Back in the mists of 2014 we revealed how one of the UK’s most active venture investment funds operated. To this day Octopus Ventures continues to rub shoulders with the most active institutional VC funds at the early stage, even though it’s technically an evergreen fund attached to the stock market. It’s backed hits like LoveFilm, Zoopla through to IPO, Graze as well as… Read More
TechCrunch’s first ever robotics event is fast approaching, and we’re putting the final touches on an amazing programming line-up, which includes MIT’s Daniela Rus, Disney’s Martin Buehler, Amazon’s Tye Brady, ABB’s Sami Atiya, iRobot’s Colin Angle, SRI’s Manish Kothari and many more. Look for the full agenda soon, but today we’re… Read More
Productivity app maker Readdle is rolling out a new feature across its line of iOS applications that takes advantage of the iPad’s support for split screen viewing to make it easier to move files between apps. The move could encourage current Readdle customers to buy the software maker’s larger suite of apps in order to take advantage of the new functionality. Split view is a… Read More
Microsoft’s live-streaming service Beam, which the company acquired last year shortly after it emerged as the winner of the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield, is today getting a new name: Mixer. The name is meant to express the way the service brings people together, the team explains, but it’s not the only change rolling out today, as it turns out. Mixer is also launching… Read More
Do you think you know cars? Well, Blippar’s new machine learning technology is ready to take you on, as the augmented reality/visual search company is today announcing automotive recognition tech. In other words, Blippar’s AI can identify the make, model and year of any U.S. car made in 2000 or after, as long as the car is traveling slower than 15mph. Blippar originally launched as… Read More
There’s a new official mobile Pokémon game for iOS and Android devices, and it’s all about everyone’s favorite floppy fish: Magikarp. If you’re a longtime Pokémon fan, then you probably recall grinding with a Magikarp in your party to get it to level 20, whereupon (spoiler alert) it would blossom into a the powerful and awesome Gyarados. While it was great to get… Read More
After leaving his role at Uber as VP of Global Vehicle Programs in April, Sherif Marakby is back at Ford to lead its autonomous vehicles and electrifications program. Marakby’s new VP role was announced as part of a general executive re-organization revealed on Thursday under new Ford CEO Jim Hackett. Marakby joined Uber in April 2016, coming from Ford where he worked for 25 years,… Read More
The Tesla Model 3 is so close you could taste it (probably tastes like car) but we don’t yet know final specs on the vehicle. A new retail comparison chart surfaced at the Tesla Model 3 Owners Club forum (via InsideEVs) that offers some insight into what we can expect for specs, though it seems primarily designed to remind prospective buyers how great the Model S is by comparison. In… Read More
The entrepreneurial spirit has never been stronger, so it’s no surprise that co-working spaces are so hot right now. The Yard, for example, has recently secured a $15 million credit line to expand its coworking offering to startups in New York City. Founded by Morris Levy and Richard Beyda, The Yard wants to be the more ‘grown-up’ co-working space, with opaque walls instead… Read More
Reali wants to change how people buy and sell their homes and now it has $5 million more to work on it, thanks to a Series A led by Signia Venture Partners. The company also today announced that it is expanding beyond to the entire San Francisco Bay area, including the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, and that its app is now available on Android, too. The service aims to take… Read More
A new accelerator being run by the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) hopes to find technologists in the quantum machine learning field and give them access to cutting-edge equipment to make their projects into companies. The program is run out of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, and will include investment from venture funds Bloomberg Beta, Data Collective and… Read More
Oculus has a new update out for its PC software that brings roomscale tracking with three sensors out of beta, making it an officially and fully supported way of tracking a VR user in 360 degrees. The app update also adds improvements to multi-sensor tracking, including two-sensor 360, though that mode is still classified as experimental. The update also now warns users when they’ve… Read More
Red Hat, which has made its name as the enterprise Linux company, has been making clear in recent years that it sees the cloud and containerization as a significant part of its future. Today, it announced its intent to acquire San Francisco startup Codenvy to continue building on that strategy and give developers access to a cloud-based integrated development environment. The company did… Read More
Researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology have released a full report on a new attack vector that affects Android up to version 7.1.2. The exploit, called Cloak & Dagger, uses Android’s design and screen behaviors against users, effectively hiding activity behind various app-generated interface elements that lets a hacker grab screen interactions and hide activity behind… Read More
In partnership with TechCrunch, PathFounders is the exclusive, invitation-only, event for startup Founders at The Europas Conference & Awards. With this, Founders get a special ‘founders and investors only’ half-day, on the day before The Europas (which they also join, for the whole thing), where they have dedicated sessions on building their company, fund-raising and also get… Read More
This static test fire of one of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy booster may not actually be sending any rockets to space, but it does put off a lot of exhaust. The bulk of that is actually steam, as SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk pointed out on Twitter following the release of the test fire footage – and there will be three times as much of it when the Falcon Heavy actually launches,… Read More
Meta SaaS is a product that helps you cancel other products. Like Cardlife and Cleanshelf, Meta SaaS looks at all of your software-as-a-service subscriptions and tells you which ones you use and, more important, which ones you don’t. Founded by Arlo Gilbert and Scott Hertel, the product raised $1.5 million in seed from Mark Cuban with participation from Barracuda Networks, Capital… Read More
There’s been much talk of ICOs — initial coin offerings — amid the rising value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum. Now the industry is about to see its first ‘big name’ move into the space after Kik announced plans to introduce its own cryptocurrency via a token sale. Messaging app Kik is particular popular among teens and young people in… Read More
Rocket Lab has made history today, launching an orbital-class rocket to space from a private launch facility for the first time ever. The launch took place at 16:23 NZST (9:23 PM PT) on Thursday, using one of Rocket Lab’s Electron rockets which took off from Rocket Lab Complex 1 in New Zealand. While the launch got the rocket up in the air and on its way, the rocket itself didn’t… Read More
College is supposed to be a life-defining experience–but that doesn’t mean students always graduate with all the skills they need to build their lives. Paragon One, an online career coaching service and mentor marketplace, wants to fill in the gaps. The startup announced that it has raised $1.9 million in seed funding from Y Combinator, Foundation Capital, Learn Capital,… Read More
