China roundup: What’s going on with China’s data security clampdown?

"">Hello and welcome back to technewss's China Roundup, a digest of recent events shaping the Chinese tech landscape and what they mean to people in the rest of the world. A tectonic shift is underway in how Beijing regulates and accesses the troves of citizen data collected by its tech giants

Titan, a platform aimed at the ‘everyday investor,’ valued at $450M as a16z leads $58M Series B

Titan, a startup that is building a retail investment management platform aimed at the new generation of “everyday investors,” has closed on $58 million in a Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The financing comes just over five months after Titan raised $12.5 million in a

Square launches business bank accounts

One step at a time, Square is creating a new bank from scratch. Today, the company is launching a new product called Square Banking that combines a checking account, savings accounts, debit cards and loans. With Square Banking, the company wants to convince small businesses that it's just easie

Little Spoon scoops up $44M to grow its children's nutrition delivery service

The quest to disrupt the traditional baby food aisle continues as more of today's parents seek out nutritional food for their children. One of the startups taking on the $100 billion children's health and wellness market is Little Spoon, producing fresh, direct-to-consumer baby and children

Numerade lands $100M valuation for short-form STEM videos

Edtech entrepreneurs are using their moment in the sun to rethink the structures and impact of nearly every aspect of modern-day learning, from the art of testing to the reality of information retention. Yet, the most popular product up for grabs may just be a seemingly simple one: the almighty tut

Powered by local stores, JOKR joins the 15-min grocery race with a $170M Series A

“We are true believers in the fact that the world needs a new Amazon, a better one, a more sustainable one, one that appreciates local areas and products.” It's quite one thing to claim you are out to replace Amazon (just as its founder goes into space), but Ralf Wenzel, founder and CEO of

Blue Origin’s New Shepard carries Jeff Bezos and three crew members to space and back

Blue Origin successfully completed its first crewed launch Tuesday, sending four human passengers to space – including the company's founder, Jeff Bezos. The result of billions of dollars of investment, dozens of test launches and some petty squabbling amongst ultra-rich founders, the triumph

Pillar VC closes $192M for two funds targeting SaaS, crypto, biotech, manufacturing

As its name suggests, venture firm Pillar VC is focused on building “pillar” companies in Boston and across the Northeast. The Boston-based seed-stage firm closed a raise of $192 million of capital that was split into two funds, $169 million for Pillar III and $23 million for Pillar Sel

Metal 3D printing company Fabric8Labs raises $19M

Fabric8Labs this morning announced that it has raised $19.3 million. The Series A was led by Intel Capital and features Lam Capital, TDK Ventures, SE Ventures, imec.xpand, Stanley Ventures and Mark Cuban. It follows $4 million in seed funding raised in mid-2018. The San Diego-based startup speciali

Commercial real estate lending startup Lev brings in $30M on a $130M valuation

Commercial real estate has been slow to embrace technology; though it has an addressable financing market of more than $40 billion, putting together a deal is still mostly manual, paper-heavy and complicated. New York-based Lev is taking on this problem by automating workflows online and gathering

Path Robotics raises another $100M

In May, Path Robotics announced a $56 million Series B. It was a sizable raise, as far as robotics rounds go. But the Columbus, Ohio-based startup is already back for more, raising a “pre-emptive” Series C a mere two and a half months later. And it's a biggie. The firm has raised $100 milli

Rad Power Bikes reveals more user-friendly next-gen e-bike RadRover 6 Plus for $1,999

Electric fat-tire bike manufacturer Rad Power Bikes has unveiled the latest model of its flagship RadRover. The updates on the RadRover 6 Plus are emblematic of the company’s mission to enhance rider experience, especially for those who don’t identify as bike riders but are looking for

CityRow raises $12M for connected rowing machines and studios

Founded in 2014 as an in-person rowing studio, CityRow was relatively early to adopt the at-home connected model. The New York-based company launched a digital platform in 2018, two years before the pandemic completely transformed the way many of us work out. Of course, things have been trending th

Zenput raises $27M Series C to keep multiunit operations flowing no matter the location

Ensuring food safety compliance can be challenging at one restaurant, let alone across thousands of restaurants. Zenput has developed technology aimed at making sure operating procedures are quickly adapted so that businesses maintain quality. The San Francisco-based operations execution company ra