🚀 Render becomes unicorn with $100M Series C

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Market Overview
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Year To Date Performances:

1. San Francisco-based Render has officially graduated to "unicorn" status, announcing a $100 million Series C extension that values the cloud startup at $1.5 billion. This fresh capital injection, led by Georgian with participation from heavyweights like General Catalyst and Bessemer Venture Partners, arrives as the company rides a massive wave of growth fueled by the AI application boom. Since the 2022 debut of ChatGPT, Render has seen its developer base swell to over 4.5 million users, with revenue growth consistently exceeding 100%. While traditional hyperscalers like AWS and Google Cloud offer raw power, Render has carved out a lucrative niche by providing an "opinionated" and automated infrastructure layer that appeals to developers who want to ship code—often written with AI assistants—without getting bogged down in complex server configurations.

2. Tehran executed a high-stakes strategy, temporarily choking the world’s most vital energy artery while simultaneously signaling diplomatic flexibility in Geneva. The Revolutionary Guard’s "Smart Control" drills effectively placed a brief blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that handled roughly 20 million barrels per day in 2025—nearly one-fifth of the world’s total petroleum consumption. While the drills utilized live fire and fast-attack craft to demonstrate Iran's ability to sever global supply lines, the immediate market panic was tempered by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s announcement of an "understanding of guiding principles" reached with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. This dual-track approach has left oil markets in a state of whiplash; Brent crude initially spiked on the closure news before retreating to approximately $67.48 as traders pivoted from the threat of a blockade to the hope of a nuclear breakthrough.

3. Under the aggressive new leadership of Chairman Michael Selig, the CFTC has officially declared war on state-led efforts to shut down prediction markets, filing a landmark amicus brief to protect what it calls its "exclusive jurisdiction" over the booming sector. This legal intervention in the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals marks a total reversal of the agency’s previous stance; just two weeks ago, Selig’s first act as chairman was to withdraw a 2024 proposal that would have effectively banned political and sports-related "event contracts." By backing Crypto.com in its high-stakes standoff with the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the CFTC is moving to preempt a "patchwork" of state gambling laws that platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket argue are holding back a legitimate multi-billion-dollar financial industry.

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