German Drone Startup Stark Hits Unicorn Status

/in /tarafından

German defence startup Stark has surpassed a valuation of 1 billion euros following a recent funding round backed by international investors.

According to reports, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund invested a double-digit million euro sum, alongside several European backers, pushing the drone maker into unicorn territory.

The investment comes as Germany prepares to strengthen its defence capabilities. Government documents indicate plans to order strike drones worth 536 million euros from Stark and fellow defence contractor Helsing.

The funding signals growing investor confidence in Europe’s defence technology sector amid rising demand for autonomous military systems.

Capgemini Beats Revenue Target on AI Push

/in /tarafından

Capgemini reported stronger-than-expected 2025 revenue, driven by accelerating demand for AI-powered business services following the integration of newly acquired WNS.

The French IT services group posted revenue of 22.47 billion euros, surpassing its own growth guidance as fourth-quarter sales jumped 10.6%. Contributions from WNS and Clou4C played a major role in boosting performance.

Generative and agentic AI made up more than 10% of total bookings in the final quarter, doubling from earlier in the year. Capgemini has already identified around 100 cross-selling opportunities with WNS and secured a major intelligent operations contract valued at over 600 million euros.

Looking ahead, the company expects revenue growth of up to 8.5% in 2026, with acquisitions contributing nearly five percentage points. Operating margins are also forecast to improve slightly.

Capgemini plans to invest heavily in restructuring to align its workforce with rising demand for AI-driven services, positioning itself as a key enabler of enterprise-wide AI adoption.

Iraq-UAE Plan $700M AI Data Cable Route

/in /tarafından

An Iraqi-UAE consortium is preparing a $700 million data cable project linking the United Arab Emirates to Turkey through Iraq, aiming to strengthen regional connectivity as demand for AI infrastructure accelerates.

The project, known as WorldLink, will combine a subsea cable from the UAE to Iraq’s Faw peninsula with a land route running north to the Turkish border. It is being backed by Tech 964, DIL Technologies and UAE-based Breeze Investments.

Planned as a privately funded five-year rollout, the system is designed to ease congestion on existing data routes and provide a faster alternative to traditional connections passing through the Suez Canal.

The initiative reflects intensifying regional competition to become digital and AI infrastructure hubs, with Gulf states investing heavily in data centers and connectivity.

WorldLink follows closely on the announcement of a Saudi-backed fibre-optic network in Syria, part of a broader push to position the region as a strategic data bridge between Asia and Europe.