Consumer brand accelerator SuperOrdinary gets $58M Series B at $800M valuation

October 5, 2023
The average shopper probably hasn’t heard of SuperOrdinary, but if they are a beauty or skincare fan, they’ve definitely heard of some of the brands the startup works with: Olaplex, Farmacy and Biossance, to name a few. The Los Angeles-headquartered company works behind the scenes to help American and European consumer brands scale on marketplaces […]

Vera wants to use AI to cull generative models’ worst behaviors

October 5, 2023
Liz O’Sullivan is on a mission to make AI “a little bit safer,” in her own words. A member of the National AI Advisory Committee, which drafts recommendations to the White House and Congress on how to foster AI adoption while regulating its risks, O’Sullivan spent 12 years on the business side of AI startups […]

The Download: the 15 ClimateTech Companies to Watch

October 5, 2023
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. The 15 ClimateTech Companies to Watch It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and terrified in the face of an ever-worsening climate crisis. But the glimmer of good news is that, for the most part,…

Qakbot hackers are still spamming victims despite FBI takedown

October 5, 2023
The hackers behind Qakbot, a notorious malware operation that was recently “dismantled” by the FBI, are still active and continue to target new victims, researchers say. The FBI announced in August that it had successfully “disrupted and dismantled” the infrastructure of the long-running Qakbot malware, which had infected more than 700,000 machines worldwide to cause […]

Alaska Airlines taps Up.Labs to build the next-generation of aviation startups

October 5, 2023
Alaska Airlines wants to solve some of the stickier problems in aviation. And it’s turning to UP.Labs — a new venture lab that launched publicly in 2022 — for help. The two companies announced Thursday at the Up Summit event in Dallas an agreement to form an aviation venture lab. This lab will create startups […]

The businesses changing climate technology

October 5, 2023
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. Awards season is due for a refresh. While you wait to hear who got the nod for the Oscars, Golden Globes, and Emmys, check out MIT Technology Review’s 15 Climate Tech Companies…

AWS, Microsoft, and Google face UK competition probe over cloud lock-in practices

October 5, 2023
The U.K. cloud market has been thrust firmly into the regulatory crosshairs, with news that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is launching a full-scale investigation into whether the big cloud infrastructure companies make it difficult for businesses to switch, or use multiple providers. The news comes a full year after Ofcom revealed it was […]

Union Square Ventures backs Indian EV infra startup Bolt.Earth in $20M funding

October 5, 2023
Bolt.Earth, an Indian startup that offers charging infrastructure and software solutions for electric vehicles, has raised $20 million in a funding round to expand its presence within the South Asian nation and enter into new markets. The Bengaluru-based startup has raised fresh capital from its existing and new investors, including Union Square Ventures, Prime Venture […]