Category: Tech news

 It might be of particular interest to TC readers to know that from Brad Feld’s perspective — and he’s been in the startup world for 30 years — non-tech companies acquiring tech startups is neither a new nor sustainable trend, despite the vast amounts of ink such acquisitions have received in the press. Here’s what he had to say on whether we’re seeing a… Read More

 Why is it important to invest via VCs, and do they add value further to the money they invest into a growth business? Furthermore, what role do physical transport links play in terms of business success and innovation in this, the digital age? Read More

 MuleSoft is the latest “unicorn” to file for an IPO. The company, which helps businesses like Netflix and Spotify with their APIs, has unveiled its financials to the public in an S-1 filing, suggesting that they are targeting a debut as soon as March. The size of the proposed IPO is $100 million, but that is subject to change. In the filing we see that MuleSoft had $187.7… Read More

 We’re excited to announce that Bradley Tusk, head of Tusk Ventures and former Deputy Governor of the state of Illinois, will be joining us at our Meetup and pitch competition in DC next week. Read More

 In fall 2015, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Postmates that challenged the legality of the company’s mandatory arbitration agreement between it and its contractors. Yesterday, Postmates updated its legal document to offer contractors a way to opt out of mandatory arbitration. Read More

 This week, the CRISPR-Cas9 patent case came to a close, an encrypted messaging app went open source and Facebook announced some big changes to its video product. These are some of the notable stories in tech from this week. You can also receive this post as a weekly newsletter, delivered to your inbox on Saturday mornings. 1. A judge has determined that CRISPR-Cas9 patents belong to the… Read More

 New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his team have revealed the designs for the 250,000-square foot Union Square Tech Hub. The hub, which was first announced in December, will include 58,000 square feet of “fluid space” for startups and a 36,500-square foot tech training center. Read More

 Self-driving fleets of cars might be sharing the streets with human drivers sooner than many thought; Reuters reports that GM will field “thousands” of self-driving electric test vehicles, primarily based on the Chevrolet Bolt platform, starting in 2018. The fleets will primarily be used with partner Lyft for on-demand ride-hailing service, according to the report. Read More

 Remember the unsecured Android handset that newly minted President Trump gave up, but then apparently didn’t actually give up? Things had seemingly gone silent on that front as the world took some time out to focus on the rest of the deluge of insanity that is politics in 2017.
Today, however, the story is rearing its head yet again, as California Congressman Ted Lieu has proposed an… Read More

 It probably comes as no surprise: Theranos, the blood testing technology company once worth billions, is struggling to survive. With no revenue, no money set aside to deal with legal expenses and a fraction of the funding it once had to work with, Theranos may not have long before it bleeds out entirely. Read More

 There are three key ingredients for a game or pastime to become a sport: playing, competing and viewing. The ability to play and compete are necessary steps in the transformation from game to sport. However, broadcasting and viewing are the crucial components to enable widespread adoption and popularity. Just as with offline sports, e-sports require these elements. Read More

Verizon is reportedly getting a $250 million discount on its Yahoo deal, judge rules CRISPR-Cas9 belongs to the Broad Institute and not UC Berkeley, Pixar teaches the art of storytelling on Khan Academy and MakerBot cuts 30% of its workforce. All this on Crunch Report. Read More

 Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey spoke on stage with COO and CFO Anthony Noto at the Goldman Technology Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday. The leaders of the social media giant reiterated Twitter’s mission as a real-time information platform and spoke of its latest accomplishments, but also talked about the challenges of growing what is already a widely-used site. “We… Read More

 The decision of who owned the rights to a hotly disputed CRISPR gene editing patent came down in favor of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard today so you’d think the mood would be sour at the University of California, Berkeley, the other contender in the case. But Berkeley’s Jennifer Doudna tells TechCrunch this is a positive for her. “I’m actually delighted to know… Read More

 Deep in the Valley this afternoon, 500 Startups’ 19th demo day drew to a close at the Computer History Museum. Business-to-business software, fashion and beauty products made up the largest proportion of companies, but 500 left room for a few outliers. It’s tough for anyone to say who the next Twilio will be, but it just might be hidden somewhere in the 40 companies that… Read More