Gwyneth Paltrow invests in The Expert, a video marketplace for high-end interior designers

The pandemic-induced lockdowns halted many a home decoration project, but the irony was that our homes became even more important. But where to get ideas to decorate? Home décor experts could no longer visit. Now an LA-based startup is addressing this digitization of the interior design market, bu

HDS, from the Borders and Webvan founder, raises $3M as it gears up to launch its robot-run grocery and general merchandise play

The online grocery market is poised to get a little more crowded in the next several months, with the launch of a startup led by a veteran founder who has taken big hits from Amazon in the past, but now hopes to come back swinging with the help of an army of robots. Home Delivery Services, a delive

NASA makes history by flying a helicopter on Mars for the first time

NASA has marked a major milestone in its extraterrestrial exploration program, with the first powered flight of an aircraft on Mars. The flight occurred very early this morning, and NASA received telemetry confirming that the “Ingenuity” helicopter it sent to Mars with its Perseverance

Clubhouse closes an undisclosed $4B valuation Series C round, as tech giants’ clones circle

Buzzy “social audio” app Clubhouse has raised a Series C funding round, reportedly valuing the company at $4 billion. Clubhouse said the new round of financing was led by Andrew Chen of Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from DST Global, Tiger Global and Elad Gil. This round means

Volvo to supply cars for Didi’s global autonomous driving fleets

As the autonomous driving race in China heats up, Didi is rushing to expand its car fleets by picking Swedish automaker Volvo, an old partner of Uber, as its ally. Didi said on Monday it will be using the XC90 SUVs of Volvo, which has been owned by Chinese auto company Geely since 2010, for its glo

Andela begins global expansion in 37 countries months after going remote across Africa

More than a year after the pandemic began, remote work shows no signs of going away. While it has its cons, it remains top of mind for potential employees around the world before joining a new company. But while most people in Africa still go to physical offices despite the pandemic, a few compani

UK’s Zilch raises $80M at a $500M+ valuation for its direct-to-consumer buy now, pay later service

The buy now, pay later model, popularized by companies like Klarn and Affirm has been one of the big e-commerce winners in the last year, giving consumers who might be stretched financially another option to pay for things when they buy them online. While that has prompted the UK financial authorit

Gett inks deal with Curb Mobility to bring yellow cabs to its enterprise-focused on-demand ride-hailing app

Gett, the ride-hailing startup that has been carving out a niche for itself in a crowded and competitive market for on-demand transportation by focusing on enterprise accounts and connecting people with rides in some 1,500 cities leveraging a number of third-party fleets, is adding another partner

India’s Razorpay raises funds at $3 billion valuation ahead of Southeast Asia launch

Six-year-old Bangalore-based fintech Razorpay topped a $1 billion valuation late last year, becoming the first Y Combinator-backed Indian startup to reach the much sought-after unicorn status. In less than six months since, the Indian startup has tripled its valuation and is preparing to launch in

Once VMware is free from Dell, who might fancy buying it?

technewss has spilled much digital ink tracking the fate of VMware since it was brought to Dell's orbit thanks to the latter company's epic purchase of EMC in 2016 for $58 billion. That transaction saddled the well-known Texas tech company with heavy debts. Because the deal left VMware a p

Consumer agency warns against Peloton Tread+ use, as company pushes back

Almost exactly a month ago, Peloton CEO John Foley wrote an open letter about the the company’s treadmill. “I'm reaching out to you today because I recently learned about a tragic accident involving a child and the Tread+, resulting in, unthinkably, a death,” it begins. “While we ar

What does it take to create a startup ecosystem?

Say it louder for the people in the back: As tech grows bigger by the minute and venture capital adds dollar signs by the day, a startup hub's success is not an either/or situation. The next Silicon Valley is a tired narrative, when in reality startups look, innovate and create differently al

Hear how StockX brought the sneaker scene to Detroit

At technewss’s Detroit City Spotlight this week, I sat down with Rae Witte, the journalist behind the StockX EC-1. technewss’s EC-1 push allows individual authors to go deep on a particular company. And as StockX has been headquartered in Detroit since its inception,

Outdoor startups see supercharged growth during COVID-19 era

After years of sustained growth, the pandemic supercharged the outdoor recreation industry. Startups that provide services like camper vans, private campsites and trail-finding apps became relevant to millions of new users when COVID-19 shut down indoor recreation, building on an existing boom in o