Apples are the second most commonly consumed fruit in the U.S., according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But the way apples are harvested in the orchard hasn’t changed much in the past two centuries. It’s still a manual process, by and large.
Now, SRI Ventures, a kind of startup incubator within the Menlo Park research and development firm SRI International, is… Read More
from TechCrunch
The used car industry is an interesting business. The market is huge – 45 million used cars are bought each year in the U.S. But the biggest player, CarMax, only controls about 2% of the market – but is still valued at about $12 billion by Wall Street. So that makes the market not only ripe for disruption, but also extremely lucrative. Carvana is a used car dealer that thinks… Read More
from TechCrunch
Berlin-based online education platform iversity looks to have pulled back from the brink of bankruptcy after securing new investment from Holtzbrinck Digital, the Internet investment arm of the education-focused Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. Read More
from TechCrunch
Facebook is making the HTML of its web ads indistinguishable from organic content so it can slip by adblockers. But in exchange for taking away this option for controlling ads from people, its allowing them to opt-out of ad targeting categories and Custom Audience customer lists uploaded by advertisers. Today all desktop users will see an announcement atop the News Feed explaining that while… Read More
from TechCrunch
Kepler Communications has raised $5 million in seed funding to create a network of small, easily replaced satellites to create a real-time network through with internet of things (IoT) devices can communicate, essentially building a cellular network in space through which machinery and equipment can talk to one another and to its handlers. “You can think of it as a cell phone tower… Read More
from TechCrunch
The use of Hadoop-based open source big-data technology continues to grow among enterprises, and today MapR Technologies, one of the bigger startups in the space, has announced another $50 million in funding to secure its place as a leading vendor and gear up for an IPO. The investment is being led by Future Fund — Australia’s sovereign wealth fund — and also includes… Read More
from TechCrunch
A startup called Farmers Business Network has raised $20 million in new venture funding to support the growth of its professional social network and data-sharing platform for agronomists. FBN co-founder and Vice President of Product Charles Baron said the company’s platform helps farmers do what they’ve always done offline at community meetings, old-fashioned barn raisings or in… Read More
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UK robotics startup and TechCrunch Disrupt London 2015 battlefield alum Emotech has closed more than $10 million in Series A funding to continue working on its prototype robot assistant. It’s building a personality adapting AI-powered robot called Olly. Read More
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If you’ve seen the Condé Nast’s website recently, you’ve seen the Socius platform in action. The startup just raised $400k from 500 Startups’ Nordic Fund and Raa Invest to pour fuel on its social storytelling and curation tool, helping brands leverage the crowd to tell stories from all angles. By using its technology, the idea is that brands will be able to maximize… Read More
from TechCrunch
Yet one more significant piece of M&A in the online recruitment industry. Today Randstad Holdings, an Amsterdam-based human resources and recruitment specialist, announced that it would acquire job hunting portal Monster Worldwide, for $429 million in cash.
The deal works out to $3.40 per share in cash and is a premium on Monster’s share price at closing on Monday of $262 million. Read More
from TechCrunch