When truly novel innovations scale up, they escape their secure test beds and drive disruptive change in the real world. Things can get unpredictable and uncomfortable as familiar patterns, power dynamics, and operating models change. Systems like to stay put. They dilute incremental efforts at change. Sometimes they need the force of a truly breakthrough solution to create enough disruption, destabilize their equilibrium, and resettle to a better state. At The Rockefeller Foundation, our commitment to innovation and breakthrough solutions sometimes means we don't agree with expert consensus. We sometimes side with the renegade who has a bolder idea, the maverick who wants to roll the dice on a big step forward. This quarter, we celebrate initiatives by our grantees to implement the first Swahili large language AI model to support maternal and newborn health in the face of climate change, support solar energy and battery storage to help community churches become resilience havens during disasters, reimagine financing systems to fund Amazon reforestation, and more....

Good morning & happy Tuesday! Today we're looking into cross-border payment giant Payoneer which is poised for sustained growth (breaking down their latest Q4 2024 numbers, what they mean & what's next for Payoneer + some bonus reads inside), and FinTech startup Ramp that just hit $13B valuation as revenue soars to $700M (what it's all about & why it matters + more bonus dives inside). So let's jump straight into the interesting stuff '' Earnings time '' Payoneer Global PAYO 0.00%' just delivered impressive financial results in 2024, demonstrating the resilience and scalability of its business model amid a shifting macroeconomic landscape. With robust volume growth across key segments, expanding take rates, and significant operational leverage, Payoneer has positioned itself as a formidable player in the global cross-border payment ecosystem. Despite potential headwinds from interest rate fluctuations and geopolitical tensions, the company's diversified revenue streams, expanding regulatory moat, and focus on high-value customers present a compelling investment case....

Women tend to live longer than men and are often more resilient to cognitive decline as they age. Now researchers might have uncovered a source for this resilience: the second X chromosome in female cells that was previously considered 'silent'. In work published today in the journal Science Advances1, a team reports that, at least in female mice, ageing activates expression of genes on what is usually the 'silent', or inactivated, X chromosome in cells in the hippocampus, a brain region crucial to learning and memory. And when the researchers gave mature mice of both sexes a type of gene therapy to boost expression of one of those genes, it improved their cognition, as measured by how well they explored a maze. Assuming these results can be confirmed in humans, the team suggests it could mean that women's brains are being protected by their second X chromosome as they age ' and that the finding could translate to future therapies boosting cognition for everyone. 'The X chromosome is powerful,' says Rachel Buckley, a neurologist who studies sex differences in Alzheimer's disease at Massachusetts General Hospital in Charlestown, and who was not involved in the research. This kind of work, she says, is helping researchers to understand 'where female resilience lies and how to harness it'....

The decision today isn't just about 'growth' in the abstract; it's about how to grow. On one path is the pursuit of higher growth forecasts at the cost of efficiency ' previously the de facto mode for startup growth. On the other, a more measured approach is taking shape ' slower growth but with airtight efficiency, sometimes even reaching the hallowed ground of cash-flow breakeven. High growth but lower efficiency: The fastest-growing companies (200%-plus YoY) are prioritizing revenue expansion, often with significant cash burn. These companies show burn multiples above 2x and operating margins below -150%, making them reliant on external capital. Lower growth but higher efficiency: Slower-growing companies (20%-30% YoY) are focused on financial discipline, achieving burn multiples below 1x and approaching cash-flow breakeven. These startups trade speed for resilience, maintaining longer runways and optionality in uncertain markets. As we stand on the cusp of a new era ' one shaped not just by pandemic-induced booms, macroeconomic uncertainty and tightening capital markets, but also by an AI-driven frenzy that is reshaping industries at a breakneck pace ' this choice is shaping the strategies of founders and operators alike....