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Ramp is telling investors it is about to hit $1.4 billion in revenue a year, as the company prepares to go public.

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Ramp, a New York-based fintech startup, has told potential investors it is on track to reach a $1.4 billion in annual recurring revenue this quarter as it prepares for a potential IPO, according to people familiar with the matter. That is up sharply from the $1 billion in Ramp’s annualized revenue— the revenue a company expects to collect over a year — in September.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Founded in 2019, Ramp sells a suite of financial tools centered on its corporate charge card, along with software for expense management, bill pay, and procurement. Its core pitch is that it helps companies spend less and operate more efficiently.

Run rate typically extrapolates recent revenue, often from a single month or quarter, over a full year. For a company like Ramp, whose business includes transaction-based revenue tied to customer spending, that figure can fluctuate with usage and may not reflect fully predictable revenue.

Ramp also said it is growing its customer base by about 70% year over year and expects to generate roughly $125 million in free cash flow this year, the company has been telling investors.

Additionally, Ramp stated its plans to be IPO-ready by the end of the year and is building the financial reporting and compliance infrastructure required of a public company. That does not mean it will actually go public this year, but it is preparing the company for that opportunity.

Only 30% of traders on Kalshi, a prediction marketplace, are betting the company will go public before May of 2027.

Ramp’s surging revenue has piqued VCs’ interest as the company nearly tripled its valuation in a matter of months in 2025.

Starting the year with a $13 billion valuation, Ramp closed three rapid-fire equity rounds between June and November of 2025, jumping to $16 billion, then $22.5 billion, and finally peaking at a $32 billion valuation in a round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Other investors include Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, Iconiq Capital, and 1789 Capital.

That valuation represents a sharp rebound from the fintech downturn, when Ramp raised a so-called down round of $5.8 billion in 2023.

Geoff Charles, chief product officer of Ramp, made headlines earlier this year when he said that all employees are expected to be AI-native.

“If you’re not using Claude code this year, no matter what your role is, you’re probably underperforming compared to others in the company,” he said on a podcast.

“The people who are still in L0, they will most likely not be at the company,” he added, referring to level zero.




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Honda takes a $15.7 billion hit as EV retreat continues to batter legacy automakers

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Honda is taking a massive financial hit as it pulls back on its electric-vehicle ambitions.

On Thursday, the Japanese automaker said it expects to write off up to 2.5 trillion yen — roughly $15.7 billion — as it reshapes its North American EV strategy. Honda expects the charge will push profits into the red in 2026, marking its first annual loss in nearly 7 decades.

It’s the latest in a growing list of legacy automakers to announce multibillion-dollar hits as the industry recalibrates its electric plans.

The EV pullback has gained momentum after the federal government ended the $7,500 tax credit for US-built EVs under the Inflation Reduction Act in September. The rebate was intended to spur both EV adoption and US auto manufacturing.

“Many automakers were investing in their EV platforms to align with the subsidies,” Seth Goldstein, an EV analyst at Morningstar, told Business Insider. “When these expired early last September, this led automakers to adjust their investments and EV strategies.”

Jeep maker Stellantis booked a $26 billion charge after discontinuing several EVs and plug-in hybrids. Ford reported a $19.5 billion hit in December and canceled its F-150 Lightning. General Motors took a $6 billion charge as it slowed production across its 11 EV models. Volkswagen also had a $5.7 billion charge.

In total, the five automaking behemoths have announced $72.9 billion in write-downs tied to EV portfolio adjustments.


A yellow Acura RSX EV with a black roof and black wheels sits on a well-manicured lawn.

Honda also said it would cancel US production of three cars, including the Acura RSX EV, shown above.

Acura



Honda said its EV reset stems from two main pressures: What it described as an “unfavorable impact” from changes in US tariff policies affecting its gasoline and hybrid business, and a decline in competitiveness in Asia.

As part of the shift, Honda is canceling three planned EVs for the US market: the Honda 0 Saloon, the Honda 0 SUV, and the Acura RSX crossover.

All three models were supposed to roll off the assembly line at the Marysville Auto Plant in Ohio.

The move leaves Honda with just one fully electric vehicle in its US lineup — the Prologue, which it developed in partnership with General Motors.

Acura, Honda’s luxury brand, also discontinued its ZDX electric SUV at the end of 2025, shortly after the federal tax credit was scrapped.

Still, analysts say the industry’s recent pullback doesn’t amount to a full retreat.

“No automaker is abandoning plans to sell EVs as a part of their product lineup,” Goldstein added. “While I see EV sales declining in 2026 from the tax credit expiration, I forecast a return to growth in 2027.”

Electric-only automakers are continuing to push forward with new models, including Rivian’s coming R2 and Tesla’s Cybercab, which could help lift overall EV sales.


A white Rivian R2 rolls onto a stage next to the automaker's CEO, RJ Scaringe.

An industry analyst said he expects EV sales to return to growth in 2027 as automakers’ focus shifts to mass appeal. He pointed to the launch of smaller, more affordable vehicles, such as the coming Rivian R2.

Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Rivian



Legacy brands are also betting that smaller, more affordable EVs could reignite demand.

Toyota, Nissan, Ford, Chevrolet, and Subaru have all outlined plans to introduce cheaper electric models to US dealerships.

Honda, for its part, still has one EV in the US pipeline: the Afeela, a screen-heavy sedan developed in partnership with Sony, expected to start around $89,900.

Work at Honda? We want to hear from you. Contact Ben Shimkus at bshimkus@insider.com or Signal at bshimkus.41. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.




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Exploding drone boats have entered the Iran fight. Oman says one hit a tanker in a fatal blow.

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Exploding drone parts are now part of the growing fight between the US and its partners and Iran. Oman said one struck a tanker and resulted in the death of a crew member.

Oman News Agency, the state news agency of the Sultanate of Oman, said on Monday that an oil tanker flagged to the Republic of the Marshall Islands “was attacked by an unmanned surface vessel.”

It said “the attack triggered a fire and explosion within the main engine room, resulting in the fatality of one crew member of Indian nationality.”

The tanker, MKD VYOM, was around 52 nautical miles off the coast of Oman and had 21 crew members on board: 16 Indian nationals, four Bangladeshi nationals, and one Ukrainian national. They were evacuated by commercial vessel MV SAND, which flies Panama’s flag, the report said.

It said that a vessel from Oman was monitoring the condition of the tanker that was hit and that it was giving navigational warnings to ships nearby. The hit tanker was carrying an estimated 59,463 metric tons of cargo.

The use of drone boats adds to what was already a growingly precarious situation in highly strategic waters, with reports of vessels being targeted and hit by incoming munitions.

Oman did not say who the drone boat belonged to. Iranian officials have said that Iran has them in its arsenal, and Iran has also repeatedly tried to steal US drone boats. The Iranians and their proxies in the region have also previously threatened and attacked merchant vessels.

No naval force operating in the region has said it is using the technology in the conflict that boiled over this past weekend.

Drone boats are an increasingly prominent warfighting technology. They gained notoriety as Ukraine used them against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, leveraging the low-cost assets to damage and destroy expensive Russian warships. Russia has since adopted the tech. Other actors, like the Houthi rebels, an Iranian proxy group in Yemen, have used them in attacks as well. Western militaries are using this technology too, but primarily for reconnaissance.

The waters around Oman and Iran are hugely important to global trade. They include the Strait of Hormuz, where around 20% of the world’s daily oil supply passes through.

Multiple ships came under fire in this area over the weekend and on Monday, with crews evacuated and some injured. Several major shipping companies have said that they are avoiding the area to keep crews safe.

The US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Sunday, hitting aircraft, command and control centers, warships, missile sites, and killing Iran’s Supreme Leader. Iran retaliated by firing towards a host of nearby countries that have US bases. Fighting continues.




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One of Amazon’s data centers in the UAE caught fire after being hit by ‘objects’ amid the Middle East conflict

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  • Amazon Web Services had a power outage at one of its facilities in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday.
  • The fire was caused by “objects” that impacted the facility at around 7:30 a.m. ET.
  • The impact sparked a fire. Firefighters cut power to the facility while they extinguished it.

Amazon Web Services said on Sunday that connectivity from one of its data centers in the United Arab Emirates was down after a fire at the facility.

AWS, Amazon’s cloud service, said that one of its “Availability Zones” had been “impacted by objects” at around 7:30 a.m. ET. The impact created “sparks and fire,” per AWS.

“The fire department shut off power to the facility and generators as they worked to put out the fire,” the company said.

The company did not say in its statement what the objects were.

According to Amazon’s website, an availability zone can comprise one or more data centers. The company has three availability zones in the UAE, per its coverage map.

The Sunday fire at the AWS facility happened amid US and Israeli military strikes on Iran and retaliatory attacks from the Iranian military on at least half a dozen Gulf states.

Read more about the US-Iran conflict

Photos and videos showed missiles streaking across the sky in Dubai on Saturday and Sunday. Fallout from intercepted missiles caused fires and other problems across the region. The Fairmont’s famed luxury property on the Palm saw damage, as did Dubai’s main airport and the Burj Al-Arab hotel.

Just before 7:30 p.m. ET, AWS said it was seeing “significant signs of recovery” for some systems, but power was still down at the center.

“We do not have an ETA for power restoration at this time. For customers that can, we recommend using alternate Availability Zones or other AWS Regions where applicable,” the company said in its Sunday evening statement.




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Passengers evacuated Dubai airport after it was hit with a missile

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  • Dubai International Airport was damaged in an attack on Saturday.
  • The airport said four staff members sustained injuries.
  • A passenger told Business Insider they’d received a missile warning before the incident.

One of the world’s busiest airports was just evacuated after a suspected air strike.

Dubai International Airport (DXB) said that the airport had “sustained minor damage in an incident, which was quickly contained.”

Videos online show debris on the ground and smoke filling the terminal as travelers rush to the exits. Others show emergency vehicles on site.

“Four staff sustained injuries and received prompt medical attention,” the airport said. “Due to contingency plans already in place, most of the terminals were previously cleared of passengers.”

The airport said more updates will be provided “as they become available.” It’s unclear if there were other injuries.

The attack came as Iran continues to send missiles across the Middle East in response to joint US-Israel strikes on Saturday, which Trump said had killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Dubai’s other airport, Dubai World Center — Al Maktoum International (DWC), said its operations were suspended until further notice and told passengers not to go to the airport.

Kuwait’s Public Authority for Civil Aviation said a drone hit Kuwait International Airport earlier Saturday, causing injuries and damage. It added that the site was secure as the airport assessed the damage and needed repairs. It’s unclear if it was an Iranian drone.


Screenshot of alert.

A screenshot of Jaiveer Cheema’s phone showing the alert.

Courtesy of Jaiveer Cheema



Emirates passenger Jaiveer Cheema, who has been stuck in Dubai for hours after his flight was canceled amid the air strikes, told Business Insider that he got an alert on his phone around 12:30 a.m. local time that there was a potential missile threat.

The attack on DXB happened soon after. Cheema was at a hotel by then, but said “everyone is taking shelter in the bottom floor of the hotel.”

This is a developing story…




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Trump says US has started ‘major combat operations’ against Iran as strikes hit Tehran

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President Donald Trump announced early Saturday that the US had begun “major combat operations in Iran.”

“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” he said in a video statement posted on Truth Social.

The US and Israel carried out airstrikes against Iran on Saturday, following months of tensions between Tehran and Washington.

The Israeli government first announced the airstrikes, which were carried out in broad daylight, as “preemptive.”

“The government of Israel has carried out a preemptive strike against the Islamic Republic to eliminate threats against the country of Israel,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement carried by government channels.

“As a result, a missile and drone attack against Israel and its civilian population is expected in the near future,” he added.

A US official confirmed to Business Insider that American forces were involved, adding that the strikes were ongoing.

Footage circulating on social media appeared to show explosions and plumes of smoke in Iran.

The attack marks the second time that the Trump administration has taken military action against Iran. In June 2025, the US bombed the country’s nuclear facilities as part of Operation Midnight Hammer, and Trump said at the time these had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites.

This new round of strikes comes on the heels of negotiations between the US and Iran, part of the Trump administration’s efforts to pressure Tehran into a deal that would severely limit its nuclear and military capabilities. It also follows the withdrawal of Western diplomats from several Middle East countries.

In recent weeks, as Trump has issued repeated threats and warnings to Iran, pushing it to make a deal, the US has built up a large military footprint in the Middle East and nearby European waters.

The Pentagon has surged hundreds of fighter jets, aerial refueling tankers, reconnaissance planes, support aircraft, and warships into the region.

One complicating factor has been public resistance from US allies to operations against Iran. The UK barred the US from using its nearby bases, and Jordan said its bases couldn’t be used for attacks on Iran, despite imagery showing the US has shifted cargo planes and F-35 stealth fighters to one of its bases.

The significant US naval presence on station or taking up position in the area includes at least two aircraft carriers, more than a dozen guided-missile destroyers, and three littoral combat ships, which are designed for near-shore operations.

The two aircraft carriers — USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford — are each equipped with dozens of embarked fighters, electronic attack jets, early warning planes, and helicopters. The Lincoln’s air wing includes F-35 stealth fighters.

On Friday, a day after the Trump administration’s negotiations with Iranian officials in Geneva, White House official Dan Scavino posted a photograph on social media of eight B-2 Spirit stealth bombers on a runway, suggesting these aircraft could be used to strike Iran again.

This story is breaking. Please check back for updates.




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