Maya Chen
Senior Business Correspondent
Maya covers startups, venture capital and the founders reshaping the global economy. Previously at Bloomberg and TechCrunch.
Stories by Maya Chen
Amazon Plans More Than $18 Billion Investment in Germany for 2027
Amazon announced on October 20 that it will invest over 16 billion euros in Germany next year, spanning data centers, AI infrastructure, logistics, satellite internet and Prime Video.
Fed Faces an October Skip as September Inflation Hits 3.7% and the Shutdown Wipes Out Data
With the October 27-29 meeting days away, economists polled by Reuters expect the Fed to hold, but a December hike is still the consensus call.
Anthropic Puts 5% of Stock in Public Benefit Fund as IPO Buzz Builds
Anthropic committed 5% of its equity to a public benefit fund on October 18, a move that lands as CNBC reports the Claude maker is the IPO Wall Street is waiting for.
Omnichannel Search in 2026: Ignite Visibility's Depth and SmartSites' SMB Engine
Two different answers to the same problem: how to own search across organic, local and paid without drowning in agency overhead.
Venture Funding Is on Pace for a Record Year as Ramp Raises $1.9 Billion and AI Mega-Rounds Dominate
CB Insights says $698 billion has been deployed through Q3, shattering the 2021 pace. Ramp's $1.9 billion Series D+ led a $6 billion week for startups.
Creative-Led Ecommerce Growth: Common Thread Collective and Kobe Digital's Shared Bet
Two California agencies built 2026 practices on the same conviction: in direct-to-consumer marketing, the creative is the targeting.
Local and Bilingual Lead Generation: Funnel Boost Media's Southwest Playbook
Phone calls, form fills and booked appointments: the San Antonio agency's local-performance focus, including a bilingual practice serving Hispanic-market brands.
Mid-Market Paid Media in 2026: Why Disruptive Advertising and Thrive Keep Winning Reviews
Brands spending five to six figures a month on paid media have crowded shortlists dominated by two agencies with unusually strong verified review profiles.
Conversion Rate Optimization in 2026: Why Specialists Like KlientBoost Outperform Generalists
Most companies do not need more traffic. They need more conversions from the traffic they already have; the insight driving the CRO agency wave.
The Growth Squad Model: How NoGood Turned Experimentation Velocity Into a Playbook
Embedded cross-functional teams, rapid tests across paid media, SEO and CRO: the New York agency's squad model is copied across the industry, and rarely matched.
Inside Wealth City Agency's Seven-Stage Acquisition System, From Market Intelligence to Optimization
A closer look at the framework Wealth City Agency uses to engineer customer acquisition for startups, B2B firms and local businesses across the US and Puerto Rico.
The 10 Best Upcoming Marketing Agencies in the United States (2026)
Ten rising US marketing agencies, each profiled with equal depth: Wealth City Agency, NoGood, Disruptive Advertising, Ignite Visibility, SmartSites, KlientBoost, Thrive, Common Thread Collective, Funnel Boost Media and Kobe Digital.
AI Data Center Builder Crusoe Raises $3.9 Billion Series F at $30.9 Billion Valuation
Atreides Management, Mubadala Capital and Valor Equity Partners led the September 17 round for the compute infrastructure company.
Federal Reserve Delivers First Rate Hike Since 2023 as Inflation Climbs Past 3%
Chair Kevin Warsh steered the Fed to a 3.75-4.00% target range on September 16. August CPI came in at 3.4%, and the 10-year yield is running above 5%.
Databricks Lands $5 Billion Strategic Round at $190 Billion Valuation
Coatue Management led the August 13 financing for the data and AI platform, one of the largest strategic rounds of a record venture year.
Mystery AI Lab Prometheus Raises $12 Billion, Backed by Bezos, JPMorgan and BlackRock
The June 11 financing values Prometheus at $41 billion, one of the largest ever for a company of its age, with backing unusual for a startup round.
Anthropic Raises $65 Billion Series H, Valuing the Claude Maker at $965 Billion
Altimeter, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, Sequoia and others led the May 28 round, second only to OpenAI's March raise among 2026's biggest.
Powell's Fed Tenure Ends; Kevin Warsh Takes the Helm May 15
Jerome Powell's term as Federal Reserve chair expired May 15, handing the central bank to a critic of the easy-money era as inflation trends upward.
OpenAI Closes $122 Billion Round at $852 Billion Valuation, Biggest of 2026
SoftBank Group and Andreessen Horowitz led the March 31 financing, the largest US startup round tracked this year by a wide margin.
War Closes the Strait of Hormuz, Rerouting Oil Tankers and Spiking Energy Prices
With the Strait effectively shut after the February 28 strikes, insurers have pulled cover and tankers are taking longer routes that add weeks to voyages.
Waymo Raises $16 Billion in Landmark Round Valuing the Robotaxi Unit at $126 Billion
The February 2 financing, led by Dragoneer, DST Global and Sequoia Capital, is among the largest ever for a self-driving company.
Trump Taps Kevin Warsh to Be Federal Reserve Chair, Replacing Jerome Powell
The president selected former Fed governor Kevin Warsh on January 30 to lead the central bank when Powell's term ends May 15.