Getir

a16z Invests in Hilbert AI for Growth Data

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) announced an investment in Hilbert, a startup building AI 'growth agents' that automate the data plumbing growth teams need — structuring and labeling event schemas, attribution tables and warehouse logic. Hilbert’s product layers analytics, operations and execution on top of a maintained data foundation, which a16z argues can shorten multi-month engineering projects to weeks and embed the company deeply into growth operations. The post highlights the founding team (Naz, Ceyda, Ozgur, Cenk), Naz’s experience building Getir’s growth function, and says Hilbert is working with major retailers and AI-native companies. The company is hiring. The article frames Hilbert as addressing a persistent operational bottleneck in consumer growth organizations by combining data engineering foundations with agentic AI capabilities.

Flink: Billion-Valuation Rise and Near-Insolvency

In an OMR Podcast interview, Flink founder Oliver Merkel recounts the rapid rise and near-collapse of the grocery delivery startup. Flink grew from launch to €80 million revenue in its first year, achieved a valuation above $2 billion and received early acquisition interest from Gopuff. Merkel attributes competitive advantage to an early purchasing deal with Rewe (better wholesale prices) and an extensive micro‑hub logistics setup. He says the company faced a cash crisis at the end of 2023 after an investor withdrew a funding commitment, forcing talks with potential buyers including Getir; Flink ultimately secured financing, avoided a sale, returned to profitability and continued operations. Merkel also discusses the marketing origin of the 10‑minute delivery promise, early operational errors (e.g., inventory “Banana Gate”) and his plans for a new venture called Blocks.

Netflix Pushes Ads as Basic Plan Disappears

Netflix is retiring the Basic plan in the US and UK and introducing Basic with Ads priced at $6.99, with Standard ($15.49) and Premium ($19.99) remaining as ad-free options. The Basic plan is hidden on Netflix’s site, signaling a push toward the ad-supported tier to boost per-user revenue. The ad-supported tier reportedly has about 1.5 million subscribers. Separate coverage covers Tim Steiner, founder and CEO of Ocado Group, criticizing venture capital funding for quick-delivery startups and arguing it inflated customer acquisition costs. Bloomberg Media’s shift away from open-market programmatic is said to raise viewability and CPMs by around 20%, while ad revenue declines; Julia Beizer frames the change as prioritizing journalism, with ads and subscriptions as secondary monetization channels.