Deed pulls your employer's charity and volunteer program into Slack to keep it front of mind

If your employer does any sort of charity donation matching, the system powering it might be… not great. Maybe it's got an ancient interface; maybe it's stuffed behind the VPN at some weird URL that takes a half hour to dig up every December when you remember there's donation match mo

Astra given regulatory green light for its first commercial orbital launch at the end of the month

Rocket launch startup Astra has received a key license from the Federal Aviation Administration, giving the green light for the company's first commercial orbital launch at the end of the month. Astra CEO Chris Kemp tweeted the news on Thursday, adding that the launch operator license through t

Role’s video role-playing platform makes a $2.75M charm attempt on the burgeoning tabletop world

Tabletop gaming is in the middle of a historic boom, despite recent restrictions imposed on in-person gatherings by COVID. The tools adopted by game masters and casual players to play remotely are powerful, but not always the easiest to use or adopt. Role hopes to change that with a super-accessibl

Twitter is testing a feature that puts users’ Revue newsletters on their profiles

This January, Twitter acquired the newsletter platform Revue, but until now its integration into Twitter has been minimal; sometimes when you write Twitter threads, you’ll be greeted with a “Hello, wordsmiths” message that tells you about its newsletter tools. Starting today, Twit

Ample raises $160M to scale its battery swapping service

San Francisco-based Ample has raised a $160 million Series C to scale its battery swapping service, the largest round yet for the 8-year-old startup that wants to completely rethink how we use electric vehicles. Ample's approach is relatively straightforward: Cars equipped with the company̵

4 common mistakes startups make when setting pay for hybrid workers

Leaders and senior management everywhere are grappling with how (or not) to bring employees back to the office. It's a high-stakes decision: Fifty-eight percent of workers said they will look for new jobs if they can't work remotely, according to a FlexJobs survey. An often overlooked and/o

Paladin publicly launches Knighthawk, a first response drone for cities

Emergency response is a time-sensitive business. When fires burn or a driver crashes their car, seconds can mean the difference between saving lives and watching a situation spiral rapidly out of control. For fire and police departments, getting teams on site can be challenging, what with the vagar

DigiSure, the mobility insurance platform with high-tech screening, comes out of stealth with $13.1M raise

DigiSure, a digital insurance company that caters to modern mobility form factors like peer-to-peer marketplaces, is officially coming out of stealth to announce a $13.1 million pre-Series A funding round. The startup will use the funds to hire more than 50 engineers, data scientists, business deve

In growing battle with TikTok, Facebook to test ‘Facebook Reels’ in the US

Reels are coming to Facebook in the U.S. The company this morning announced it will begin testing a new feature, Facebook Reels, which will give Facebook users the ability to create and share short-form video content directly within the News Feed or within Facebook Groups. The addition is an expans

Spatial audio is coming to Netflix on iPhone and iPad

If you use AirPods Pro or AirPods Max, your mobile Netflix watching is about to get a bit more immersive. Yesterday, Netflix confirmed that it has begun rolling out spatial audio support on iPhone and iPad on iOS 14 after the feature was spotted by a Reddit user. Netflix joins streaming competitors

Eaze to become America’s largest cannabis delivery service after buying Green Dragon

Eaze this week announced significant plans to expand into one of the U.S.’s largest cannabis delivery services. One of the original on-demand cannabis delivery services, the Bay Area-based company is set to acquire cannabis retailer and cultivator Green Dragon, which operates in the hot mark

Senators challenge TikTok's ‘alarming’ plan to collect users’ voice and face biometrics

TikTok's plans to collect biometric identifiers from its users has prompted concern among U.S. lawmakers, who are demanding the company reveal exactly what information it collects and what it plans to do with that data. In a letter sent earlier this month addressed to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, S

Regology snares $8M Series A to help navigate maze of global regulations

Every country has its own bundle of laws, rules and regulations, and they change on a regular basis, making it an enormous challenge to keep up with it all. That usually requires large staffs filling in spreadsheets, and other unwieldy processes. Regology, an early-stage startup, wants to change th

Diamond Age raises $8M to speed up home construction with 3D printing and robot arms

Bay Area-based Diamond Age this week announced that it has raised $8 million. The seed round is led by Prime Movers Lab and Alpaca VC and features a slew of additional firms, including Dolby Family Ventures, Calm Ventures, Gaingels, Towerview Ventures, GFA Venture Partners and Suffolk Construction.