AMD bets on Tokyo. Google bets on Munich. The frontier just went global.
Issue 05 – Week ending 12 July 2026 – For founders building beyond their own borders.
We’re back again with another global round-up, and lots of things happened in the past week …
Firstly, we’re featuring Karen Onuma-Mielke from GlobalDeal and speaking of Karen, we just finished up a webinar (or Globinar) on why its crucial for founders to think global from day one or Global Day Zero π …
From the funding rounds:
In Japan, we saw several raises from the likes of ζ ͺεΌδΌη€ΎγΈγΆγ€γ¨ / JIZAIE Inc., Kuzen, Turing and Mozu.
Aus saw capital secured from Gridcog, LendUs and Wildfire Energy.
And globally there was funding activity from Proxima Fusion, Prime Intellect, Norm Ai and more …
Plus, your global headlines, thought of the week, upcoming events and more!
Finally, the Global Day Zero Sprint deadline for our first round of applications is this coming Friday. 8 weeks of hands-on work with your cohort, where you’ll validate in your initial market but design your startup to travel to the next.
Everyone who registers for this round gets founding member pricing, plus instant access to:
- The First 5 Conversations playbook for your sales outreach
- The Global Mindset Masterclass
- Your 24/7 always-on Global AI Navigator
Get your applications in by Friday 17 July and the cohort kicks off Wednesday, 22 July.
FX note: figures converted at approx A$1 = US$0.70 = Β₯114. Rounded.
Ecosystem profile
Give us your 15 second intro and what you’re working on.
I’m Karen, co-founder of GlobalDeal. I grew up in Germany, am half-Japanese, and moved to Tokyo after university – so navigating between business cultures has basically been my whole career. GlobalDeal does that at scale: an AI platform that executes cross-border market entry for deep-tech companies – finding local partners, running outreach, navigating regulation. A lot of my day is talking to founders trying to build traction overseas.
Are you avoiding AI, somewhat into AI, or all in on AI?
All in, but not on the hype. For us AI is the production line. We use it to do the work: mapping partners, running outreach, navigating regulation – at a cost and speed that used to require a team of consultants. The judgment, trust-building, and relationships still need humans. That combination is basically the whole bet we’re making.
What’s the hardest part for startups that want to go beyond their own borders?
Finding the right local partner. Most founders think they can search for one via LinkedIn, cold outreach, or trade fairs. But the partners who actually matter are often not looking for foreign companies, they’re introduced to them. So the actual bottleneck isn’t just the strategy, it’s access.
Where can people usually find you?
Most active on LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/karen-onuma-mielke. We’ve also started hosting offline events and webinars at GlobalDeal. Follow the company page for those: linkedin.com/company/globaldeal. And you can check out what we’re building at globaldeal.io.
What’s one thing people find surprising about you?
I’ve backpacked through places like Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and India, solo – people usually picture me behind a laptop, not hiking out there alone.
How can you help others, and what do you need help with?
If you’re a founder thinking about cross-border expansion generally, happy to talk through it. Market selection, mapping regulations, and getting initial traction in your next market is what I spend my days on.
On the ask-side: Right now I’m looking to connect with VCs, accelerators, and public programs who want their portfolio companies or participants to succeed abroad, beyond the initial introductions that they typically cover.
π± Bootstrapping spotlight
Jiffi (Sydney, Australia): a product-led tech agency that embeds inside businesses to fix the operational mess left behind by fragmented software and AI tools. No SaaS layer, just hands-on operators. Founded 2023 by two former Deputy leaders and grown to A$2M ARR in two years without a cent of outside equity. The fresh angle: they are only now weighing their first raise, which is exactly the point at which most founders wish they had waited. (StartupDaily) β
π―π΅ Japan raises
Turing (Tokyo): Β₯12.6B / A$111M / US$78M (Series A extension) End-to-end AI for fully autonomous (“Level 5”) self-driving cars, backed by AMD Ventures, Mitsubishi Corporation and MUFG. (PR Times) β
KUZEN (Tokyo): Β₯1.63B / A$14M / US$10M (Series B) No-code AI customer-engagement platform building LINE, email and SMS chatbots for 700+ companies. (PR Times) β
Mozu (Tokyo): Β₯1.3B / A$11M / US$8M (Series B) Digital-wholesale marketplace for building materials, adding AI that automates material selection and quoting; led by Spiral Capital with Mitsubishi Estate’s CVC. (Sogyo Techo) β
ζ ͺεΌδΌη€ΎγΈγΆγ€γ¨ / JIZAIE Inc. (Tokyo): Β₯400M / A$3.5M / US$2.5M (strategic round) University of Tokyo spinout behind JIZAIPAD, a low-latency remote-work platform for construction and factory sites. (PR Times) β
Also of interest: Mofuku Rescue raised ~Β₯500M for its 24/7 unmanned mourning-wear rental stores. Takeaway: a robotaxi bet led by an American chipmaker and a Japanese trading house is what building beyond borders looks like at the top of the market.
π¦πΊ Australia raises
Gridcog (Sydney): A$12.5M / US$8.8M / Β₯1.4B (Series A) Energy-modelling software that replaces spreadsheets for renewables developers, led by ABB Electrification Ventures with Axpo, DNV and Verbund. (SmartCompany) β
LendUS (Sydney): A$5M / US$3.5M / Β₯570M (Seed) Embedded home-loan fintech: a white-label broking platform brands plug into, comparing 30+ lenders, led by Carthona Capital. (StartupDaily) β
Wildfire Energy (Brisbane): A$2M / US$1.4M / Β₯228M (strategic) Waste-to-energy climate tech turning household waste into syngas and sustainable aviation fuel, backed by Qantas and Airbus. (StartupDaily) β
Only three Australian rounds crossed the wire this week, no fourth of note. Takeaway: a quiet week at home, but every dollar here came with a strategic partner (ABB, Qantas, Airbus) that opens a door offshore.
π Around the world
Proxima Fusion (Germany): US$468M / A$669M / Β₯76B (Series B) Munich stellarator startup building a net-energy fusion demonstrator, backed by Google and RWE. (Bloomberg) β
Prime Intellect (United States): US$130M / A$186M / Β₯21B (Series A) Compute and tooling that let enterprises train and run their own AI agents, led by Radical Ventures with Nvidia. (The Logic) β
Norm Ai (United States): US$120M / A$171M / Β₯19.5B (Series C) Legal-AI startup embedding law into supervised AI agents, now a unicorn, led by Khosla Ventures. (TechCrunch) β
Elevate Education (India): US$20M / A$29M / Β₯3.3B (Series D) AI-powered higher-ed platform (formerly Sunstone) running job-oriented degree programs with universities, from WestBridge Capital. (Entrackr) β
Aria (France): US$8M / A$11M / Β₯1.3B equity, plus a β¬240M debt facility (Series A extension) Embedded invoice-financing that lets B2B marketplaces pay suppliers early, equity led by La Banque Postale’s 115K, debt led by Nomura. (Finextra) β
Takeaway: two US rounds, three from elsewhere, and the frontier tech (fusion, agents, embedded finance) is being funded across four countries at once.
π Global headlines
Microsoft guts Xbox: ~3,200 gaming-unit layoffs and several studios spun off or sold, roughly 20% of the division. (United States, 6 Jul) (Variety) β
DeepSeek goes vertical on silicon: the Chinese lab is designing its own AI inference chip to cut reliance on Nvidia and Huawei. (China, 7 Jul) (Engadget) β
India clears an edtech mega-merger: the CCI approved upGrad’s ~US$218M acquisition of Unacademy parent Sorting Hat Technologies. (India, 7 Jul) (Entrackr) β
Momenta lands in Hong Kong: the GM- and Tencent-backed autonomous-driving firm rose ~3% on debut after a US$752M IPO, valuing it near US$9B. (China, 8 Jul) (CNBC) β
Nexchip tests chip appetite: China’s third-largest wafer foundry raised ~US$890M and jumped ~11% on its Hong Kong debut. (China, 10 Jul) (Communications Today) β
Thought of the week
Education is an underrated go-to-market. In the early stages, building awareness around the problem you solve can beat any cold outreach list.
So run a webinar. It validates at scale when you’re time-poor or can’t yet figure out exactly who to target: put the problem in front of a room and let the people who lean in tell you who your market actually is. Start broad to find the signal, then go narrow.
Then start free, and charge later. The moment there’s a price, you find out who genuinely feels the pain and is already searching for a solution. That is one of the cleanest early tests of whether people will actually pay.
Programs open for application
Global Day Zero Sprint: the hands-on program for founders serious about actually cracking their next market, not just theorising about it. Applications close this week, Friday 17 July. Apply β
Upcoming sessions & events
The One-Page Test (live): Thu 16 July, 6:30pm JST / 7:30pm AEST. Ninety minutes to turn the idea you can’t shake into a single page the market can answer, before you write a line of code. US$49, credited back if you join the Global Day Zero Sprint. Register on Luma β
Build My Deck. Live.: Wed 22 July, 7pm JST / 8pm AEST. Two founders, no deck, 90 minutes: both pitch decks built live using AI tools and the IC communication framework, with Thom Peace, Matt Ainsworth and Ryan Ahamer. Free, online, seats limited. Register on Luma β
Missed our Founders Across Borders – Session 1 last Friday? Then catch the recording – Matt co-hosted the first session with Karen Onuma, co-founder and COO of GlobalDeal. Treating your first market as a hypothesis not a home, why Starbucks won Japan and lost Australia, when to set up a Delaware C Corp (and when waiting is smarter), and how to pick your second market when “just go to the US” is the wrong default. The Q&A alone is worth it. Watch on YouTube β
The best money this week did not stay home, and neither should your thinking. Pick one market beyond your own and ask what it would take to serve it on purpose.
Know a founder building across borders? Forward this to them.
One question for the comments: which single overseas market would change your business most if you cracked it, and what is stopping you?
Thanks again for tuning in this week – catch you again same time next week.
Cheers, Matt βοΈ