Airspeeder wants to make electric flying racing cars a reality in 2021

While much of the eVTOL industry has its sights set on urban air taxis or cargo transportation, entrepreneur Matthew Pearson had another idea: electric flying race cars. So in 2019, he founded two companies, Alauda Aeronautics to manufacture the aircraft and Airspeeder, an international series to r

Insurtech AI startup Akur8 closes $30M Series B

Automating insurance pricing is a big business, and the world of AI is coming at it “full pelt.” The latest is Akur8, an insurtech automating insurance platform whose “Transparent AI” product is trying to eat into the incumbent large business of Willis Towers Watson, among o

Kenyan foodtech startup Kune raises $1M pre-seed for its ready-to-eat meals service

While there has been a wave of innovation in food tech worldwide, it’s still in early days for Africa. There are only a handful of African food-tech startups, and a year and a half’s worth of global pandemic has added a couple to that list. Kune is one of the most recent food-tech start

Co-living startup Habyt closes $24M Series B, merges with Homefully

When WeWork appeared, other entrepreneurs looked at the model and thought that if you could apply co-working to property, then why not apply co-living. Thus, in the U.S., Common appeared, as did Hmlet in Asia. In the EU, Habyt launched, but has already gobbled up its competitors Quarters, Goliving

A look inside Google's first store, opening in NYC's Chelsea neighborhood tomorrow

There have been plenty of pop-ups over the years, but tomorrow Google's first store opens in NYC’s Chelsea neighborhood. The brick-and-mortar model finds the company joining peers like Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and even Amazon, all of whom have a retail presence in Manhattan, including se

Tractable raises $60M at a $1B valuation to make damage appraisals using AI

As the insurance industry adjusts to life in the 21st century (heh), an AI startup that has built computer vision tools to enable remote damage appraisals is announcing a significant round of growth funding. Tractable, which works with automotive insurance companies to let users take and submit pho

Amazon deflects responsibility on fake reviews but admits 200M were blocked last year

Amazon admits it has a fake review problem, but does its best to spread the blame around in a new post detailing the issue. After numerous reports for years that the online retail giant is overrun with knock-off products and faked or farmed reviews, the company aims to look as if it is finally putt

Daily Crunch: iOS 15 is latest milestone on Apple Health’s evolutionary path

To get a roundup of technewss's biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here. Thanks to a twist of fate, two large cups of coffee and help from editor Annie Saunders, the Extra Crunch team is taking over today’s edition of Daily Crunc

E3 2021 wrap-up

E3 2021 kicked off with news about E3 2022. Kind of a funny way to start a show, as Mayor Eric Garcetti told the crowd, “we look forward to seeing you in-person, here in the City of Angels, in 2022.” Also a bit funny when the mayor's video game show announcement has less confetti an

Lincoln’s first EV will arrive in 2022 with three more to follow

""> Lincoln Motor will launch its first all-electric vehicle in 2022 followed by three other EVs as part of the luxury brand’s goal to electrify its entire portfolio by the end of the decade. The first EV will come to market just in time for Lincoln’s 100th birthday celebration — and n

Experts from Ford, Toyota and Hyundai outline why automakers are pouring money into robotics

Automakers' interest in robotics is not a new phenomenon, of course: Robots and automation have long played a role in manufacturing and are both clearly central to their push into AVs. But recently, many companies are going even deeper into the field, with plans to be involved in the wide spect

Harry Stebbings turns up the volume on 20VC with new $140M fund

Harry Stebbings, the well-known podcaster behind “20 minute VC,” announced today that he raised a duo of funds for 20VC, the venture capital fund he launched off of his show's success. The pair of funds — one for early stage and one for growth stage — total $140 million

SoftBank Vision Fund 2 leads $140M funding in Vishal Sikka’s Vianai

Vianai Systems, an AI startup founded by Vishal Sikka, former chief executive of Indian IT services giant Infosys, said on Wednesday it has raised $140 million in a round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The two-year-old startup said a number of industry luminaries also participated in the new round,

Facebook will begin beaming advertisements into virtual reality

Well, it was only a matter of time. Advertising giant Facebook announced Wednesday that they’re going to begin testing advertising inside virtual reality titles on its Oculus platform soon. The first roll-out is limited enough, with Facebook testing ads inside a single gaming shooter title: B