Ben Ling’s Bling Capital just raised $270M for its fourth fund, with half reserved for follow-on investments in standout startups. Known for backing unicorns like GitLab and Webflow, Bling leverages a powerful network of tech leaders from firms like OpenAI and Stripe to guide its portfolio.
This team invested in 170 startups, including Rippling and Vise, this seed-stage VC keeps proving its knack for spotting the next big thing.
Ben Ling’s Bling Capital just raised $270M for its fourth fund, with half reserved for follow-on investments in standout startups. Known for backing unicorns like GitLab and Webflow, Bling leverages a powerful network of tech leaders from firms like OpenAI and Stripe to guide its portfolio.
This team invested in 170 startups, including Rippling and Vise, this seed-stage VC keeps proving its knack for spotting the next big thing.
A Russian Telegram channel with over 700,000 followers is spreading disinformation about Russia's invasion of Ukraine under the guise of providing "objective information" and fact-checking fake news. Its influence extends beyond the platform, with major Russian publications, government officials, and journalists citing the page's posts. Telegram, which does little policing of its content, has also became a hub for Russian propaganda and misinformation. Many pro-Kremlin channels have become popular, alongside accounts of journalists and other independent observers. "The inflation fire was already hot and now with war-driven inflation added to the mix, it will grow even hotter, setting off a scramble by the world’s central banks to pull back their stimulus earlier than expected," Chris Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS, wrote in an email. "A spike in inflation rates has preceded economic recessions historically and this time prices have soared to levels that once again pose a threat to growth." The news also helped traders look past another report showing decades-high inflation and shake off some of the volatility from recent sessions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' February Consumer Price Index (CPI) this week showed another surge in prices even before Russia escalated its attacks in Ukraine. The headline CPI — soaring 7.9% over last year — underscored the sticky inflationary pressures reverberating across the U.S. economy, with everything from groceries to rents and airline fares getting more expensive for everyday consumers. As a result, the pandemic saw many newcomers to Telegram, including prominent anti-vaccine activists who used the app's hands-off approach to share false information on shots, a study from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue shows.
from ar