Why wait for the bus when you can hail a cab? That’s the idea behind a new commercial spaceflight startup founded by SpaceX founding team members Jim Cantrell and John Garvey. Vector Space Systems wants to shake up to the commercial space market by providing not tens, but hundreds of launches per year. Read More
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Munich-based Tado, maker of smart thermostat and AC control products, has raised another $23 million for further international expansion. The new investment is led by Inven Capital, the venture capital arm of the Čez Group, a multinational energy conglomerate based in the Czech Republic. It’s the startup’s third funding round and brings the total raised to $57 million since… Read More
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Nokia’s history as the world’s biggest mobile phone maker is becoming a distant memory, but it’s not out of the gadget business just yet. To build out its health technology business, the company today announced that it has acquired Withings, makers of smart scales, activity trackers, and other health gadgets. Withings is based out of France, and with Nokia in Finland,… Read More
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Ant Financial, the Alibaba affiliate that runs Alipay and other financial services, has announced a truly huge round of funding today. The company said it has completed its Series B, which weighs in at a staggering $4.5 billion. Read More
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TranServ, one of several companies digitizing payments in India, said today that it has secured a Series C of $15 million to develop new financial products. The round was led by IDFC Spice Fund and Micromax Informatics. Returning investors Nirvana and Faering Capital India also participated. Read More
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Postmates, the delivery app, has almost become the poster child for struggling on-demand businesses. Countless venture capitalists have told TechCrunch that the company, despite its popularity with consumers, is doomed because its unit economics don’t add up. The costs of paying the couriers is greater than the money generated from delivery fees, according to the narrative. And… Read More
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Today is a big day for Y Combinator graduate Kamcord, after the San Francisco startup announced a $10 million Series C round led by Time Warner, and a move that expands its mobile streaming focus from mobile games to any app. Read More
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Zalora, the fashion-focused e-commerce site backed by Rocket Internet, is selling its businesses in Thailand and Vietnam to retail giant Central Group, according to multiple sources close to the deal. Read More
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Baidu, China’s Google and an Uber investor, has continued its policy of spinning off promising business units. Following the spin-off of its student Q&A app Zuoyebang last September, Baidu Video has gone independent this week and raised RMB 1 billion ($155 million) in capital. Read More
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A lot of people live with the idea that life is about experiences rather than things. A firm subscriber of that philosophy is Honeyfund — a company whose new Honeyfund app helps newlyweds bankroll their honeymoon, rather than stocking their house with half a dozen different bread makers. Read More
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