Zūm CEO Ritu Narayan explains why equity and accessibility works for mobility services

Getting children to school safely and reliably is a challenge as old as public education itself. But rarely have any entrepreneurs tackled the problem of updating and optimizing one of the nation’s largest legacy transit systems, now nearly a century old. It’s still common to find people at U.S. student transportation hubs speaking into walkie-talkies… Continue reading Zūm CEO Ritu Narayan explains why equity and accessibility works for mobility services

Mobility startup Plentywaka picks up $1.2M seed, acquires Ghana’s Stabus

Lagos and Toronto-based mobility startup Plentywaka has raised a $1.2 million seed round to scale its operations on the back of leaving the Techstars Toronto accelerator program last month.  Canadian-based VC firm The Xchange led the round, SOSV and Shock Ventures participated, while Techstars Toronto made a follow-on investment. Nigerian firms Argentil Capital Partners and… Continue reading Mobility startup Plentywaka picks up $1.2M seed, acquires Ghana’s Stabus

The tough calculus of emissions and the future of EVs

Mark Mills Contributor Mark Mills is the author of the forthcoming book, “The Cloud Revolution: How the Convergence of New Technologies Will Unleash the Next Economic Boom and a Roaring 2020s.” He is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a Faculty Fellow at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering. More posts by this contributor… Continue reading The tough calculus of emissions and the future of EVs

Y Combinator, 500 Startups, Plug and Play invest in Odiggo’s $2.2M seed round

Servicing one’s car personally is a time-consuming, expensive and painstaking process. It’s a cycle that can lead to more expensive repairs and safety issues down the line, and no car owner likes that. Egypt and Dubai-based auto tech startup Odiggo is a platform addressing this problem. It allows car owners to get the help they… Continue reading Y Combinator, 500 Startups, Plug and Play invest in Odiggo’s $2.2M seed round

California’s gig worker Prop 22 ruled unconstitutional by superior court

In a late Friday night blow to Uber, Lyft and other gig worker-centered companies, a superior court judge ruled that California’s Proposition 22, which was passed in 2020 and designed to overrule the state’s controversial AB-5 law on the employment status of gig workers, violates the state’s constitution. Frank Roesch, a superior court judge in… Continue reading California’s gig worker Prop 22 ruled unconstitutional by superior court

General Motors issues third recall for Chevrolet Bolt EVs, citing rare battery defects

General Motors is recalling even more Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles due to possible battery cell defects that could increase the risk of fire. This latest recall, announced by the automaker on Friday, marks the third time GM has issued the consumer notice for the Bolt. The second recall, which was issued in July, covered 2017… Continue reading General Motors issues third recall for Chevrolet Bolt EVs, citing rare battery defects

Bird shows improving scooter economics, long march to profitability

Newly reported financial data from Bird, an American scooter sharing service, shows a company with an improving economic model, and a multi-year path to profitability. However, that path is fraught unless a number of scenarios all work out, in concert and without a glitch. Bird, well-known for its early battles with domestic rival Lime, is… Continue reading Bird shows improving scooter economics, long march to profitability

Top four highlights of Elon Musk’s Tesla AI Day

Elon Musk wants Tesla to be seen as “much more than an electric car company.” On Thursday’s Tesla AI Day, the CEO described Tesla as a company with “deep AI activity in hardware on the inference level and on the training level” that can be used down the line for applications beyond self-driving cars, including… Continue reading Top four highlights of Elon Musk’s Tesla AI Day

Musk: The Tesla Bot is coming

Remember that weird Will Smith movie about robots? Yeah, neither do we. But Elon Musk does. Tesla is developing a 5’8” Tesla Bot, with a prototype expected sometime next year. The news comes during Tesla’s inaugural AI Day, which was streamed on the company’s website Thursday night. The bot is being proposed as a non-automotive… Continue reading Musk: The Tesla Bot is coming

Bedrock modernizes seafloor mapping with autonomous sub and cloud-based data

The push for renewable energy has brought offshore wind power to the forefront of many an energy company’s agenda, and that means taking a very close look at the ocean floor where the installations are to go. Fortunately Bedrock is here to drag that mapping process into the 21st century with its autonomous underwater vehicle… Continue reading Bedrock modernizes seafloor mapping with autonomous sub and cloud-based data