Weekly News Digest #25

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Odyssey: $310m Series B to Scale World Simulation

US-based AI research lab Odyssey has raised $310m in a Series B round at a post-money valuation of $1.45B. The round was led by Natural Capital, with participation from Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), GV (Google Ventures), AMD Ventures, EQT (STO: EQT), and In-Q-Tel. Existing angels maintained their positions, including Jeff Dean, Elad Gil, Qasar Younis, Garry Tan, Guillermo Rauch, and Kyle Vogt, alongside researchers from OpenAI, DeepMind, and several other AI-focused institutions. Concurrently, Amazon Web Services agreed to become Odyssey’s preferred cloud provider, with the company also partnering with Amazon’s Annapurna Labs to co-optimize world models on AWS Trainium chips.

Odyssey was founded in 2023 by Oliver Cameron (CEO) and Jeff Hawke (CTO). The broader team draws from DeepMind, Tesla, Waymo, Meta, Apple, and Wayve. Prior to the Series B, the company had raised a $9m Seed round in Jul’24, backed by GV, DCVC, and Air Street Capital, followed by an $18m Series A in Nov’24 led by EQT with GV and Air Street Capital returning. Total disclosed funding now stands at $337m across three rounds in under two years.

Odyssey develops general world models, which the company describes as causal, multimodal AI systems capable of predicting, simulating, and interacting with physical environments over extended time horizons. Its published research to date covers four core projects:

• Odyssey-2 Max, which advanced physics accuracy for general world simulation.
• Starchild-1, the company’s real-time multimodal world model.
• Agora-1, which introduced multi-agent interaction within a shared simulation environment.
• PROWL, which demonstrated how world models can improve through active exploration.

Target verticals span robotics, gaming, healthcare, education, science, and defense, the last underscored by the participation of In-Q-Tel, the strategic investment arm of the US intelligence community. 

Odyssey’s raise follows a similar pattern to Decart’s $300m Series B, which we covered in our previous digest, where we also published a breakdown of AI-gaming capital flows from 2020 to 2026. Together, they point to world simulation emerging as a distinct AI infrastructure category, attracting large-scale capital at an accelerating pace.

We will continue to monitor how Odyssey’s world model research translates into commercial deployments across gaming, robotics, and the broader physical AI stack.

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MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

South Korea-based blockchain game platform NEXUS (KOSDAQ: 205500) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire an 89.03% stake in South Korea-based app marketplace ONE store from SK Square (KRX: 402340), NAVER (KRX: 035420), Steel Number One Jeilcha Co., and KRAFTON (KRX: 259960) for ~$40.7m (KRW 62.6B). The acquisition is financed through a ~$25.7m (KRW 39.5B) directed share issue to SK Square, NAVER, and KRAFTON, alongside ~$15.0m (KRW 23.1B) in corporate bonds subscribed by the same parties, with closing expected Jun 29, 2026. As part of the transaction, SK Square, NAVER, and KRAFTON will serve as strategic investors in NEXUS, receiving newly issued shares in exchange for a portion of their ONE store stakes. ONE store has posted net losses in each of the past three fiscal years, with revenue declining from ~$128.2m in 2023 to ~$79.7m in 2025, a 2-year CAGR of -21.1% in dollar terms. NEXUS plans to evolve ONE store, installed on over 38 million devices in South Korea, beyond a conventional app marketplace into a web3 game store with an integrated wallet, stablecoin, decentralized exchange, staking, and bridge infrastructure, as well as an AI-native game curation platform. The company is also rebranding its blockchain mainnet from “Cross” to “OneChain” and its native token from “$CROSS” to “$ONE.”

India-based mobile advertising technology company Affle (NSE: AFFLE), through its subsidiary Affle MEA FZ LLC, has agreed to acquire select AdColony technology assets from DT (NASDAQ: APPS), formerly Digital Turbine, for $4.7m in upfront cash, structured as a slump sale without customer contracts, with closing expected within 7 business days. Following the Jun 15, 2026 announcement, DT shares closed up 0.72% at $9.83, before declining 4.37% to $9.40 the following session. The acquired assets include the AdColony SDK for Android and iOS, its tech platform, publisher and mediation integrations, and the AdColony brand name, domain, and associated goodwill. The deal is part of Affle’s “10X growth strategy” to expand the reach of its Consumer Platform’s SDK and its audience intelligence capabilities. Its platform stack includes Appnext, Jampp, mediasmart, RevX, MAAS, and YouAppi, serving gaming and e-commerce advertisers. DT will continue to focus on its DTX exchange and media and data businesses and will maintain an ongoing commercial partnership with Affle. DT originally acquired AdColony from Norway-based media group Otello Corporation (OSE: OTEC) for $404.5m in 2021, comprising $200m in fixed cash payments and an earn-out, subsequently fixed at $204.5m via an amendment, paid in full on Jan 15, 2022. The price gap reflects the deal’s scope: technology assets and brand only, with customer contracts retained by DT, which had already integrated AdColony’s commercial operations into its own platform after 2021.

Japan-based digital content and manga platform Link-U Group (TSE: 4446) has agreed to divest its 50% stake in its consolidated subsidiary, Brightech, to Japan-based IT & DX services company BeyondX for an undisclosed sum, in a transaction structured as a management buyout, expected to close on Jul 31, 2026. Ryo Mizutani, co-founder and Representative Director of BeyondX, already holds a 50% personal stake in Brightech, with BeyondX acquiring the remaining 50% from Link-U. Brightech develops DX consulting and government system solutions, including through its IT consulting subsidiary, with both entities exiting Link-U’s consolidation scope. The divestiture supports Link-U’s focus on its overseas digital content portfolio, including the global manga platform Comikey, the webtoon label Studio Moon6, and the domestic manga subscription service Bookhodai. Following the Jun 16, 2026 announcement, Link-U Group shares fell 9.94% the next session, closing at JPY 707 from JPY 785.

VENTURE FINANCING

India-based digital entertainment company Rusk Media has raised ~$10.6m (INR 1B) in a pre-Series C funding round led by Nazara Technologies (NSE: NAZARA), an India-based gaming and sports media platform, with participation from InfoEdge Ventures, IvyCap Ventures, and a consortium led by Audacity VC. Proceeds will fund content expansion, platform development, and AI integration into production workflows, as well as the scaling of Rusk Media’s intellectual properties, including the talent reality format I-Popstar and the dating show Engaged, into new languages and international markets. The company also operates Rumble, a social gaming platform offering 100+ casual mobile games with friend battles, tournament creation, and gaming influencer lobbies. Representatives from Nazara Technologies and Audacity VC will join the company’s board. Rusk Media, based in Mumbai, previously raised ~$12m (INR 1.03B) in a Series B led by IvyCap Ventures in Oct’25.

Sirius Game, an Italy-based game-based learning EdTech company, has raised ~$1.5m (EUR 1.3m) in a funding round led by FuturED, the National Accelerator Program of Italy-based CDP Venture Capital developed in partnership with Italy-based H-FARM, with participation from 28DIGITAL, Trentino Invest, Ultra VC, and Add Value. The funding will support technological development, expansion across Italian and international education systems, and growth in the corporate learning market. Founded in 2021 and headquartered in South Tyrol with operations in Trento, the company is led by CEO Laura Cesaro and develops educational games that combine pedagogy, interactive storytelling, and scientific evidence to build critical thinking, collaboration, and digital skills across school and corporate learning environments. Its flagship product JOY is a primary school learning platform co-developed with the Free University of Bolzano, the University of Riga, Gruppo Editoriale La Scuola, and Epson Italia. 28DIGITAL had previously invested ~€220k in the company between Jan’25 and Feb’26 to support JOY’s development. 

UA FINANCING

UK-based rewarded mobile games network Bear Hug Entertainment has received $28m in user acquisition financing from AMF Capital, a newly launched UA financing fund founded by Akin Babayigit in partnership with Makers Fund. Bear Hug, led by CEO Mark Rose, operates a portfolio of rewarded casual games built around classic genres, including mahjong, solitaire, and block puzzles, and has paid out over $500k in prizes to players to date. AMF Capital is led by Managing Director Andrew Seow, formerly a Makers Fund investor and a former director of monetization at Tripledot Studios. The fund is independent of Arcadia Gaming Partners and Makers Fund and has signed additional deals that will be announced.

OTHER NEWS

Canada-based mobile ad-tech company Ionik Corporation (TSXV: INIK) has completed the equity conversion and maturity extension components of its ~$58m debt reorganization as of Jun 11, 2026, with approximately $32.2m of vendor take-back debt and earnout obligations from six acquisitions completed between 2022 and 2024 into equity through the issuance of 225.6 million common shares at conversion prices ranging from $0.109 to $0.33 per share. The company provides programmatic marketing and advertising solutions that connect brands, advertisers, and publishers with multicultural audiences. The reorganization plan, announced May 22, 2026, covers ~$58m in total obligations, with the remaining $25.8m in cash repayments extended to Mar 31, 2030, contingent on the company entering a new senior debt facility.