The startup bug has hit the world of biotechnology, and the latest victim is a business that is building a “super glue,” coincidentally, for bug-combating vaccines. SpyBiotech — a startup spun out of Oxford University that has developed a way to bond antigens to viruses and other particles to make vaccines — has announced £4 million ($5 million) in funding. Read More
SpaceX has completed the other key ingredient of its historic flight today, recovering its Falcon 9 rocket via its floating drone barge. This is a huge accomplishment because it already did this once before — with the same rocket, on the same barge, when it landed last year following a successful launch during a resupply mission to the International Space Station. Read More
Meal kit makers Blue Apron may be preparing to file for a 2017 IPO, according to Reuters. The report says that the food startup has hired bankers from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup to this end. The whole thing has stirred up quite the conversation over here at TechCrunch, and we’ve been arguing amongst ourselves about the likelihood that the Blue Apron IPO happens soon, or… Read More
SpaceX has succeeded in re-launching one of its Falcon 9 rockets for the first time ever, an undertaking that saw the first-ever reflight of an entire orbital class rocket — by anyone. The achievement is a key ingredient in SpaceX’s long-term business plan for making rocket launches more affordable and accessible to corporate and government customers. Read More
Archaeological records show humans have been making alcohol since at least 7000 BC. We figured out wine more than 6,000 years ago. By the time the ancient Egyptians entered the scene, brewers were making at least 17 types of beer. Nonetheless, it appears we are not done innovating: Booze-related startups continued to rack up funding in the past year. Read More
SpaceX is launching a Falcon 9 rocket at 6:27 PM EDT (3:27 PM PDT) today, provided all goes to plan. The company has launched many Falcon 9 rockets in the past, but this time is a bit different – the rocket in this case has already been launched once before, and will now carry a payload for commercial client SES for its second go-around. You can watch the whole thing unfold above… Read More
How did a former comedy writer and marketing executive wind up tackling the thorny problem of our politically fragmented modern society? For Daniel Ravner, the 41-year-old founder of The Perspective, the answer was in the last election. The concept is relatively simple — basically create a media and opinion site that is predicated on the now-quaint notion of the fairness doctrine. Read More
CRV, an early-stage venture firm that made headlines last year for its stance on then-candidate Donald Trump’s campaign, is looking to get out a new (non-political) message: It’s diving more deeply into the business of AI-driven biotech. Read More
Baidu’s artificial intelligence research team has achieved a significant milestone: teaching a virtual agent “living” in a 2D environment how to navigate its world using natural language commands, by first teaching it language through positive and negative reinforcement. Read More
Palmer Luckey is out at Facebook. The Oculus co-founder, who helped kickstart the recent VR craze with a prototype headset built out of his parents’ garage, has left the company after a year that heralded the launch of the consumer Oculus Rift but also a number of lawsuits and a pro-Trump meme scandal. Read More
RydenGo is cooking up a new model for ride hailing. Rather than taking a commission, RydenGo will charge drivers a flat $20 per month subscription fee. The driver keeps the fare they charge and any tips they earn. Read More
At this very moment, there’s someone working away in a factory somewhere in Shenzhen or at a manufacturing plant in Israel, or maybe even a facility in Gaithersburg, Md., prepping the assembly of one of the 10,000 robots that a small Israeli company wants to bring into the world this November. Read More
You might have missed it amidst Snap’s noisy consumer debut, but enterprise-facing IPOs put points on the board during the first quarter of 2017, even more than their consumer-focused siblings. In fact, the group may be set to dominate the year’s offerings. For startups working to sell to large corporations, their investors and their tens of thousands of employees, it’s… Read More
Sen. Marco Rubio announced during a Senate Select Intelligence Committee hearing today that members of his former presidential campaign were targeted by hackers from IP addresses located in Russia. Thomas Rid, a professor at King’s College, also testified at the hearing that Russian attacks on the Clinton campaign were more widespread than previously known. Read More
Google is contributing to the $150 million going into The Vector Institute, a new initiative housed at the University of Toronto, guided by chief scientific adviser Geoffrey Hinton. The Institute is getting started today, with significant investment from the governments of Canada and the province of Ontario. Google’s contribution is around $5 million, but it’s likely the future of… Read More
Preteen unicorn Dropbox needs some cash real quick, so the company just secured a $600 million credit line according to a new Bloomberg report. This could be the company’s last “funding” round before its initial public offering. According to Bloomberg, Dropbox is thinking about going public before the end of the year. According to what we’ve heard, the timeline… Read More
Want to remember to tell a friend happy birthday, good luck or congratulations? Had a follow-up question for a client that just occurred to you at 1 AM? Want to write a heartfelt thank you to be texted at a later date? Unfortunately, neither SMS nor most messaging apps – including iMessage – allow you to draft a text in advance and schedule it to be sent out on a later date. But… Read More
Not gonna lie: I love trivia. I’m a huge fan of any competitive activity, but trivia is definitely in my top three. If you don’t believe me, just check my DVR — it’s essentially this season of Survivor and dozens of episodes of Jeopardy. So I’m thrilled to spread the word about our upcoming TC Takes Manhattan event, which includes the Trivia Throwdown with… Read More
The first half of Thursday’s Senate Select Intelligence Committee’s hearing on Russian disinformation campaigns wasn’t quite as fun as watching James Comey squirm his way around classified intel in the House, but it did provide some valuable context on Russian cyber methods and social media campaigns. Read More
For the first time, news aggregator Nuzzel will include advertising. That doesn’t mean you’re going to see banner ads popping up all over the startup’s app and website. Instead, the Nuzzel Newswire consists of sponsored links in Nuzzel’s email newsletter, pointing to a blog post, press release or news article of the advertiser’s choosing. Read More
