My biotech plants are dead

April 26, 2024
This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.  Six weeks ago, I pre-ordered the “Firefly Petunia,” a houseplant engineered with genes from bioluminescent fungi so that it glows in the dark.  After years of writing about…

Global Founders Capital will deploy Rocket Internet’s cash instead of raising a new fund

April 26, 2024

Global Founders Capital, the Berlin-based early stage VC firm with close ties to the German startup factory Rocket Internet, is going to become the venture arm of Rocket Internet. The VC previously raised two $1 billion funds and, just a few years ago, its name appeared in dozens of deals per year. But then, things […]

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xAI, Elon Musk’s OpenAI rival, is closing on $6B in funding and X, his social network, is already one of its shareholders

April 26, 2024

xAI, Elon Musk’s 10-month-old competitor to the AI phenom OpenAI, is raising $6 billion on a pre-money valuation of $18 billion, according to one trusted source close to the deal. The deal – which would give investors one quarter of the company –  is expected to close in the next few weeks unless the terms […]

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Zomato’s quick commerce unit Blinkit eclipses core food business in value, says Goldman Sachs

April 26, 2024

Goldman Sachs said in a report late Thursday that Indian food delivery giant Zomato’s quick commerce arm Blinkit is now more valuable than its core food delivery business, as per the bank’s sum-of-the-parts analysis. The investment bank estimates Blinkit’s implied value at 119 Indian rupees per share ($1.43) or about $13 billion, while Zomato’s food […]

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The FTC’s ban on noncompete clauses could be good for startups. But it also might be struck down.

April 26, 2024

The Federal Trade Commission voted 3-2 to ban the use of most noncompete agreements on Tuesday. This ruling means companies can’t require their employees, that aren’t senior executives, to wait a set amount of time before joining a competitor or launching their own company in the same category. While the FTC’s ruling will impact industries […]

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Norwest Venture Partners raises $3B for 17th vehicle, maintaining fund size despite market downturn

April 25, 2024

Norwest Venture Partners, a 65-year-old firm backed solely by Wells Fargo, has raised its 17th fund at $3 billion. That’s a noteworthy number, given that NVP last raised the same amount in December 2021. That was the peak of the venture boom, and at that time, the firm said it increased its capital pool by […]

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