Frontlands, a Dallas fintech, closed a $50 million debt round with StarMesa Capital to launch a credit card for U.S. mineral‑rights holders. The deal follows a $5.5 million equity raise and positions the firm to help families move from high‑rate credit toward stable, asset‑backed borrowing.

In Sweden, electric‑boat maker Candela secured €30 million (≈$32 million) led by the World Bank’s IFC. The capital will fund a second Polish factory as the company expands its hydrofoil commuter ferries, which cut energy use by up to 80 % and aim to slash travel times in cities like Mumbai.

Philadelphia’s Voltify raised $30 million in seed funding to power freight rail with mobile batteries and microgrids, sidestepping the $1 trillion cost of full electrification. The company has a paid pilot with a Class 1 railroad and targets the $11 billion annual diesel spend of North American freight operators.

Paris‑Berkeley startup Living Models raised $7 million to train a foundation AI for biology, called Botanic, on plant genomics data from 43 species. The model seeks to fill a gap left by general‑purpose GenAI tools that ignore hard sciences.

These deals illustrate how niche technology can unlock value in overlooked sectors, from natural‑resource finance to green transport and specialized AI.