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36 minutes ago
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This $11.5M Startup Backed By Niklas Zennström Wants To Help You Launch A Million-Dollar AI Business From Your Sofa
Henrik Werdelin, co-founder of BarkBox and longtime startup advisor, has launched a new venture named Audos, which recently raised $11.5 million in seed funding led by True Ventures. Other investors include Offline Ventures, Bungalow Capital, and notable angel investors Niklas Zennström and Mario Schlosser, TechCrunch reports. Based in New York, Audos offers AI tools and startup-building support to everyday people who want to launch small businesses without any technical background. Unlike accelerators or traditional venture models, TechCrunch says that Audos charges a 15% perpetual revenue share instead of taking equity from founders. Don't Miss: Invest early in CancerVax's breakthrough tech aiming to disrupt a $231B market. Tired of Grid Failures and Charging Deserts? This Startup Has a Solar Fix and $25M+ in Sales — Werdelin, who previously built startup studio Prehype, told TechCrunch that Audos combines years of startup-building expertise into an accessible platform anyone can use to launch a digital product. "What we're trying to do is to figure out how you make a million companies that do a million dollars [in annual revenue]," Werdelin said. That goal, if realized, would create what he calls a trillion-dollar turnover business, a term that sets a new benchmark for bottom-up innovation. The company uses social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to reach potential founders and identify whether their business ideas can generate customers at a sustainable cost. According to TechCrunch, Audos's AI agent interacts with users directly, helping them clarify their offer and go to market quickly using natural language inputs. Trending: Named a TIME Best Invention and Backed by 5,000+ Users, Kara's Air-to-Water Pod Cuts Plastic and Costs — So far, Audos has supported the launch of what Werdelin calls "low hundreds" of businesses in its beta phase, TechCrunch reports. These include ventures like a virtual golf swing coach, an AI nutritionist, a mechanic offering quote evaluations, and even an "after-death logistics" consultant. Each founder received up to $25,000 in funding, access to Audos's proprietary tools, and support in distributing their offer through paid social ads. According to TechCrunch, Werdelin refers to these micro-businesses as "donkeycorns," signaling modest yet profitable ventures that aim to support personal freedom rather than billion-dollar exits. According to TechCrunch, Audos's model may spark discussion over the long-term cost of a 15% revenue share, which continues indefinitely like Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) App Store platform fee. While some entrepreneurs may welcome the no-equity route, others could see the permanent cut as a costly tradeoff over acknowledged that the market is rapidly filling with similar AI tools, saying, "the world is full of these tools" and they are "getting better rapidly," TechCrunch says. Audos distinguishes itself by helping non-technical users go to market quickly using natural language prompts and social media targeting. True Ventures partner Tony Conrad expressed confidence in Audos, citing its potential to support thousands who want to start small, independent businesses with real revenue potential. "There are just lots and lots of people" who need this opportunity, Conrad told TechCrunch. Audos currently operates with just five employees but aims to expand its impact exponentially without building a large internal team. Werdelin believes the next wave of entrepreneurship should be built by people previously left out of the ecosystem. "We believe that the world is better with more entrepreneurship," he told TechCrunch, pointing to mom-and-pop shops as his inspiration rather than venture-backed unicorns. Read Next: Here's what Americans think you need to be considered wealthy. Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article This $11.5M Startup Backed By Niklas Zennström Wants To Help You Launch A Million-Dollar AI Business From Your Sofa originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why AppLovin Stock Slumped in June
Outside development put the hurt on the specialty tech company's shares. One, a highly critical report published by a short-seller, was especially hurtful. 10 stocks we like better than AppLovin › Last month, AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP) was punished by investors more for what it didn't do than for what it actually did. A hoped-for graduation to a top stock index was one of the non-occurrences, while a short-seller felt compelled to write a scathing report on the company. In some respects, AppLovin was fortunate that its stock didn't decline more deeply than the sub-11% dip it experienced across June. The index let-down, such as it was, occurred near the top of the month. Every quarter, S&P Dow Jones Indices, the operator of the closely followed S&P 500 index (among many others), likes to "rebalance" the index, replacing component stocks deemed no longer suitable with new ones. Several days ahead of the current rebalancing, speculation grew about which companies would land on the hallowed index. AppLovin was mentioned as one of those candidates, at least by a team of analysts at heavyweight lender Bank of America. The leading prospect, in their take, was online securities brokerage Robinhood Markets, but it also mentioned six other prospects. Among these was AppLovin. Alas, S&P Dow Jones Indices performed what felt like a head fake, electing not to change the composition of the S&P 500 index at all this time. The market can usually shrug off a non-event like this, disappointing as it may be initially. It's tougher to ignore a highly critical and detailed analysis of a stock, such as the ones typically published by institutional short-sellers. Unfortunately for AppLovin, that's exactly what happened when such a firm trained its sights on the company. In mid-June, the firm, Culper Research, unveiled a rather sprawling 30-page screed criticizing AppLovin's business practices. Many of its accusations pertained to AppLovin's goal of acquiring the non-Chinese operations of controversial social media video app TikTok, a service that has fallen afoul of the U.S. government. In the report, Culper intimated that a significant AppLovin shareholder, Hao Tang, is an individual with a shady past and "extensive direct and indirect ties" to certain dark corners of the Chinese government. It decried this "covert Chinese ownership," and warned of the danger posed to U.S. national security. AppLovin hasn't made any official statement on the Culper Research allegations. Perhaps, management feels they'll blow over with investors before long. Personally, I'd view that as a mistake since troubling allegations like the ones the short-seller raises have a way of lingering and, in turn, negatively affecting investor morale. We'll see whether the company can deliver news encouraging enough to dislodge the numerous accusations from the collective investor memory. Before you buy stock in AppLovin, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and AppLovin wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $699,558!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $976,677!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,060% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025 Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AppLovin and Bank of America. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why AppLovin Stock Slumped in June was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
U.S. Exceptionalism Is Alive and Well as Nasdaq Outperforms Global Peers: Macro Markets
U.S. exceptionalism, the notion that the U.S. economy and its financial markets are distinct compared to those of other nations, remains alive and well, at least according to the equity markets. Since the early April slide, Wall Street's tech-heavy Nasdaq index has surged 31%, while the broader S&P 500 index has rallied 24%, according to data source TradingView. Other major indices, such as Germany's DAX, France's CAC, Japan's Nikkei, and China's Shanghai Composite, have lagged behind Wall Street. Both Nasdaq and the S&P 500 traded at record highs Thursday. Demand for U.S. Treasury notes has held up amid concerns about fiscal sustainability, as noted by CoinDesk last month. The data contradicts the popular narrative that capital flows are rebalancing away from the U.S. en masse due to debt jitters and President Donald Trump's trade war and repeated criticism of the Federal Reserve. "Several key factors that underpinned U.S. exceptionalism remain fully intact and are perhaps even strengthening further," Hani Redha, portfolio manager, head of strategy and research for global multi-asset at PineBridge Investments, wrote in a blog post published last month. Redha pointed to deregulation under Trump as a key factor supporting the US's productivity supercycle – unique among global peers – and its lead globally. Other economic variables, such as the real per capita GDP growth, also support the exceptionalism narrative. The metric measures the rate at which the value of goods and services produced per person in an economy is adjusted for inflation. "The U.S. massively outperforms the EU in terms of real per capita GDP growth. The reasons for that are deeply structural and haven't changed one bit. U.S. exceptionalism - for growth at least - is here to stay...," Robin Brooks, senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution, said on X. The U.S. jobs data released Thursday further added another stake in the 'loss of American exceptionalism narrative, as Bruce J Clark, head of rates at Informa Global Markets, said on LinkedIn. The return of U.S. exceptionalism to U.S. stocks can be viewed as a positive development for bitcoin (BTC) and the broader crypto market, given the historical positive correlation between the two. BTC, the leading cryptocurrency by market value, has already risen 44% to $108,000, rallying swiftly from the early April lows of nearly $75,000, according to CoinDesk data. Moreover, with the pro-crypto president in the White House, one may argue that bitcoin is part of the U.S. exceptionalism play. Meanwhile, the return of U.S. exceptionalism could also put a floor under the U.S. dollar. "With today's jobs data putting another stake in the 'loss of American exceptionalism' narrative, the temptation to get long dollars here for a counter-trend trade is big and growing," Clark noted, adding the ECB officials' growing discomfort with the strong euro. Early this week, the FT reported, quoting a senior ECB official, that the central bank may need to signal that too much strengthening in the euro could be an issue, as it might lead inflation to hover below targets. Meanwhile, in an interview with Bloomberg, ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said that "overshooting" of the euro should be avoided, flagging levels above 1.20 as complicated.
