Shift Technologies, an online marketplace for used cars, has closed a Series D financing round of more than $140 million in equity and debt. The round, which consists of about $70 million in debt and $71 million in equity, was led by automotive retailer Lithia Motors. Bryan DeBoer, CEO and president of Lithia, will join Shift’s… Continue reading Online used car startup Shift raises $140 million
Author: Tech Crunch Online News
Uber is investing $150M in Toronto to expand self-driving car efforts
Months after an Uber self-driving vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, the ride-hailing giant has announced it’s adding a new engineering hub in Toronto and expanding its autonomous research team as it refocuses its self-driving car efforts. In his first visit to the Canadian tech hub since becoming CEO of Uber last year,… Continue reading Uber is investing $150M in Toronto to expand self-driving car efforts
Google Street View rival Mapillary collaborates with Amazon to read text in its 350M image database
Mapillary, the Swedish startup that wants to take on Google and others in mapping the world by way of a crowdsourced database of street-level imagery, is taking an interesting step in the development of its platform. The company is now working with Amazon, and specifically its Rekognition API, to detect and read text in Mapillary’s… Continue reading Google Street View rival Mapillary collaborates with Amazon to read text in its 350M image database
Brazilian startup Yellow raises $63M — the largest Series A ever for a Latin American startup
After selling their ridesharing startup, 99, to Didi Chuxing for $1 billion last year, Ariel Lambrecht and Renato Freitas didn’t waste any time throwing their hats back in the ring. Months after their big exit, the pair joined forces with Eduardo Musa, who spent two decades in the bicycle industry, to start another São Paulo-based mobility startup.… Continue reading Brazilian startup Yellow raises $63M — the largest Series A ever for a Latin American startup
Discover Sono Motors’ vision of the electric car at Disrupt Berlin
New car makers have been popping up left and right. But instead of creating yet another Tesla-like company, German company Sono Motors is working on something completely new — a solar-powered car. That’s why I’m excited to announce that the company’s co-founder and CEO Laurin Hahn will join us at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin. Sono Motors… Continue reading Discover Sono Motors’ vision of the electric car at Disrupt Berlin
Uber is getting a new look
Uber has broken up with the bits and atoms logo it unveiled in 2016. This morning, the company updated their website and app with a brand spankin’ new logo as part of a rebrand it’s rolling out in the coming months. The move comes two days after Uber tapped former Coca-Cola executive Rebecca Messina to… Continue reading Uber is getting a new look
Zoox is offering autonomous rides in SF this week
Zoox, the self-driving car startup worth a reported $3.2 billion post-money valuation, is offering autonomous rides this week as part of the Global Climate Action Summit. The Global Climate Action Summit convenes state and local leaders, scientists, non-profits and others to discuss climate action opportunities. In partnership with the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco, Zoox will… Continue reading Zoox is offering autonomous rides in SF this week
Comma.ai’s George Hotz ousts George Hotz as CEO
Comma.ai’s board, of which founder George Hotz is the only member, is making changes at the autonomous driving startup: Hotz is no longer CEO of the company. A new CEO, who Hotz declined to name, is expected to be announced Friday via the company’s Medium blog. He confirmed that the CEO is indeed a human… Continue reading Comma.ai’s George Hotz ousts George Hotz as CEO
Apple’s autonomous vehicle fleet swells 27% in four months
Apple keeps adding autonomous vehicles to its test fleet in California, boosting its ranks 27 percent since May, according to records from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. The company now has 70 autonomous vehicles permitted to test on public roads, Mac Reports first reported. The permits, which are issued by CA DMV, require a safety driver… Continue reading Apple’s autonomous vehicle fleet swells 27% in four months
Chipmaker Renesas goes deeper into autonomous vehicles with $6.7B acquisition
Japan-based semiconductor firm Renesas — one of the world’s largest supplier of chips for the automotive industry — is scooping up U.S. chip company IDT in a $6.7 billion deal that increases its focus on self-driving technology. Renesas produces microprocessor and circuits that power devices, and automotive is its core focus. It is second only to NXP… Continue reading Chipmaker Renesas goes deeper into autonomous vehicles with $6.7B acquisition