Self-driving startup Waymo, a Google spin-off owned by parent company Alphabet, has started to test pricing models for rides in its autonomous vehicles in Phoenix, the latest indication that the company is preparing to launch a commercial robotaxi service. Waymo has not launched a wide-scale commercial robotaxi service in Phoenix — or anywhere — just yet. But it is getting… Continue reading Waymo is testing what it should charge for its robotaxi service
Author: Tech Crunch Online News
Electric scooter startup Grin merges with Brazil-based Ride
Grin, the Mexico City-based electric scooter company backed by Y Combinator, is merging with Sao Paulo-based Ride to further the company’s expansion across Latin America. This comes shortly after Grin raised a ~$45 million Series A round. Currently, Grin only operates in Mexico City, but it has plans to expand to other cities throughout Latin… Continue reading Electric scooter startup Grin merges with Brazil-based Ride
China’s NIO invests in LiDAR startup Innovusion
Innovusion, a two-year-old startup developing LiDAR sensor technology for autonomous vehicles, has raised $30 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Chinese firms Nio Capital and Eight Roads Ventures along with U.S.-based F-Prime Capital. Other seed round and strategic investors joined the round, the startup said. Nio Capital is the venture arm of… Continue reading China’s NIO invests in LiDAR startup Innovusion
Uber is developing an on-demand staffing business
Uber is reportedly developing a short-term staffing business to offer 1099 independent contractors for events and corporate functions, the Financial Times first reported. Dubbed Uber Works, the service would provide waiters, security guards and other temporary staffers to business partners, a source close to Uber told TechCrunch. Uber has been working on the project for… Continue reading Uber is developing an on-demand staffing business
Building a great startup requires more than genius and a great invention
Shahin Farshchi Contributor More posts by this contributor The dos and don’ts of crafting frontier-tech companies Five billion-dollar businesses for the driverless future Many entrepreneurs assume that an invention carries intrinsic value, but that assumption is a fallacy. Here, the examples of the 19th and 20th century inventors Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla are instructive.… Continue reading Building a great startup requires more than genius and a great invention
Cognata raises $18.5M as race to deploy autonomous vehicles quickens
Cognata has raised $18.5 million in a funding round led by Scale Venture Partners, fresh capital that the Israeli autonomous simulation startup will use to meet demand for technology that will help companies speed up the deployment of self-driving vehicles. Cognata founder and CEO Danny Atsmon told TechCrunch the company, which has 28 employees, will… Continue reading Cognata raises $18.5M as race to deploy autonomous vehicles quickens
Lyft’s $299 subscription plan is launching to the masses
Lyft has been testing versions of an all-access monthly subscription plan since March. Now, it’s ready to make it available to everyone in the U.S. Starting today, U.S.-based riders can sign up for the plan. It will be available to everyone in the U.S. by the end of the week. Lyft’s All-Access plan costs $299 per… Continue reading Lyft’s $299 subscription plan is launching to the masses
Electric scooter startup Grin raises ~$45 million
Grin, an electric scooter startup backed by Y Combinator, has raised a $45.7 million Series A to operate shared, electric scooters in Latin America. Grin, which is based in Mexico City, had previously raised funding from Sinai Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, 500 Startups, Monashees, Base10 Partners and others. Currently, Grin only operates in Mexico City but… Continue reading Electric scooter startup Grin raises ~$45 million
Coord, a Sidewalk Labs spin-out, raises $5 million to help mobility services better integrate into cities
Coord, the mobility data startup that spun out of Alphabet-owned Sidewalk Labs, has raised a $5 million Series A round led by Alliance Ventures, with participation from Trucks, Urban.Us and DB Digital Ventures. The plan with the funding is to continue to enhance Coord’s APIs and geographic coverage, as well as “build a bridge between… Continue reading Coord, a Sidewalk Labs spin-out, raises $5 million to help mobility services better integrate into cities
Uber deploys JUMP scooters and bikes in Santa Monica
Following approval from the city of Santa Monica, Uber is deploying bikes and its first set of scooters via JUMP, the bike-share startup it acquired earlier this year. Although these are Xiaomi Ninebot scooters, Uber says it’s branding them with JUMP for the sake of consistency when it comes to its personal electric vehicle services. “JUMP… Continue reading Uber deploys JUMP scooters and bikes in Santa Monica