$600B opportunity, who is going to win?

Happy Tuesday Brex Community,

2026 is going to be an amazing year to those selling chips/processors, energy and real estate projects to Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet and Amazon. Collectively, these four giants companies plan to invest a record $600B+ in 2026 in capital projects, primarily related to AI.

It is a great reminder that financially, you want to be a in the picks and shovels business, there is where a lot of the value capture in playing this role.

Speaking of which here are some exciting startups that are also providing picks and shovels to fast growing tech companies. If you aren’t using any of these yet, definitely recommend checking them out to see if they can enable your business to move faster and/or save costs.

Have a great week,

Shai Goldman

Feb 11 - NYC - Brex Supper Club with Canvas Prime - for Fintech Founders - At Capaciy

Feb 12 - SLC - Finance Leaders dinner with Zip - Apply Here

Feb 17 - NYC - Founder Game Night - Apply Here

Feb 18 - SF - What Tech CFOs Bring to the Public Sector - Apply Here

March 3 - SF - Brex Mode - AI summit for finance leaders - Info Here

March 5 - SF - Brex Supper Club with Niural - for Founders - Apply Here

March 10 - NYC - Brex Mode - AI summit for finance leaders - Info Here

Recurring - NYC - Founder workout sessions in Flatiron - Apply Here

2048 Ventures just announced the successful closing of Fund III, an oversubscribed $82 million vehicle dedicated to leading pre-seed and seed rounds. Based primarily in New York City and Boston, the firm intends to serve as a high-conviction "first-check" investor, typically providing capital between $500,000 and $3 million to visionary founders building at the earliest stages of their company’s lifecycle. The investment strategy for Fund III remains rooted in a thesis-driven approach, focusing on startups that develop strong data moats in Vertical AI, Deep Tech, Healthcare, and Biotech. The firm is particularly interested in "Systems of Record"—products that own end-to-end workflows and capture critical customer data—as well as emerging technologies like physical AI, robotics, and sensor-driven platforms. By maintaining a lean team led by partners Alex Iskold, Zann Ali, and Julie Wolf, 2048 Ventures aims to combine deep operational expertise with a founder-first mentality, underscored by their continued commitment to speed and hands-on strategic support.

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Brex is the intelligent finance platform built for speed and control. Combining corporate cards, banking, treasury, expense management, bill pay, travel, and accounting, Brex helps companies spend smarter and move faster in 120 countries. By integrating AI across every workflow, Brex enables founders and finance teams to eliminate manual work, do more with less, and accelerate impact. More than 35,000 companies from startups to enterprises run on Brex, including Anthropic, Cursor, ServiceTitan, Robinhood, DoorDash, and Sonos