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Gadgets, Venture

“Closing the Gap: Trellis Climate’s Mission to Overcome the ‘Commercial Valley of Death’ for Climate Technology”

Some call it the “commercial valley of death,” and it’s the point at which many climate tech startups struggle. Climate nonprofit Prime Coalition is hoping to bridge the valley with a new program, Trellis Climate. Trellis Climate follows the latter model with a focus on middle stages, where capital has grown scarce. “There are more and more philanthropists that are really interested in solving the climate problem,” Lara Pierpoint, director of Trellis Climate, told TechCrunch. “It is the most flexible and potentially risk-forward set of dollars that are out there.”For founders in climate tech, that sort of funding is likely welcome news.

Dylan Williams
April 18, 2024

Enterprise

“Step Out of the Ordinary: Discover the $365 Aiden Coffee Machine from Fellow”

The fancy drip coffee maker has a $365 price tag to match. The latest addition to its aficionado-forward lineup is the Aiden coffee machine, a sleek brewer taking a stab at transforming the at-home coffee experience. Even my parents, who have Fellow products laid out on their counter, still use a basic coffee maker. Aiden is designed for them.”The Aiden coffee maker promises precision and customization that rival professional setups, all from the comfort of one’s kitchen. Aiden Precision Coffee Maker is today available for presale for $365 on FellowProducts.com, and the company says it will ship in September.

Ava Patel
April 12, 2024

CES, Enterprise, Robotics & AI

“Udacity Joins Forces with Accenture to Create Cutting-Edge AI Learning Platform”

Accenture announced today that it would acquire the learning platform Udacity as part of an effort to build a learning platform focused on the growing interest in AI. While the company didn’t specify how much it paid for Udacity, it also announced a $1 billion investment in building a technology learning platform it’s calling LearnVantage. While it could also offer more general technology training, the company made clear that it is particularly interested in offering training to get workers up to speed on AI. As for Udacity, which was founded in 2011, it gave the usual kinds of statements a company makes when it gets acquired by a much larger organization like Accenture. That is, it believes that it can reach more people and help them acquire skills at part of the larger entity.