Altaeros, a Boston-based startup that develops autonomous aerostats, announced today that it has received $7.5 million in new funding from SoftBank Group. The capital will speed-up the launch of SuperTower, a project that uses Altaeros’ tethered balloons to bring broadband wireless to rural areas. Read More
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Everyone should be saving for retirement, but not everyone has an employer that offers a 401(k) plan. Guideline wants to change that, and the company has raised $15 million to grow its base of small business customers making retirement more attainable for employees. Read More
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For car owners, getting their vehicle repaired or even dealing with routine maintenance can be a pain. Launching today, a company called CarDash wants to make auto service less painful and more transparent. Read More
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Israeli startup Oryx Vision has raised a $50 million Series B round led by Third Point Ventures and WRV to help continue to develop and commercialize its innovative LiDAR tech, which is designed to be as simple as a digital camera with greater reliability and sensitivity than existing LiDAR, while also achieving a low cost. Oryx’s LiDAR has no moving parts, and uses antennas in place… Read More
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A week after its first investment in Europe, Chinese ride-sharing giant Didi Chuxing is spreading its wings once again after it announced a financing deal with Careem, an Uber rival in the Middle East that is valued at more than $1 billion. The size of the investment was not disclosed. Yes, Didi is backing yet another Uber rival in another corner of the world. Aside from Taxify, the Europe… Read More
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As the saying goes, the future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed. Also not evenly distributed: Access to the expensive education typically needed to stand a chance of obtaining one of the jobs of the future. Y Combinator backed Lambda School is hoping to change this, with a new approach to funding higher education. Read More
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Iflix, an Asia-based startup providing Netflix-like streaming services in emerging markets, has landed $133 million in fresh funding to accelerate its business. The investment was led by U.S. media conglomerate Hearst, which counts BuzzFeed, Vice and Roku among its investment portfolio. The group was joined by another new backer EDBI — the corporate investment arm of the Singapore… Read More
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Honeydue is a mobile app that aims to reduce money-related arguments between couples by offering tools to share information on respective account balances and spending. Read More
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SoftBank has confirmed that its 4.9 percent stake in Nvidia is to be transferred to the Vision Fund, its colossal investment vehicle that’s targeting a $100 million final close. The Japanese tech firm bought the position in chip-maker Nvidia, which has forayed into AI and self-driving car tech in recent years, back in May for a reported $4 billion. The Vision Fund held the rights to… Read More
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There has been a wave of startups turning to initial coin offerings, known as ICOs, to raise funding through digital currency and now at least one fund is doing this, too. Science Inc., the LA-based team co-founded by Peter Pham and Mike Jones, which has incubated startups like Dollar Shave Club, DogVacay and Wishbone, is launching a fund for blockchain startups and plans to raise the… Read More
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