The New York digital comics platform is combining its 300,000-title library with INKR’s AI localisation engine, and bringing in new leadership to execute the expansion.

The problem with getting manga into the hands of readers outside Japan is not demand. Manga is the fastest-growing category in American book publishing; global interest has been building for years, accelerated by streaming adaptations of franchises like Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, and Jujutsu Kaisen.

The problem is infrastructure. Translating, reformatting, and distributing a comics series across languages and screen sizes is still a largely manual process, and the industry’s publishing toolchain has never been built to handle it at speed or at scale.

GlobalComix, the New York-based digital comics platform, is betting it can fix that. On Wednesday the company announced three moves at once: a $13 million funding round, the appointment of Henrik Rydberg as chief executive, and the acquisition of INKR, a Singapore-founded AI localisation platform for comics.

Together, the announcements describe a company that wants to be not just a reading destination but the infrastructure layer beneath the global comics publishing industry.

The $13 million round was co-led by SBI US Gateway Fund, the US arm of SBI, one of Japan’s most active venture capital firms with more than 1,200 portfolio companies, and Point72 Ventures, the venture arm of Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management.

Point72 Ventures previously led GlobalComix’s $6.5 million Series A in July 2023 and returns here as co-lead. Additional participants include Scrum Ventures, Wise Ventures, Wicklow Capital, and Upside VC.

The Japan-US investor pairing is deliberate. SBI’s network spans Japanese media and publishing, the market that produces manga, while Point72 brings continuity and US market perspective.

Shohei Yamada, Managing Partner of SBI US Gateway Fund, described GlobalComix as “building the infrastructure that connects creators, publishers, and readers worldwide,” adding that he believed it had the potential to make manga and comics “accessible to anyone, anywhere.”

Ishan Sinha, now a Partner at Point72 Ventures who led the 2023 Series A, said the addition of INKR’s AI team and localisation technology “meaningfully expands what the platform can support for creators and publishers.”

The INKR acquisition brings the most technically substantive element of the announcement.

INKR was founded in 2019 by Ken Luong, Khoa Nguyen, and Hieu Tran, a team based in Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City, and launched its app in October 2020. 

The platform’s core product is an AI localisation engine that automates the most labour-intensive steps in preparing a comic for a new language market: text and object detection, image cleaning, translation, and typesetting.

The company says the technology reduces localisation time from days to hours and has been used to localise more than 15,000 comics, though that figure comes from GlobalComix’s press materials and has not been independently verified.

GlobalComix’s platform currently hosts more than 300,000 titles from publishers including Marvel, DC, Kodansha, Image Comics, and Tokyopop, alongside more than 25,000 independent creators.

The company’s ambition is to combine INKR’s localisation pipeline with its existing distribution and monetisation infrastructure, effectively creating a vertically integrated system: a publisher brings a Japanese title in, the AI engine prepares it for English, French, or Brazilian Portuguese markets, and GlobalComix handles distribution and revenue.

The global manga market is estimated to exceed $20 billion annually, with demand for translated content growing across the West.

Whether GlobalComix can capture meaningful share of that workflow, against established players including Viz Media, Yen Press, and digital platforms like WEBTOON, depends on whether the AI localisation quality is good enough for professional publishing standards and whether publishers will trust a startup with their most valuable IP.

The acquisition of INKR, whose technology is described as already trusted by publishers in Japan and Korea, is the clearest attempt to answer that second question before it is asked.

An Employment and Recruitment Federation report suggests that despite Ireland’s positive hiring market, progress is being stalled.

New research published by the Employment and Recruitment Federation and supported by Icon Accounting has highlighted how the skills shortage in Ireland is starting to delay further growth for organisations, despite some positive numbers. 

The Irish Labour Monthly Monitor report found that more than half of contributing recruiters reported an increase in permanent vacancies and 43pc said there is higher demand for contract roles. 41pc reported increased temporary vacancies and more than half also said that they expect vacancy levels to rise further over the next three months.

But despite the positive hiring market, the research also indicated that Ireland’s talent pool is not keeping pace. Of those who contributed their information, two thirds of recruiters said that they expect no improvement in the availability of applicants with suitable skills. The report said this points to a widening gap between what employers need and what the market can currently provide. 

Commenting on the figures, Siobhán Kinsella, the president of the Employment and Recruitment Federation, noted that this is the real challenge at present: not a lack of jobs, but a shortage of the right skills. 

She said: “What this data shows very clearly is that Ireland does not have a jobs problem. It has a skills problem. Employers are still hiring. Recruiters are still filling roles. But finding people with the right experience and qualifications is getting harder, and that is now starting to hold businesses back.

“This is still a strong jobs market, but it is becoming harder and more expensive for employers to hire. Businesses are dealing with higher costs, continued uncertainty and fast-changing requirements at the same time.”

She explained that if Ireland wants to maintain its momentum, there needs to be a serious commitment to training, reskilling and workforce readiness. “We cannot keep talking about strong employment numbers if employers cannot find the people they need to fill the roles that are there,” she said. 

Competing needs

The report noted how in February, Ireland’s unemployment rate stood at less than 5pc, resulting in a landscape where many employers find themselves competing for a limited pool of experienced workers, across sectors such as technology, engineering, healthcare, logistics and financial services, among others. 

Youth unemployment figures were also shown to be comparitively high, with the latest CSO figures showing a rate of 12.4pc for 15 to 24-year-olds, highlighting the continuing challenge of ensuring that people entering the workforce have the right skills to access available roles.

Kinsella noted that the findings are reflective of a much wider pattern now visible across developed economies, where the issue is no longer job creation, but whether countries have the people and capacity needed to support continued growth.

She said: “What Ireland is facing is part of a much wider shift across advanced economies. We have adapted before as technology changed the way we work, and we will adapt again. 

“But this next phase will depend on whether we invest properly in skills, support people to retrain and make it easier for employers to access the talent they need in areas such as AI, machine learning, engineering and healthcare. That is where the real focus now needs to be.”

Earlier this month, WiCyS and FourOne Insights published data that explored how skills-based cyber practices have the potential to positively impact employees and their organisations. 

The ‘ROI of Resilience: How Cybersecurity Talent Management Best Practices Improve the Bottom Line’ study suggested that skills-based, talent-friendly practices often generate the highest returns for an organisation and its workforce. 

The report said: “High-ROI practices, such as transparent promotion processes, executive sponsorship, access to upskilling and mentorship, and engagement with trusted third-party partners, can consistently reduce hiring friction and support retention. Over time, they open advancement pathways that have historically been narrow, especially for women.”

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Over the years, OPPO’s A series has delivered some great value phones for price-conscious buyers. Keeping that spirit alive, OPPO has launched the OPPO A6s 5G in India. The Chinese smartphone maker says the A6s focuses on battery life, smooth performance, and a camera setup designed for everyday photography. Here’s everything you need to know about it.

Design & Cameras

The OPPO A6s 5G features a flagship-inspired design with a slim profile measuring 8.61mm in thickness and weighing around 212 grams. Color options, of which there are two, include Aurora Gold and Plum Purple. The phone features a bright display for outdoor visibility, along with a metallic unibody-style frame that offers both durability and a premium look.

Optics are headed by a 50MP main camera accompanied by a 2MP secondary sensor. According to OPPO, the camera system is designed to capture clear images with natural colours across different lighting conditions. Selfies are handled by a 5MP sensor.

Performance & Battery

Powering the OPPO A6s 5G is the MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset. We’ve used several phones with the same processor in the past, and it’s a reliable performer. The smartphone runs ColorOS 15, which introduces system-level optimizations, including the Luminous Rendering Engine and Trinity Engine, to improve animation smoothness and overall performance.

Battery life is one of the main highlights of the OPPO A6s 5G. The phone packs a 6,500mAh battery, which is coupled with 45W SUPERVOOC fast charging, allowing the device to charge from 1% to 41% in about 30 minutes.

Pricing & Availibility

The OPPO A6s 5G starts at ₹18,999 for the 4GB + 128GB variant, while the 6GB + 128GB model is priced at ₹20,999. The smartphone is available starting today through Amazon, Flipkart, the OPPO online store, and offline retail outlets. As part of launch offers, buyers can get ₹1,000 instant cashback on select credit cards and no-cost EMI options for up to three months.

Spotify is rolling out a new Exclusive Mode on desktop for listeners who care about audio quality. This feature gives you more control over how sound is delivered, reducing system interference and allowing bit-perfect playback.

In simple terms, your music can now reach your headphones or speakers without being altered by your computer’s audio system. This update is currently available on the desktop app for Windows, with Mac support coming later.

What is Exclusive Mode in Spotify, and how does it work?

Exclusive Mode is designed for people who use external DACs or high-end audio setups, where even small processing changes can affect sound.

Normally, your operating system mixes audio from different apps, which can resample or modify the signal. Exclusive Mode changes that by letting Spotify take full control of the audio output.

When you turn on Exclusive Mode, Spotify bypasses the system mixer. That means your music is sent directly to your audio device without being changed. This is what allows bit-perfect playback, where the audio data remains exactly as intended.

It also reduces interruptions from other apps. Since Spotify controls the output, other system sounds are blocked while you are listening.

How to turn on Exclusive Mode in Spotify?

To enable Exclusive Mode, first connect your external audio device, such as a DAC or audio interface, to your computer. If your system already has a headphone or speaker port, it may include a built-in DAC.

Next, open the Spotify desktop app and go to Settings. Scroll down to Playback, then under Output, select your audio device from the dropdown menu. Once that is set, turn on Exclusive Mode.

Spotify also suggests turning off certain features in its settings for the best playback. This includes Automix, Crossfade, Equalizer, and Normalize Volume, all available under Settings > Playback.

If you want to turn it off, go back to Settings and switch off Exclusive Mode. This will return audio control to your system, allowing other apps to play sound alongside Spotify.

Last September, Spotify brought higher-quality audio to users by finally introducing lossless streaming for Premium users.

Rotel’s luxury Michi brand has expanded its digital lineup with the Michi Prestige Q430 CD Player, a full-function disc player designed for listeners who still take Red Book CD playback seriously. Unlike a transport-only design, the Q430 includes its own internal DAC while also offering a digital output for those who prefer to experiment with an external converter. Rotel already has a long track record in the two-channel component space, and while we’ve covered the brand extensively at eCoustics, the Michi line sits firmly at the company’s high-end tier.

The Prestige Q430 now enters a surprisingly competitive premium CD player category that includes impressive new models from Marantz, Quad, Hegel, TEAC, Shanling, and several other brands determined to prove that the compact disc still has plenty of life left in it.

In recent years, we’ve also covered several other Michi products including the Q5 CD Transport DAC (2024), the Series 2 Amplifiers and Preamplifiers (2023), and our full review of the Michi X3 Integrated Amplifier (2022); all of which reinforced the brand’s focus on premium construction, refined industrial design, and performance aimed squarely at the higher end of the hi-fi market.

Michi Prestige Line Adds the Q430 CD Player

The Michi Prestige line is designed to give listeners a clear entry point into ultra-high-performance components built with the same design discipline, power supply priorities, and craftsmanship expected of reference-level audio.

Drawing on more than 60 years of Rotel amplifier and circuit development, Prestige models aim to deliver effortless dynamics, exceptional clarity, and the kind of long-term reliability that serious two-channel systems demand.

For 2026, Michi has introduced two new additions to the series: the Prestige Q430 CD Player and the X430 Integrated Amplifier. We covered the X430 in a companion article, but here the focus shifts to the Q430 CD Player, a premium disc player designed for listeners who still value dedicated CD playback in a high-end system.

Building on Michi’s heritage of precision engineering and industrial design, the Q430 combines a high-quality floating CD mechanism capable of playing Red Book CD, CD-R, and CD-RW discs with a meticulously designed proprietary power supply built in-house. Multiple stages of isolated voltage regulation reduce noise at the source, helping deliver exceptionally low distortion and a very quiet acoustic background where subtle details and ambient cues can emerge clearly from the mix.

At the heart of the digital stage is an ESS SABRE ES9028PRO 8-channel DAC, configured and optimized for stereo playback. The DAC is intended to deliver precise, neutral sound with wide soundstage presentation and strong resolution through both single-ended RCA and balanced XLR analog outputs, providing flexibility when integrating the player into a wide range of high-end systems.

Measured performance is equally ambitious. The Q430 is rated for ultra-low distortion (THD below 0.0006%) and a signal-to-noise ratio exceeding 120 dB, helping preserve transient impact and low-level detail even in complex musical passages. Channel separation greater than 105 dB at 10 kHz further supports precise stereo imaging and spatial detail, contributing to a convincingly three-dimensional soundstage.

Connectivity is straightforward but purposeful. In addition to its analog outputs, the Q430 includes a coaxial digital output, allowing the player to function as a dedicated CD transport when paired with an external DAC for listeners who prefer to experiment with different digital conversion stages.

However, there are a few notable omissions for a player positioned at this level. The Q430 does not support SACD playback, which some listeners may expect given its price category and the capabilities offered by competing models. In addition, the internal DAC cannot be used with external digital sources or streamers, a feature that has become increasingly common in 2026 as manufacturers try to broaden the utility of standalone disc players within modern streaming-focused systems.

For ease of operation, the Michi Prestige Q430 CD Player includes a wireless remote control that allows listeners to navigate album artwork, settings, and disc information displayed on the front panel’s full-color TFT display. The interface is designed to make browsing and playback straightforward while providing clear visual feedback during use.

All of the internal components are housed inside a precision-milled aluminum chassis that reflects Michi’s design philosophy of durability, performance, and long-term reliability. The solid enclosure also helps minimize vibration and electrical interference, supporting stable disc playback and consistent sonic performance.

The Q430 measures 431 x 148 x 385 mm (17 x 6 x 15-1/4 inches) with a front panel height of 131 mm (approximately 5-1/6 inches). The unit weighs 8.8 kg (19.5 lbs), reflecting the robust chassis construction and internal power supply design typical of Michi components.

Comparison

The Bottom Line 

The Michi Prestige Q430 CD Player is aimed at listeners who still value dedicated Red Book CD playback and want a component that matches the build quality and aesthetic of a high-end two-channel system. With its floating transport mechanism, ESS SABRE ES9028PRO DAC optimized for stereo use, balanced and single-ended outputs, and robust aluminum chassis, the Q430 is clearly designed to deliver refined CD performance rather than serve as a digital hub for multiple sources.

However, its focus is also its limitation. At $4,000, the Q430 lacks several features that competing players in this price category increasingly offer, including SACD playback and digital inputs that would allow the internal DAC to be used with external streamers or transports. For some buyers, those omissions will be difficult to ignore.

Ultimately, the Q430 is best suited for high-end two-channel listeners who still maintain a substantial CD collection and want a dedicated player that prioritizes build quality and straightforward disc playback rather than broad digital flexibility. For everyone else, especially those looking for SACD support or a more versatile DAC—the competition from brands like Marantz, Esoteric, TEAC, and Shanling may offer a more compelling case.

Price & Availability

Priced at $3,999, the Michi Q430 CD Player will initially be available in North America beginning March 2026, with global availability to follow early in the second quarter of 2026 through Rotel’s Dealer Network at €3,999 or £3,599.

For more information: rotel.com/product/q430

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Rumors are swirling that a DJI Pocket 4 is on its way, but don’t let the promise of a shiny new action cam distract you from what’s available right now — the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is currently cheaper than ever. Although it’s nearly three years old now, the Pocket 3 is still an extremely capable camera. With features like a portrait filming mode and a 2-inch screen that’s ideal for viewing a live camera feed, the Pocket 3 has proven hugely popular with vloggers and content creators in particular.

In our DJI Osmo Pocket 3 review, our tester called it “class-leading”, and highlighted the “amazing video quality and beautiful slow-motion scenes”. It was awarded a near-perfect 4.5 stars. TechRadar’s camera editor Tim Coleman thinks it’s well worth considering, even with the Pocket 4 on the horizon, commenting: “For many solo vloggers it will serve their needs perfectly, and for a much lower price than the latest models.”

Today’s best DJI Osmo action cam deals

Protex AI, Altra, Barespace, Tines, Nory and CleverCards also made it to this year’s list.

Despite the usual London dominance in Sifted’s annual list of the 100 fastest-growing Irish and UK start-ups, Dublin’s Kota has managed to place in the top 10 this year.

The Irish insurance and employee benefits platform has made it to the ninth spot on the 2026 list, with a two year revenue CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of more than 640pc. The four-year-old start-up last raised $14.5m in May 2025, taking its total raise to date to nearly $23m.

“This ranking is a reflection of the work we’ve done over the last three years building out our infrastructure and network of insurance and pension providers, and the value that lets us deliver to customers,” Kota celebrated in a post on LinkedIn.

The company’s employee health insurance and benefits platform aims to empower start-ups and scaling organisations to automate and manage team benefits.

Others in this year’s list include the Dublin-based Limerick-founded workplace safety start-up Protex AI, which secured $36m early last year to expand across the US. The 2021-founded company ranked 21 on the Sifted list with a CAGR of 313pc.

Protex’s AI-powered platform plugs into CCTV devices and uses computer vision to capture unsafe events autonomously. The start-up already has around 80 employees.

Meanwhile, Care-tech Altra placed number 41 with a CAGR of just above 200pc. Founded in 2019, the start-up has reached profitability. “This recognition reflects a real shift in the care sector,” the company said.

Dublin’s Barespace, on the other hand, which bills itself as the “operating system” for the hair and beauty industry, has made it to the 56th spot – and the highest ranking seed start-up on the list.

Founded in 2022, the company has around 32 employees. Last September, it announced a €2.9m round to accelerate its UK and European expansion.

Irish automation unicorn Tines has climbed 12 positions on the list since last year, reaching the 70th spot with a CAGR of 136pc. The company, which has around 400 workers, recently announced 100 new jobs in Boston as demand for its AI tools rise in the US.

Founded in 2018, Tines reached unicorn status in February 2025 after a $125m Series C round. The company has raised $272m to date from investors including Goldman Sachs, SoftBank, Felicis, Addition, Accel, Blossom Capital and Lux Capital.

Food sector-focused AI start-up Nory has dropped seven spots since last year, reaching the 44th rank in this year’s list. The dual-headquartered start-up in Dublin and London raised $37m last September, also to drive expansion in the US. Nory has a two-year revenue CAGR of around 182pc.

While insurtech CleverCards dropped 27 spots to the 54th rank on the 2026 list. Founded it 2019, CleverCards’s payments technology allows businesses and public sector organisations to create prepaid digital Mastercards and send them to anyone. The service was launched to market in 2023.

Previous year’s entrants, that did not rank this year include e-SIM provider Holafly, VR simulation training provider VRAI, data company CitySwift, e-commerce financier Wayflyer, and AI copyright protection provider Ceartas.

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The San Francisco startup emerges from stealth with Mayfield backing and a pitch that treats ad creative as a continuous learning loop, not a quarterly deliverable.

Every B2B marketing team knows the problem. A campaign launches, the creative is fresh, the targeting feels right, and then, slowly, it starts dying. Audiences tune out. Click rates fall.

The agency comes back for a creative refresh and the cycle begins again. Matt Jayson calls this “decaying ads,” and it is, by his account, a structural failure of how digital advertising is built: campaigns that start losing effectiveness the moment they go live, because the feedback loop between what customers actually say and what the ads actually say is too slow.

On Wednesday,  the startup Multiply emerged from stealth with $9.5 million in funding to tackle that problem. The round was led by Mayfield, with participation from Sorenson Capital, Instacart co-founder Max Mullen, and Josh Woodward, Google’s VP of Labs and Gemini, the executive credited with building NotebookLM and overseeing Google’s flagship AI app.

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Executives from HubSpot, Braze, Brex, Sierra, and Common Room also joined the round.

Multiply’s pitch is that modern B2B companies are already sitting on the data they need to run far better advertising, they just aren’t using it. Sales call recordings, CRM pipelines, and closed-won deal data contain precise information about why customers actually buy.

Multiply’s system plugs directly into those sources and uses a suite of AI agents to translate them into continuously improving ad campaigns on Google Search and LinkedIn.

Hundreds of structured experiments run in parallel each week, testing messaging, audiences, and creative, with winners scaled and losers cut automatically.

The agent architecture breaks down into five components. A Customer Insights Agent extracts language from sales calls to personalise ad copy. An ICP Agent analyses closed-won deals to tighten audience targeting.

A Quality Score Agent tunes keyword alignment and copy for Google’s ranking signals. A Creative Design Agent refreshes imagery on a weekly cycle. An A/B Testing Agent runs the experiments and identifies what’s working.

Human media buyers sit above all of it, providing brand oversight and compliance review, the “hybrid” in what Multiply describes as a hybrid AI-plus-human agency model.

Jayson, who previously worked at Google in user acquisition and then at Brex as Head of Product for core experiences, describes the gap the company is trying to close: the insights that land deals, the specific objections, the competitor comparisons, the language that actually resonates, rarely make their way back into ad campaigns quickly enough.

His co-founder and CTO, Ashish Warty, spent five years as SVP of Product and Engineering at HackerOne and held senior engineering roles at Airship and Dropbox.

“Modern companies already have all the data needed to create radically better ads,” Jayson said in a statement. “Sales conversations, CRM systems, and pipeline outcomes reveal exactly why customers buy, yet those insights rarely make their way into ad campaigns fast enough.”

The timing is deliberate in another sense. Multiply’s infrastructure is, the company says, already being positioned for ChatGPT advertising, a format that OpenAI has signalled it intends to launch but has not yet released at scale.

The argument is that the same campaign learning systems built for search and social can extend into conversational and AI-driven ad formats as they emerge. That is a forward-looking claim that will depend entirely on how those platforms eventually structure their ad products.

“There is a major shift happening in the $50 billion B2B advertising market,” said Patrick Salyer, Partner at Mayfield and a Multiply board member, in a statement. “Service-as-Software is redefining how companies grow, and Multiply has built the first AI model for B2B advertising.”

The $50 billion market figure comes from Mayfield’s own framing and has not been cross-referenced against independent market data.

Multiply is, in essence, making a structural argument about where the ad agency model breaks down: not in creative execution, but in the speed of the feedback loop.

Whether a $9.5 million AI stack can fix that faster than incumbents adapt is the question its pipeline metrics are presumably meant to answer.