SoftBank’s Vision Fund is set to continue its recent spree of investments in Asian tech unicorns. The mega fund — which is targeted at $100 billion — is planning to invest upwards of $1 billion into Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing leader Grab, two sources with knowledge of the plan told TechCrunch. The investment could reach as much […]
View More SoftBank’s Vision Fund is preparing to invest $1 billion in GrabCategory: Toyota
Grab is messing up the world’s largest mapping community’s data in Southeast Asia
Grab, Southeast Asia’s top ride-hailing company, has hit a roadblock in its efforts to improve its mapping and routing service after running into trouble with OpenStreetMap, the world’s largest collaborative mapping community, through a series of blundering edits in Thailand. Grab, which gobbled up Uber’s local business in exchange for an equity swap earlier this […]
View More Grab is messing up the world’s largest mapping community’s data in Southeast AsiaToyota invests in autonomous driving simulation startup Parallel Domain
Parallel Domain, the startup that develops software to train self-driving cars in virtual worlds, has added an additional investor to its seed round. Earlier this month, Toyota AI Ventures contributed to Parallel Domain’s $2.65 million seed round led by Costanoa Ventures with participation from Ubiquity Ventures and others. “We’re not only impressed with their technology, but […]
View More Toyota invests in autonomous driving simulation startup Parallel DomainToyota is testing its robot on 5G
Toyota says 5G will pave the way for robots in real-world scenarios, like environmental disasters and health care. Read more…More about Robot, Wireless, Toyota, Humanoid, and 5g
View More Toyota is testing its robot on 5GToyota taps Docomo 5G to remotely control its humanoid robot
Toyota introduced T-HR3 to the world right around this time last year. The humanoid robot is capable of mimicking to the motions of a plugged-in human, a la Pacific Rim and countless other sci-fi franchises. The ‘bot’s learned a few new tricks in the intervening years, including, notably, untethered control via 5G. Using the next-gen wireless […]
View More Toyota taps Docomo 5G to remotely control its humanoid robotRideCell expands funding round to $60 million
RideCell, a transportation software startup, has doubled its previously announced Series B funding round to $60 million, a sign that investors believe demand for cloud-based mobility platforms will grow as more companies try to scale up car-sharing, ride-hailing and even, robotaxi businesses. The company, which has developed a platform designed to help car-sharing, ride-sharing, and autonomous […]
View More RideCell expands funding round to $60 millionTesla picks telco executive Robyn Denholm to replace Elon Musk as chairman
Elon Musk’s replacement as the chair of Tesla has been named and it is Robyn Denholm, an Australian executive who has been a director with the electric vehicle firm since 2014. Denholm is currently CFO of Australia-based telco Telstra and she’ll step into the breach once a six-month notice period is served, Tesla said in […]
View More Tesla picks telco executive Robyn Denholm to replace Elon Musk as chairmanLuminar nabs former Uber executive to lead LiDAR startup’s business development
Luminar, the buzzy LiDAR startup founded by Austin Russell, has added another high-profile executive to its ranks. This time, Luminar has hired Uber executive Brent Schwarz as its head of business development. Schwarz, who has been at Luminar for about two months now, comes from Uber by way of self-driving truck startup Otto, which acquired […]
View More Luminar nabs former Uber executive to lead LiDAR startup’s business developmentLuminar nabs former Uber executive to lead LiDAR startup’s business development
Luminar, the buzzy LiDAR startup founded by Austin Russell, has added another high-profile executive to its ranks. This time, Luminar has hired Uber executive Brent Schwarz as its head of business development. Schwarz, who has been at Luminar for about two months now, comes from Uber by way of self-driving truck startup Otto, which acquired […]
View More Luminar nabs former Uber executive to lead LiDAR startup’s business developmentMicrosoft invests in Grab to bring AI and big data to on-demand services
Microsoft has made a strategic investment in ride-hailing and on-demand services company Grab as part of a deal that includes collaborating on big data and AI projects. Under the agreement, Singapore-based Grab will adopt Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platformAzure cloud computing service. Microsoft and Grab didn’t disclose financial terms. The idea behind the […]
View More Microsoft invests in Grab to bring AI and big data to on-demand servicesSoftBank and Toyota team up to develop services powered by self-driving vehicles
SoftBank is getting into self-driving car services after the Japanese tech giant announced a joint-venture with Toyota in its native Japan. SoftBank is invested in Uber and a range of other ride-hailing startups like Didi in China and Grab in Southeast Asia, but this initiative with Toyota is not related to those deals. Instead, it […]
View More SoftBank and Toyota team up to develop services powered by self-driving vehiclesWe’re kicking off Startup Battlefield MENA, here are the startups and agenda
We’re kicking off Startup Battlefield MENA here in Beirut, where 15 startups will be taking the stage, along with speakers from Facebook (our partner on the event through its FB Start program), Instabug, Eventus, Wuzzuf, Careem and Myki. For those of you who can’t be here in person, check back on TechCrunch later today, where […]
View More We’re kicking off Startup Battlefield MENA, here are the startups and agenda