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Phoenix Airport now offers Waymo’s curbside robotaxi pickup service

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Choose what’s currently available for Waymo One riders Pick it up or drop it off? via the company’s robotaxis curbside at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Waymo became the first self-driving vehicle operator in the U.S. to launch a paid robotaxis service to and from airports in November 2022. This service ran to the airport shuttle stop at his 44th Street SkyTrain station. Navigating the hectic pace of hitting the terminal’s curbs is a whole new challenge, but in order to safely deploy and learn, Waymo has set a time limit of 10pm to 6am, with only Terminals 3 and 4 in place. Start.

Waymo has already completed “tens of thousands of airport trips” and provides more than 1,000 rides each week. According to the company. Waymo says the average travel rating for airport trips is about 4.7 out of 5 stars.

Waymo’s expansion of airport services comes as former competitor Cruise laid off nearly a quarter of its employees in the wake of an Oct. 2 incident in which a pedestrian was dragged under the company’s robot taxi. This was done amid the dismissal of several executives.

Waymo’s new airport service will be fully autonomous (meaning there is no human safety operator behind the wheel) and will be available to “a select group of active riders in Phoenix, and not necessarily just trusted testers.” “It’s just not available,” said Chris Bonelli, product communications manager. Waymo told TechCrunch. Waymo’s trusted testers are riders who have been vetted by the company and signed non-disclosure agreements.

As the Alphabet-owned company gains experience at the terminal, it plans to open these pick-up locations to all passengers and expand to 24/7 service in the “coming months.”

“Last year, we partnered with Waymo to become the first airport in the world to offer travelers the ability to travel to the airport in self-driving vehicles,” Chad Makowski, director of aviation at Sky Harbor Airport, said in a statement. . “This partnership has given us confidence in the technology, and we are excited to take the next step and safely extend this innovative service to the curb of the terminal.”

Source: techcrunch.com

Andreessen Horowitz is willing to provide funding to politicians in support of technology deregulation.

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Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz has announced its intention to begin lobbying the U.S. government, but their plan is as tone-deaf and insensitive as this summer’s dreaded “Techno-Optimist Manifesto.” Essentially, they would give anyone — literally anyone — Someone who “supports an optimistic technology-enabled future.”

These are called single-issue voters, and co-founder Ben Horowitz (who wrote the blog post) believes that publicizing themselves that way lends a childlike innocence to lobbying. It seems like it is, but it is quite the opposite.

The fact is that they are rich ideologues who have expressed a willingness to pay politicians who promote their agenda, regardless of what that politician’s other opinions may be. It’s really easy!

Fundamental to their approach is that technology is more important than people. They claim to be pro-human in the sense that they are pro-technology, e.g., writing, “Artificial intelligence has the potential to lift all humanity to an unprecedented quality of life.” right.

Therefore, being more AI-oriented means being more human-oriented.And actually, if you think about it, if you have AI. did it It justifies taking actions that lead to a 100-fold improvement in the human condition in the long term but have worse outcomes in the short term. For example, supporting politicians who oppose basic civil rights simply because they propose more liberal technology regulations.

For example, if a politician proposing a national abortion ban or a widespread ban on “Wake Agenda” books said he trusts AI companies to do what’s best for everyone, Andreessen and Would Horowitz support it? Now, according to A16Z’s statement of purpose here, abortion is not their business. They are “nonpartisan, one-issue voters.”

But that’s just bullshit, right?

To begin with, the idea that this one issue is bipartisan is at risk. Supporters of forced birth will likely describe themselves as independent, one-issue voters. After all, it’s not about politics, it’s about the right to life. It is irrelevant that a single political party has cynically linked this and other “traditional values” to all other policy proposals for decades.

No, no, you can’t just do that declare Nonpartisanship in blog posts. Technology regulation, like everything else, is a partisan issue. Net neutrality, Section 230, TikTok, social media disinformation, A16Z’s pet tech Debate about AI, cryptocurrencies, and biotech are all partisan. That’s just the nature of politics today.flat do not have Participating in lobbying is, in a sense, a partisan decision because it shows that you are not taking sides.

But that partisan language is just the usual pretense for this kind of announcement. Everyone claims it because it is a meaningless property and cannot be proven or disproved. The problem with A16Z’s philosophy here is that it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing: an overtly deregulatory and pro-capitalist agenda masked superficially in the language of empowerment.

You have to imagine some tobacco industry executive wrote a similar blog post in the 60’s. We are nonpartisan, single issue voters on a faulty regulatory system that unfairly prevents Americans from enjoying the great taste and health benefits of our natural tobacco products.

The same goes for plastics, food additives, leaded gas, and everything else. All they were interested in, and all Andreessen Horowitz was interested in, was removing onerous obstacles to increasing wealth from the boardroom.

If they actually cared at all about people and how politics and lobbying affect them, then perhaps “the people” would theoretically mean “exalted” in some imagined future. It would have been referred to as more than an abstract concept that could be ” or hurt.

It’s unrealistic to think that by donating to politicians who support a vision of deregulation, A16Z won’t also support other policies that people are actually voting for right now. voting rights, reproductive care, education, etc. This obvious conflict of interest is conveniently avoided. Are any positions or proposals so despicable that they will withdraw their support, or will they stand by their principles, if it can be described as such?

They cannot expect us to believe that their understanding of lobbying and politics is this simple. There are smart people in that company. We have to take at face value their statements that they really don’t care about anything other than growing the areas they’re investing in. But what they are proclaiming is not an idealistic pro-humanity position as they suggest, but cynical selfishness. Basically an anti-people attitude.

But A16Z doesn’t care. people — I’m curious about that. Human race.

And as we enter this golden age of technology and enter a dark age of social policy, humanity will no doubt be grateful, right? Women like Kate Cox may not have physical independencebut at least they will have blockchain.

Source: techcrunch.com

Climactic launches inaugural fund as partners shift focus to upcoming surge in climate technology M&A activity

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A few years Earlier, when the pandemic was still in full swing, Raj Kapoor and Josh Felser started investing in climate change technology startups.they called their operation climax, and initially placed bets using their own money. Although we are both experienced founders, managers, and investors, this is our first time focusing on this specific sector and we started by testing the waters.

The company announced today that it has closed a $65 million founding fund and used it to support founders launching a climate technology software company.

Mr. Kapur and Mr. Felser both have long histories as investors, with Mr. Felser co-founding Freestyle Capital and Mr. Kapur spending seven years as a managing director at Mayfield Funds. They also founded and sold their own software startup.

It’s a little surprising that it took this long for the two to work together. Their resumes are strikingly similar. Felser said that in 1997 he founded Spinner (sold to AOL) and in 2004 he founded Crackle (sold to Sony). He also launched the #Climate nonprofit in 2014 and created a public-private coronavirus task force during the pandemic. Mr. Kapur previously served as chief strategy officer at Lyft, and before that he founded Snapfish (acquired by HP) and FitMob (acquired by ClassPass). He also launched a nonprofit climate social app in 2007.

Those experiences, combined with a growing concern about the state of the Earth’s climate, led the two to form Climactic.

“If we can get the top 50 supply chains to meet their net-zero goals, rather than just pay lip service, we’ll have the biggest impact,” Kapur told TechCrunch+. “To get there, we think the low-hanging fruit is software, because there are a lot of efficiencies to be gained.”

Source: techcrunch.com

Spotify is testing AI playlist feature with prompts

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Earlier this fall, it was revealed that Spotify was developing a new feature that would allow users of its streaming app to create playlists using AI technology and prompts. Now, its “AI playlist” feature was discovered in the wild as part of a test to see how users would respond to AI-driven playlist creation. The company allowed TechCrunch to test it, but did not provide details about the technology or how it works or commit to a release date.

This feature was unveiled in TikTok videos User @robdad_ wrote, “Have you discovered Spotify’s ChatGPT by chance?” According to a screenshot he shared, the AI ​​playlist feature can be accessed from the “Your Library” tab in the Spotify app by clicking the plus (+) button in the top right corner of the screen. Tap to access. Here, a pop-up menu will appear and the AI ​​playlist feature will be added as a new option below the existing “Playlist” and “Blend” options.

The feature’s description says, “Using AI to turn your ideas into playlists,” and notes that it’s currently only available in English.

@robdad_ Since when did this update occur on Spotify? Now, I have chatGPT create playlists for me…also Which House Exploration😭😭 #Spotify #update #love ♬ Heavy metal lovers overlap – jinxknsaudios

Once an option is selected, users will be presented with a screen where they can enter a prompt in an AI chatbot-style box or browse a list of suggested prompts to get started. This video features “Focus on your work with instrumental electronica”, “Fill the silence with cafe music background”, “Pick up your mood with fun, upbeat, positive songs”, and “Niche genres like witches”. Improvised ideas such as “Exploring” were presented. House. “

When the user chose the latter prompt, the AI ​​chatbot responded, “Processing your request…” and offered a sample playlist. From this screen, you can swipe left to remove songs you don’t want to further refine your playlist.

TechCrunch reported in October that references to this new AI feature were spotted on Spotify Mobile by a tech veteran. Chris Messina, shared a screenshot of a feature that creates “playlists based on prompts.” However, Spotify declined to confirm its plans for AI playlists at the time, saying it doesn’t comment on speculation about new features.

The company is still trying to downplay user expectations and excitement for the AI ​​playlist feature, only confirming that it was an interim test.

“We conduct numerous tests on a regular basis. Some of these tests ultimately pave the way to our extensive experience, while others serve only as important learning.,” a Spotify spokesperson said. “We have nothing further to share at this time,” they added.

While the company isn’t ready to launch AI playlists yet, the streamer is investing heavily in AI across its apps, including launching AI DJ earlier this year to provide personalized playlists and commentary. Is going. With an AI voice based on Spotify’s Head of Cultural Partnerships, Xavier ‘X’ Jernigan. This feature became available worldwide in August.

Ziad Sultan, head of personalization at Spotify, said of the launch of DJ that the company has “large-scale language models, generated audio, [and] Across personalization. He told TechCrunch that Spotify wants to be known for its “AI expertise.”

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek also teased other ways the company will leverage AI, including Spotify using generative AI to summarize podcasts and automatically run audio ads. He said he may be considering creating one. He also touted the role of his AI in music production, saying he could imagine artists using AI tools when creating new songs. Spotify is also looking into using AI to create podcast ads read by hosts that sound like real people, and using AI to power its personalization technology. It’s no exaggeration to say that AI will be leveraged for playlist creation, which is one of the most popular use cases for apps.

We don’t yet know when new AI capabilities will be made publicly available. In the meantime, please let us know if your app has that feature and how well it works.

Sarah Perez can be reached at sarahp@techcrunch.com and Signal at (415) 234-3994.

Source: techcrunch.com

A16z-funded Apex Space inaugurates new facility to increase satellite bus production

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when apex space The company, which came out of stealth last October, had the provocative goal of eliminating “new bottlenecks” plaguing the space industry by building satellite buses at scale.

To get there, Apex announced today that it will open a new headquarters and production facility in California and eventually scale up to manufacture 50 satellite platforms per year. Apex CEO Ian Cinnamon said in a statement that the new 46,000-square-foot facility is “vital to meeting customer demand.”

“Our customers want spacecraft with short lead times, and Factory One delivers that,” he said.

Apex wants to disrupt one of the most entrenched parts of the space industry. Satellite buses are generally made to order, which means their costs are very high and delivery times are very long. However, major changes in the industry, such as the reduction in the cost of mass launches into space, have opened up a whole new group of customers looking to send payloads into orbit.

The company plans to initially offer three satellite bus classes. One is a smaller 100 kilogram bus called Aries, which can support a payload of up to 100 kilograms. The motorcoach, called Nova, can accommodate a payload of up to 230 kg. The even larger bus “Comet” can carry up to 500 kilograms. Apex plans to fly the first Aries on SpaceX’s Transporter 10 rideshare mission, scheduled for the first quarter of next year.

Apex aims to expand the factory in the coming years. The company currently plans to deliver five Aries platforms to customers in 2024 and aims to increase production to 20 aircraft by 2025.

The company has raised at least $23.5 million in seed and Series A funding from backers including Andreessen Horowitz and Shield Capital.

Source: techcrunch.com

Playground Global secures $410 million Fund III for early-stage deep tech investments

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playground globalThe renowned early-stage venture capital firm has brought $410 million in capital commitments to Fund III to invest in early-stage deep technology and science companies. With this new fund, Palo Alto-based Playground will have more than $1.2 billion of his assets under management.

Co-founder and general partner Peter Barrett started his career as an engineer (a video game engineer, to be exact) before becoming a venture capitalist.Interesting fact about him — he still codes every day and is touted give Elon Musk his first job.

Barrett is surrounded by similarly tech-loving general partners Jolie Bell, Matt Hershenson, Bruce Leake and Laurie Yolar, all with similar deep scientific and operational backgrounds. I have.

Together, they are attracted to companies creating next-generation technologies across the computing, automation, infrastructure, logistics, decarbonization, and engineered biology industries.

Similar to the $500 million Fund II raised in 2017, Fund III’s capital deployment will focus on seed and Series A companies with initial investments of $1 million to $20 million.

Playground is often an early or first investor, and Barrett told TechCrunch that the company “believes that only a few transformative companies are born every year.” Examples of exits from the company’s portfolio include MosaicML, which was acquired by Databricks in June for $1.3 billion, and the company that will enable Elon Musk to print the Raptor engines to power Starship, which will be announced in 2021. Includes listed Velo3D.

TechCrunch spoke with Barrett via email about how the funding landscape has changed since his last round, the lessons he learned investing in deep tech, and what he looks for in startups.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

TC: Playground last raised funding in 2017. What was the funding environment like this time around?

P.B.: The macro environment is difficult for everyone, but when I meet with investors from around the world, they avoid fads and trends and instead focus on companies and industries where real and lasting value is being created. I said I was trying. A company with excellent durability and defense.

The new fund and the raising of several of our companies have proven that there is never a bad time to invest in great companies, especially in a down market, with investors flocking to quality.

We have received significant support from our existing investors and also used this opportunity to invite new investors. Fund III expanded its LP base to include endowments, foundations, single-family and multi-family offices.

What is unique about what Playground offers to startups?

We are an early stage venture capital firm and have been true partners in our companies since our inception. When you talk to our entrepreneurs, you’ll find that they consider us both investors and co-founders. We have the unique superpower to take on and eliminate technology risks, and can leverage the roadmaps we develop to identify best-in-class emerging technologies.

And because we don’t invest in competing companies, there’s a real sense of camaraderie within our portfolio. We were introduced to several new portfolio companies by the founders of Fund I and Fund II. In addition to our platform services, our 70,000 square foot studio is home to many of our portfolio companies and other non-competitive startups deep in the tech space.

Tell us about the pivot from consumer to deep tech. What led to that decision?

When we founded Playground, our team was assembled with the goal of helping both consumer technology and deep technology companies develop. It was clear early on that our superpowers were not reading the market risk tea leaves and were taking on technological risks. By focusing on deep technology and investing in roadmaps that guide our investment decisions, we have captured an undeserved share of the world’s most innovative companies.

What did you learn from diving into deep technology?

Since we founded Playground, we have invested in deep technology companies. PsiQuantum was one of our first investments. We have learned that everything is impossible until it happens, and that the combination of prudent capital and brilliant, tenacious people can move civilization forward.

What areas of deep tech are you interested in, and which areas do you tend not to invest in?

By taking on chemistry, biology and computing as a first-principle approach, we can invest in breakthrough companies across next-generation computing, AI/automation, infrastructure, artificial biology and decarbonization. .

There is no contradiction between the resulting technology investment and significant returns. We are attracted to companies that can build large technological moats and enter markets where they are clear category leaders. We follow the roadmap and don’t surf the zeitgeist.

What do you look for in a startup?

We look for testable hypotheses that address important problems with a plausible path to success. We are not looking for potential solutions to problems. We look for solutions that bring together the right ideas, the right people at the right time.

How many investments have you made from Fund III so far?

Playground has already made several investments from Fund III including d-Matrix, Ideon Technologies, Amber Bio, Infinimmune and Atomic AI, in addition to other portfolio companies operating in stealth.

We believe that our companies, operating in stealth, are well-positioned to revolutionize green metal production and provide the foundation for the next generation of semiconductor manufacturing.

d-Matrix, whose Series A was led by Playground, secured an oversubscribed Series B round of $110 million announced in September, and has already raised another round. The company is building the next generation of AI hardware through an in-memory computing platform focused on inference in the data center.

Given your past relationship with Elon Musk, what do you think about his stewardship over X, Tesla, etc.?

We all wish Elon would focus more time on electrifying the Earth and sending rockets into space.

Source: techcrunch.com

Former VC Head Sina Zhang Named as New CEO of Kakao During Ongoing Crisis

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South Korean internet giant Kakao – Under investigation for multiple antitrust and securities violations – appointed A new CEO is trying to right the ship. Shina Chung, who ran the company’s venture division, will be moved to the company’s top position.

According to the company, Mr. Chung will officially assume the position after the next board of directors meeting and general meeting of shareholders in March next year. She will be Kakao’s first female CEO, and her appointment is intended to signal that the company is now in emergency reform mode.

In a statement, Chung said the company will “manage the company proactively and responsibly” to meet society’s expectations and standards. “Kakao doesn’t have much time, so we don’t want to miss this opportunity for change.”

Kakao founder Kim Bum-soo hinted at a new leader at Kakao during an internal meeting on Monday, saying, “Kakao has reached a point where we must experiment with fundamental change. Establishing new leadership to guide Kakao.” I will do it.”

이미지 정신아 카카오 신임 단독대표 내정자 02 1

Image credits: Kakao CEO candidate Shina Chong

Kakao, which operates the hugely popular super app of the same name, leads the country in services such as messaging and on-demand transportation services like Uber. But that top position came at a price.

In October, Kakao’s chief investment officer (CIO) Jaehyun Bae was appointed. arrested After Kakao, accused of stock price manipulation obtained Belonged to K-Pop agency SM Entertainment in August. If Kakao’s CIO and other executives are convicted, Kakao The country’s financial regulator could force it to sell at least 10% of its stake in online banking arm Kakao Bank. South Korea’s current internet banking law requires that non-financial companies must not have violated financial laws, fair trade laws, or tax evasion laws in the past five years in order to hold more than 10% of the voting rights of a mobile-only bank. It has established. Like Kakao Bank.

Separately, just last month, South Korean President Yun Seok-Yeol Kakao’s taxi dispatch division, exclusive action of Kakao Mobility. The company’s claim is that The app’s algorithm was manipulated so that taxis were given priority to Kakao franchise taxi drivers who were registered as paid Kakao members, over non-Kakao taxi drivers.

Korean antitrust regulators have already In February, Kakao Mobility was fined approximately $20.3 million for improper service.. cacao mobility is As of September, it accounts for approximately 74% of the domestic ride-hailing market., is separately trying to lower the temperature of this controversy.it was announced today Taxi driver fees will be reduced from 5% to 2.8%. We plan to revise our membership system next year.

Founded in 1995 on South Korea’s Jeju Island, Kakao (officially started as an internet search engine known as Daum) is now South Korea’s super app, with KakaoTalk being the country’s most popular messaging app. , offers online taxi hailing service Kakao Mobility. banking platform Kakao Bank, music streaming app Melon, and webtoon platforms Tapas Media and Radish. The company has been actively pursuing M&A deals in South Korea over the past few years and also has global ambitions. Kakao has more than 140 subsidiary companies as of October.

Chung, who worked at Boston Consulting Group, eBay Asia and Naver before joining Kakao Ventures in 2014 to invest in local startups, will be given the job she deserves. .

Source: techcrunch.com

Hyperplane Aims to Integrate AI into Banking Operations

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Hyperplane, a San Francisco-based startup building foundational models to help banks predict customer behavior, today raised $6 million in funding led by former Stripe executive Lachy Groom. Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, Soma Capital, Latitud, Atman Capital, Crestone VC, and Norte announced the round and came out of stealth with participation from Clocktower Technology’s SV Angel. The general idea here is to allow banks to use their data to predict user behavior and build personalized experiences.

The company already has partnerships with about a dozen banks in Brazil, and is now looking to expand into the United States. Hyperplane is currently focused only on the banking industry, but over time, the team plans to bring its technology to other sectors as well.

Hyperplane was co-founded by Felipe Ramunier, Daniel Silva, Rohan Ramanas, and Felipe Meneses.Ramnier (CEO) has spent the past seven years start setis a Brazilian EdTech startup whose members Daniel Silva and Rohan Ramanas previously built large-scale AI systems at Google and LinkedIn.

Hyperplane founders Felipe Meneses, Rohan Ramanas, Felipe Ramunier, Daniel Silva

“The core hypothesis we started with was: What does it take to build a layer of personalization for banks around the world?” Ramanath explained. “If you think about big tech companies, they have a lot of first-party data, but in order to use all of this data to understand the consumer and build personalization, they have to rely on their data infrastructure and enterprise data. We’re also investing heavily in warehousing, where we create every product page and ultimately incorporate this into the consumer experience itself. Hyperplane’s goal is to help banks around the world store large amounts of first-party data. , what does it take to build a data intelligence layer so banks can connect their first-party data?”

Lamnier also highlighted the fact that banks have detailed data about their customers that is not available with other services. “One of the arguments I often use when pitching banks is that the data these banks have about me as a customer can tell me much more about my behavior than the data Google or Facebook has. You’re vulnerable. Visiting Porsche’s website doesn’t mean you can buy a Porsche. But Chase and Bank of America can’t tell you what kind of restaurant I go to or what grocery store I go to. How much does it cost to take Uber? We have all that data in-house.”

Currently, most banks offer little personalized experience, so the baseline is low. But consumers increasingly expect their banking experience to be similar to other online experiences, especially in competitive banking markets like Brazil. At its core, Hyperplane provides banks with an API to build these personalization models on the fly. The team stressed that all of these deployments are private and no data sharing will take place. Hyperplane also uses its own models for all of this.

Currently, the company offers two modules. One is for building audience segments and the other is for creating lookalike audiences to find similar users and expand your potential target audience. ” We find that by building task-specific models, we can get more benefits from our construction. It was something custom and made from scratch,” Ramanath said.

Most recently, Hyperplane launched the Mandelbrot LLM. This is a particularly useful model for predicting when banks will churn customers and which users will treat a particular bank as their primary bank.

Hyperplane says that by using its services, the credit line division of a Brazilian neobank, for example, has been able to get a clearer picture of its customers’ estimated income, increasing transaction volumes by 46%.

“Brazil has experienced an important pro-competitive movement over the past decade, and we now see an ecosystem eager to adopt new technologies,” Ramnier said. “Hyperplane’s cloud can be scaled across markets with little effort. We will be announcing our first partnership in the US soon.”

Source: techcrunch.com

Kenyan E-commerce Firm Secures $20 Million Investment to Drive Growth, Former Metaswitch CEO John Lazar Joins Copia’s Board

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Kenyan e-commerce and fintech platform for mass market consumers copia global appointed John Lazarthe former CEO of Microsoft subsidiary Metaswitch, has joined the company’s board of directors on the back of $20 million in new funding.

Enza Capital, the pan-African venture capital firm co-founded by Lazar in 2019, is one of the larger participants in the Series C extension round, including global private bank LGT, investment firm Goodwell Investments, Also included is the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). ), German financial services provider DEG, Swiss impact fund Elea, Perivoli Foundation and Sorenson Foundation.

Lazar has extensive experience building and managing businesses. He joined Metaswitch Networks in 1987 as a software engineer and later became Chairman and CEO as the company established its leadership in cloud communications software with investment support from Francisco Partners and Sequoia Capital. I was appointed CEO. Lazar, who resigned from both roles in 2016, four years before Microsoft acquired the company, is also chairman of the UK-based charity Raspberry Pi Foundation, and is an angel investor and investor in the UK and Africa. He is also a mentor to over 40 pre-seed and seed investors. investment.

In a conversation with TechCrunch, Lazar said he has a long-standing professional relationship with the Copia team that has impressed Enza Capital with its fulfillment network over the years and increased digital adoption from consumers. , admitted that this is one of the reasons to support e-commerce in Kenya. Clothes.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), personal consumption in Africa is expected to exceed $2 trillion Over the next three years, the continent’s burgeoning middle class will drive this growth. Copia, which has been around for 10 years, targets rural, middle- and low-income African consumers. These consumers enjoy more choice, price, and access to goods and services compared to urban and high-income consumers who use Western-style or African-focused platforms such as Jumia and Takealot. , faces challenges in terms of reliability. Therefore, although this target market may be difficult to find and its wallet size may be small, Copia is approaching it with a hyper-local strategy, reaching a significant number of approximately 750 million people across Africa. We believe there is an opportunity given the collective purchasing power of

Copia leverages its local agent and logistics network to tap into this market. The company boasts a strong network of over 50,000 agents who are small business owners in towns and villages across Kenya and has served over 2 million consumers. Most of these orders executed through Copia’s distributor network are made offline, with customers ordering household goods, electronics, or food products in person at the distributor’s store, via USSD, or by phone. Ta.

However, driven by falling data costs and increasing smartphone penetration and ownership in Kenya (73% of low- and middle-income Kenyan consumers now own a smartphone, down from 10% a decade ago), A 10-year-old e-commerce company recently ran a campaign to digitize its agent network, increasing app usage from 5% to 80% in one year. Copia said in a statement that digitized agents can double their revenue, and by exploring smartphone financing models, they can focus their subsequent digitization efforts on millions of consumers. This will allow companies like M-KOPA to enter a thriving market.

“I have respected this company for a long time and think the conditions are right. E-commerce companies are facing some difficulties at the moment, but a kind of push towards digitalization is a good thing for us. It feels like a tipping point and just changes the game in unit economics and efficiency,” said Mr Lazar, who was awarded a CBE for services. “So when Tracy called us and told us they had this internal round and wanted to bring on additional partners, we were very excited to participate.”

Copia has recorded 100% annual growth over the past few years, with founder and chairman highlighting scale and rapid expansion as key objectives for profitability. tracy turner explained on the same call with TechCrunch. However, as global capital markets have experienced a downturn and investor focus has shifted from models that rely on scale for profitability, to now emphasize the importance of demonstrating sound unit economics. In response, Copia underwent fundamental changes last year.

The e-commerce company has secured more than $120 million in funding since its inception, including a $50 million Series C round in January, but this year it scaled back its expansion plans and implemented significant layoffs. . At least 700 roles will be eliminated. Reduce number of Kenyan employees by 25% July and Closed Uganda operations Similar to three months ago, this move is in line with broader trends seen across industries this year, with many companies considering reducing labor costs as their first strategy when adopting cost-cutting measures. are doing.

“We recognized in the capital markets environment that we did not want to continue operating in Uganda, which is a great market and opportunity. We did not have the funds to make it profitable, so it made sense to hold off there. Then we looked at our Kenyan operations and realized we needed to streamline there as well,” Turner said. “And the fact that our customers have become digital so rapidly, our current shift to a digital focus means we need to change the way we operate in Kenya. So we did this to focus our business on digital relationships with our customers, which is completely different than it was just a year ago.”

Copia’s shift in focus from simply growing sales to achieving profitability in Kenya has helped it minimize losses since new management took over in Q4 2022. It reflects a strategy similar to Jumia’s approach of slowing growth. Both companies face headwinds that call into question the sustainability of B2C electronic services. Commerce takes place in Africa, albeit with different e-commerce models operating. It is worth noting that B2B e-commerce platforms are also grappling with a series of challenges in the market.

Despite the challenges, executives from both e-commerce companies, which have been in business for 10 years, said in separate conversations with TechCrunch that the companies, which now offer financial services alongside e-commerce, are stable. We have unwavering confidence in our ability to achieve the same profitability. They argue that it is only a matter of time before these challenges are overcome and are optimistic about the future profitability of the business. However, both platforms face distinct goals. While Copia strives to achieve profitability in a single market, Kenya, Jumia has to compete across 11 markets.

But Turner said Copia, which will have annual revenue of more than $60 million by the end of 2023, maintains pan-African ambitions despite its focus on making money in Kenya. Point out. The founder and chairman said that once the e-commerce company achieves profitability in the East African market, it plans to expand to 14 other strategically planned countries. “We are keeping our heads down right now and focusing on Kenya and will not look up until we achieve that milestone. We have done a lot of scouting work and are planning where to go next. However, our international expansion plans will take place once we achieve profitability in Kenya,” she said.

As for John, as he said in the interview, three things remain of paramount importance to him now that he has joined the company’s board of directors. These include leveraging the experience and network of technical operators to support talent, providing sales and revenue generation strategies, and acting as a sounding board. To management.

Source: techcrunch.com

TUNL, a South African e-commerce startup, secures funding to boost expansion of export platform

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tunnelSouth African parcel delivery platform has secured $1 million in pre-seed funding from investors including Founders Factory Africa, Digital Africa Ventures, E4E Africa and Jozi Angels.

The platform claims that e-commerce merchants can save between 50% and 80% on international shipping costs, and the funding will fuel expansion in its key market South Africa, as well as launches in other key African countries. He said that he would lay the foundation for the Emerging markets.

CEO Matthew Davey cum COO craig lowman Mr Davey founded the company in 2022 after seeking a solution to the challenges he faced as managing director of a Dutch company importing South African engineering materials into Europe. In his interview with TechCrunch, Davey said the process of moving these materials is cumbersome and expensive, and his experience shows that transportation costs are widespread, especially for small and medium-sized businesses in emerging markets like South Africa. I’ve come to recognize the problem.

Current challenges in cross-border transportation are costing African businesses an estimated $50 billion a year in missed opportunities. The founders of TUNL identified a recurring problem among small and medium-sized traders in South Africa during the pandemic. That meant that shipping costs could exceed the value of the item. This also applies to high-quality goods such as textiles, clothing, footwear, camera accessories, and specialty components, despite the presence of major courier services such as DHL, UPS, and FedEx.

Typically, Cape Town sellers offer only one shipping option, such as DHL, to customers looking to purchase goods abroad. For example, a backpack might cost $60, and shipping from South Africa to the US could be about the same, $50-60, which could negatively impact your conversion rate. What TUNL has done is partner with delivery services like UPS and FedEx to ensure reasonable rates and subsidize shipping costs for small and medium-sized businesses by 50% to 75%.

“Our pricing is fully transparent and democratized. We want every business, large or small, to be able to transform their international sales by reducing shipping costs as much as possible. We want to make sure they have an equal opportunity to do the same,” Lowman said in a statement.

On the TUNL platform, sellers offer a variety of shipping options to their customers at checkout. This includes an “economy” option that incorporates shipping costs into the product price, allowing free shipping via TUNL’s courier service and slightly longer delivery times (approximately 10-14 days). Reduce cart abandonment at checkout. Alternatively, customers can choose expedited shipping options (within a week) via FedEx or UPS for a more reasonable price, such as $10 for the same backpack, allowing for more flexibility and potentially higher exchange rates. (The exact price may vary depending on destination and weight, but Davey says this is a consistent approximate number).

“It’s all about helping sellers succeed,” said the CEO. “Because if there’s only one expensive shipping option at checkout and the customer has two choices, they’re not going to buy it. “They can decide to abandon their cart or pay up.” “But when you introduce two shipping options, especially a free shipping option, human psychology forces the customer to choose one of the two, rather than abandoning the cart. .”

Primarily, South African e-commerce merchants using TUNL tend to ship most of their goods to the US, UK, Europe and Australia. Two-thirds of the shipments end up in the United States, Davey said. TUNL, which competes with Ivorian startups and platforms such as DHL partner ANKA, has grown 35% month-on-month since its launch and now has more than 700 merchants in its “delivery club.” TUNL’s merchants shipped more than 8,000 international parcels in 2023, representing R19.5 million worth of exports from South Africa, the company said in a statement.

The two-year-old e-commerce platform makes money by taking a margin from orders placed on its platform. The products we handle are wide-ranging, including backpacks, fashion shoes, arts and crafts, books, nanofiber materials, high-performance springs, various furniture, musical instruments, cosmetics, and other preserved foods. South Africa is known for its wine industry, with exports reaching 368.5 million liters last year. And although the transport of wine (alcohol) is not yet included in TUNL’s export items due to existing restrictions, Davey said the startup is now one of South Africa’s largest wine subscription businesses and its business He said he is in discussions about the possibility of participating. .

“We are getting a message from our merchants that we have transformed their business. They are adding new employees and growing because of us. So if our merchants are only serving the South African market, “It’s a win-win for the ecosystem to make people feel like they can look at the world as a market, rather than the only market they can serve,” he said. “We help merchants grow internationally just as we help them succeed, because the overseas consumer market is much larger than the domestic market for these types of products. ”

Davey said TUNL, which makes about $60,000 a month, will now focus on using the seed funding to improve sales and the onboarding process for new franchisees. In particular, the onboarding experience has been streamlined, relying primarily on customer support assistance and taking a more self-service approach.

Source: techcrunch.com

Metafuels invests $8 million in sustainable aviation fuel industry

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meta fuel aims to change the landscape of sustainable jet fuel and has just received an $8 million suitcase from local ZRH baggage carousel 3. Ah, Zurich. The company is literally turning the skies green with a new fuel called Aerobrew. Sure, it might sound like a French press, or even a boomerang, but the company has a few tricks up its sleeve, and it’s a sustainable aircraft made using renewable electricity. We are creating fuel, or eSAF.

The company is focusing on jet fuel as its main product and has purchased tickets to produce jet fuel that complies with aviation standards. That’s a tall order. Fuels must operate in all kinds of harsh environments. From the freezing cold of the highlands and blues to the sweltering heat of the Houston runways and everything in between.

“From fuel handling on the ground to combustion performance at high altitude, operational safety is paramount,” said Leigh Hackett, co-founder and CCO of Metafuels.

The company aims to produce a viable 100% synthetic jet fuel alternative by 2030, which will seamlessly integrate into existing global renewable energy systems and replace traditional fossil fuel supplies. The company claims to offer energy solutions that operate outside the chain. Competitors in this space include LanzaJet.

The new $8 million investment is a major boost to Metafuels’ ambitious plans. The company sees rising costs of conventional fuels, impending environmental taxes and increased stakeholder pressure for sustainability as factors that will offset ISAF’s initial production costs. This round was led by energy impact partner and contrarian venture.

Metafuels’ eSAF technology uses a process developed to convert green methanol to eSAF, enabling a seamless transition from fossil-based kerosene. Methanol is hydrogen (H2) and provide sustainable carbon dioxide. green H2 Can be produced from water electrolysis and CO using renewable electricity2 In the short term, it can be captured from biological sources such as waste and residues. The long term plan is to start direct air capture, which seems nice and poetic to me. It captures gas, puts it into an airplane, flies it through the air, and puts it back into the air.

It could be an interesting stepping stone before battery- or hydrogen-powered planes really take off — the magic of Metafuels’ Aerobrew is that it can fuel aircraft without modification, the company says.

“Once we get past the building blocks of choosing sustainably sourced carbon and hydrogen, we move on to the relatively simple but breakthrough technology of converting those ingredients into jet fuel.” Metafuels Saurabh Kapoor, CEO and Co-Founder of “And because this is a type of kerosene, we can use the same pipelines, infrastructure, storage, transportation and aircraft.”

Source: techcrunch.com

Aye Finance Receives $37 Million in Funding from UK International Investment

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Aye Finance, an Indian startup that provides a digital lending platform for small businesses, continues to help small businesses grow their businesses and increase incomes for their employees, with $37.18 million in new funding round led by British International Investment was procured.

The Series F round brings Aye’s total funding to nearly $200 million and includes participation from Waterfield Fund of Funds and the startup’s existing investor A91 Partners. In 2020, the startup raised $27.5 million in a Series E funding round led by Alphabet’s CapitalG.

Founded in 2014, I agree — which means “Yes” in English and “Income” in Hindi — is a term used by underserved businesses that find it difficult to secure the necessary working capital from traditional lenders such as banks. We provide business loans in the form of mortgages, temporary security, and term credit to small and medium-sized enterprises. The startup uses a combination of in-house technology and analytics to offer a variety of financial solutions based on a company’s needs.

To date, the 10-year-old company claims to have provided more than $959 million in loans to more than 700,000 unorganized businesses. The company competes with companies such as Capital Float, Lendingkart and Indifi, which are working on providing credit to small and medium-sized enterprises in South Asia.

One of the main reasons why startups like Aye Finance are gaining enough traction in India is the lack of credit for small and medium enterprises.

India has over 63 million MSMEs. To contribute According to government data, it accounts for nearly 30% of gross domestic product, more than 43% of all exports, and employs more than 123 million people. The government considers the importance of these companies to the country’s overall growth and has introduced a number of initiatives to ease credit requirements. However, some small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are struggling to find funding to start and sustain their operations because the eligibility requirements for government systems and programs do not match their business model or size, or involve lengthy processes. I still find it difficult to procure. Startups like Aye are capitalizing on that gap by offering credit through their platforms.

“We believe there is tremendous potential in lending to underserved and small businesses, and the new capital is a strong complement to our complex story.” said Sanjay Sharma, co-founder, MD and CEO of Aye Finance, in a prepared statement.

“Aye Finance is on a growth path and we are pleased to partner with BII, which has a deep understanding of India’s financial services sector. It’s proof.”

Headquartered in Gurugram and present in 22 states through 395 offices, the start-up manages assets of over $959 million and generated over $9.59 million after tax in the first six months of FY24. He says it has brought benefits.

“Our investment in Aye Finance confirms our commitment to backing companies with strong philosophies that impact development and fostering financial inclusion for underserved groups in India. The i team stands out for its dedication and experience in delivering scalable technology-enabled financial solutions,” said Gaurav Malhotra, Director, UK International Investment Financial Services.

Source: techcrunch.com

FCC Denies $885 Million in Starlink Grants

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The F.C.C. Starlink’s $885 million application finally rejected Despite spending public money to expand orbital communications infrastructure that covers parts of rural America, the company said it “has not been able to demonstrate that it can deliver the services it promised.”

As previously reported, the funds in question were part of the Provincial Digital Opportunity Fund. It’s a multibillion-dollar program that subsidizes the deployment of Internet service in areas where private companies have previously found it too expensive or remote. The $885 million was first set aside for Starlink in 2020, in response to the company’s bid to provide how much connectivity to which regions and at what cost.

The FCC explained that this initial application is high-level and short-term, and those who qualify will be subject to close scrutiny. For example, one organization that was allocated more than $1 billion in funding turned out to be a regional effort that was unable to scale as hoped.

In Starlink’s case, last summer’s proposal for satellite internet showed promise, but it turned out to be a “developing technology” that would require users to purchase a $600 dish. Most people wouldn’t pay that much for a year’s internet bill. Therefore, given the target audience of under-resourced people, this should be seriously considered. (In fact, the FCC considered not allowing orbital carriers to apply, but decided to let them compete on their own merits.)

This was in addition to “numerous financial and technical deficiencies” that authorities identified in the proposal and the company’s operations. This is not to say that this is a poorly run company that provides excellent service to some, but for the purpose of this auction and winning bid, there were serious questions:

After reviewing all information submitted by Starlink, the Bureau ultimately determined that Starlink would have a network of the scope, size, and scale necessary to serve 642,925 model locations in 35 states. We concluded that the company had not demonstrated a reasonable ability to meet RDOF’s requirements to deploy. That was the winning bidder.

Starlink called for a review of the decision, arguing among other things that the decision was made on the basis of “inappropriately burdensome criteria,” as is their right in this situation. (Apparently, the relevant parts have been edited in the latest version) order) claimed that although short-term tests showed a drop in speed and other metrics, the company has plans to launch more satellites and will be able to expand its network as claimed. It also relied on the promise of SpaceX’s super-heavy rocket Starship as proof of its claims.

However, the FCC notes that:

At the time of the station’s decision, Starship had not yet been launched.Certainly even today [i.e. over a year later], Starship has not yet been successfully launched. All attempted launches failed. Based on Starlink’s previous claims regarding plans to launch second-generation satellites via Starship and the information available at the time, [Wireline Competition] In making prospective judgments regarding Starlink’s ability to meet its RDOF obligations, the Secretariat necessarily considered the inability to continue to successfully launch Starship rockets.

A footnote notes that it was only after the denial was issued that SpaceX announced it would not use Starship after all for the second generation of Starlink satellites.

Fundamentally, they recognized the benefits of this approach, but were not 100% convinced that this was the best use of the lion’s share of $1 billion. Probably in the next fund.

Two Republican FCC commissioners, Brendan Carr and Nathan Symington, opposed the decision. Simington is probably correct in pointing out that “many RDOF recipients never deployed service at any speed or in any location,” while Starlink had service to 500,000 subscribers at the time of its rejection. many of which were in areas not served by other broadband options. He dismissed the launch issue as a ploy of the agency’s “motivated reasoning.”

Carr calls this politics. “After Elon Musk took over Twitter and used it to express his political and ideological views without filter, President Biden gave federal agencies the green light to pursue him… Elon Musk I became a ‘progressive enemy.’” No. 1. Today’s decision certainly fits the Biden administration’s pattern of regulatory harassment. ”

Of course, Starlink’s denial was made long before its acquisition and subsequent downfall of Elon Musk (what was he doing?), and the FCC is here today to reaffirm its case. It is not a new announcement. That’s quite a factual error.

Both prove that their faith in Starlink may or may not be misplaced. But given that $885 million is at stake, the FCC’s decision to err on the side of caution makes sense if it does so at all. Funds will be donated to other applicants and programs.

Although this money did not actually go to Starlink, the loss of income (or whatever such awards are classified as monetary) is not easy to endure. However, the company probably knows that the appeal of this decision will be difficult and has not counted on this funding for quite some time.

Although the company is not profitable, it recently reached what CEO Elon Musk calls “breakeven cash flow.” True, its revenues have soared (from about $222 million to $1.4 billion), but the significant operational costs of building and launching the satellites needed to serve thousands of new customers It took. The company, which has missed predictions for several years that it would be in the billions of dollars by now, has at least convincingly demonstrated its capabilities both at home and in war.

Maybe they don’t need that $885 million after all. The Pentagon’s money is just as green.

Source: techcrunch.com

Federal Authorities Push for Introducing Drunk-Driving Prevention Technology in Cars, But Face Challenges

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The in-vehicle technology used by Ford, GM and others to ensure drivers pay attention to the road has come a long way. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it is still not enough to prevent or reduce the harm caused by drunk driving.

This assessment is included throughout the agency’s new 99-page Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. released Tuesday was a pit stop of sorts on the way to enacting regulations that would require in-vehicle technology to recognize when a driver has been drinking.

NHTSA is currently seeking assistance in determining what technology should be incorporated into vehicles to completely reduce or prevent this problem, in part because NHTSA has no commercially available options. states that it does not exist. After the notice is published in the Federal Register, the public has 60 days to submit comments.

NHTSA says it evaluated 331 driver monitoring systems and found no commercially available systems that adequately handle the identification of alcohol impairment. The magazine noted that there are three DMS systems that claim to detect alcohol-induced impairment, but said they are still in the research and development stage. (We did not reveal the names of those systems.)

However, driver monitoring is not the only option at NHTSA’s disposal. NHTSA embarked on this mission after President Biden ordered the agency to find a solution in 2021 with bipartisan infrastructure legislation. The act charged NHTSA with developing federal motor vehicle safety standards that could determine whether a driver is impaired by passively monitoring the driver. Or it could be by passively (and accurately) detecting whether the blood alcohol concentration is too high, or a combination of both.

Accuracy is key, and NHTSA findings suggest that blood alcohol detection technology is a more viable solution in the short term. After all, dozens of states already require breathalyzer-based alcohol ignition interlocks for repeat offenders or high-BAC offenders. However, this technology is considered ‘active’, meaning that drivers must actively engage with it, which is contrary to the law’s passive requirement.

There may be another option.

Since 2008, NHTSA has been working with the Alliance for Automobile Traffic Safety (ACTS) on a public-private partnership called Driver Alcohol Sensing Systems for Safety (DADSS). As part of that program, DADSS has developed both breath-based and contact-based methods to detect driver impairment. Breath-based methods are also considered active and therefore non-starters, while touch sensors are designed to be embedded in something the driver needs to touch to operate the vehicle (such as a push-start button). NHTSA has “preliminarily determined that such touch sensors may be considered passive.”

ACTS CEO Robert Strassberger said he believes touch sensors may be the best option in the short term, given the technology’s limitations in being passive. He wants to know what the public thinks.

“That’s going to be one of the areas of interest for me when I read the comments that are ultimately submitted. How do people feel about it? Will it ultimately be accepted by consumers? It depends,” he says. “I think one of the things we definitely want to avoid doing is asking drivers to learn a new way of interacting with their cars.”

Timing is critical. Not only does drunk driving kill thousands of people each year and cost the country billions of dollars, final regulations need to be standardized by November 2024.

Judging by the number of questions NHTSA raises in its notice, achieving this goal may be difficult. The agency is raising all sorts of thorny questions, as well as seeking further comment on driver monitoring and the definition of “passive.” For example, if the start/stop button has a touch sensor, how does it know that the driver is pressing it? If the system determines that the driver is too drunk to start the car, Should you prevent your car from starting? What if the driver is trying to escape a wildfire?

“This is very complex rulemaking,” Strassberger said. “There are a lot of details that the agency needs to get right.”

Source: techcrunch.com

True Anomaly secures $100 million in funding for the expansion of space security technology

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true anomaly has closed $100 million in new funding, a strong signal that the appetite for startups operating at the intersection of space and defense is not slowing down.

The new round was led by Riot Ventures with participation from Eclipse, ACME Capital, Menlo Ventures, Narya, 645 Ventures, Rocketship.vc, Champion Hill Ventures, and FiveNine Ventures. The funds will be used to continue expanding all parts of the business, according to a press release.

True Anomaly aims to fill critical gaps in space situational awareness and defensive operations through software and hardware, including a line of autonomous reconnaissance and tracking spacecraft called Jackals. These vehicles are equipped with an array of sensors and cameras to track, monitor, and collect data on objects in space. On the software side, the company is developing an integrated operating platform called Mosaic that will eventually be able to work in conjunction with the Jackal in orbit.

In a previous interview with TechCrunch, True Anomaly CEO Even Rogers pointed to a significant “information asymmetry” between the United States and its adversaries in space. Jackal, Mosaic, and the company’s other efforts in space domain awareness aim to fill that gap.

Founded in 2022 by a quartet of former Space Force members, the startup is rapidly moving towards this goal. During the company’s first full year of business, he opened his 35,000 square foot facility in Centennial, Colorado and doubled his headcount to more than 100 people.

In September, True Anomaly won a $17.4 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to help warfighters find and track objects in space, characterize those objects, and use artificial intelligence to predict changes in space. The agreement was signed to build a suite of space domain awareness capabilities, including prediction and identification. Object behavior.

The first two Jackal spacecraft are scheduled to launch on SpaceX’s Transporter 10 rideshare mission in March. In August, the company received permission from regulators to conduct imaging beyond Earth and demonstrate close space rendezvous operations with two spacecraft. This is such a huge technical challenge that I have no doubt that many people in both Silicon Valley and Washington will be paying close attention to how the demo mission unfolds.

Source: techcrunch.com

Blue Origin, founded by Bezos, plans to finally return with a long-awaited launch next week

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blue origin aims to finally end the more than 15-month grounding of its New Shepard suborbital rocket, with the company today announcing it will fly unmanned missions as early as Dec. 18.

The company confirmed its release social media accounts Followed by Bloomberg reporting Content of internal email for new target date. The mission, called NS-24, will carry 33 scientific research payloads and other cargo.

The new Shepard has been grounded since September 2022, when an engine nozzle problem triggered an automatic shutdown and released the unmanned capsule from its booster. The capsule landed safely. The booster was destroyed upon crashing to Earth. (This mission was also unmanned.)

The Federal Aviation Administration formally closed its investigation into the crash in September and directed Blue Origin to take 21 corrective actions, including redesigning engine and nozzle components and “organizational changes.”

This new launch date means Blue Origin has implemented all measures and received a revised launch license from the FAA. The amended license expires in August 2025 and is limited to launches only from Blue Origin’s West Texas facility, according to the regulator’s website.

Blue Origin has ambitious projects in development, including a heavy-lift rocket called New Glenn, which aims to take flight late next year, and a lunar lander called Blue Moon, for which it is seeking a $3.4 billion contract from NASA. The Shepard Flight Program is the only one currently in operation. To date, the vehicle has flown over his 22 flights, taking 31 people (including CEO Jeff Bezos himself) to the edge of space and back.

Source: techcrunch.com

Give Your Proposal Materials a Refresh with These Tips

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The holidays are in full swing. So when people go on vacation, they might start receiving auto-reply emails.

But don’t let a relatively quiet holiday stop you from fundraising. According to DocSend’s report on funding trends, young startups don’t seem to be getting as much attention. This means that they have been trying to attract investors’ attention without success. For example, investors are spending less time on the “product” and “business model” slides, and significantly more time on the “competitor” slides.

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Now is the perfect time to brush up your pitch deck, practice your pitch, and be ready for when it starts again next year, writes resident pitch deck expert Haje Jan Kamps.

thank you for reading!

Karin

secondary, venture secondary,

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As I wrote last week, if startup IPOs pick up in 2024, as many predict, the secondary market could start to return to normal. But what are investors in the secondary venture market thinking now? One of the things venture reporter Rebecca Skutak found in her research is that LPs don’t actually want liquidity as much as you think.

Deep tech startups should use these 4 techniques when raising capital

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Roman Axelrod, founder of smart contact lens maker XPANCEO, knows a thing or two about raising capital for deep technology startups. His company just raised a $40 million seed round. He offers his four tips on what to focus on when raising capital for his own deep tech business.

Why internal platforms can undermine your business strategy

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That’s natural. It’s better to build tools in-house than to buy or subscribe to them from a vendor. Having control over every aspect of your business reduces costs and even increases efficiency.

But not so soon, says Asanka Abeysinghe, CTO of WSO2. Having complete control over everything is an “illusion” and “leads organizations down a path full of unforeseen challenges and constraints.” What may seem like a comprehensive solution at first, quickly becomes can turn into a quagmire of rising costs, lack of focus, and suffocating complexity. ”

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Startups need to master operations

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“While technological innovation gets most of the glory, operational innovation is the next big leap for companies looking to gain a competitive edge,” writes Accelsius CEO Josh Claman. He offers some tips on how companies should think about innovation rather than improvement and excellence.

Source: techcrunch.com