As rocket companies proliferate, new enabling tech emerges as the next wave in the space race

Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, Relativity Space, Slingshot Aeropsace, SpaceX and Virgin Orbit have raised billions of dollars to create new vehicles to launch payloads into space, but as the private space industry develops in the U.S. investors are beginning to back enabling technologies boost the next wave of innovation. Whether it’s satellite manufacturers, new propulsion […]

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With its Greenlots acquisition, Shell is moving from gas stations to charging stations

In a bid to show that it’s getting ready for the electrification of American roads, Royal Dutch Shell is buying Greenlots, a Los Angeles-based developer of electric vehicle charging and energy management technologies. Shell, which is making the acquisition through its Shell New Energies US subsidiary, snatched the company from Energy Impact Partners, a cleantech-focused […]

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Argo.AI acquires permit to test autonomous vehicles in California

Argo.AI, the self-driving car startup that burst onto the scene in 2017 with $1 billion in backing from Ford, has obtained a permit to test its autonomous vehicles in California. The permit, issued by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, is for one vehicle and two drivers. Unlike other self-driving car companies, California isn’t the […]

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California moves toward healthcare for more, not yet healthcare for all

It was way easier for candidate Gavin Newsom to endorse single-payer healthcare coverage for everyone than it is now for Gov. Newsom to deliver it.

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Cannabis startup Caliva raises $75M from former Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and Joe Montana

San Jose cannabis company Caliva is proving that weed’s still hot, even as some markets cool off. The company is announcing a $75 million round of investment that includes participation from former Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and football legend Joe Montana . If that pair seems unlikely, it just goes to show that cannabis attracts […]

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Going long on LA, India, AI, and tech infrastructure March Capital raises $300 million

March Capital Partners, the Los Angeles-based venture capital firm, has raised $300 million for its latest fund. It’s another indicator that the Los Angeles technology ecosystem is coming of age, but also a sign that March’s core investment strategies — to invest in companies applying artificial intelligence to business use cases and investing in the […]

View More Going long on LA, India, AI, and tech infrastructure March Capital raises $300 million

Sequoia-backed NEXT gets $97M as investment in logistics heats up

NEXT plans to use the investment to fill 150 positions in 2019, as well as complete the launch Relay, a new service targeting the “systemic congestion” at shipping ports.

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Police license plate readers are still exposed on the internet

Smile! You’re on camera. At least, your license plate is. You might have heard of automatic license plate recognition — known as ALPR (or ANPR in the U.K. for number plates). These cameras are dotted across the U.S., and are controlled mostly by police departments and government agencies to track license plates — and people — […]

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VC funding of cybersecurity companies hits record $5.3B in 2018

2018 wasn’t all bad. It turned out to be a record year for venture capital firms investing in cybersecurity companies. According to new data out by Strategic Cyber Ventures, a cybersecurity-focused investment firm with a portfolio of four cybersecurity companies, more than $5.3 billion was funneled into companies focused on protecting networks, systems and data across […]

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Dreaming of Mars, the startup Relativity Space gets its first launch site on Earth

3D-printing the first rocket on Mars. That’s the goal Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone set for themselves when they founded Los Angeles-based Relativity Space in 2015. At the time they were working from a WeWork in Seattle, during the darkest winter in Seattle history, where Ellis was wrapping up a stint at Blue Origin . The […]

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Innovaccer nabs $11 million from Microsoft’s VC arm to give doctors a better window into patient heatlh

Cracking the silos of digital health records promises to bring better care to patients by better informing doctors, according to Abhinav Shashank, the chief executive officer of San Francisco-based startup Innovaccer . Shashank’s company is just wrapping up a $35 million round of financing with a new $11 million commitment from Microsoft’s investment arm M12 […]

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Ciitizen raises $17 million to give cancer patients better control over their health records

Ciitizen, the company founded by the creators of Gliimpse (an Apple acquisition that’s been incorporated into the company’s HealthKit) which is developing tools to help patients organize and share their medical records, has raised $17 million in new funding. Ciitizen, like Gliimpse before it, is an attempt to break down the barriers that keep patients […]

View More Ciitizen raises $17 million to give cancer patients better control over their health records