Growing up in Nepal, Gurung was bullied and abused for being too "girly," but that didn''t stop him from playing dress-up, loving art and design, and eventually pursuing a career in fashion. After stints at Donna Karan, Cynthia Rowley, and Bill Blass, he launched his own eponymous brand, which has attracted celebrity clients such as Zoe Salda a and Michelle Obama and is known for clothing made to suit women of all sizes. Gurung''s .....more

Beijing LingbanAIaaS Technology Co., Ltd. ("Lingban") was founded in 2014 with a focus on intelligent speech technology. In its early years, the company explored various application scenarios before deciding to concentrate on developing intelligent conversational robots, which quickly received positive market feedback. In 2020, as demand surged for remote education and entertainment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lingban expanded into the .....more

Founded in 2012, Mobvoi evolved through multiple transformations-from AI-driven voice technology to smart wearables and later AI-generated content. Backed by major investors, the company navigated shifts in strategy while facing two failed IPO attempts. As market conditions shifted and funding dried up, founder Zhifei Li faced a critical decision-should Mobvoi attempt another IPO or chart a different course for its future?

In January 2025, Tommy Phun, founder of maritime start-up Pyxis, reflected on the start-up''s remarkable progress over the past three years. Headquartered in Singapore, Pyxis had raised S$4.5 million (US$3.4 million) in seed funding in 2024, bringing its total funding to S$6 million (US$4.5 million). With the financial backing, Pyxis could advance its mission of supporting maritime companies'' transition to electric and decarbonised .....more

By early 2025, Perplexity had rapidly evolved from a modest startup into a trailblazing """"answer engine"""" valued at $9 billion. Led by founder Aravind Srinivas, Perplexity AI had boldly positioned itself as the disruptor aiming to redefine search altogether. Through innovative AI orchestration-combining custom-built indexes, real-time retrieval systems, and advanced language models-Perplexity delivered concise, .....more

This case uses Sigma Alimentos, S.A. de C.V. (Sigma), the Mexican food multinational corporation, as a compelling example of large food companies'' development of in-house venture capital (VC) investment arms. Beginning in the mid-2010s, major food players from General Mills, Inc., to Tyson Foods, Inc., began investing in early-stage companies with the goal of benefiting both themselves and the early-stage companies financially, but also of .....more

In January 2024, an account manager at Devos National Bank was reviewing a request for a $35,000 long-term loan and a $20,000 working capital loan for Malibu Restaurant, a diner located in Centralia, Ontario. The funds were needed to build an outdoor patio for the diner, which would improve its capacity and further bolster the community atmosphere that the owner had curated. While the owner was extremely driven, the account manager was hesitant to .....more

Revived in 2015 by Xavier de Roquemaurel, Harry Guhl, and Sebastien Follonier, Czapek & Cie, a Swiss luxury watch brand, had roots dating back to 1845, when it was originally founded by Francois Czapek and Juliusz Gruzewski. The team successfully resurrected the brand through crowdfunding, and as of 2023, the company produced over 1,000 watches annually across five collections and had a valuation of CHF 47 million. Through the leadership of Roquemaurel, .....more