Sophie Alcorn Contributor Share on Twitter Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives. More posts by this contributor Dear Sophie: I […]
Amidst the staggering rise of on-demand delivery services, the convenience store has been left relatively untouched. Until very recently. Foxtrot, founded in 2013, is looking to reimagine the corner convenience store, offering customers the option to buy in-store or order online for delivery. The company today announced the close of a $17 million growth round, […]
Spanish startup Bnext is expanding beyond its home country. The company is currently rolling out its product in Mexico. 170,000 people had previously signed up to a waiting list. Bnext is going to invite those 170,000 potential users first before opening signups to everyone. Bnext is building an alternative to traditional bank accounts. Customers can […]
Deliverr doesn’t own a warehouse or a delivery truck, but the startup is helping e-commerce companies not named Amazon achieve Amazon-like two-day shipping. The startup does it with intelligent algorithms, and today it announced a $40 million Series C investment. Activant Capital led the round. Other investors in the company include 8VC, GLP and Flexport […]
This morning The Zebra, an Austin-based insurance marketplace startup, announced it has closed a $38.5 million Series C. Accel led the funding event, which was participated in by prior investors Silverton Partners, Ballast Point Ventures, and the company’s CEO Keith Melnick. Floodgate and Weatherford Capital also invested in the round. According to Melnick, the company […]
Air mobility company Wisk has singed an agreement with the New Zealand government to set up and run an air taxi trial in the region of Canterbury, with the goal of flying passengers once its Cora aircraft is certified to do so by the country’s aviation authority. Cora is an electric vertical takeoff and landing […]
Rocket Lab is proceeding as planned with its efforts to recover and reuse spent rocket boosters from its Electron launch vehicle, and it has completed its first prototype parachute for use in the recovery process. Rocket lab CEO Peter Beck announced last year that it would be aiming for reusability with the first stage of […]
Sports is one of the most popular topics in podcasts, and today Spotify doubled down on its podcast strategy with a big acquisition to grow its sports coverage: it announced that it is buying The Ringer, the popular network of podcasts created and run by broadcaster Bill Simmons, with 30 sports and other podcasts in […]
Streaming music now accounts for more than 80 percent of all music consumption in key markets like the U.S., and one of the big leaders in the field is reaping some of the rewards. Spotify reported its Q4 results today, which noted that the company now has 271 million subscribers, up 31% on a year […]
Early-stage European VC firm Blossom Capital is fresh from closing a $185M fund— a big jump up on its prior close. The firm makes just a handful of investments per year, mostly at the Series A stage, working very closely with founders in its portfolio, a strategy it refers to as “high conviction” investing. One […]