There’s a time in a self-driving car company’s life where a minivan is just more sensible than a sleek, European city car. NuTonomy, the autonomous vehicle startup spun out of MIT that’s putting its systems through their paces on the streets of South Boston, says it has “decommissioned” its fleet of five-door, “supermini” electric cars … Continue reading “NuTonomy Switches to Chrysler For More Elbow Room in Self-Driving Cars”
Tag: Lyft
Will Porsche Fans Ever Live in a Driverless World? Porsche Says No.
Imagine the transportation future 20 years from now. Here’s one way things could roll on a weekday: Many of us get picked up at home by a sturdy, standardized, driverless car that will also scoop up a few of our neighbors who work at other businesses near ours. Entering the highway, the vehicle automatically links … Continue reading “Will Porsche Fans Ever Live in a Driverless World? Porsche Says No.”
Could Facebook’s Crypto Break Financial System? Congress Airs Fears
In late 2017, a federal watchdog unit assigned a working group to keep an eye on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, and to sound an alert if those alternate currencies showed signs of becoming a risk to the stability of the US financial system. Soaring prices of Bitcoin and other so-called digital tokens were attracting investments … Continue reading “Could Facebook’s Crypto Break Financial System? Congress Airs Fears”
Uber Rejiggers App to Highlight Its Bikes, Scooters in San Diego
San Diego is one of two metropolitan areas in which ride-hailing giant Uber has reformatted its mobile app to make it simpler for users to rent an electric bicycle or scooter. With the previous version of Uber’s (NYSE: [[ticker:UBER]]) app, users had to navigate from the main menu to another part of the app to … Continue reading “Uber Rejiggers App to Highlight Its Bikes, Scooters in San Diego”
Led by Tech, Healthcare Debuts, IPOs in 2019 Show Positive Returns
Even as Uber, Lyft, and other high-profile initial public offerings underperformed out of the gate, the average share price of companies that have gone public in the US this year is up by almost 33 percent. That’s according to data based on the mean returns of issuers that started trading through June 19, released by … Continue reading “Led by Tech, Healthcare Debuts, IPOs in 2019 Show Positive Returns”
IPO Scorecard: CrowdStrike Gains 70 Percent on First Trading Day
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike delivered the kind of market debut this week that was an unfulfilled dream for the much-anticipated IPOs of Uber and Lyft earlier this year. Sunnyvale, CA-based CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CRWD]]) priced 18 million shares of common stock at $34 on Tuesday. Trading began at $63.50 Wednesday, and reached a near-doubling of the company’s … Continue reading “IPO Scorecard: CrowdStrike Gains 70 Percent on First Trading Day”
Scaleworks Acquires SearchSpring for First Deal From Second Fund
San Antonio—Scaleworks is acquiring SearchSpring, a Denver, CO-based business that makes search and navigation systems for online stores and ecommerce businesses. The acquisition is the first for Scaleworks’ $80 million second fund, which the San Antonio investment firm announced it had raised in February. Founded in 2016, Scaleworks branded its investment style as a mix … Continue reading “Scaleworks Acquires SearchSpring for First Deal From Second Fund”
Sebastian Thrun and Udacity Launch New Self-Driving Nanodegree
[Corrected 5/21/19, 11:04 am. See below.] Sebastian Thrun first made his mark on autonomous vehicle development at the dawn of that industry, when he led a Stanford team whose robot car Stanley won the $2 million DARPA Grand Challenge in 2005 by racing driverless through the Mojave Desert for 132 miles. These days, Thrun seems … Continue reading “Sebastian Thrun and Udacity Launch New Self-Driving Nanodegree”
Auth0 Gets “Unicorn” Status as It Raises $103M for Security Tools
Auth0, a Bellevue, WA-based developer of user identification and login tools for software makers and large businesses, announced Monday it has raised $103 million in new financing. Under the terms of the deal, investors valued Auth0 at more than $1 billion, putting it among the ranks of tech startup “unicorns.” Sapphire Ventures, based in Silicon … Continue reading “Auth0 Gets “Unicorn” Status as It Raises $103M for Security Tools”
Eyeing Future IPO, A Rarity for SD Software Firms, Tealium Adds $55M
San Diego has had plenty of businesses go public in recent years, but most have been life sciences companies. Now software startup Tealium, which has about 215 employees at its San Diego headquarters, announced Wednesday it has added $55 million in a Series F financing. Eleven-year-old Tealium has now hauled in more than $160 million … Continue reading “Eyeing Future IPO, A Rarity for SD Software Firms, Tealium Adds $55M”
Uber Completes $8.1B Public Market Debut in Spite of Tumultuous Past
[Updated 5/10/19, 5 pm ET. See below.] Ride-hailing giant Uber secured $8.1 billion in new capital late Thursday as it priced an initial public offering that set its market capitalization at $82.4 billion, according to calculations by The New York Times and other news outlets. Uber announced late Thursday it will sell 180 million shares … Continue reading “Uber Completes $8.1B Public Market Debut in Spite of Tumultuous Past”
Mobility News: Cruise’s New Cash, Tesla’s Pivot to Robotaxis & More
As the mobility industry waits with baited breath to see how Uber’s IPO will play out on Friday, there is plenty of news being made elsewhere in the sector. Cruise scored another massive investment, Toyota AI Ventures opened a new fund, scooters continue to rev up, and more. Read on for details. —Our own Bernadette … Continue reading “Mobility News: Cruise’s New Cash, Tesla’s Pivot to Robotaxis & More”
Lyft Posts $1.1B Loss for Q1 in First Earnings Report Post-IPO
Newly public ride-hailing company Lyft (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LYFT]]) filed its first-quarter earnings results Tuesday, reporting a 95 percent increase in revenue compared with the same period in 2018, but a net loss of nearly $1.14 billion. That first-quarter loss includes $894 million of stock-based compensation and other expenses triggered by the completion of Lyft’s IPO on April … Continue reading “Lyft Posts $1.1B Loss for Q1 in First Earnings Report Post-IPO”
New Zagster CEO on Bike, Scooter Fleets: Don’t Rock the Boat
For transportation veteran Dan Grossman, the “move fast and break things” startup ethos has never really translated to the micro-mobility world of app-enabled motorized scooters and bike sharing. Grossman last week took the helm of Zagster, a startup that sets up and runs micro-mobility programs for towns, cities, colleges, and businesses. The company launches programs … Continue reading “New Zagster CEO on Bike, Scooter Fleets: Don’t Rock the Boat”
Lyft, Uber, and the Changing Disclosure Rules For Unicorn IPOs
When a much-watched tech company such as Lyft, Uber, or Pinterest files for an initial public stock offering, people eagerly scour the sudden trove of information that such a private business must finally disclose when it begins to offer shares to the general public, rather than only to sophisticated inside investors such as venture capital … Continue reading “Lyft, Uber, and the Changing Disclosure Rules For Unicorn IPOs”
VC Trends in 2019: More Money, Fewer Deals But Women Still Get Less
[Updated 11:23 a.m. See below.] If you’ve been following venture capital trends, what you expected to happen in the first quarter of 2019 did: More money is being invested in fewer deals, and women founders still are getting less of it than men. Venture firms sent $32.6 billion into startups nationally during the first three … Continue reading “VC Trends in 2019: More Money, Fewer Deals But Women Still Get Less”
Thoma Bravo Acquires San Antonio’s Mailgun as Scaleworks Takes Exit
San Antonio—Thoma Bravo has acquired a majority stake in Mailgun Technologies, a spinout of Rackspace that offers software to help developers manage automated e-mail systems for their employers. Mailgun separated from cloud computing service provider Rackspace in 2017, securing a $50 million financing round led by Turn/River Capital, Rackspace, and San Antonio investment fund Scaleworks … Continue reading “Thoma Bravo Acquires San Antonio’s Mailgun as Scaleworks Takes Exit”
Lyft Raises $2.2B in IPO, Pegging Valuation at Over $24B
Investors eager to bet on the mobility industry’s future handed ride-hailing company Lyft $2.2 billion in new capital Thursday as the company completed an IPO that set its market capitalization at $24.3 billion, The New York Times reported. Lyft sold 30.8 million shares at $72 apiece, according to Renaissance Capital—the top of a new range … Continue reading “Lyft Raises $2.2B in IPO, Pegging Valuation at Over $24B”
Upcoming SAE Conference in Detroit to Offer Rides in Autonomous Cars
You’ve heard the self-driving car hype; next month, you can experience a robotic ride firsthand. Metro Detroiters will have the opportunity to take a spin in an autonomous vehicle as part of SAE Demo Days, being held April 5-7 at Detroit’s Cobo Center. The public demonstration, held in conjunction with SAE International’s WCX conference, is … Continue reading “Upcoming SAE Conference in Detroit to Offer Rides in Autonomous Cars”
Steering Lyft’s IPO: What Investors Will Weigh During the Roadshow
Much has been said about Lyft’s early lead over Uber in the “horserace” to become the first ride-hailing app company to go public. But now that San Francisco-based Lyft has filed its 276-page IPO prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, potential investors can focus on much more detailed considerations as they decide whether … Continue reading “Steering Lyft’s IPO: What Investors Will Weigh During the Roadshow”
Equidate, Re-Named Forge Global, Boosts Series B to $85M
Equidate, one of the trading platforms that help employees sell their shares in pre-IPO unicorn companies, rolled out a new name today and announced a $35 million expansion of its $50 million funding round publicized in July. Re-branded as Forge Global, the five-year-old company plans to continue broadening the services it developed as many venture … Continue reading “Equidate, Re-Named Forge Global, Boosts Series B to $85M”
Autonomic CEO Gavin Sherry on Mobility, China, and Data Privacy
In a tech culture that looks toward self-driving cars as the pinnacle of mobility innovation, we’re still debating whether fully autonomous vehicles are an imminent reality for our roads or an ever-receding Shangri-La. But looking back from the viewpoint of 2019, it’s worth considering whether the really pivotal, world-changing advances in transportation have not already … Continue reading “Autonomic CEO Gavin Sherry on Mobility, China, and Data Privacy”
NAIAS: Ford’s Foray into Microtransit Proved Valuable, Klevorn Says
Detroit’s North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) pulled back the curtains for a media preview Monday and Tuesday before it opens its doors to the public next week. Coming on the heels of CES—the annual technology conference in Las Vegas that has increasingly become the preferred venue for automakers to showcase their latest technology developments—the … Continue reading “NAIAS: Ford’s Foray into Microtransit Proved Valuable, Klevorn Says”
Big Deals, Life Sciences Push U.S. VC in 2018 to Dot-Com Boom Levels
[Updated 1/18/19, 3:27 pm. See below.] Venture capital investments rose in 2018 to levels not seen since the heady days of 2000, the last year U.S. startups collectively took in more than $100 billion. That’s according to PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association’s Venture Monitor report, released this week, which tallied nearly 9,000 deals … Continue reading “Big Deals, Life Sciences Push U.S. VC in 2018 to Dot-Com Boom Levels”
Get Off the Bus: Austin’s Hitch Offers Car Rides to Houston and Back
Austin—In just a handful of years, people with smartphones have flocked in droves to ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft to get around town. Now, an Austin, TX-based startup wants to help travelers take trips out of town. Hitch, which launched its service last month, has adopted the popular ride-sharing model for trips between Houston … Continue reading “Get Off the Bus: Austin’s Hitch Offers Car Rides to Houston and Back”
San Diego Tallies 7 IPOs in Best Year for Market Debuts Since 2014
Will “CBUS” and “SI” join “THOR” and “RMED”? It’s next week or never (until 2019, that is) for two San Diego companies that have filed documents with securities regulators indicating plans to go public. Agtech company Cibus, which uses “precision” gene editing to alter crops, has applied for a listing on the Nasdaq exchange under … Continue reading “San Diego Tallies 7 IPOs in Best Year for Market Debuts Since 2014”
Udacity Achieves 50,000 Nanodegree Grads Amid Company Reorganization
Udacity, a pioneer in the online teaching of IT skills, is celebrating a milestone today—50,000 students have now graduated from one of its revenue-generating “Nanodegree” programs. Launched four years ago, the Nanodegree courses allow students worldwide to gain expertise in areas such as data analytics, machine learning, and autonomous flight engineering by completing coursework that … Continue reading “Udacity Achieves 50,000 Nanodegree Grads Amid Company Reorganization”
IPOs Will Strip Veils From Uber & Lyft’s Financials, Strategies
The IPO of any private company comes as the resolution of a mystery, as closely held details about its financial performance and strategies are revealed. But the suspense is heightened in the case of San Francisco-based companies Uber and Lyft, which pioneered the huge ride-hailing industry but have yet to come close to turning a … Continue reading “IPOs Will Strip Veils From Uber & Lyft’s Financials, Strategies”
Superpedestrian Rolls Out Smarter, Hardier E-Scooter for Sharing
It’s the diagnosis of Superpedestrian CEO Assaf Biderman that bike- and scooter-share startups know far too little about bikes and scooters. His Cambridge, MA-based transportation technology startup is announcing its foray into scooter sharing today with what it says is a smart, durable, and efficient scooter of its own. Biderman sees the feverish industry—crowded with … Continue reading “Superpedestrian Rolls Out Smarter, Hardier E-Scooter for Sharing”
GM’s Ammann Takes Reins of Cruise From Co-Founder Vogt, Now CTO
Self-driving car business Cruise has a new leader: Dan Ammann, the General Motors president who led the company’s acquisition of Cruise in 2016, is now being named CEO of the autonomous vehicle subsidiary. Cruise co-founder Kyle Vogt is relinquishing the top role to remain with the company as its president and chief technology officer. Vogt … Continue reading “GM’s Ammann Takes Reins of Cruise From Co-Founder Vogt, Now CTO”
Uber Expands Its E-Bike Service, Jump, to 2 More West Coast Cities
Hundreds of red, “dockless” electronic bikes appeared on the streets of San Diego and Seattle on Monday, the latest cities in which Uber introduced its e-bike program, Jump. The expansion comes days after Uber began rolling out the bike-sharing service across Los Angeles. The San Francisco-based ride-hailing giant acquired Jump Bikes, a Brooklyn e-bike sharing … Continue reading “Uber Expands Its E-Bike Service, Jump, to 2 More West Coast Cities”
GreatCall Expands Lyft Partnership to Pick Up Seniors Nationwide
GreatCall, the maker of the Jitterbug cellphone and other products and services for older adults, has extended its partnership with the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company Lyft to offer GreatCall customers the ability to schedule rides without a smartphone app. No financial terms were disclosed. The San Diego-based healthtech company said Tuesday it is rolling out … Continue reading “GreatCall Expands Lyft Partnership to Pick Up Seniors Nationwide”
With a $10.2M Boost, YourMechanic Aims at Mobility Fleet Market
Every month, there’s news of another partnership among carmakers like GM and tech companies such as Uber, as they vie for dominant roles in a transportation future where individual car ownership may largely give way to rides-on-demand from fleets of autonomous and tech-enabled vehicles. But whether Uber, Toyota, GM, Honda, or Google end up at … Continue reading “With a $10.2M Boost, YourMechanic Aims at Mobility Fleet Market”
Circulation CEO Talks Sale to LogistiCare & Amazon’s Healthcare Play
[Corrected 10/9/18, 10:09 am. See below.] The recent acquisition of Circulation, a software startup trying to make non-emergency medical transportation more efficient, could offer a glimpse of the next phase in the “consumerization” of healthcare—and, perhaps, another target market for Amazon. Those were some of the takeaways from a conversation I had Friday with Robin … Continue reading “Circulation CEO Talks Sale to LogistiCare & Amazon’s Healthcare Play”
Would Uber’s IPO Be a Revival or a Reckoning?
In its early years, Uber was a headstrong force knocking down preconceived ideas about transportation and, along with Lyft, sparking the imaginations of countless entrepreneurs who are now building a new industry called “mobility.” As it closes in on its first decade, Uber is a conundrum: A Silicon Valley unicorn with $7.3 billion in cash, … Continue reading “Would Uber’s IPO Be a Revival or a Reckoning?”
Tech Hiring Surges in Bay Area, NY, Boston: See Q2’s Top Employers
After a sluggish start to 2018, hiring has accelerated recently at the top software companies in three of America’s largest technology hubs. That’s according to the latest quarterly Digital Jobs Index compiled by John Barrett, a Boston-area partner with executive recruiting firm On Partners. The report tracks job growth at 100 leading software and Internet … Continue reading “Tech Hiring Surges in Bay Area, NY, Boston: See Q2’s Top Employers”
To Avoid Trouble, Companies Must Support Harassed Employees First
When news breaks about sexual harassment at a company like Uber, the public is likely to believe that the entire business has a cultural problem. In contrast, the same isn’t true for other issues, such as financial misconduct, which the public tends to see as a “bad apple” situation. That’s according to a study released … Continue reading “To Avoid Trouble, Companies Must Support Harassed Employees First”
Moonrise, New Service for Gig Workers, Shares Chicago Pilot Results
[Updated 7/27/18 9:44 a.m. See below.] American Family Insurance on Wednesday made public new details on Moonrise, a startup spun out by the insurer that has developed technology allowing people looking to make extra money to sign up for shifts at businesses near where they live. This year, Moonrise has been conducting a pilot of … Continue reading “Moonrise, New Service for Gig Workers, Shares Chicago Pilot Results”
City of Detroit Tests Real-World Mobility with Innovation Initiative
Michigan’s government and business leaders have worked diligently over the past few years to position the state that put the world on wheels to be major player in the development of self-driving cars. (According to a June 25 opinion piece in Forbes, Michigan has become “the Silicon Valley of mobility.”) The city of Detroit is … Continue reading “City of Detroit Tests Real-World Mobility with Innovation Initiative”
Best Friday Reads: Social Media Rules Us All, and Mints Billionaires
Humans have had a drastic physical evolution recently—one that has notably taken only a few years. While the evolution from hunched primates to homo sapiens took tens of millions of years, we needed only about a decade to develop an arched neck that is perennially looking down at a smartphone—presumably one with a social media … Continue reading “Best Friday Reads: Social Media Rules Us All, and Mints Billionaires”
It’s a Bird! A Bike! A Scooter! New Transit Options Land in Milwaukee
[Update 6/28/18 5:24 p.m.] Less than 24 hours after Bird rolled out a fleet of 100 motorized scooters in downtown Milwaukee that people can rent using Bird’s smartphone app, Milwaukee Deputy City Attorney Adam Stephens wrote the company a letter asking Bird to “immediately remove all of the motorized scooters held out for rent on … Continue reading “It’s a Bird! A Bike! A Scooter! New Transit Options Land in Milwaukee”
New Round Boosts Lyft Valuation to $15B, But Uber Still Looms Large
Ridesharing service Lyft has upped its valuation by about $3.5 billion after adding a $600 million round of funding, which the company said Wednesday morning was led by previous investor Fidelity Management & Research. The new funding round gives Lyft a $15.1 billion post-money valuation, the company said in a blog post. That’s up from … Continue reading “New Round Boosts Lyft Valuation to $15B, But Uber Still Looms Large”
Data Centers on Wheels: How Intel Plans to Capitalize on Mobility
Intel sealed its commitment to become a player in the burgeoning autonomous vehicle industry when it bought computer vision company Mobileye for more than $15 billion in 2017. The venerable Santa Clara, CA-based chipmaker is betting that its data analytics and connectivity chops—as well as its semiconductors—combined with Mobileye’s computer vision and mapping functions, will … Continue reading “Data Centers on Wheels: How Intel Plans to Capitalize on Mobility”
Ease Raises $500K to Connect Freelance Workers with Employers
Nate Harris had never worked at a tech startup prior to co-founding Ease, a Milwaukee-based technology and service provider that helps businesses find freelancers to help them in areas like website design and search engine optimization. Harris’s background is in digital marketing and restaurants; he’s a managing partner in Ugly’s, a tavern located in the … Continue reading “Ease Raises $500K to Connect Freelance Workers with Employers”
Japan’s SoftBank Pours $2.5B into GM’s Self-Driving Division
General Motors’ stock price was cruising after news broke this morning that Japanese holding company SoftBank has invested $2.25 billion into the automaker’s driverless vehicle division. Once the deal closes, GM (NYSE: [[ticker:GM]]) will reportedly invest an additional $1.1 billion. According to multiple news outlets, Cruise, GM’s autonomous car operation, is now expected to have … Continue reading “Japan’s SoftBank Pours $2.5B into GM’s Self-Driving Division”
Superpedestrian Scoops Up $16.5M, Enters Bike-Sharing Frenzy
Bike sharing is the new ride hailing. Similar to what has played out with Uber, Lyft, Didi Chuxing, and other private car-hailing app companies, investors are pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into bike-sharing startups around the world racing to be the leading operator of fleets of bicycles that people can rent on demand. The … Continue reading “Superpedestrian Scoops Up $16.5M, Enters Bike-Sharing Frenzy”
Ford Offers Non-Emergency Medical Transport with New GoRide Service
Proponents of mobility and autonomous vehicle technologies say those innovations have a lot of humanity-improving potential. Self-driving cars will dramatically reduce congestion and accidents, they say, and will allow elderly and disabled people to get around more independently. One future scenario imagines residents of a retirement community requesting rides from a community-owned autonomous shuttle using … Continue reading “Ford Offers Non-Emergency Medical Transport with New GoRide Service”
Expectations Rise on Q1 Surge in Venture Funding; and Top 10 Deals
[Updated 4/11/18 10:13 am. See below.] Venture capital investors poured more than $28.2 billion into U.S. companies during the first three months of 2018—marking the strongest single quarter in at least a dozen years, according to the Venture Monitor Report released today by Seattle-based PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). The $28.2 billion that … Continue reading “Expectations Rise on Q1 Surge in Venture Funding; and Top 10 Deals”
Affectiva Launches A.I. Tech to Help Cars Sense Your Emotions
Efforts to develop self-driving vehicles have largely focused on tracking what’s going on outside the cars—think laser-based sensors to track other vehicles and digital mapping technologies to help navigate. Now, the industry is turning some of its attention to technologies that sense what’s going on inside the vehicle. An initial goal is to better monitor … Continue reading “Affectiva Launches A.I. Tech to Help Cars Sense Your Emotions”
Fasten Ends Ride-Hailing Service in Boston & Austin After Sale
[Corrected 3/3/18, 10:41 am. See below.] Fasten said its U.S. ride-hailing service will shut down Monday after the startup agreed to be acquired by Russia-based transportation network operator Vezet Group. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed. Boston-based Fasten had raised nearly $20 million in equity, debt financing, and other securities, according to SEC filings. Its investors … Continue reading “Fasten Ends Ride-Hailing Service in Boston & Austin After Sale”