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Startups & Venture·July 22, 2026·1 min read

AppLovin Backs Velocity As The AI Industry Looks Beyond Subscriptions For Growth

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Adtech money flowing into AI monetization plays is a tell — the default business model for many AI apps may tilt toward performance marketing, not SaaS. If you're building AI products, you should be explicit this week about whether you're a tool, a media surface, or a marketplace, because the revenue mechanics and data strategy diverge quickly.

Startups & Venture

Genius AI, formerly GlossGenius, which pivoted from a salon management platform to offer AI tools for service SMBs, raised a $44M Series D at a $1.15B valuation

A vertical SaaS player rebranding to Genius AI and raising $44M at a $1.15B valuation is a data point that AI-native workflows for service SMBs are investable, not just features. If you run vertical software, expect investor and customer pressure to turn your operational data into embedded AI copilots, not just dashboards.