Latest news with #Stripe
RTÉ News
26 minutes ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
Irish 17-year-old's startup raises €1.2m
An AI startup co-founded by Irish 17-year-old Liam Fuller has secured €1.2 million ($1.4m) in pre-seed funding. Mr Fuller's company, Source, is a platform that automates stock purchasing for retailers using agentic AI. The funding round was led by Australian VC Square Peg, alongside former Stripe CTO David Singleton and the Xtripe angel syndicate. Mr Fuller is the CEO and co-founder of Source and is Square Peg's youngest portfolio founder to date. He has now left school to build Source full-time. "I was shocked to find that most businesses, especially retailers, still rely on email and Excel to buy hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of stock every week," Mr Fuller said. "Source provides a simple interface allowing retail buyers to understand what they should buy and when by integrating into Excel, email and ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning)." "Source scans inventory and past sales data to generate forecasts and suggest purchase orders with AI that humans can edit and approve with a single click," he added. While visiting family in Australia last April, Mr Fuller secured a meeting with Square Peg co-founder Paul Bassat, and closed the funding round within weeks. "I've been impressed by many young entrepreneurs, but Liam combines technical sophistication with commercial instincts that are rare at any age," Mr Bassat said. "When someone demonstrates this level of execution and strategic thinking at seventeen, the growth trajectory becomes incredibly compelling," he added. The capital will be used to double engineering headcount, launch US pilot programmes this autumn and finance a Silicon Valley relocation later this year.
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
The UK Just Created A Regulated Market For Carbon Removals
Big Ben with bridge over Thames and flag of England against blue sky in London, England, UK We're used to thinking of carbon markets as a punishment mechanism—a tax in disguise for those who pollute. But what happens when the same system starts to reward the people actively cleaning up the atmosphere? After months of consultation, the UK government has laid out a clear path: greenhouse gas removals—including engineered solutions like direct air capture (DAC) and enhanced weathering—will become part of the country's carbon market by the end of this decade. If you're in the weeds of carbon policy, this is a watershed moment. If you're not, here's why it matters: it means corporations will soon be able to buy carbon removal credits in a regulated market—and carbon removal companies will, for the first time, have a predictable, price-driven demand signal for cleaning up the atmosphere. Until now, carbon removals—like DAC, biochar, or enhanced weathering—have mostly lived in the voluntary market, propped up by early-adopter buyers like Microsoft, Stripe, and Shopify through initiatives like Frontier. But voluntary demand is tiny. Currently the global voluntary carbon market is worth just $2 billion. By contrast, the global compliance carbon market—driven by schemes like the European Union's Emissions Trading System, California's Cap-and-Trade, and now the UK Emissions Trading system (ETS)—was valued at over $800 billion. Right now, the UK ETS covers around 111 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually across the power, industrial, and aviation sectors. The average price of a UK allowance in July 2025 is around $48 per tonne. Even if just 1% of UK ETS obligations are fulfilled through removals, that's a potential $43 million market annually for removals. And here's the key: this isn't a hypothetical. The UK has committed to legislating integration by 2028, with removals entering the market by the end of 2029. That timeline is long enough to allow for standard setting and infrastructure development, but near enough to start attracting real investment now. For a sector that's often lived off philanthropic capital and early adopter corporate buyers, this is oxygen. What does this mean in practice? A few things. First, only removals that take place on UK soil will be eligible—this ensures that the benefits of investment (jobs, infrastructure, MRV capabilities) stay local. Second, removal credits will be awarded after the carbon has been verified to be sequestered, not in advance. That's important. It signals a clear move away from the 'pay-now-promise-later' dynamic that has plagued lower-integrity offset markets. Perhaps most importantly, only removals that can demonstrate carbon will be stored for at least 200 years will qualify. That threshold effectively draws a line in the sand: no reforestation credits that could reverse in a few decades. The UK is saying, if you want an allowance, your removal better last two centuries. That's a powerful signal to companies focused on permanence—those relying on mineralization, geologic storage, or stable biochar. The government has also indicated it is 'minded to differentiate' between these new removal credits and existing allowances—potentially creating a dual-credit system. In other words, a tonne of avoided emissions and a tonne of removed carbon might be priced and treated differently. That opens up the potential for two carbon markets to exist side-by-side: one punishing emitters, the other incentivizing removers. It's a nuanced idea, but if done well, it could provide flexibility while preserving environmental integrity. There will be auctions to facilitate a route to market—helping removal operators sell their credits into a structured and transparent system, rather than relying solely on opaque bilateral deals. The government will also maintain the existing 'gross cap'—that is, the total amount of allowances won't increase to accommodate removals. This ensures that carbon removals don't create space for additional emissions. It's not a license to pollute—it's a tool to neutralize emissions that can't be cut. Some of this might sound arcane, but it reflects a growing maturity in how we think about removals. Climate science is clear: reaching net zero means both cutting emissions and removing what we can't avoid. The UK is the first country to bake that second half of the equation into its compliance market architecture. This decision is also a direct boost to the UK's emerging carbon removal ecosystem. Take UNDO, a recent XPRIZE winner, which spreads finely crushed basalt on farmlands to accelerate natural weathering processes—permanently storing carbon in soils. Or Mission Zero Technologies, a direct air capture startup developing modular electrochemical systems that capture CO₂ from ambient air and store it underground. Both are UK-based, and both could now see a real, regulated path to monetizing their impact—not through donations or hype cycles, but through policy-anchored carbon demand. And this matters beyond the UK. Globally, the carbon removal sector must grow from removing tens of thousands of tonnes of CO₂ per year to billions by 2050. That means turning niche science projects into bankable infrastructure. It means shifting from tech demonstrations to projects that institutional investors, insurers, and utilities can underwrite. None of that happens without real markets—and until now, those have been missing. The UK's move is not perfect, and it won't be fast. But it's a milestone: the first major economy to say, explicitly, that carbon removal belongs in the same market as pollution—and that removing carbon deserves the same financial seriousness as cutting it.
The Star
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
Animal lover finds new best friend at MBJB event
Paws in need: Haffiz (fifth from left) looking at dogs for adoption during the event in Plentong, Johor Baru; where Chua adopted a new dog. JOHOR BARU: Three years after losing his two beloved dogs Stripe and Lucky, Chua Kah Lun has opened his heart to a new pet. The 36-year-old said the two canines had been with him for over a decade and passed away just months apart, at the age of 13 and 14 respectively. 'Their absence left a void in our lives. Stripe and Lucky were not just my companions, they were a part of my parents' lives too. 'Our house felt unbearably quiet after they passed away. Taking in a new dog would ease our longing,' he said when met at a stray dog adoption programme organised by the Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) in Plentong on Sunday. 'Strays deserve to be loved too. They need a family to care for them and provide them a safe place to live,' said Chua, who also has two cats and is fostering three others at a rescue shelter. At the event, he met the 20 dogs up for adoption, carefully interacting with each of them. His eyes fell on a calm-looking black dog. 'This cute little fellow will be my new friend. It reminds me of Lucky and Stripe, who were also gentle and affectionate,' he said. Chua Kah Lun Chua said the adoption, which includes vaccination and neutering, is free. The event also featured a Most Beautiful Dog contest, where six canines competed for the title. Housewife Sylvia Kusuma beamed with pride when her eight-year-old English bulldog, named Chocolate, won third place in the contest. Despite its stocky build and serious expression, Chocolate charmed the judges with its laid-back and comical personality. 'I have had Chocolate since he was a puppy. We have been together for eight years. 'He is very lazy and sleeps most of the time. The time he becomes active is during meals,' said the 35-year-old. MBJB mayor Datuk Mohd Haffiz Ahmad said stray dog issues remain a major concern among city dwellers. He said as of June, the council had captured 2,034 stray dogs. He revealed that the Housing and Local Government Ministry had allocated RM10,000 for the Stray Animal Management Campaign 2025, which includes public awareness programmes, licensing advocacy and adoption opportunities. Mohd Haffiz said capturing stray dogs and putting them up for adoption could help prevent diseases like rabies, leptospirosis and salmonella from spreading. He said the council had neutered 850 strays in four phases since last year.
Geeky Gadgets
a day ago
- Business
- Geeky Gadgets
How to Add Smart AI Agents to Your Websites in 2025
Imagine this: a potential customer visits your website late at night with a pressing question. There's no one available to assist, and they leave, frustrated, never to return. Now, picture the same scenario, but this time, a smart AI agent instantly answers their query, schedules a follow-up, or even processes their purchase—all within seconds. In 2025, this isn't just a futuristic dream; it's the new standard for businesses that want to stay competitive. With AI agents becoming more intuitive and accessible than ever, integrating one into your website is no longer a luxury—it's a necessity. But how do you ensure your AI agent doesn't just exist but truly improves your customer experience? In this step-by-step guide by Skill Leap AI, you'll uncover how to seamlessly add a smart AI agent to your website, from building a robust knowledge base to embedding it with user-friendly tools. Along the way, you'll learn how to select the right AI model, refine its capabilities, and integrate it with platforms like Slack or Stripe for enhanced functionality. Whether you're looking to streamline operations or create a more engaging digital presence, this guide will equip you with actionable insights to make it happen. By the end, you'll not only understand the technical process but also the strategic value of deploying an AI agent that truly works for your business and your users. After all, the future of online interaction is here—are you ready to embrace it? Integrating AI Agents into Websites What is an AI Agent? An AI agent is a virtual assistant powered by artificial intelligence, designed to perform specific tasks and interact with users in a conversational manner. It uses a knowledge base, executes predefined actions, and integrates with external tools like calendars, payment systems, or customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. By automating repetitive tasks, an AI agent can significantly enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction. For example, an AI agent can: Answer frequently asked questions: Provide instant responses to common queries, reducing the workload on human support teams. Provide instant responses to common queries, reducing the workload on human support teams. Schedule meetings: Use tools like Calendly to simplify appointment booking. Use tools like Calendly to simplify appointment booking. Process payments: Integrate with platforms such as Stripe to handle secure transactions. The adaptability and functionality of AI agents make them a valuable addition to any website, helping businesses save time and improve user experiences. 1: Build a Comprehensive Knowledge Base The knowledge base serves as the foundation of your AI agent, containing the information it uses to answer questions and perform tasks. A well-organized and detailed knowledge base ensures your AI agent delivers accurate and helpful responses. To create a robust knowledge base, you can: Upload documents: Include PDFs, Word files, or spreadsheets containing relevant information. Include PDFs, Word files, or spreadsheets containing relevant information. Copy and paste text: Directly input essential content into the platform for quick access. Directly input essential content into the platform for quick access. Link to external resources: Connect to website pages, Notion databases, or FAQ sections for additional context. For instance, a technical support business might upload product manuals, troubleshooting guides, and instructional videos. Organizing this data effectively ensures the AI agent can provide precise and timely assistance to users. Using AI Agents for Improved Customer Website Experiences Watch this video on YouTube. Enhance your knowledge on AI Agents by exploring a selection of articles and guides on the subject. 2: Select the Right AI Model Choosing the appropriate AI model is critical to the success of your AI agent. Different models, such as large language models (LLMs) like GPT40 Mini or advanced reasoning models, offer varying levels of complexity, cost, and functionality. When selecting a model, consider the following factors: Budget: Evaluate the cost of the model and ensure it aligns with your financial resources. Evaluate the cost of the model and ensure it aligns with your financial resources. Functionality: Determine whether the model can handle the specific tasks your business requires. Determine whether the model can handle the specific tasks your business requires. Customization: Use system prompts to define the agent's tone, role, and limitations, making sure it aligns with your brand identity. For example, if your AI agent needs to handle complex customer queries, a reasoning model may be more suitable. Customizing prompts allows you to fine-tune the agent's behavior, making sure it communicates effectively and maintains a professional tone. 3: Test and Refine Your AI Agent Thorough testing is essential before deploying your AI agent. This step ensures the agent performs as expected and meets user needs. Use a testing environment to simulate real-world interactions and evaluate its responses. During this phase, you should: Identify knowledge gaps: Update the knowledge base with additional information as needed. Update the knowledge base with additional information as needed. Refine system prompts: Adjust the agent's behavior to improve its accuracy and tone. Adjust the agent's behavior to improve its accuracy and tone. Test edge cases: Evaluate how the agent handles complex or unusual queries. For example, if the agent struggles to answer a specific type of question, you can add relevant data to the knowledge base or tweak its training parameters. This iterative process ensures the AI agent is ready for deployment and capable of delivering a high-quality user experience. 4: Integrate Tools for Enhanced Functionality Integrating external tools with your AI agent expands its capabilities and allows it to perform a wider range of tasks. Depending on your business needs, you can connect the AI agent to platforms such as: Slack: Assist team communication and collaboration. Assist team communication and collaboration. Stripe: Enable secure and efficient payment processing. Enable secure and efficient payment processing. Calendly: Simplify appointment scheduling for users. Additionally, you can use APIs or create custom actions to enable advanced functionalities. For instance, an e-commerce business might integrate its inventory management system, allowing the AI agent to provide real-time stock updates to customers. These integrations enhance the agent's utility and ensure it delivers value to both your business and its users. 5: Embed the AI Agent on Your Website Embedding the AI agent into your website is the final step in the integration process. This is typically achieved using an embed code, which allows you to add the agent as a chat bubble or a full-page iframe. To ensure a seamless user experience, consider the following: Customize the interface: Match the chat interface to your website's design by adjusting colors, fonts, and icons. Match the chat interface to your website's design by adjusting colors, fonts, and icons. Craft a welcome message: Create an engaging introduction to encourage users to interact with the agent. Create an engaging introduction to encourage users to interact with the agent. Test responsiveness: Ensure the interface works smoothly on various devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones. For example, a travel agency might design the chat interface to include quick links to popular destinations, making it easier for users to navigate and find relevant information. These customizations enhance usability and encourage user engagement. Monitor, Optimize, and Expand Your AI Agent Once your AI agent is live, ongoing monitoring and optimization are essential to maintain its effectiveness. Use analytics tools to track key metrics such as chat logs, confidence scores, and user satisfaction. These insights can help you: Identify improvement areas: Update the knowledge base or refine system prompts to address user feedback. Update the knowledge base or refine system prompts to address user feedback. Enhance performance: Adjust the agent's behavior to better meet user needs and expectations. Adjust the agent's behavior to better meet user needs and expectations. Expand deployment: Extend the agent's reach by integrating it with other platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, or Slack. Regular updates and optimizations ensure your AI agent continues to deliver value over time, adapting to evolving business needs and user expectations. By taking a proactive approach to maintenance, you can maximize the benefits of your AI agent and solidify its role as a key asset for your organization. Media Credit: Skill Leap AI Filed Under: AI, Guides Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.
Business Recorder
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
The alchemy of scale: turning MVPs into market-defining products
Every ambitious startup begins with a hypothesis. An idea that a specific need exists, and that a lean, targeted solution can meet it. That hypothesis materializes into a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), a first attempt to engage the market and test assumptions in real time. It is the crucial first step, but far from the finish line. The path from MVP to a scalable, sustainable business is neither straightforward nor guaranteed. Usually, it is a carefully balanced act of vision, technical foresight, and adaptability. The startup graveyard is littered with ventures that failed to move beyond the early boom. A 2023 CB Insights report revealed that 42% of failed startups cited misreading market demand as the primary reason for shutting down, while a 2022 Stripe infrastructure report found that 68% of growing startups were blindsided by escalating technical costs that ultimately disrupted their growth plans. These insights underscore a common reality; initial success is encouraging, but it is only meaningful if the product architecture and organizational mindset are prepared for scale. Successful companies understand that the MVP is not just a tool for validation. It is a foundation on which future complexity must be carefully built. Take the example of Airbnb, which started in 2008 with a simple WordPress site and a vision for short-term room rentals. As the platform grew, its technical backbone evolved from a single code-based system to sophisticated modular services. This shift was not merely about performance gains; it allowed Airbnb to handle 150 million daily searches with sub-second latency by the time of its IPO in 2020. Aristotle Balogh, then CTO, reflected that this painful rewrite from monolith to services also resulted in USD 50 million in annual cloud savings, directly impacted their unit economics and long-term viability. In markets like Pakistan, where infrastructural challenges often force constrained innovation, similar lessons apply. Dastgyr, a B2B marketplace aimed at fixing fragmented retail supply chains, launched its MVP in 2020 with a focus to provide inventory visibility to small kiryana and grocery stores in Karachi through a mobile app. The company claims that even before expanding beyond the first neighborhood, they had already built out warehouse integration APIs which helped in maintaining a 98% delivery success rate; a key metric that helped secure USD 37 million in funding. At the heart of such growth stories, lies a consistent thread. The discipline to collect and act on real user behavior. McKinsey's 2023 benchmarking study found that startups leveraging behavioral data, scale revenue 2.3 times faster than those relying on gut instinct. Canva is a case in point. Originally a simple design tool with a few templates, Canva embedded analytics early to monitor how users interacted with their editor. When data revealed that templates were responsible for 92% of user engagement, the company expanded its asset library dramatically. Over time, those insights helped reduce time-to-first-design by 65%, transforming a basic MVP into a platform used by more than 60 million people worldwide. For many scaling ventures, the right development partner can make all the difference. A Pakistan based IT and ITeS firm, Devsinc's work with a US-based real estate investment platform exemplifies this principle. When the startup needed to scale from its initial MVP to support institutional-grade investment operations, Devsinc architected a complete infrastructure overhaul that integrated blockchain technology with traditional financial systems. This helped the platform support over 3,500 investors managing USD 5 million in transactions, while maintaining 99.7% uptime during peak investment periods. Devsinc implemented seven different payment gateway integrations, reducing transaction failures by 87% compared to the original MVP. This technical foundation enabled the startup's successful acquisition by a major investment platform. Eventually, almost every growing startup faces a reckoning. The MVP-era shortcuts can no longer sustain user demand. According to Stripe's 2023 analysis of 500 post-MVP companies, 61% had to undertake major infrastructure rewrites. Critically, those who delayed these rewrites until after crossing 500,000 monthly active users took three times longer to raise their next round. Instagram's own rebuild in 2016 from a Django monolith to a React-based architecture shows what is at stake. The redesign reduced crash rates by 90%, laying groundwork for a product that now serves over a billion users. This performance factored heavily into its USD 100 billion valuation by Meta. These journeys reveal that scaling a startup is as much about mindset as it is about code. It requires teams to balance user-centered iteration with infrastructure that can grow in complexity without collapsing under its own weight. Patrick Collison, co-founder of Stripe, says, 'Startup mortality correlates less with growth speed than with growth quality.' In this sense, the MVP is never just a prototype. It is a lens into a team's thinking of how they prioritize, how they learn, and how they plan for the future. Whether you are building in Silicon Valley or scaling across South Asia, the principle holds that today's technical decisions shape tomorrow's outcomes. For startups with the right partners and the right foresight, that future can be transformational. For Pakistani founders, the question isn't whether to scale or not; but how to align growth with sustainable architecture
