Tootfinder

Pie, a startup that uses AI to optimize marketing for brick-and-mortar small businesses, emerges from stealth with a $19.5M Series A led by Lightspeed (Lisa Bonos/Inc)
https://www.inc.com/lisa-bonos/two-ex-toas

2 Ex-Toast Veterans Just Raised $19.5 Million to Solve a Problem Most Small Businesses Don't Know They Have
Pie, which spent the past year building quietly, is betting small businesses need help showing up in AI search the way they once needed help showing up on Google.

Filing: Trump's earnings from Hollywood last year include $10.7M for Melania, tens of millions in legal settlements, Screen Actors Guild Pension, and more (Alex Weprin/The Hollywood Reporter)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business

Trump Made Millions From Hollywood Last Year
A disclosure form reveals a $10.7 million fee for 'Melania,' legal settlements and a residual from 'The View.' It also suggests that he tendered shares in Warner Bros. Discovery to Paramount last year as it battled Netflix.

As Amazon oil drilling begins, scientists warn of risks to a little-known reef https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/as-amazon-oil-drilling-begins-scientists-warn-of-risks-to-a-little-known-reef/

As Amazon oil drilling begins, scientists warn of risks to a little-known reef
The Amazon region always invites superlatives: the world’s largest tropical forest, the planet’s largest continuous mangrove belt, the river with the largest water volume and length on Earth. That makes any kind of exploratory activity in the region — and its potential impacts on this unique ecosystem — cause for great concern. That’s the case […]

Harmony, which offers AI-powered enterprise software for handling tasks such as employee onboarding and software access, raised a $34M seed led by Lightspeed (Geoff Weiss/Business Insider)
https://www.businessinsider.com/harmony-pitch-deck-…

AI startup Harmony raises $34 million seed after founders' Cisco exit
Harmony raised a $34 million round led by Lightspeed. Its founders previously sold their cloud software startup Epsagon to Cisco.

NBCUniversal unveils a deal to offer Starz to Peacock subscribers on the Select, Premium, and Premium Plus tiers as an add-on subscription for $11.99 per month (Etan Vlessing/The Hollywood Reporter)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business

Peacock Offers Starz as Add-On Subscription
Select Peacock subscribers can get the 'Outlander' and 'Power' franchises’ service for $11.99 per-month.

Sources: Microsoft plans to announce job cuts next week affecting less than 2.5% of its 220,000-person workforce, including roles in sales, consulting, and Xbox (Ashley Stewart/Business Insider)
https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-job-cuts-layoffs-sal…

Microsoft eyes thousands of new job cuts in coming days
Microsoft is planning job cuts that are expected to affect areas such as sales, consulting, and Xbox as it ramps up AI spending.

A Maltese businessman goes on trial on accusations of ordering the 2017 murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was probing corrupt payments to Malta's leaders (Christopher Scicluna/Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-tel

The US sentences Guo Wengui, a self-exiled billionaire Chinese tycoon who defrauded his online followers out of hundreds of millions, to 30 years in prison (Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/guo-wengui-chinese-businessman-fraud-3deb…

US judge gives self-exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui 30-year prison term for fraud
A self-exiled billionaire Chinese business tycoon has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for his fraud conviction. Judge Analisa Torres sentenced Guo Wengui on Monday in Manhattan federal court, saying he still insists incredibly that his conduct caused no loss and harmed no one. Given a chance to speak, Guo said he came to the U.S. to destroy the Chinese Communist Party. But the judge said he instead diverted investor money to live lavishly. Guo left China a decade ago and reinvented himself…

DirecTV and EverPass make a multiyear deal letting bar owners show NFL Sunday Ticket via satellite or streaming; DirecTV becomes EverPass' main sales partner (Jacob Feldman/Sportico)
https://www.sportico.com/business/media/2026/dir…

DirecTV Adds Commercial Sunday Ticket Distribution in EverPass Deal
DirecTV and EverPass announced a tie-up Friday, allowing commercial establishments to continue showing NFL Sunday Ticket via satellite or streaming.

Sensor Tower estimate: ChatGPT advertisers grew from around 300 in April to more than 820 in July; retail shopping remains the biggest sector by ad spend (Stephen Council/Business Insider)
https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-more-ads-bigger-brand…

New data: ChatGPT fills with more ads, bigger brands like Home Depot
New data shows how OpenAI is boosting ad presence on ChatGPT, drawing major brands such as Home Depot and Intuit.