Hudson Yards and Beyond: Creating Infrastructure to Support Innovation, Part 2

Scott Evans, Chief Digital Officer at Related Companies reveals how Related is better positioned today as a result of incorporating technology into the early stages of their developments, and what areas he’s focusing on in his technology roadmap.

The Zebra Becomes A Unicorn With $150M Series D

The Austin-based company, which operates an insurance comparison site, raised $150 million in Series D funding, led by an unnamed investor. Joining the round were a group of investors, including Weatherford Capital, as well as Accel, which led the company’s $38.5 million Series C last year. The investment brings The Zebra’s total raised to $251.5 million since its 2012 inception, as well as values the company at more than $1 billion, CEO Keith Melnick told Crunchbase News….

Brookfield Secures WELL Health-Safety Rating For 200M SF Portfolio In Bid To Bring Back Workers, Shoppers

The office portfolio includes almost 100 buildings totaling more than 75M SF, which Brookfield says is the largest office portfolio ever to achieve the rating. The company’s retail portfolio includes 114 shopping centers totaling about 125M SF. “The WELL rating is a perfect way for us to communicate to the larger public,” Brookfield Properties Managing Partner Bill Powell told Bisnow. “Anyone who is a guest at one of our properties will be able to see that we subscribe to the highest level of he…

Domino’s® and Nuro Launch Autonomous Pizza Delivery with On-Road Robot

ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Domino’s (NYSE: DPZ), the largest pizza company in the world based on global retail sales, and Nuro, the leading self-driving delivery company, are launching autonomous pizza delivery in Houston. Beginning this week, select customers who place a prepaid order on dominos.com on certain days and times from Domino’s in Woodland Heights, located at 3209 Houston Ave., can choose to have their pizza delivered by Nuro’s R2 robot. Nuro’s R2 is the first c…

Chinese autonomous vehicle startup WeRide scores permit to test driverless cars in San Jose

WeRide, the Chinese autonomous vehicle startup that recently raised $310 million, has received a permit to test driverless vehicles on public roads in San Jose, California. WeRide is the seventh company, following AutoX, Baidu, Cruise, Nuro Waymo and Zoox, to receive a driverless testing permit.

Is LA’s Platform the future of retail?

In Culver City on the west side of Los Angeles, a shopping development is experimenting with retail, mixing traditional strategies with new. Called Platform, the new quarter defies many of the terms by which we define retail. It’s neither mall nor department store, neither traditional Main Street nor high street plumbed with independent owners. It’s an appealing array of these elements, with unusual merchandise partnerships and online connectivity thrown in. …

WATCH NOW! Your Tech is Only as Good as Your Data, Part 2

Raj Bhatti, Chief Information Officer at NKF, weighs in on the benefits of off-the-shelf software vs. custom-built solutions, as well as the limitations of vertical-specific technology.

Short-seller hits Porch Group with litany of claims, questions its accounting for Lowe’s stock sale

An investment firm with a short position in Porch Group, standing to benefit if its share price falls, released a report questioning the Seattle-based home services software company’s underlying business metrics, communications with investors, and accounting on a variety of fronts.

Auto and tech companies team to create open mobility ecosystem

SoftBank buys $72M of Compass stock

The tech giant, already Compass’ largest shareholder, purchased 4 million shares on April 6 at $18 per share, bringing its total investment to 132.4 million shares, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Sources said the transaction was made as part of Compass’ IPO.