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All 50 states vote yes on AT&T’s $40 billion emergency response network FirstNet
Communications are the bedrock of emergency response and management. However, those communications can be challenging when quickly evolving situations cross multiple jurisdictions. Today, AT&T announced that all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have officially signed on to FirstNet, a government program operated by AT&T to provide universal emergency response… Read More
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The startup that facilitates deliveries for HelloFresh in SF and LA raises $4.3 million
AxleHire, a last-mile logistics startup that facilitates deliveries for companies like HelloFresh, Freshly, Sunbasket, La Boulangerie and others, has raised $4.3 million from Acorn Pacific, RGA Ventures and others. Read More
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Crunch Network
UPS bets on blockchain as the future of the trillion-dollar shipping industry
Freight and logistics in the U.S. alone account for nearly $1.5 trillion annually. As the world’s economies scale up, that number is only expected to increase. The industry, however, is not prepared for growth, as it sits on top of an infrastructure prone to systematic inefficiencies and rampant fraud. However, disruption is coming in the form of blockchain technology. Read More
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Target is buying Alabama-based, same-day delivery service Shipt for $550 million
Target, America’s other favorite old-line retailer (the one that’s not Walmart), is buying delivery startup Shipt in a $550 million all-cash transaction. The deal is another example of how every store in America is responding to the very real threat that Amazon will drink their milkshake and eat their lunch, shortly after it delivers those things to their doors in 30 minutes or less. Read More
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Flowspace is AWS for warehouses
Got too much internet traffic? Get servers on demand from Amazon Web Services. Got too many pallets of physical goods? Well now you can get on-demand warehousing from Flowspace. The startup aims to become the next critical logistics service by making atoms as easy to store and ship as bits. Read More
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Enjoius raises $1.4 million to bring its party planning services to you
Just in time for the holiday season, a group of prominent Los Angeles entertainment and technology executives have come together to back the new startup, Enjoius, which aims to make it easier for hosts to plan their perfect party. Read More
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Instacart signs deal with Albertsons
Instacart has inked a deal with Albertsons to offer same-day delivery from the grocery store chain. The deal will include 1,800 of Albertsons stores across the country by mid-2018, helping Instacart deliver on its promise to be available in 80 percent of markets across the U.S. by the end of 2018. This isn’t Albertsons first foray into the tech space. Earlier this year, the company… Read More
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Mapping company Here buys ATS to boost its over-the-air tech
Here, the mapping company that powers location services in 100 million cars, is today announcing an acquisition to vastly improve how it distributes and updates its data. The company is buying Advanced Telematic Systems (ATS), a Berlin-based developer of secure over-the-air (OTA) technology, the basis for how wireless devices — including not just cars but smartphones and other… Read More
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Shujaa Delivery aims to compete with Aramax, DHL and others
On-demand delivery is a coveted service in traffic-congested Nairobi. Enter Shujaa Delivery, a Nairobi-based door-to-door delivery and courier service for businesses that uses motorcycles instead of cars. Read More
Latest Crunch Report
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This tech startup is trying to tackle waste in Africa
Kenya has a waste management problem, especially in the country’s capital of Nairobi. As of 2016, Nairobi was producing around 2,400 tons of waste every day but only 38 percent of that trash was collected and less than 10 percent was recycled. That resulted in the remaining 62 percent being left on illegal dumpsites or getting burned. Read More
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Smart trucking startup CargoX raises $20M
CargoX announced today that it has raised $20 million in Series C funding led by Goldman Sachs. The startup is currently focused on the Brazilian market, where it connects businesses that need to ship something with drivers who have excess capacity in their trucks. The goal is to help truckers make more money while reducing shipping costs for businesses. Read More
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Boxed shows off the automated tech it uses to ship toilet paper and more
Boxed offers the online equivalent of the bulk shopping offered at stores like Costco. But big discounts aren’t the only thing the company’s focused on. Boxed introduced automation to its Union, New Jersey fulfillment center earlier this year, installing a system where the items for shipping are transported to the people doing the packing — without eliminating a single job. Read More
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Omni storage now earns you money by renting out your stuff
“We want to change behavior around ownership on the planet,” says Omni co-founder Thomas McLeod. First, it built an on-demand storage business, where you can get things picked up from your place in as little as two hours, pay a monthly fee to store them depending on their size and get them temporarily returned to you for free whenever you need them. Now it wants to help you earn… Read More
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Crunch Network
What washing dishes, driving a truck and working in a cemetery taught me about the power of ‘blue-collar’ software
I work in VC. But it wasn’t long ago that I stocked shelves, drove a truck, washed dishes, waited tables and even hauled dirt at a cemetery. This isn’t the usual route to a job in tech and VC, but it opened my eyes to a corner of the tech world I think has the chance to create the next Salesforce, Oracle or LinkedIn: software targeting those who do their jobs outside corporate offices. Read More
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bpost acquires Radial, formerly eBay enterprise, for $820M
The global e-commerce race — and how it is underpinned by logistics, delivery and economies of scale — continues to heat up. And today, the Belgian Post Group, also known as bpost, announced its latest move to bulk up its operations in North America. It has acquired Radial, the fulfilment company formerly known as eBay enterprise, for $820 million. This is important because Radial… Read More
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Flexport’s epic plan to build a freight empire with its $110M raise
“We’re actually out here trying to create value, not just give venture capital money away” says Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen. “It’s counterintuitive. The more the business works, the more cash it needs.” That’s because Flexport doesn’t ship bits, it ships atoms. Lots of them. Flexport is a freight forwarding logistics network. If you produce a… Read More
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Freight startup Flexport soars from ‘unsexy’ to $800M valuation
Flexport handles the boring logistics of a trillion-dollar business: the transport of shipping containers around the world. Because the work of freight forwarding seemed so bland, it was long ignored by the tech world. But digitizing the paperwork let Flexport speed up shipping so clients keep less inventory on hand while never running out. Read More
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ClearMetal gets $9M from Prelude Ventures and Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors for its logistics platform
Logistics and supply chain management is a notoriously outdated and labor-intensive process. ClearMetal uses artificial intelligence to help manufacturers and retailers climb out from underneath piles of spreadsheets. Today the San Francisco-based startup announced that it has raised $9 million in Series A funding led by Prelude Ventures and Innovation Endeavors, the venture capital firm… Read More
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Matternet’s autonomous delivery drones can now refuel and reload by themselves
Matternet, a startup building autonomous drones for delivery, has been working to commercialize its tech via transportation of blood and pathology samples to labs. Taking traffic out of the equation has already shown it can cut hours off the testing process, but Matternet is pushing to become even more efficient at autonomous transportation. This drive led to the development of the… Read More
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