Curated daily by our industry experts. Stay informed on how tech is shaping the real estate industry with these important headlines.
SMART CITIES WORLD
A low-cost, lightweight autonomous delivery robot that can operate in both the bike lane and on the roadway has been launched at the TechCrunch Mobility event. Refraction AI, founded by University of Michigan professors Matthew Johnson-Roberson and Ram Vasudevan, has developed the Rev-1 solution for last-mile logistics. The company is backed by eLab Ventures and Trucks Venture Capital.
VENTUREBEAT
Years ago, Landing.ai founder and former Google Brain researcher Andrew Ngfamously declared that artificial intelligence is the “new electricity.” In short, AI will revolutionize the way all businesses will work in the future. But as more companies race to integrate AI into their operations, many are finding that it’s not as easy as they thought it would be….
COMMERCIAL OBSERVER
The coworking and community space designed for women, The Wing, plans to open its second outpost in Brooklyn after nailing down space in an under-construction office building in Williamsburg, a source with knowledge of the deal confirmed. The Wing inked a deal for 17,000 square feet on the entire second and third floor of Largo Investments‘ three-story development at 71 North 7th Street between Kent and Wythe Avenues, The Real Deal first reported….
TECHCRUNCH
Hero Labs, a London-based startup that is developing “smart” technology to help prevent water leaks in U.K. properties, has raised £2.5 million in seed funding. The round is led by Earthworm Group, an environmental fund manager, with further support via a £300,000 EU innovation grant and a number of unnamed private investors. The new capital will be used by Hero Labs to accelerate development of its first product: a smart device dubbed “Sonic” that uses ultrasonic technology to monitor water us…
THE REAL DEAL
Earlier this year, a San Francisco coder set out to create an outdoor co-working space that charged $2.25 an hour. The catch? It was comprised of a table and chair, set up on an empty parking lot. While the cost of co-working has yet to reach the levels of WePark, as the operation was named, it has been becoming more affordable as of late, Bisnow reported.
ATYPICAL
NEW YORK, July 15, 2019 – The Content Funnel, a leading content marketing platform for the commercial real estate industry has announced that they have acquired ATYPICAL, a leader in digital real estate marketing services. The combined entity will be rebranded as ATYPICAL and have offices in New York, New Jersey and South Africa. Sarah Malcolm, former COO of The Content Funnel will assume the role of Co-President of the new division along with Mark Kalkwarf. The Content Funnel was founded in …
NEW YORK TIMES
Ford Motor and Volkswagen said Friday that they would team up to develop self-driving cars and share electric-car components. The move broadens an existing alliance and shows how automakers are putting aside rivalries to manage the cost of new technologies. The agreement calls for Volkswagen to purchase a stake in a Ford-backed start-up that is developing self-driving technologies, and for Ford to use electric-car components developed by Volkswagen….
THE REAL DEAL
Opendoor, the $3.8 billion SoftBank-backed instant home buyer, and its competitor Redfin Corp. are teaming up to gain an edge in the new home-selling segment. The new partnership means Opendoor can get a piece of Redfin’s web traffic — 31 million monthly visitors in just the first quarter, Bloomberg reported. Homeowners in Atlanta and Phoenix who visit Redfin’s site will be given the option of requesting a cash offer from Opendoor, which buys and flips homes after minor repairs, or get an opi…
WSJ
Google said contractors are listening to customer audio recorded by the company’s virtual assistant, a disclosure prompted by a media report that adds to privacy concerns associated with the technology. Belgian public broadcaster VRT NWS said in a report this week that the Alphabet Inc.GOOG 0.01% unit employs contractors around the globe to listen to some recordings of conversations that people have with the Google Assistant, which is available on its Google Home speakers and Android devices….
CRUNCHBASE NEWS
Bird, one of the two leading American scooter companies, is losing money at a terrific rate according to a recent report in The Information. The scooter company and its best-known rival Lime have each raised hundreds of millions of dollars (here, here), totaling more than $1 billion between the pair. The Information reports that Bird is seeking $300 million more, matching a sum raised by Lime earlier this year….
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