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- 🤖 A $1.8B AI startup, 🚀 the AI behind a $100M funding round, and 📸 the solo founder who built a $100K AI business.
🤖 A $1.8B AI startup, 🚀 the AI behind a $100M funding round, and 📸 the solo founder who built a $100K AI business.
Chris Bulen & Daniel Ebohon
July 21, 2026
In partnership with
Hi everyone 👋
It’s Chris & Daniel, from Startups.fyi.
We're glad you're here.
This week, we've rounded up some fascinating startup stories, AI tools that caught our attention, and practical resources that can help you build, market, and grow your business.
Whether you're looking for your next business idea or just enjoy seeing how founders are building incredible companies, we think you'll find something worth exploring.
Now let's get into what we found this week. Remember, if this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe for free and get instant access to all past editions.
We’d love to hear from you—if there’s anything you'd like us to cover, just reach out on X and say hi! 👋🏾.
With that in mind, let's dive into this week's startup discoveries. 👇
Startups FYI Spotlight
🛠️ I just discovered a directory with thousands of curated software tools for almost any workflow you can think of. It's a great place to discover alternatives or hidden gems, and it's also run by a solo founder. (Pre-revenue)
🚀 Found an interesting platform built for founders launching products. It connects people launching at the same time so they can support each other, exchange feedback, and build momentum together. It's still solo-owned and fully bootstrapped. (Makes $200 MRR)
Hundreds of creators. Zero new headcount.
Every Shopify brand wants more creators posting about their product. Almost none have the team to make it happen at scale.
partnerUP is that team.
You guide the brief. From there the AI does what a roomful of coordinators would: reaching hundreds of creators, ranking them by fit, handling contracts and negotiation, paying on delivery, and tracking what each one drives back to your store.
You approve the talent and watch the content roll in. No agency retainer. No new headcount.
Your first two creators are on us. See what they bring back.
📊 Saw a no-code AI marketing platform that manages B2B ad campaigns—from launching to optimization and reporting. It's free to get started, and the creator says it's already making around $300/month as a side project.
📧 I stumbled on a free browser tool that highlights corporate jargon in emails and rewrites it into plain English. It works with Gmail and LinkedIn, making messages much easier to read. (Generating $1,500 MRR for the solo founder as a side project)
🎥 Came across this AI video tool that turns simple text prompts into surprisingly good-looking videos. No filming or editing needed, and it's reportedly generating around $2,500/month.
📸 Discover this no-code AI headshot generator that creates hundreds of studio-quality portraits from just one regular photo. The solo founder behind it has reportedly made over $100,000 from this single tool since 2022 when it was made.
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Startups FYI Roundup
💻 I came across a walkthrough showing how someone used Claude AI to generate $5,000 in just 24 hours by creating and selling digital products. It covers everything from using Claude to create the product, setting up a store, and running Facebook Ads to get sales. ▶️ Watch the full breakdown.
🤖 I found the story behind Lovable, the AI startup that reached a $1.8 billion valuation in just eight months. It reportedly hit $100M ARR by making it incredibly easy for anyone to build apps with AI—one of the fastest growth stories in the AI space this year. ▶️ Check it out.
Lyzr used its own AI agent during its fundraising process. Instead of the founders answering every investor question, the AI handled conversations with 130+ investors, helped generate $400 million in investor interest, and played a role in closing a $100 million Series B, giving the company a $500 million valuation. It's one of the most interesting real-world examples I've seen of a company using its own product to grow. 🚀 This one surprised me, check it out.
(Tag @ChrisBulen to get your project featured in next week’s roundup)
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That’s it for this time! See you again next week.
— Chris (@ChrisBulen)