in seed funding.

Lightworks, a Canada-based IT consulting company helping regulated, security-conscious enterprises execute complex technology initiatives, has raised $12m in funding. 

Certivo, a WA-based company providing a compliance management platform that helps manufacturers and regulated enterprises automate supply chain, regulatory, and product compliance workflows, has raised $4m in seed funding.

QuadSci, a NYC-based AI software company developing a platform that uses machine learning to analyze product usage and help B2B teams predict customer behavior, optimize revenue, and drive retention and growth, has raised $8m in series A funding.

Dataro, a CA-based company providing a fundraising platform to help nonprofit organizations analyze donor data, predict giving behavior, has raised $14.28m in series A funding.

SurrealDB, a London, UK-based company developing a multi-model, AI-native database that unifies relational, document, graph, and real-time data in a single engine, has raised $23m in series  A funding.

Autosana, a CA-based company that automates testing for mobile and web apps using natural-language scripts, has raised $3.2m in funding.

Rainfall Health, a CA-based a health-tech company providing compliance and reimbursement platform for hospitals, has raised $15m in series  A funding.

Zenyard, an Israel-based company developing an AI-powered agent to help security teams rapidly reverse-engineer and analyze complex software binaries, has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-seed funding.

Qumis, a Chicago based insurtech company that helps insurance professionals interpret and analyze complex policy and coverage documents with legal-grade accuracy, has raised $4.3m in seed funding.

Odynn, a NYC based AI-powered travel and loyalty infrastructure company offering a modular platform and APIs for banks, fintechs, and travel companies to launch personalized travel and rewards programs, has raised $9.5M in seed funding.

Plato, a Berlin, Germany-based company developing an AI-driven sales intelligence and automation platform that helps wholesale distributors integrate and optimize sales processes, has raised $14.5m in seed funding. 

Rapidata, a Zurich, Switzerland–based AI infrastructure startup providing human data labeling and feedback to accelerate and enhance machine learning model training, has raised $8.5m in seed funding.