Three takeaways about the current state of batteries

May 2, 2024
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. Batteries are on my mind this week. (Aren’t they always?) But I’ve got two extra reasons to be thinking about them today.  First, there’s a new special report from the International Energy…

ButcherBox acquires ‘Shark Tank’-featured startup Truffle Shuffle

May 2, 2024

Butcherbox is known for grinding its way forward, bootstrapping to more than $600,000 worth of revenue. The company hasn’t traditionally been on the M&A path, but it today announced it is acquiring Truffle Shuffle – who you may remember from a Shark Tank episode back in 2021 (or, perhaps, The Goonies). The acquisition helps Butcher […]

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Freshworks acquires Device42 for $230M, appoints Dennis Woodside new CEO

May 2, 2024

Freshworks, the publicly listed SaaS firm, is acquiring U.S.-based startup Device42 for $230 million, the company disclosed in an SEC filing. Alongside the acquisition disclosure, Freshworks revealed that founder Girish Mathrubootham has stepped down as CEO. Dennis Woodside, who joined Freshworks as president in September 2022 and previously served as CEO of Motorola Mobility, will […]

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TikTok gets Tay and Billie back with new UMG content licensing deal

May 2, 2024

TikTok — facing yet more threats of being banned in key markets — scored an important win today to beef up its content and profile with consumers. Users on TikTok can once again create music clips using tracks from UMG’s catalog, a list featuring some of the biggest names in music today: Taylor Swift, Billie […]

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Haun Ventures is riding the bitcoin high

May 1, 2024

Blockchain startups were red-hot when Katie Haun left Andreessen Horowitz in 2021 to launch her own crypto-focused venture firm. But shortly after Haun announced that Huan Ventures’ two funds totalled $1.5 billion, cryptocurrency prices cratered, and FTX collapsed.  Despite having a massive arsenal of dry powder, Haun Ventures didn’t rush to scoop up stakes in […]

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Snapchat launches new AR and ML tools for brands and advertisers

May 1, 2024

At the 2024 IAB NewFronts event on Wednesday, Snapchat announced a series of new augmented reality (AR) and machine learning (ML) tools designed to help brands and advertisers reach users on the social network with interactive experiences. The company said that it’s been investing in ML and automation to make it faster and easier for […]

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A US push to use ethanol as aviation fuel raises major climate concerns

May 1, 2024
Eliminating carbon pollution from aviation is one of the most challenging parts of the climate puzzle, simply because large commercial airlines are too heavy and need too much power during takeoff for today’s batteries to do the job.  But one way that companies and governments are striving to make some progress is through the use…

From Connie Chan to Ethan Kurzweil venture capitalists continue to play musical chairs

May 1, 2024

When Keith Rabois announced he was leaving Founders Fund to return to Khosla Ventures in January, it came as a shock to many in the venture capital ecosystem — and not just because Rabois is a big name in the industry. It was surprising because unlike in many other fields, venture capitalists don’t traditionally move […]

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