MIT develops method for lab-grown plants that eventually lead to alternatives to forestry and farming

Researchers at MIT have developed a new method for growing plant tissues in a lab — sort of like how companies and researchers are approaching lab-grown meat. The process would be able to produce wood and fibre in a lab environment, and researchers have already demonstrated how it works in co

Cannabis marketing startup Fyllo acquires DataOwl

Fyllo has acquired DataOwl, a company offering marketing and loyalty tools for cannabis retailers. Fyllo said it already works with 320 cannabis retailers across 25 states (plus Puerto Rico and Jamaica). According to Chief Marketing Officer Conrad Lisco, this acquisition allows the company to offer

SpaceX delivers 60 more Starlink satellites in first launch of 2021, and sets new Falcon 9 rocket reusability record

SpaceX has launched its seventeenth batch of Starlink satellites during its first mission of 2021, using a Falcon 9 rocket that was flying for the eighth time, and that landed again, recording a record for its reusability program. This puts the total Starlink constellation size at almost 1,000, as

Valve and five PC games publishers fined $9.4M for illegal geo-blocking

A lengthy antitrust investigation into PC games geo-blocking in the European Union by distribution platform Valve and five games publishers has led to fines totalling €7.8 mlion (~$9.4 mlion) after the Commission confirmed today that the bloc’s rules had been breached. The geo-blocking prac

Rocket Lab completes its first rocket launch of 2021 and 18th mission overall

Rocket Lab has launched its 18th mission, and the first of 2021, as of 8:26 PM NZT (2:30 AM EST). The “Another One Leaves The Crust” mission took off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand, and flew a single communications microsatellite on behalf

HiPeople picks up $3M seed to automate reference checks

HiPeople, an HR tech startup based in Berlin that wants to automate the reference checking process, has raised $3 million in seed funding. Leading the round is Mattias Ljungman's Moonfire, with participation from Capnamic Ventures and Cherry Ventures. It follows a $1.1 million pre-seed in late

Alibaba shares jump on Jack Ma’s first appearance in 3 months

Alibaba’s billionaire founder resurfaced as he spoke to 100 rural teachers through a video call, three months after his last public appearance in October, sending the e-commerce firm’s shares up more than 8% in Hong Kong. A recording of the call was first posted on a news portal backed

Landbot closes $8M Series A for its ‘no code’ chatbot builder

Barcelona-based Landbot, a “no-code” chatbot builder, has bagged an $8 million Series A led by the Spanish-Israeli VC firm Swanlaab, alongside support from Spain’s innovation-focused public agency, CDTI. Previous investors Nauta Capital, Encomenda and Bankinter also participated i

Former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski among list of last-minute Trump pardons

Anthony Levandowski, the former Google engineer and serial entrepreneur who had been sentenced to 18 months in prison on one count of stealing trade secrets, has received a pardon from President Donald Trump. The full pardon, which was one of 73 issued late Tuesday evening, means Levandowski will a

Wattpad, the storytelling platform, is selling to South Korea’s Naver for $600 million

Wattpad, the 14-year-old, Toronto-based, venture-backed storytelling platform with reach into a number of verticals, is being acquired by Naver, the South Korean conglomerate, in a $600 million cash-and-stock deal. Naver plans to incorporate at least part of the business into another of its holding

Reflections on the first all-virtual CES

I've spent more time than I care to mention over the last several years wondering aloud about the value of in-person trade shows. There's something seemingly antiquated in the idea of jamming a bunch of people in a room, walking from booth to booth. Sure, they've fulfilled an important

Brave web browser adds native support for peer-to-peer IPFS protocol

The decentralized tech community is aiming to find support for technologies that go beyond cryptocurrency support. In a blog post today the team at Brave announced that they have worked with Protocol Labs to integrate native support for the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) inside their browser. Th

Elon Musk said it was ‘Not a Flamethrower’

After two days locked up in an Italian prison, American Max Craddock was finally able to make his case to a judge. “It’s not a weapon of war,” his lawyer told the investigating magistrate. “It’s a toy they sell to children.” Craddock had been arre

Daily Crunch: Microsoft backs Cruise

Autonomous vehicle company Cruise raises a $2 billion new round, Netflix keeps growing and WhatsApp faces more privacy concerns. This is your Daily Crunch for January 19, 2021. The big story: Microsoft backs Cruise Cruise announced today that it has raised $2 billion in new funding