OSS Ventures raises €75M, Mstudio dominates Ivorian deal flow, and SBI Holdings launches an XRP-focused studio.
Top Stories
OSS Ventures Launches €75M Fund for Industrial AI 🏭 Paris and Boston-based venture builder OSS Ventures has announced a new €75 million fund (with €44M first close) to scale industrial SaaS and AI startups. The studio, which has created 30 companies since 2019, is transitioning from "experiment" to "infrastructure," aiming to be the Sequoia of industrial SaaS. The fund is backed by players like Teknor Apex and Decathlon PULSE.
Mstudio Captures 68% of Pre-Seed Rounds in Côte d’Ivoire 🇨🇮 Abidjan-based venture studio Mstudio has emerged as a dominant force, accounting for over two-thirds of disclosed pre-seed and seed rounds in the country since 2023. Using a "Diaspora Founder Formula," the studio pairs international talent with local co-founders, providing €750k in total value/cash per venture. Their portfolio companies have generated cumulative revenues of €8.65M by 2025.
SBI Holdings Announces XRP-Focused Venture Studio 🇯🇵 Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings is expanding its Web3 footprint. SBI Ripple Asia has signed an MOU to establish a venture studio dedicated to startups building financial services natively on the XRP Ledger. This runs alongside a new $64.5M blockchain-based bond offering featuring XRP rewards.
Studio Launches & Expansions
- YVL Capital Partners Launches in Dubai: An AI-native VC and studio has officially launched in Dubai. YVL utilizes "Nexa Staff," an AI workforce infrastructure, to reduce startup operational burn by 40–50% and has partnered with a hyperscale cloud provider for credits.
- Value Factory Launches Studio in Netherlands: Entrepreneurial investment fund Value Factory has opened a venture studio. Led by Peter Kleijwegt, it employs a hypothesis-driven model with strict go/no-go milestones to transition ideas into investable companies.
- Forward Deployed Founders: A new studio launched in Waterloo, focusing on bootstrapping "Agent First Systems" with university students and first-time founders.
- Rev1 Ventures Opens Innovation Hub: Rev1 has launched Rev1 at The Peninsula in Columbus, Ohio. The 43,000 sq. ft. facility includes space specifically for venture studio programs and founder collaboration.
Portfolio & Funding News
- JetScale AI Raises $5.4M: Incubated by Diagram, the cloud infrastructure optimization platform secured oversubscribed seed funding co-led by BDC Capital and Diagram ClimateTech Fund.
- NEC Deploys Studio Grad Metabob: NEC Corporation has deployed the AI code intelligence platform from its "Elev X! Ignite" studio across internal operations, cutting maintenance time by 66%.
Partnerships & Strategy
- Butterpie x COOL Studio: Butterpie Venture Studio has partnered with COOL Studio (Coca-Cola, NARS) to handle brand identity for its creator-led CPG portfolio, targeting 12–28 launches in the next 24 months.
- AXL & PUSH Media Launch STRATIS: Canadian studio AXL has announced STRATIS, an agentic AI operating system for marketing intelligence. The pilot begins April 2026.
- 28DIGITAL x e-Novia: A new strategic partnership focuses on "Physical AI" ventures in Europe, combining e-Novia's studio services with 28DIGITAL's fundraising and training programs.
Insight & Trends
The Golden Age of Entrepreneurship 🧠 Marc Lafleur, founder of DB8 Labs, argues that AI has removed technical barriers, making it economically viable to target niche $50M markets that were previously ignored. He suggests founders should focus on workflow-heavy problems to avoid obsolescence by large models.
Studio Model Maturity 📈 Industry observer Neal Ghosh highlights a shift from "experiments" to "infrastructure," noting the rise of University-based venture builders (UBC HATCH) and legislative shifts in the U.S. (INVEST Act) that could significantly aid capital formation.
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