Elon Musk has previously touted the “Bioweapon Defense Mode” boasted by Tesla’s vehicles, which are designed to provide excellent air quality inside the car even in the face of disastrous conditions without, thanks in part to high-efficiency HEPA air filtration. Now, Musk has said on Twitter that he hopes to one day provide similar air […]
The U.K.’s long-delayed coronavirus contact-tracing app finally has a release date: The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced today that the app will launch in England and Wales on September 24. The other regions of the country, Scotland and Northern Ireland, already have their own COVID-19 contacts-tracing apps — the latter launching an app […]
No matter how amazing the speaker lineup is at Disrupt 2020 next week — and believe you me, it’s pretty fuckin’ amazing — there is nothing more powerful than the connections people make at our show. Whether it’s an investor, a future co-founder, an interesting startup or a new friend, networking is a critical aspect […]
Brooklyn-based EV startup Tarform unveiled its Luna electric motorcycle in New York last week — a model designed for an audience that may not actually like motorcycles. Tarform’s first street-legal entrant starts at $24,000, does 0-60 mph in 3.8 seconds, has a city range of 120 miles, hits a top-speed of 120 mph and charges […]
A few weeks back, The Exchange looked into the pace of edtech exits, noting that over time, the sector has delivered rising exit volume. All startup verticals want to demonstrate a history of liquidity, so you might imagine that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, edtech fundraising was rising due to its improving exit profile. The […]
Wildtype, the startup making lab-grown salmon, is opening up a pre-order list for select chefs. Although the company is as much as five years out from commercial production, according to founders, the company is looking to partner with select chefs around the country who want to incorporate their sushi-grade salmon product into their menus. “We’re […]
Glasgow, Scotland-based video interview startup Willo has scored a £250,000 (~$320k) seed round of funding after watching demand for its asynchronous Q&A style video platform leap up during the COVID-19 lockdown. Guernsey-based VC firm 1818 Venture Capital is investing in the seed round, with Willo board members Steve Perry, Stefan Ciecierski and Peter Preston also […]
Santander, the Spanish multinational banking giant, is announcing that its fintech venture arm is to be spun out and will be managed more autonomously going forward. Previously known as Santander InnoVentures and established in 2014, the VC is being re-branded to Mouro Capital. It will continue to be headed up by general partner Manuel Silva […]
The United States government will not extend the September 20 deadline for Beijing-based ByteDance to sell TikTok, President Donald Trump said on Thursday. This adds urgency to negotiations because TikTok may be banned in the United States if it can’t reach an agreement with a buyer. “We’ll see what happens. It’ll either be closed up […]
The company building the virtual border wall has a new version of its stealthy fast-flying drones — and a fresh contract with Customs and Border Protection to match. Anduril, a young defense-friendly tech company from the founder of Oculus, received $36 million from Customs and Border Protection this month for its AI-powered autonomous surveillance towers. […]
Some people may have slowed down in 2020, amid a pandemic that has shut down much of the world. Not Chamath Palihapitiya . According to a new report in Bloomberg, Opendoor, the San Francisco-based company that aims to help people buy and sell homes with the “push of a button,” is in advanced talks to […]
Yesterday, we had a chance to catch up with Josh Kopelman, cofounder of the now 16-year-old early-stage venture firm First Round to talk about a wide variety of issues. As part of that conversation — which we’ll run in its entirety in podcast form later this week — we naturally asked Kopelman about some of […]
Facebook returns to its college roots, Alexa gets a printing feature and we take a deep dive into Unity’s business. This is your Daily Crunch for September 10, 2020. The big story: Facebook launches a college-only network If you’re old and decrepit like me, you remember when Facebook was only for college students and required […]
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast (now on Twitter!), where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. The whole crew was back, with Natasha Mascarenhas and Danny Crichton and myself chattering, and Chris Gates behind the scenes tweaking the dials as always. This week was a real team effort as we are heading into the maw of […]
It looks like those reports about Apple’s forthcoming subscription bundle were accurate. According to strings of code found within the latest release of the Apple Music app for Android devices (ver. 3.4.0 beta), Apple references a new product it’s calling “Apple One.” The code, which was discovered by 9to5Google, also indicates that Apple Music will […]
The Breakthrough Prize Foundation announced $21.75 million in awards today for a variety of scientific achievements. One in particular is a tech/science crossover: A $3 million award to David Baker, whose work over the last 20 years has helped validate the idea that computers can help us understand and create complex molecules like proteins — […]
Verishop, the Los Angeles online retailer founded by former Snap executive Imran Khan, launched a little over a year ago to change the way people shop online. Now the company is launching a new initiative called “Verified Shops” which looks to change the way that up-and-coming retail brands can sell their wares. As direct-to-consumer and […]
Ahead of the U.S. presidential election, Google says it has taken a number of steps to improve the quality of information that it highlights across its various search and news products. Google executives outlined these changes at an online press event today, as well as in a blog post. The biggest change seems to be […]
With touring ground to a halt for the foreseeable future, 2020 has become the most difficult year for musicians in recent memory. One’s ability to survive on music depends on a variety of factors, of course, including things like audience, reach and how their fans access their output. The world of recorded music has been […]
