Founded in 2015, Orbex is one of a handful of firms racing to develop the next generation of European launch vehicles.
The company is developing what’s sometimes called a microlauncher: a two-stage vehicle called Prime that stands just 19 meters tall, designed to carry payloads up to 180 kilograms.
A larger vehicle could eventually be in the plans as well, though Chambers was clear that Prime was the company’s first priority.
The new capital comes after Orbex closed a £40.4 million ($50 million) Series C in October 2022.
While a spokesperson confirmed the new funding will “help Orbex ramp up the development of Prime … to ensure full readiness and scalability for its launch period,” a firm launch window has yet to be announced.
Read MoreOrbex’s Latest Funding Could Propel Prime Microlauncher to Space
VerSe Innovation, the parent firm of Indian news aggregator app Dailyhunt, has acquired the popular digital newsstand firm Magzter, the two said Thursday.
The Bengaluru-headquartered startup has fully acquired Magzter, a New York-headquartered firm that counted Singapore Press Holdings among its backers.
Magzter has amassed over 1 million paying subscribers in India and boasts a global active user base of 87 million, Bedi said.
The firm, which offers an all-you-can-consume model with annual subscription fees ranging from $20 to $30, will find a distribution and technology partner in VerSe Innovation, he added.
The Indian firm plans to launch Dailyhunt Premium this year that will include an ad-free experience as well as Magzter’s catalog.
Read MoreAcquisition Alert: VerSe from India Purchases Magzter, a Competitor to Apple News+
Spend management startup Ramp has raised another $150 million at a post-money valuation of $7.65 billion, the company confirmed to TechCrunch today.
New investor Khosla Ventures and existing backer Founders Fund co-led the raise, which also included participation from new backers Sequoia Capital, Greylock and 8VC.
Other existing investors Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, Sands Capital, D1 Capital, Lux Capital, Iconiq Capital, Definition Capital, Contrary Capital also put money into the latest round.
Apparently, there were no hard feelings on the part of Founders Fund, which still participated in the financing, even without Rabois.
(It’s worth noting that Rabois originally represented Founders Fund and has sat on Ramp’s board since 2019.)
Read MoreKhosla and Founders Fund Co-Lead $150 Million Boost for Ramp, Valuing Company at $7.65B
Seven Waymo robotaxis blocked traffic moving onto the Potrero Avenue 101 on-ramp in San Francisco on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m., according to video of the incident posted to Reddit and confirmation from Waymo.
California regulators recently approved Waymo to operate its autonomous robotaxi service on San Francisco freeways without a human driver, but the company is still only testing on freeways with a human driver in the front seat.
After hitting the road closure, the first Waymo vehicle in the lineup then pulled over out of the traffic lane that was blocked by cones, followed by six other Waymo robotaxis.
It’s not the first time Waymo vehicles have caused a road blockage, but this is the first documented incident involving a freeway.
In San Francisco, there must be a driver in the car in order to issue a citation.
Read More“San Francisco Freeway On-Ramp Blocked by 7 Waymo Robotaxis”
The CFPB is permanently banning BloomTech from consumer lending activities and its CEO, Austen Allred, from student lending for a period of ten years.
Allred founded BloomTech, which rebranded from the Lambda School in 2022 after cutting half its staff, in 2017.
(According to the CFPB, BloomTech originated “at least” 11,000 such loans.)
BloomTech didn’t market the loans as such, saying that they didn’t create debt and were “risk free,” and advertised a 71%-86% job placement rate.
And, unbeknownst to many students, BloomTech was selling a portion of its loans to investors while depriving recipients of rights they should’ve had under a federal protection known as the Holder Rule.
Read MoreBloomTech Slammed with Fines by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for Deceptive Claims
The Google parent’s moonshot factory X this week officially unveiled Project Bellwether, its latest bid to apply technology to some of our biggest problems.
Here that means using AI tools to identify natural disasters like wildfire and flooding as quickly as possible.
“Right now, our analysts have to spend time sorting through images to find the ones that cover the areas most affected by natural disasters,” the Guard’s Col. Brian McGarry notes.
Google has been exploring the use of machine learning models and AI to predict natural disasters for some time now.
Project Bellwether’s partnership with the National Guard could well prove an important validation of that work.
Read More“The Impact of Alphabet X’s Bellwether AI on Foreseeing Natural Disasters”
AirChat, the buzzy new social app, could be great – or, it could succumb to the same fate as ClubhouseOver the weekend, another social media platform exploded into the fray: AirChat.
Built by AngelList founder Naval Ravikant and former Tinder exec Brian Norgard, Airchat takes a refreshingly intimate approach to social media.
What I do consider a red flag is AirChat’s naive approach to content moderation.
Clubhouse’s approach to content moderation was even more permissive, since there was no way to block people for months after launch – AirChat already has block and mute features, thankfully.
With this minimalist approach to content moderation, it’s not hard to see how AirChat could get into hot water.
Read More“Exploring the Potential of AirChat: Will it Soar or Follow in Clubhouse’s Footsteps?”
Paris-based Dark Space is taking on the dual problems of debris and conflict in orbit with their mobile platform designed to launch, attach to, and ultimately deorbit uncooperative objects in space.
team of space.”The three-year-old startup is developing Interceptor, a spacecraft that is essentially a rocket-powered boxing glove that can be launched on short order to gently punch a wayward object out of its orbit.
“All the space sector is organized to do planned, long missions … but orbital defense is more about unplanned, short missions,” Laheyne said.
In that sense, Interceptor “is more like an air defense missile,” he explained.
Dark Space was founded by Laheyne and CTO Guillaume Orvain, engineers who cut their teeth at multi-national missile developer MBDA.
Read More“Building a Rocket-Powered Fist: Dark Space’s Strategy for Orbital Debris Removal”
Don’t blame MKBHD for the fate of Humane AI and Fisker Famed YouTuber Marques Brownlee makes a splash not for what he said — but for howHumane AI raised more than $230 million before it even shipped a product.
“It was really hard to come up with a title for this video,” Brownlee says in the video itself, which currently has over 5 million views.
The actual review was fair and balanced.”An underdog worth $800 millionCritics of MKBHD’s video are operating as though Humane AI is an underdog in the space.
In the month preceding the MKBHD review, federal safety regulators began investigating the Fisker Ocean for complaints about the brakes not working well.
The Humane AI pin was widely panned across the tech review board, but the only person receiving outsized and long-lasting criticism for his review is MKBHD, a Black man.
Read MoreMKBHD Should Not Be Held Responsible for the Future of Humane AI and Fisker
TechCrunch Early Stage is gearing up for another insightful event on April 25, and one roundtable session promises to be particularly illuminating for early-stage founders.
Titled “Finance Fundamentals Before Your First Finance Hire: A Founder’s Guide to Navigating Early Financial Decisions,” this roundtable will offer invaluable insights into navigating the financial complexities that often accompany the early stages of startup ventures.
Led by Dan Kang, the vice president of finance at Mercury, this roundtable aims to demystify the core aspects of early-stage financial management.
With years of experience in building and scaling fintech companies, Kang brings a wealth of knowledge to the table.
Secure your spot at TechCrunch Early Stage today to take advantage of this invaluable opportunity to learn from industry experts like Dan Kang.
Read MoreHow to Dominate Financial Fundamentals with Mercury’s Finance Vice President, Dan Kang, at TechCrunch Early Stage
