Attack of the $200M robotic raises

How's this for a bit of regional synchronicity? This week, a pair of Chinese robotics firms secured $200 million rounds. It's all part of a booming ecosystem that we get some insight into every so often. There are so many players in China's robotics space it can be hard to keep track of

California governor signs bill aimed at unsafe warehouse quotas

California Governor Gavin Newsom this week signed a bill aimed at protecting warehouse workers from unsafe quotas. The bill, which cites issues around bathroom breaks, rest periods and other safety laws, has been seen as a repudiation of longstanding complaints against workplace conditions at Amazo

Apps to reach record highs in Q3 of 36B downloads and $34B in consumer spending

A new forecast on the state of the app economy indicates the third quarter will see record-breaking revenues spent on apps and games. According to App Annie, consumers worldwide will spend $34 billion on apps and games in Q3, a 20% year-over-year increase on spending. The increase indicates that th

GM invests $300M in China’s first self-driving car unicorn Momenta

General Motors has now joined a slew of other major automakers, including Toyota, Chinese state-backed SAIC Motor and Mercedes-Benz AG, in putting its chips behind Chinese autonomous driving startup Momenta. GM, the largest automaker in the U.S. in terms of vehicle sales, said Tuesday it will inves

Motional expands operations in Las Vegas ahead of 2023 robotaxi launch

Autonomous vehicle company Motional is expanding its operations and employee headcount in Las Vegas, including tripling the size of its testing facility, in the run up to its planned 2023 commercial deployment of robotaxis. The company, the product of a $4 billion joint venture between Aptiv and Hy

Ocrolus lands $80M at a $500M+ valuation to automate document processing for fintechs and banks

If you've ever had to take out a loan, you know just how many documents are involved in the approval process. It's a lot. The process is tedious and time-consuming, and in many more cases than you'd expect — still manual. Ocrolus is a startup that is hoping to chan

Vyne raises $15.5M seed round to grow its merchant-focused open banking solutions

Open banking — a new approach to payments and other financial services that disrupts traditional card-based infrastructure by linking directly into banks — is having a moment. On the heels of open banking startup TrueLayer hitting a $1 billion valuation in its latest round after seeing

Global Founders Capital leads $9.3M investment into Awning, a real estate brokerage for individual investors

Earning passive income as an investor in single-family rental homes is a dream for many, but also something that can be intimidating to break into. Awning is a startup that aims to make the process less intimidating through a platform designed to allow individuals to invest in single-family rental

Europe will finally legislate for a common charger for mobiles

EU lawmakers are finally set to standardize charging ports for consumer electronics devices like smartphones and tablets — announcing a proposal today that, once adopted, will see the region settle on USB-C as a universal charging port for gadgets which will also include cameras, headphones,

Meru Health secures $38M in equity and debt for ‘holistic’ online mental health platform

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly been devastating on many levels. But if there's any silver lining in the global crisis, it could be that it's less taboo to talk about feeling anxious, depressed or burnt out. Because chances are, the person you're talking to is feeling one of those

How Apple built the iPhone 13’s Cinematic Mode

The Cinematic Mode on the iPhone 13 Pro models had a marquee spot in Apple's presentation about the devices last week. The reviews so far this week have people acknowledging the cleverness but questioning its usefulness. I've been testing out the feature for the past week and this weekend t

Grow Therapy plants $15M into helping therapists start their own practices

Behavioral health is not only a business for Jake Cooper, it is also personal. The Grow Therapy co-founder and CEO has been managing ADHD since he was a child. He began working with a psychiatrist, and his parents could afford the $300 per session, but when they tried to find an in-network clinicia

Loyal raises $27M, aims to give dog owners more time with their pets

San Francisco startup Loyal is rethinking the concept of longevity and starting with man's best friend. The company raised $27 million in Series A funding in a round, led by Khosla Ventures and including First Round Capital, Box Group, Collaborative Fund, The Longevity Fund and Lachy Groom —

Jscrambler raises $15M Series A to help defend against website attacks

Jscrambler, a Portugal-based startup specializing in cybersecurity products that protect organizations against web data exfiltration attacks, has secured $15 million in Series A funding. The investment, which comes two years after the startup secured $2.3 million in seed funding, was led by Ace Ca