TechCrunch

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• Dear Sophie: Any advice on visa issues for new hires?
• Waldo brings its ad-free, private photo-sharing service direct to consumers
• How BMW plans to corner the U.S. scooter market with its all electric CE 04
• Subaru’s first all-electric vehicle makes its American debut
• Are rivals snacking on Instacart’s core grocery delivery market?
• Gift Guide: 20+ STEM toy gift ideas for aspiring young builders
• With new tech and $3.6M seed, DiviGas aims to clean up hydrogen production
• Hyundai’s new electric SUV concept showcases a ‘hygienic’ lounge-like interior
• Instagram will shut down its companion app Threads by year end
• Practice Ignition lands $50M to scale globally
• The all-electric Fisker Ocean SUV debuts with a rotating screen from Foxconn
• Spotify’s new Podcast Subscriptions expand to global markets
• 4 strategies for setting marketplace take rates
• US says Iran-backed hackers are now targeting organizations with ransomware
• In-game creation platform Overwolf raises $75M Series D led by Andreessen Horowitz
• Fieldin buys fellow agtech firm Midnight Robotics
• The Anoma protocol raises $26M for its work to undefine money
• Apple, Google questioned by ICO over app age ratings after UK child safety charity raises concerns
• Machina Labs emerges from stealth with $16M raised for on-demand manufacturing robotics
• Waymo Via expands UPS partnership to include autonomous freight with Class 8 trucks

Dear Sophie: Any advice on visa issues for new hires? Posted: 17 Nov 2021 12:44 PM PST Sophie Alcorn Contributor 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: Can our employee travel on DACA? Dear Sophie: Options for founder moving on from E-2 visa ​​Here’s another edition of "Dear Sophie," the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies. "Your questions are vital to the spread of knowledge that allows people all over the world to rise above borders and pursue their dreams," says Sophie Alcorn, a Silicon Valley immigration attorney. "Whether you're in people ops, a founder or seeking a job in Silicon Valley, I would love to answer your questions in my next column." TechCrunch+ members receive access to weekly "Dear Sophie" columns; use promo code ALCORN to purchase a one- or two-year subscription for 50% off. Dear Sophie, I run operations at an early-stage startup, and I've been tasked with hiring and other HR responsibilities. I'm feeling out of my depth with hiring and trying to figure out visa issues for prospective hires. Do you have any advice? — Doubling Down in Daly City Dear Doubling, I hear a lot from people like you who are in the same situation at early-stage startups. This came up when I chatted recently with Erin Teter and Lydia Buurma for my podcast. Teter and Buurma are experienced HR professionals who I've known for years. They're currently working in HR at LINQ, an edtech company that provides cloud-based administration and finance solutions for states, districts and schools. "HR is a full-time job," Buurma said. "When you talk about creating company culture, setting the company's mission and values, you want to include people in that discussion and you want to get buy-in from core employees and figure out what characteristics future employees that you want to bring in should have." Image Credits: Joanna Buniak / Sophie Alcorn (opens in a new window) The next best option If your startup cannot afford to bring on a full-time HR person right now, Teter recommends that your company at least bring in an HR consultant to help evaluate your company's situation, set up practices and assist with issues. "Usually consultants are connected with immigration attorneys and other experts who can help you work through the process," she said.

Waldo brings its ad-free, private photo-sharing service direct to consumers Posted: 17 Nov 2021 12:34 PM PST Waldo, a photo-sharing platform that has historically targeted businesses, schools, camps, sports leagues, and other organizations, is capitalizing on the growing anti-Facebook sentiment to promote its newly launched consumer product. The company today is introducing a service aimed at private photo-sharing among family and friends which it’s promoting as an “ad-free, non-toxic” and private alternative to mainstream social sites, like Facebook and Instagram. Of course, that’s just Waldo’s marketing. Consumers, arguably, already have private, ad-free photo-sharing alternatives outside social media. They can create invite-only photo albums on platforms like Google Photos or share privately via Apple’s iCloud. They can send photos through encrypted mobile messaging apps. Still, Waldo believes there’s room for a standalone app that’s available cross-platform and offers a differentiated feature set. The Waldo app is available on iOS, Android and the web and includes a wireless DSLR uploading feature aimed at photo enthusiasts. Consumers who want to use the service for private sharing can create galleries for their events and then invite people they want to share those photos with. As others join the shared galleries, they can opt in to have Waldo send alerts about any photos they’re in through push notifications or text alerts. The app also offers closed-loop commenting and reactions that allow the photo owner and the commenter to have a private interaction not seen by anyone else in the album. The new consumer plans are offered as either a Plus or Premium subscription at $4.99/mo or $9.99/mo, respectively. The former supports up to 5 family members and the latter up to 10, with unlimited invites and contributors. Plus also includes 100 GB of storage while Premium offers 200 GB. These are more expensive plans than offered by big tech rivals, however. For comparison, a Google One Basic storage plan of 100 GB, which includes photos and files, is $1.99/mo, and 200 GB is $2.99/mo. iCloud+ is $0.99/mo for 50 GB in the U.S. or $2.99/mo for 200 GB. So Waldo will really need to sell consumers on its feature set of facial recognition-powered smart notifications, private reactions, and custom print options. Waldo plans to build on its existing partnerships with professional industries, like camps, schools, and churches which use Waldo as a tool to share photos privately with parents others. Over the past five years, Waldo has slowly grown its footprint outside of the consumer space. Today, it has “hundreds of thousands” of customers, including a combination of families and employees of the K-12 institutions and businesses its app serves. Its business customers can use the app’s facial recognition features (with parents’ permission) to automatically identify and tag their students, campers, event-goers, and other attendees. That way, parents don’t have to look through the hundreds of photos the organization may snap in order to find just those that feature their own child or children. This paid subscription-based service has been adopted by groups across the U.S. and Canada, but Waldo doesn’t disclose its revenue. Waldo tells us the plan is not to pivot from its existing b2b offering, but instead expand to a new group of users. Because parents and others may already have Waldo installed on their phones, the company sees the potential in shifting them over to its consumer photo-sharing service. And the recipients of the shared photos don’t necessarily have to download the app to join in — the service can be used without an app installed from the web browser on any device. As a user of Waldo through my own child’s camp, this transition makes sense. Instead of downloading Waldo’s shared photos to my phone only to then turn around and reshare them with grandparents through another platform, I could see how it may be easier to just join Waldo’s consumer subscription plan and push a “camp photos” albums to a few family members. “We will continue to provide our communities with our Waldo Pro solution as it is an important value add for our families who seek to have all of their families photos, irrespective of who took them, in a single cloud-based, mobile-friendly location, and a huge benefit to our communities who benefit from a safer photo-sharing platform,” Waldo CEO Rodney Rice told TechCrunch. “The launch of Waldo Plus and Premium represents our opening up the platform from only being accessible as a member of one of our ‘Waldo-fied’ communities to every consumer being able to use the platform for everyday sharing and all the events in their lives,” he says.

How BMW plans to corner the U.S. scooter market with its all electric CE 04 Posted: 17 Nov 2021 12:09 PM PST A weird thing has happened in the past two years. After years of decline, motorcycle and scooter sales have bounced back. That’s good news for BMW’s Motorrad division and its latest electric scooter, the CE 04. The two-wheel retro-futuristic bike, which was showcased in Los Angeles this week at an event ahead of the LA Auto Show, will be riding a wave of two-wheeled renaissance which could help usher in larger acceptance of electric scooters. BMW Motorrrad of America’s vice president Trudy Hardy believes that the two-wheeled EV could come into its own as more than just a cool-looking bike. “I think what’s interesting about having a scooter in this category is I think it will start to solve some transportation challenges.” Set to arrive in showrooms in early 2022, the CE 04 will start at $11,795. Like all things BMW, it carries a premium price tag. Yet, for the feature set and the fact that it’s electric, it might actually be a solid deal. The scooter will seat two, has 42 horsepower and an impressive 45 pound-feet of torque. The 8.9-kWh capacity battery pack is targeted to offer 80 miles of range and it supports level 2 charging up to 6.9 kW. Plus it has that large 10.25-inch TFT display that when paired with the BMW Motorrrad app offers up turn-by-turn navigation and can track rider data like how far over you’ve leaned in corners, as well as the typical motorcycle information. Image Credits: Roberto Baldwin Still, it’s an electric scooter in a world where the Harley-Davidson Livewire exists and Zero Motorcycle continues to thrive. Hardy believes that for BMW this is a smart strategy, “It’s going to bring new people into the brand that might not have considered a motorcycle, but are going to find this to be a friendly or solution.” The bike maker’s first foray into the U.S. market with electricity was the C-Evolution. It was essentially a pilot program. “It was really to test the waters a little bit. This is our first endeavor really going into the electrification market,” Hardy told TechCrunch. Although Hardy is nervous that people tend to generalize scooters as something less than what they are. New customers also mean those new to motorcycles and scooters in general. There will likely be customers that currently ride electric bicycles that step up to an electric scooter like the CE 04 and not quite understand that it’s more powerful than it looks. It’s easy to dismiss scooters and see something that’s underpowered, the reality is the EV torque that makes electric cars so exhilarating is also here on this scooter. It’s not a toy. Fortunately, BMW Motorrad’s entire lineup comes standard with anti-lock brakes and other safety features. For new and experienced riders, the CE 04 is offering something a bit new. A compact but spirited EV two-wheeler that could be the answer to city commutes. Hardy sees it as part of an ongoing move by the company as a whole. “BMW has always been known for the performance side and the technology side and it’s nice that we’re now entering that electrified space from four wheels to two wheels, which is great.” It also helps that more and more people in the United States are buying new bikes and EVs. That combination might be a win for the funky CE 04.

Subaru’s first all-electric vehicle makes its American debut Posted: 17 Nov 2021 11:49 AM PST Subaru pulled the cover off its first all-electric crossover for the second time in November. This time, the 2023 Subaru Solterra electric crossover — the Toyota bZ4X doppelgänger — made its U.S. debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The first all-electric subcompact crossover is a joint project, like the Subaru BR-Z and the Toyota 86 (formerly the Scion FR-S) was before it, and the crossover is a close sibling, almost twin-like, to the Toyota bZ4X crossover that was announced in April. The upshot: The Solterra is targeting Americans’ insatiable appetite for crossover and it gives Subaru a foothold in the EV market, with Toyota’s help. The last two years have been very good to Subaru, even with chip shortages crimping the supply chain. The automaker has reported record sales in the U.S. Toyota’s all-electric bZ4x is coming to U.S. with up to 250 miles of range Known for its all-wheel-drive vehicles, the midsize Forester has been a segment leader in terms of volume, though the company reported that the compact Crosstrek, was the best seller for October of 2021 (by volume). Subaru has said that dealers are having a hard time keeping the more off-road-oriented Wilderness variants of the Outback and Forester on dealer lots, with markups as high as $5,000 above sticker. Toyota owns 20% of Subaru as of September of 2019, but their partnership goes back to 2005 when GM ended the relationship it had with Subaru. The Toyota-Subaru partnership has been a boon for both companies, as Subaru brings expertise in all-wheel-drive systems to the table while Toyota brings its hybrid and electric powertrains to the smaller automaker. Both Japanese companies tend to be more conservative and considered when pushing into new territory, but the Solterra offers an interesting look into what Subaru thinks the future of electric crossovers with off-road features may look like. A shared platform with all-wheel drive The Solterra is another joint project that Subaru has done alongside Toyota, which means that some of the design, especially the interior bits, look a lot like Toyota, while the exterior, chassis and the all-wheel-drive system is all Subaru. Toyota also handled the battery sourcing. That battery is a 71.4 kWh lithium-ion battery pack slung low between the axles and paired to two electric motors, one at the front and one at the rear. Subaru estimates the range to be around 220-plus miles and says that the Solterra can be charged from 0-80% in just about 30 minutes using DC fast chargers. The powertrain makes 250 horsepower and 246 lb-ft of torque — much of which is readily available at the low end, potentially making the Solterra a decent soft-roader. Image Credits: Kirsten Korosec At an offsite unveiling last week, the electric-ute climbed up and over a small rocky path and through a shallow pond before stopping in front of the gathered press for photos, showing off its light off-road prowess. While this marks Subaru’s first foray into the EV market, the Solterra will carry Subaru’s trademark symmetrical all-wheel-drive system, complete with Subaru’s X-Mode, which offers better traction in low-friction situations. When one wheel is in the air, the system will modulate the brakes to get you up and over the obstacle, according to Subaru, making this a moderately off-roadable EV. The 8.3-inches of ground clearance doesn’t hurt either, and Subaru made a point at the LA Auto Show unveiling to note that it is better than the VW ID 4 and Tesla model Y. At last week’s event, Subaru also ran footage of Solterra testing on off-road obstacles like stairs, and offset ramps, to show just how capable the small-ute could be. It even pitted it against competitors like the Jaguar I-Pace on the same obstacles. While pricing has yet to be officially announced, Subaru says that buyers can expect it to start around $39,000. Subaru will start selling the 2023 Solterra in mid-2022.

Are rivals snacking on Instacart’s core grocery delivery market? Posted: 17 Nov 2021 11:40 AM PST Few companies had as good a pandemic run as Instacart. The company’s service saw huge demand gains, leading to waves of venture capital interest. The Exchange explores startups, markets and money. Read it every morning on TechCrunch+ or get The Exchange newsletter every Saturday. From a late 2018 funding cycle that valued the U.S. grocery delivery company at around $7.9 billion, per PitchBook data, Instacart went on to raise $325 million at a $13.8 billion valuation in July 2020. The pandemic sent many folks home — and to their phones to order foodstuffs — to Instacart’s benefit. But that was just the start. PitchBook indicates that Instacart raised again in October 2020, adding $200 million more to its accounts at a $17.7 billion valuation. And then in March 2021, Instacart raised a further $265 million at a valuation of around $39 billion. (You can cross-check the PitchBook data with Crunchbase here, if you’d like.) Few startups reach the $1 billion valuation threshold. Far fewer make it to the $5 billion mark before going public. And only a true handful get to $10 billion or more. A nearly $40 billion pre-money valuation is stupendous, and puts immense pressure on the company to generate the sort of numbers that public-market investors will expect from a richly valued tech company. But it turns out that Instacart is seeing its growth rate plateau in 2021, per reporting at The Information. What’s going on? Instacart’s growth The Information’s Berber Jin reports that after Instacart tripled its revenues to $1.5 billion in 2020 when compared to 2019, its growth rate has moderated to around a 10% rate this year. Though, she adds, the company’s Q3 revenue growth was doing better, up around 20% on a year-over-year basis. [Update: This paragraph updated to reflect the correct author of The Information’s piece.] The Exchange reached out to the company about the various data points, but it declined to comment on the record. After reading Clark’s piece, I decided to collect information from the company’s various competitors. Let’s talk about Amazon, Walmart, DoorDash and Uber, companies that may be snacking on Instacart’s core business.

Gift Guide: 20+ STEM toy gift ideas for aspiring young builders Posted: 17 Nov 2021 11:17 AM PST Welcome to TechCrunch's 2021 Holiday Gift Guide! Need help with gift ideas? We've got lots of them. We're just starting to roll out this year's gift guides, so check back from now until the end of December for more!  For this year’s STEM toy gift guide we’ve split out our recommendations by age for easier navigation. The 20+ gift ideas (below) run the gamut from train sets controlled by colorful blocks, to robots that can draw, all the way up to a cute DIY handheld gaming console that’s really an experimental platform for teens to build on. Gifts we’ve selected hit a range of price points — starting at $15 and topping out at just under $550 (for all the educational LEGO your kid could ever need!), with a spectrum of price points in between. The learn-to-code category as a whole continues to mature, showing a strengthening (and welcome) focus on art and design, not just pure engineering. At the same time, it’s clear that sustaining a business selling educational gizmos/games is challenging, with a number of players winking out of existence (or taking an exit) since we last checked in. Product novelty also feels like it’s diminishing, even as maker hardware itself is flourishing (thanks to the likes of the Raspberry Pi). But, in general, the category’s experimental “Cambrian explosion” moment seems to have passed — and the programmable robots have (mostly) taken over. Consolidation remains a big theme in the space. As do pivots (see: Kano’s new jam, for example). After all, kids are fickle and even the fanciest toy can soon be discarded for a newer, shinier thing. Plus, it feels like some of the earlier hype (and loud claims) — around gizmos that “teach coding” — has faded to a more practical/realistic and less flashy projection of potential educational value. One extra challenge for STEM toy makers is the (now) high concern over kids’ screen time. Hence lots of products feature marketing that loudly touts “screen-free” alternatives to teaching coding (such as by using physical blocks/cards/buttons etc). Meanwhile some others that do require a screen to work are trying to distinguish what they’re offering as “good screen” time versus the addictive “digital sugar” of non-learning-focused games and/or social media … whether parents buy that remains to be seen. For surviving STEM players, increasing amounts of their time and energy are being directed away from the consumer space and toward supplying schools with learning-geared kit and resources directly — chasing a more reliable revenue stream, although selling to schools is no cake walk, either. Overall, being part of a larger maker marketplace or broader group of educational businesses seems to be where many surviving STEM startups are headed. This article contains links to affiliate partners where available. When you buy through these links, TechCrunch may earn an affiliate commission. Tiny techies: 2-4+ Botzees Toddler — Coding Train Set Image Credits: Pai Technology This colorful Coding Train play set is touted as teaching tots early coding concepts, puzzle-solving and critical thinking by letting them add disc-shaped action bricks to their train track designs. Four different colored action bricks contain sensors that interact with the battery-powered car — causing it to brake, switch on its lights or generating sound effects. Screen-free play (but there’s an optional 3D building app for designing track circuits). Age: 2+ Price: $90 from Amazon Made by: Pai Technology Sphero indi At-Home Learning Kit New from Sphero for 2021 is indi, a robotic car designed to teach kids coding logic through play. Youngsters aged 4 and up can start learning screen free, using colored cards from the kit to create tracks for the robot car to traverse while also solving puzzles. Image Credits: Sphero But that’s not all: a companion app, Sphero Edu Jr, means kids can customize indi’s behavior — via a drag-and-drop block-based interface — to reprogram the car’s reactions to the tiles, build their own mazes, or play games and simple songs. Age: 4+ Price: $100 from Amazon Made by: Sphero KIBO 10 Home Edition Image Credits: KinderLab Robotics KinderLab is a veteran player in the screen-free STEAM learning space with its programmable robotic toy, Kibo. The learning device is designed for 4-7 year olds to spark creative, educational play — without the need for tablets or apps. Instead wooden blocks introduce coding concepts, while kids are encouraged to customize their bot using a variety of add-ons and sensors — and by incorporating their own artistic creations. The multifaceted toy is intended to inspire aspiring engineers, designers, artists and writers, as well as coders. KinderLab says its approach draws on two decades of early child development research. The Kibo 10 Home Edition pack (pictured above) contains the Kibo robot with a drawable face plate, wheels and motors, and scannable cards for creating Kibo programs. Age: 4-7 Price: $199 from Amazon Made by: KinderLab Coding Critters MagiCoders Another screen-free play option is Coding Critters MagiCoders from Learning Resources. Each programmable play set is designed around a cartoon character — either Blazer the Dragon or Skye the Unicorn — which kids control using a battery-operated “wand” that contains directional buttons. Image Credits: Learning Resources A spell button on the wand lets youngsters dive into more involved “programming,” with the help of a (paper) “spell book” that contains instructions for triggering a variety of modes (like dance party and patrol guard). Sensors on the rolling critters allow for further fun interactions. Age: 4-8 Price: $55 from Amazon Made by: Learning Resources Itty-bitty builders: 5-7+ Ultimate Botley 2.0 The Coding Robot Bundle Image Credits: Learning Resources Another longtime STEM learning toy is Botley the Coding Robot, also from Learning Resources. This Ultimate Coding Robot Bundle comes with last year’s updated robot (Botley 2.0) — which expanded the programmable interactions, added color-changing eyes and night vision for line-sensing in the dark — plus a variety of accessories, including a construction kit and costumes and wraps so little builders can change the look and feel of their bot. Screen-free play. Age: 5+ Price: $94 from LearningResources Made by: LearningResources CodeSpark Academy LA-based startup CodeSpark has been making mobile and web games to teach kids coding for years — now as part of the Homer early learning group after being acquired by its parent company, New York-based BEGiN, earlier this year. If your youngster already has access to a tablet, CodeSpark‘s pitch for its learning games is “screen time you can feel good about” — saying they cover basic concepts of computing coding (such as sequencing, loops, conditional statements, events, boolean logic and sorting, etc.) — just cunningly disguised as cartoonish characters and fun-looking puzzles and challenges. So kids won’t even realize they’re learning. Image Credits: CodeSpark Academy Since access to the software requires a subscription there are no ads or in-app purchases to worry about. CodeSpark does also offer a seven-day free trial to get a taster of its wares. And there’s a dedicated gifting option on its website. Age: 5-9 Price: $90 (for 12 months access) from CodeSpark Made by: CodeSpark Osmo Explorer Starter Kit Indian edtech giant Byju-owned Osmo has been making educational games for tablets for almost a decade. Its big twist is to combine physical (offline) play (pens, blocks, cards, etc.) with digital on-screen content and interactions. It does this via a dedicated tablet stand that adds a reflector to the iPad’s front-facing camera so that it gets a view of the physical play area directly below the screen. This means the app is able to mirror/act on what the kids are doing in the physical space. (And the bounded view means the camera only captures tiny hands, not your kids’ faces, so that’s a plus for privacy.) Osmo calls this blend of physical-digital play “embodied learning.” Image Credits: Osmo The Osmo Explorer Starter Kit is described as its “most complete STEAM learning kit yet” — with a range of interactive games and art supplies in the bundle (Note: A tablet is not included so you’ll need your own iPad or equivalent). The kit includes a set of coding-focused games that let kids manipulate on-screen characters to progress by combining (physical) coding blocks into a set of instructions and tapping the screen to execute their (proto)program. Age: 5-10 Price: $158 from Osmo Made by: Tangible Play Inc Robo Sense European startup Robo Wunderkind has built a STEM-learning business, one modular robotic block at a time. Kids get to learn about circuits and engineering concepts by plugging a variety of its smart blocks together — to build their own robots and make them move or otherwise animate them. Creations can be further extended by adding (actual) LEGO bits and bobs. Image Credits: Robo Wunderkind As well as pure physical play, Robo Wunderkind has a digital aide in the form of a companion app that expands the learning into on-screen coding. Here it offers tiered complexity — with three different levels from coding basics, where kids may just be manipulating colorful icons, to doing drag-and-drop block-based coding (based on Scratch) — which introduces more complex concepts like variables, functions, operators and input/output handling. Python and Arduino APIs are also supported for more advanced programmers.  The Robo Sense kit offers a taster of Robo Wunderkind’s approach, with a handful of sensing blocks to play with plus over 30 projects and tutorials to access online or in-app. Age: 5-12 Price: $99 from Robo Wunderkind Made by: Robo Wunderkind Doodling devs: 8-12+ Artie Max Artie Max is the latest programmable robot from Educational Insights. Much like its predecessor, Artie 3000, the STEM toy combines programming and art in a very literal sense: The robot is designed to hold colored marker pens and kids write code that the bot “draws” by moving around on a piece of paper. Image Credits: Educational Insights Artie Max’s main upgrade versus Artie 3000 is that it can hold a bunch of marker pens, not just a single marker — allowing for multicolored designs to be coded. Programming Artie’s movements is done via a drag-and-drop interface in the companion app or web interface. Other coding languages are supported, along with a visual interface where kids can draw a design on screen that they want the bot to ink out on paper. Age: 8+ Price: $100 from Amazon Made by: Educational Insights littleBits At-Home Learning Starter Kit Sphero-owned littleBits’ approach to sparking interest in hardware hacking involves easy-to-connect modular electronics. It spices things up with some colorful housings and incorporates a little product design into the mix through kit-based projects. Image Credits: Sphero This (screen-free) STEAM littleBits Starter Kit (above) consists of a box of bits and pieces — including a handful of the brand’s customary snap-together components, plus craft supplies and (paper-based) project instructions. The idea is to bundle all the key bits kids need to work through five electronics projects and be budding inventors by brainstorming ideas, either on their own or guided by a parent. Age: 8+ Price: $65 from littleBits Made by: Sphero Magic of LED Image Credits: Mand Labs Inspire your little one with actual, real-world electronics with this Mand Labs STEM stocking stuffer. The Magic of LED kit offers an easy intro to hands-on electronics (no soldering required). The box of 30+ components — including LEDs, a buzzer, transistors and capacitors — supports five projects, including a touch-activated switch and an automatic night lamp. An internet-connected computer is needed to access digital instructions. Age: 8+ Price: $30 from Mand Labs Made by: Mand Labs Code Lab Shortcut to programming electronics with Code Lab: A board that packs in 60 different components (including LEDs, a speaker, an LCD thermometer, sound-sensitive lights, a random tone generator and more) and hooks up to a computer (by USB) for coding the hardware via a C++ interface. Image Credits: Let’s Start Coding A variety of learning content is bundled with Code Lab, including walkthrough videos; 100 sequenced project pages (which it says “cover the fundamentals of all coding languages”); and 2,200+ lines of example code that can be modified or tinkered. Code “challenges” and “bug hunts” further encourage kids to interact and engage with the code to help strengthen learning. Age: Varies, but they’ll need to be able to follow complex instructions and type well. Price: $200 from Code Lab Made by: Let’s Start Coding “Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code” You can’t beat a book for screen-free learning. Get your little developer-in-training inspired by the story of early computer pioneer Grace Hopper (not to mention why the word “bug” owes a lot to an ill-fated moth), engagingly told by Laurie Wallmark — with eye-catching illustrations by Katy Wu. Image Credits: AdaFruit Age: 8+ Price: $15.95 from Bookshop.org, AdaFruit and others imagiCharm Smarter Kit Women-in-tech focused Swedish startup, imagiLabs, has come up with this cute IoT device designed to get girls interested in computing. The imagiCharm is an app-controlled wearable that contains an array of programmable colored lights to inspire coding through customization. Image Credits: imagiLabs Your up-and-coming developer will need access to a mobile device to connect to their imagiCharm so they can program and upload their custom designs — learning Python as they come up with their own twist on classic emoji to adorn the battery-powered wearable. The imagiCharm Smarter Kit bundles six lessons (roughly 12 hours) of learning content with the hardware for sustained learning opportunities right out of the box. Age: 8-14+ Price: $100 from imagiLabs Made by: imagiLabs LEGO Education At Home STEAM Learning Bundle LEGO has been extending its learning legacy into electronics for years. This massive LEGO Education STEAM Learning Bundle brings together three different kits from its education-focused robotics platform line (for grades 5-8) — the Spike Prime Core Set, Spike Prime Expansion Set and the (sports science-focused) BricQ Motion Prime Set — to really dial up the creative, learning potential. Image Credits: LEGO Education As well as bundling up (lots of) bricks and components for kids to combine in all sorts of ways, building their own robots and other mechanical and/or sensing creations (as well as offered guided builds), there’s a Scratch-based drag-and-drop coding interface to bring their creations to life. LEGO Education also provides lesson plans for more extended learning. Age: 10+ Price: $550 from LEGO Made by: LEGO Education pi-top [4] Robotics Superset U.K.-based STEM startup pi-top has had a number of challenges in recent years. Its latest incarnation sees it joining the programmable robotic fray with this Robotics Superset. Image Credits: pi-top While the pi-top [4] processor that powers the kit is basically an encased Raspberry Pi, the addition of a battery and hard case (plus a bunch of ports) means the mini desktop computer can now go roving and (with the right add-ons) sense stuff in its environment. Components bundled in the Robotics Superset include motors, servos, an HD camera and an ultrasonic sensor. Kids can get help to program the Pi-powered rover by accessing resources provided through pi-top’s learning platform, called Further, including projects, challenges and courses. Age: 11+ Price: $399 from pi-top Made by: pi-top NextMaker Box Give a STEAM gift that keeps on inspiring with MakeBlock’s NextMaker Box: A monthly subscription box of coding and making projects. Each month kids get a box of bits to build programmable things — robots, IoT devices, sensing hardware, etc. — and learn at their own pace. An online learning system provides instructions, support and access to a block-based coding interface for programming the build-it-yourself gizmos. Bundled craft supplies add art and design into the mix. Image Credits: Makeblock Projects for kids to build include a voice-operated smart trash bin; a motion-sensing tumbler toy; a smart wearable and more. Age: 6-12 Price: $40 from MakeBlock Made by: MakeBlock Techie teens: 12+ mBot Mega Advanced Robot and Electornics Kit for Arduino C, Scratch Makeblock's programmable remote-controlled all terrain robot rover, mBot Mega, packs a MegaPi control board based on the open source Arduino electronics platform. So if your teen is keen on learning programming hardware in Arduino IDE or Scratch this could be just the kit to whet their appetite. Image Credits: Makeblock Makeblock promises a detailed construction guide and 20+ online projects to keep curious minds busy. Access to a computer is required for coding the bot. The bot’s hardware can be further extended by adding a Raspberry Pi (not included). Age: 12+ Price: $130 from Makeblock Made by: Makeblock Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W For a budget-friendly but endlessly explorable challenge, why not throw your teen in at the deep end by getting them a Raspberry Pi? The low-cost microprocessor preempted the current wave of STEM devices — offering a “no frills” approach to getting kids learning coding that combines cheap but powerful hardware and minimal hand-holding. Pi has gone on to become a maker powerhouse. Image Credits: Raspberry Pi Foundation New for 2021 — and costing just $15 — the tiny Pi Zero 2 W (above) nonetheless packs a punch, with a quad-core 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 engine clocking in at 1 GHz. And with 512 MB of SDRAM there's power enough for some serious smart home programming projects. Wireless LAN is also included. Your teen will need access to a computer to program the hardware. The Pi Foundation has a curated feed of community-built Pi Zero projects to get your kid inspired. Age: 12+ to infinity Price: $15 from Raspberry Pi  Made by: Raspberry Pi Foundation AdaBox AdaBox is a quarterly (i.e., once every three months) subscription box of DIY electronics projects, curated by AdaFruit. You won’t know what electronics bits and bots you’re getting in advance — but, for more advanced teens with access to a computer this blackbox of hack-together hardware could be just the inspiration they need to get building. Image Credits: AdaFruit AdaFruit says the subscription service is “designed for makers of all levels, with a special focus on folks just starting out.” Tutorials and videos are provided via the Learning System on its website. Access to an internet-connected device is required for programming the hardware. Projects in past boxes include building your own Matrix Portal Flow Visualizer. (Note: There is a dedicated “Give” option for gifting the AdaBox during checkout. However with the holiday season fast approaching, AdaFruit says the first box of any new orders won’t now ship til spring — so ordering this as a holiday gift will require a little patience in the recipient.) Price: $60 per box Sold by: AdaFruit PicoSystem Why not buy your game-developer-in-training this tiny, Raspberry Pi Pico-powered handheld gaming system from U.K.-based Pimoroni — which is not just a teeny games console but an experimental gaming platform. Image Credits: Pimoroni Games can be coded for the PicoSystem using a variety of languages, including C++/MicroPython (Per Pimoroni: “Our official PicoSystem API is designed to be lightweight, easy to use and to not get in the way while you’re developing games”) — see their tutorial to get started. Out of the box, the tiny handheld ships flashed with Super Square Bros. by Scorpion Games. Price: $80 from AdaFruit Made by: Pimoroni Piper Make Starter + Robotics Expedition Kit Piper is another longtime player in the STEAM toy space — starting out back in 2014 offering a DIY Minecraft computer to teach kids coding. It’s still selling its classic, wooden-cased Raspberry Pi-powered computer kits but has expanded to sell a range of maker kits. Including — new for 2021 (and slated to ship this month) — the Robotics Expedition Kit, which comes bundled with the requisite Pi Pico (and other starter electronics essentials). Kids get to build a couple of kinetic robots (a walker and a rover) and then get help to write code to get them moving them via Piper’s drag-and-drop coding platform Make. So they’ll need access to a computer or mobile device. Image Credits: Piper Piper’s coding platform includes a virtual representation of the microcontroller and automatic translation of the block-based programming language to text-based CircuitPython to support youngsters to learn the basics of hardware coding. A variety of other projects are also available via the Piper Make portal — where it says it uses storytelling-based lessons to motivate young learners. Its Make programming software is also available via a mobile app. Price: $148 from Piper Made by: Piper

With new tech and $3.6M seed, DiviGas aims to clean up hydrogen production Posted: 17 Nov 2021 10:32 AM PST Hydrogen is at the center of many industrial processes and potentially part of major future energy ecosystems, but the process of isolating and storing it is wasteful and expensive. DiviGas, armed with a $3.6M seed round, hopes to clean up the hydrogen production industry with a new tech that leapfrogs existing methods, potentially supercharging this piece of the new green economy. While hydrogen itself is generally considered a clean and extremely useful basic element, its production is married to numerous dirty industrial processes. Oil refineries and plastic production, for instance, may give off various hydrocarbons and other mixed gases and chemicals, and to separate them requires further processing and emissions. One cleaner and simpler option than chemical reactions uses membranes or filters, which essentially separate the H2 and CO2 gases from each other and from other substances in the input stream. But these filters cannot operate at high temperatures, output some gases at low pressures that must be re-pressurized at cost, and rapidly degrade in the presence of common acidic gases. Essentially the hydrogen diversion industry — and it’s big, by the way, billions big — is split between an expensive, emissions-heavy option and a cheap, limited option. After meeting in Singapore at one of SOSV’s HAX incubators, the founders of DiviGas plan to provide a third that has none of the aforementioned weaknesses. The company claims to have engineered a new “hollow fiber polymeric membrane” at the angstrom scale, which is to say one tenth of a nanometer. It’s not like they designed a filter the size of an atom, but rather that the functional features of the material are at this scale, producing the kind of highly specialized effect desired — in this case, causing hydrogen and carbon dioxide gas to separate at slightly different pressures, allowing them to be diverted and isolated. Image Credits: Divigas Huge numbers of fibers are bundled together into tubes through which the input gas is forced, with no chemical reactants required. Unlike other membranes, this new one can operate at high temperatures — up to 150 degrees C — and is resistant to common acidic compounds in the gas mix formed from sulfur and chlorine, which means it can handle more caustic and untreated input flows without degrading. And it does so while performing as well or better than the old membranes on basic scales of selectivity (affecting output purity) and permeance (which affects maximum operable pressure). Because the method is the same in principle as existing membrane techniques, DiviGas’s tech can be substituted in with minimal fuss and modification. And although manufacturing the new fibers is not a trivial task, they aren’t particularly exotic and use many existing processes. As co-founder, CTO, and creator of the new material Ali Naderi explained, it’s the result of various cutting edge innovations but ultimately still easy to manufacture. “To make it economically viable, we developed a dual-layer hollow fiber membrane to use the functional materials (i.e., expensive materials) as low as possible on the selective layer (i.e., outer layer) and a cheap/commercially available polymer in the mechanical support layer (i.e., inner layer),” he wrote in an email to TechCrunch. “This type of membrane can be fabricated commercially by using a customized spinning line that has the same price as a standard spinning line has.” Image Credits: Divigas The prospect of simpler, cleaner hydrogen and CO2 production has been met with extreme enthusiasm by people in the industry, according to co-founder and CEO Andre Lorenceau. “We’ve got clients banging down our door, asking us when we can give tens of millions of these things to them,” he said. “This round is us playing catch-up.” The money is going towards building a pilot-scale plant in Melbourne that should be operational in March; currently it takes months to build a single unit (a usable bundle of fibers) for demonstrations, and a given client might want hundreds or thousands on a regular basis. Once the company is able to build them at a rate of around one a week, they can do larger demonstrations and small installations that will secure serious orders — and those proceeds will go towards building out out the full-scale manufacturing process. “It’s two or three times more expensive right now, but they don’t care,” Lorenceau said (though the price will come down with volume, he added). “They say, ‘It’s a tech I know, a manufacturing process I know — if you can give it to us at that price it’s Gucci.’ And it’s a lot of clients, and we haven’t even been doing sales.” The competitive landscape, he added, is conducive to quick action on their part, being full of slow movers and stalled startups. “There are these giant lumbering corporations, they have a department for this and they do improve, but it’s old guard. Same reason why it isn’t the old PhDs of computer science who build the next generation of software tech — they’re not trying to build next-gen weird shit all the time,” he said. “The startups are also research PhD people who aren’t used to the high speed VC thing. They have excellent research performance, but in terms of manufacturing, it costs a zillion bucks to make a square inch of the damn stuff. They say, ‘we’ll figure out the manufacturability…’ and they never do. So we can leapfrog them and the big corporations.” The $3.6M round was led by Mann + Hummel, a German industrial filter company clearly looking to get ahead of the game. Also participating in the round were Entrepreneur First, Albert Wenger (USV), SOSV/HAX, Energy Revolution Ventures, Amasia VC, Volta.vc, and Climate Capital, along with several individual investors.

Hyundai’s new electric SUV concept showcases a ‘hygienic’ lounge-like interior Posted: 17 Nov 2021 10:26 AM PST Hyundai announced Wednesday at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show a new all-electric SUV concept vehicle that features everything from lounge seating to what Hyundai calls a “hygienic” interior, an appropriate feature as we enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Concept vehicles are exactly what they sound like — exercises in creativity and technology that can point to some possible future vehicle. Just because a vehicle shows up as a concept at an auto show does not mean that it will ever show up at your local dealer, however. In this case, Hyundai has created a full-size SUV concept, on a real, you-can-buy-it-at-the-dealer platform. The Concept: hygienic interiors While plenty of other automakers have shown off concepts with similar lounge-like interiors and seats that swivel 360 degrees for the days when fully autonomous driving becomes an actual reality for the masses, the unique feature of the SEVEN concept is its hygienic interior features. First, a “Hygiene Air Flow” system can isolate the airflow between front and rear passengers. Air comes in through intakes in the roof rails and exits the vehicle via the wheel vents in what Hyundai terms “vertical mode.” In horizontal mode, or what we normally just consider to be typical vehicle ventilation, air moves from front to back. Hyundai says that the system will work whether the vehicle is moving or parked and that it was inspired by the more advanced systems used on airplanes. Image Credits: Abigail Bassett In addition to a tailored airflow, Hyundai also showed off its concept for keeping the interior clean between passengers and trips — since we’ll all be sharing autonomous vehicles in the future. In the pandemic era, this kind of concern is very real since the COVID-19 virus is transmitted through respiratory droplets and aerosols that can survive for many hours on all kinds of surfaces, including fabric. The SEVEN concept has a UVC sterilization cycle that runs after passengers exit the vehicle. UVC, or Ultraviolet-C, light is a disinfectant for air, water and non-porous surfaces, and the FDA has reported that it does kill the SARS-CoV-2 virus which is the virus that causes COVID. UVC light can burn eyes and skin, which is why all the passengers need to be out of the vehicle before the program runs. In addition to custom airflow and UVC sterilization, Hyundai has also included interesting touches like copper, which has antimicrobial features, and hygienically treated fabric to further prevent the spread of future viruses. Hyundai has even included a “shoe refreshing appliance” that would clean and deodorize your shoes. Real charging and range The Hyundai SEVEN Concept will sit on Hyundai’s Electric Global Modular Platform, or E-GMP. That platform already underpins other vehicles in the Hyundai-Kia group, like the new all-electric crossover Ioniq 5, the first production Hyundai vehicle built on the platform. It’s the same platform that the Kia EV6 is built on and will be the foundation for future electric vehicles coming from the Hyundai-Kia-owned luxury brand, Genesis. The platform allows EVs to charge at 400-volt and 800-volt speeds, in the case of real vehicles like the Ioniq 5, allowing it to charge from 10% to 80% in less than 20 minutes on a 350 kW DC Fast charger. Hyundai says that it can get upwards of 300 miles of range from the larger 77.4 kWh battery pack they offer. While concept vehicles are often mostly vaporware, the Hyundai SEVEN concept offers an interesting blend of imagined and real that gives the world a glimpse of what the company thinks the future may hold for transportation.

Instagram will shut down its companion app Threads by year end Posted: 17 Nov 2021 10:01 AM PST Instagram’s standalone messaging app Threads is shutting down. The app will no longer be supported by the end of December 2021, the company confirmed to TechCrunch after reports began circulating via social media of its impending closure. Instagram is planning to alert its existing Threads users with an in-app notice beginning on November 23, which will direct them to return to Instagram to message their friends going forward. Threads was first introduced in 2019 as a companion app to Instagram shortly after the company shut down its other standalone messaging app, Direct. Instead of focusing solely on the inbox experience, Threads was built as a “camera-first” mobile messager designed to be used for posting status updates and staying in touch with those you designated as your “Close Friends” on Instagram. The app didn’t gain mainstream adoption, however. But instead of iterating on the experience, Threads received little attention until a revamp last year which made it possible to message everyone — not just “Close Friends” — as Direct had once offered. Though the app had offered a way to update your Status — or even automatically update it, based on your location — it had been difficult to navigate between the different sections of the app until the 2020 redesign. With the update, Instagram attempted to make it easier to switch between friends’ Stories, the Camera interface, and other parts of the experience. It still didn’t function as a quick way to read through your messages, though, and didn’t gain significant traction as a result of the changes. The app today is ranked No. 214 in the Photo & Video category on the U.S. App Store — an indication of its continued failure to catch on with a broader audience. It’s also rated a middling 3.1 stars across 2,500 reviews as users complain about its usability, layout, missing features, and glitches. To date, Threads has seen approximately 13.7 million global installs from across the App Store and Google Play, according to estimates from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower. The closure comes at a time when Meta (formerly, Facebook) is revamping its messaging platforms. Following Threads’ debut, Facebook made Messenger and Instagram interoperable — meaning Instagram users could message friends on Facebook and vice versa. The updates included a host of new features as well, like ways to co-watch videos, react with emoji, change the chat color, and more. Eventually, the company wants to include WhatsApp in this cross-platform messaging experience. Of course, those changes begged the question as to where that leaves a smaller companion app like Threads. The app’s closure message was first spotted by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, and subsequently written up by smaller blogs. But Instagram had not yet confirmed the details publicly as the message wasn’t yet displaying to the app’s users. The company told TechCrunch its decision to close Threads came about because many of its most-loved features — like automatic captions and status — have either rolled out or are now rolling out to Instagram. Instagram also felt it could better focus its messaging efforts by not splitting its attention between two different apps. “We know that people care about connecting with their close friends, and we’ve seen this particularly over the past few years with the growth of messaging on Instagram. We’re now focusing our efforts on enhancing how you connect with close friends on Instagram, and deprecating the Threads app,” an Instagram spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch. “We’re bringing the fun and unique features we had on Threads to the main Instagram app, and continuing to build ways people can better connect with their close friends on Instagram. We hope this makes it easier for people to have all these features and abilities in the main app,” they added. The company says it will release new messaging features on the main Instagram app in the months ahead. On November 23, All Threads users on both iOS and Android will begin seeing the notices that the app will shut down by December, and Instagram’s Help Center will also display a notice that explains Threads will no longer be supported. When the app’s support ends, existing users will be logged out and the app will be removed from the App Store and Google Play. When the app closes down at year-end, all Threads features will be available on the main Instagram app.

Practice Ignition lands $50M to scale globally Posted: 17 Nov 2021 10:00 AM PST Practice ignition, an Australia-based client engagement and commerce platform for professional service businesses, has raised $50 million (65 million AUD) in a Series C round to accelerate its growth and expand globally. It brings the startup’s total raised to $75 million, said Guy Pearson, CEO and founder of Practice Ignition. The fresh funding was led by JMI Equity, marking JMI's first investment in Australia, with participation from previous backers including Tiger Global and EVP, as well as several strategic investors and family office groups. Practice Ignition will use the proceeds to double down on growing its core key markets in Asia, North America and EMEA through further development, marketing and sales capabilities. The funding will also be used to fuel its U.S. market expansion through strategic partnerships with Gusto, Intuit and Thompson Reuters. The Series C raise comes on the heels of a series of announcements. Practice Ignition recently unveiled a partnership with Gusto to accelerate the adoption and knowledge of people advisory services. It also announced plans to set up a new R&D team in Toronto, supporting its innovation and customer expansion goals in North America. Practice Ignition is on an ambitious path to reshape the professional services industry that does business with its customers through its all-in-one client engagement and commerce solution. Its platform integrates digital proposals, payments and automated workflows via leading business apps such as Gusto, Xero, QuickBooks and Zapier to streamline service-based commerce. Gusto is expanding from payroll into a full suite financial wellness platform Practice Ignition has experienced tremendous growth since its inception, almost doubling client revenues facilitated via its platform in 2021. The business is on track to drive significant growth in 2022, with more than 1 million clients across six markets and over $2 billion in client revenue under management. Practice Ignition was founded in 2013 by accounting entrepreneur Guy Pearson and product designer Dane Thomas, who grew frustrated by antiquated manual processes and late payments from clients. Pearson said its platform was primarily a tool for accountants and bookkeepers, who are still a big part of its customer base. There are a lot of similar workflows in other areas of professional services, such as marketing and consulting, that Practice Ignition believes it can provide value to, he continued. It is continuing to build the platform to suit a broader range of customers. “We are creating a new category with our client engagement and commerce platform, and we’re only scratching the surface when it comes to market penetration in the global professional services industry,” according to Pearson. As the global professional services industry faces mounting pressure to digitize its operations and customer interactions in light of COVID-19, which has accelerated digital transformation globally, Practice Ignition is gearing up for a substantial shift, Pearson said. "As the world moves online, many accountants and bookkeepers have to rapidly shift their business practices and functions to be fully digital overnight. With the transition of accounting from tax compliance to advisory, this means that the need to deliver engaging, quality customer interactions via technology is critical for closing deals, boosting profitability and winning and retaining clients," Pearson said. "Guy, Dane and the team at Practice Ignition have built a category-defining business with a world-class team. We have been impressed by the strength of the product, the engaged and loyal customer base and the enormous potential for growth and scale globally," said Sureel Sheth, principal at JMI Equity. Zapier buys no-code-focused Makerpad in its first acquisition Intuit confirms $12B deal to buy Mailchimp

The all-electric Fisker Ocean SUV debuts with a rotating screen from Foxconn Posted: 17 Nov 2021 09:58 AM PST Foxconn’s fingerprints are all over one of the central details in the upcoming all-electric Fisker Ocean SUV. The company unveiled the production-intent version of the Fisker Ocean SUV on Wednesday at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The electric vehicle — Fisker’s first — will have a distinctive 17.1-inch central screen made by Foxconn that can rotate from portrait mode to landscape, which the automaker has dubbed “Hollywood mode.” This Hollywood mode is for the driver and passengers to watch movies or play games when the vehicle is parked and charging. Image Credits: Kirsten Korosec Henrik Fisker, the company’s co-founder and CEO, said they’ve filed a patent on that swiveling screen technology. Fisker initially unveiled a prototype of the Ocean SUV at CES 2020, the annual tech trade show in Las Vegas. Now, the company is sharing more specs about the vehicle, including range, various trim levels and corresponding prices as well as details like a solar roof for passive charging. Fisker plans to offer four trims, in 14 possible colors, starting with the base level Sport priced at $37,499 — before incentives or taxes. The Sport, which has a peak 275 horsepower, will have an estimated range of 250 miles on single charge using lithium-ion phosphate battery cell chemistry supplied by CATL. The other trims, both of which are all-wheel, dual motor vehicles, are the Fisker Ocean Ultra that’s priced at $49,999 and the Extreme trim at $68,999. The first 5,000 vehicles will be the Fisker Ocean One, also at the highest price of $68,999. With those dual motors, comes more power and acceleration times. The estimated peak horsepower of the Ultra will be 540 hp and a zero to 60 mph acceleration time of 3.9 seconds. The Extreme and Ocean One will have a 550 hp and a 0 to 60 mph acceleration time of 3.6 seconds. The Ultra, Extreme, and first edition will have CATL battery cells with a nickel manganese cobalt battery chemistry. The Ultra will have an estimated range of 340 miles and the Extreme will push range beyond 350 miles, according to the company. Fisker has two vehicle programs in the works. The Fisker Ocean SUV, which took the center stage at the company’s stand at the Los Angeles Auto Show, will be assembled by automotive contract manufacturer Magna Steyr in Europe. The start of production is scheduled to begin in November 2022. Deliveries will begin in Europe and the United States in late 2022, with a plan to reach production capacity of more than 5,000 vehicles per month during 2023. Deliveries to customers in China are also expected to begin in 2023. In May 2021, Fisker signed an agreement with Foxconn to co-develop and manufacture a new electric vehicle. Henrik Fisker said the two companies moved on the design “fairly quickly,” and are now diving into the engineering and technical details that include working on a patent for a new way of opening a trunk and other technological innovations. Curiously, the vehicle manufacturing partnership came out of Fisker’s conversations with Foxconn to supply a unique infotainment display, Henrik Fisker told TechCrunch in an interview Wednesday. “The real issue we have in the car industry is the technology in that car is more than three years,” he said. “And there’s something wrong with that because we always feel like are phones are better and smarter and faster than what’s in our cars.” The aim was to move as fast as the iPhone makers, he said in reference to Foxconn. Fisker began discussions with Foxconn in January and locked in a deal on soon after. The vehicle manufacturing deal, known as Project PEAR, soon followed.

Spotify’s new Podcast Subscriptions expand to global markets Posted: 17 Nov 2021 09:34 AM PST Just a few months after launching support for podcast subscriptions to U.S. creators, Spotify today is making the service available to creators in global markets. The company says the service, which allows creators to mark episodes as “subscriber-only” content, will now become available in 33 new markets worldwide. When podcast subscriptions publicly launched in the U.S., Spotify had introduced a couple of key changes to how the service worked. Before, creators had only been able to choose from one of three price points for their paid shows. But Spotify heard from creators they wanted more pricing flexibility, so it revamped pricing with the introduction of 20 price point options for creators to choose from, starting as low as $0.49 and increasing to as much as $150. The company also launched a feature that would allow creators to download a list of their subscribers’ contact information, so they could further develop their direct relationship with their audience. As the service rolls out globally, Spotify isn’t introducing any new features, it says. Instead, the expansion is just about bringing podcast subscriptions to more people. Spotify’s podcast subscription platform isn’t the only one on the market. Apple offers its version of subscriptions, but takes a 30% cut of creator revenue, which drops to 15% in year two — similar to other subscription apps. Spotify, meanwhile, is hoping to grow its service by waiving its commissions for the first two years. When the free period ends, it then plans to take a much lower commission of just 5%. Spotify’s subscription podcasts service is offered via its podcast creation platform Anchor, which notes the subscriptions available today on both iOS and Android to 29 markets. The remaining four markets will roll out next week. Included in the global rollout are Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Next week, Canada, Germany, Austria, and  France will be supported. In other podcast news, Spotify additionally announced a multi-year exclusive agreement with Bad Robot Audio, a new audio-focused division of Bad Robot, the production company formed by J.J. Abrams in 2001. Bad Robot is behind shows like “Lost,” “Alias,” “Fringe,” “Person of Interest,” “Castle Rock,” “Westworld,” and others, as well as films like “Super 8,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker,” and the “Star Trek,” “Mission: Impossible” and “Cloverfield” franchises. The new division is being led by former Audible and Spotify award-winning executive, Christina Choi, who joins as Head of Podcasts at Bad Robot. The company isn’t yet detailing what shows it may offer on Spotify, but notes that they’ll include both “narrative non-fiction and fiction podcast productions.”

4 strategies for setting marketplace take rates Posted: 17 Nov 2021 09:15 AM PST Tanay Jaipuria Contributor Tanay Jaipuria is a product manager and angel investor who writes a weekly newsletter on business and technology. Every marketplace or platform startup has to decide how much they should charge for transactions on their platform, known as the “take rate.” While there is no formula set in stone, I've analyzed the take rates of over 25 private and public marketplaces below. I'll use these to help shed light on some considerations for founders to guide their decision. Note that the definition of “take rate” used in this piece will be a percentage, which is calculated by dividing the revenue made on the transaction by the platform by the total value of the transaction. Maximizing take rate isn't the goal It’s important for founders to remember that maximizing the take rate of the platform is not the goal. A higher take rate typically leads to lower transaction volume, and depending on the stage a company is in, it may be advantageous to charge a lower take rate than what you can sustain to gain a strategic advantage. Image Credits: Tanay Jaipuria You can see startups do this when they are going after relatively nascent markets that they are trying to grow. A great example of this is OpenSea, which charges a 2.5% fee on transactions, which is quite low compared to other marketplaces. However, given that NFTs were relatively nascent, their low fees helped reduce friction to trading and grow the size of the market. This also happens in markets that are extremely competitive and have some winner-take-all dynamics of economies of scale. Here, a marketplace could start with lower take rates to try to grab share or achieve scale. The more value a marketplace provides via value-added services, the higher the take rate it can charge. A general rule of thumb to remember is that the goal is to maximize long-term profit: (take rate x average transaction value – variable cost) x (number of transactions). Note that: The take rate and number of transactions will often trade off with each other. A lower take rate in the short term can lead to better outcomes in the long term. Charging lower take rates than what you can “get away with” may lead to higher retention and value creation in the long run. Understand the nature of your market Referring to the chart above, it's clear that take rates are extremely variable, even within industries. However, certain market-driven factors play a role in determining the ranges in which you can operate. For instance, certain companies such as Uber have to charge very different take rates in delivery (~10%) versus ride-sharing (~20%). When trying to understand the nature of the market, founders should consider: Is the product being sold digital or physical, and how much margin is available?

US says Iran-backed hackers are now targeting organizations with ransomware Posted: 17 Nov 2021 09:13 AM PST The U.S. government, along with counterparts in Australia and the U.K, have warned that Iranian state-backed hackers are targeting U.S. organizations in critical infrastructure sectors — in some cases with ransomware. The rare warning linking Iran with ransomware landed in a joint advisory Wednesday, issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), and the U.K’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). The advisory said that Iran-backed attackers have been exploiting Fortinet vulnerabilities since at least March and a Microsoft Exchange ProxyShell vulnerability since October to gain access to U.S. critical infrastructure organizations in the transport and public health sectors, as well as organizations in Australia. The aim of the hackers is ultimately to leverage this access for follow-on operations such as data exfiltration, extortion and ransomware deployment. In May this year, for example, the hackers abused Fortigate gear to access a web server hosting the domain for a U.S. municipal government. The following month, CISA and the FBI observed the hackers exploiting Fortinet vulnerabilities to access the networks of a U.S.-based hospital specializing in healthcare for children. The joint advisory has been released alongside a separate report from Microsoft on the evolution of Iranian APTs, which are “increasingly utilizing ransomware to either collect funds or disrupt their targets.” In the report, Microsoft said it has been tracking six Iranian threat groups that have been deploying ransomware and exfiltrating data in attacks that started in September 2020. Microsoft singles out one particularly "aggressive" group it calls Phosphorus, also known as APT35, which the company has been tracking for the past two years. While it previously used spear-phishing emails to lure victims, including presidential candidates during the 2020 U.S. election, Microsoft says the group is now employing social engineering tactics to build rapport with their victims before using BitLocker, a full-disk encryption feature built into Windows, to encrypt their files. CISA and the FBI are urging organizations to take a series of actions to mitigate the threats posed by the Iranian attackers, including updating operating systems, implementing network segmentation, and using multi-factor authentication and strong passwords. Microsoft says Iranian hackers targeted a 2020 presidential candidate

In-game creation platform Overwolf raises $75M Series D led by Andreessen Horowitz Posted: 17 Nov 2021 09:11 AM PST Overwolf, a platform that enables creators to build, share, and monetize items inside games, has raised a $75 million Series D funding round, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Previous investors including Griffin Gaming Partners, Insight Partners, Intel Capital, Liberty Technology Venture Capital, and Marker also participated. The funding will be pumped into Overwolf's CurseForge Core, a solution that enables game studios, IP owners, and in-game creators to build user-generated content inside games. The world where 'gold' and in-game mods were bought and sold has moved on considerably. Players are now being enticed by the ability to build and share experiences inside games, creating a whole new sector for creators and hame-owners alike. Based in Tel Aviv, Overwolf has raised over $150 million to date from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Atreides Management, Griffin Gaming Partners, Insight, Marker, Intel Capital, Liberty Technology Venture Capital, Market, and Ubisoft.   CurseForge Core is a white-label solution that allows publishers to easily integrate mods into their existing and new games. As well as being a technical solution, Overwolf offers game developers a full-service UGC platform that will cover content moderation, IP, and various other aspects. Uri Marchand, Overwolf Co-Founder, and CEO, said "No single game studio can compete with the speed of execution and sheer creativity of a passionate community. Instead of resisting community creations, we have seen a shift in perception with leading game studios starting to embrace the value that these creators bring to the community and to the studio itself." Overwolf says it has amassed some 87,000 in-game creators, while more than 20 million gamers use Overwolf's products monthly. It predicts it will pay out $29M to in-game creators, nearly three times last year's number. It's also launching the Overwolf Creators Fund, a $50 million fund to support in-game app creators, mod authors, as well as game studios who plan to integrate mods into new titles. Jonathan Lai, a partner at a16z, said: "The biggest social platforms today, including TikTok, Youtube, Instagram, are heavily driven by creators who generate content for friends, family, and the community. As games continue to evolve into social networks, creators and user-generated content will play an equally important role. Overwolf’s platform makes it possible for any player to become a co-creator of their favorite game thanks to a robust development engine, an app store for distribution, and monetization tools for creators to earn a living from their work." Speaking to me over a call, I asked Marchand if Overwolf could conceivably become a sort of 'building block' for a proposed Metaverse-style environment? "If we’re talking about consistent experiences across games, then we can potentially create that and bridge the gap in a way that’s aligned with the IP owners," he told me. "It could be a sword, or it could be a narrative, it could be a lot of those things. I think a big part of the metaverse apart from people being able to talk and switch between experiences and create ownership is creation – and we’re a company that’s focused on the creation elements," he added. A competitor to overworld is Mod.io, which recently $26 million.

Fieldin buys fellow agtech firm Midnight Robotics Posted: 17 Nov 2021 09:10 AM PST It was going to be a big couple of years for agricultural robotics well before COVID-19 was on our collective radar. Population growth and environmental concerns have been big drivers for those working to figure out how to feed people in the future. The pandemic, meanwhile, has only accelerated concerns, as many farmers have struggled to staff field-hand positions. Fieldin — which made its first appearance on these pages as a Tel Aviv pitch-off winner back in 2016 — today announced plans to acquire Midnight Robotics. It's certainly a good match on its face. California-based (by way of Israel and Australia) Fieldin works to help farmers accelerate data collection and automation. Midnight, meanwhile, retrofits tractors and other farming equipment with lidar-based sensing technologies. Fieldin says its technology takes around a day to get up and running. As with many of these services, the company sends a technician to the farm to help on-board farmers. On the face of it, at least, it's an easier life than many of the existing technologies that require famers to purchase brand new technology — something that's cost-prohibitive for those on a tight budget. We’re launching a robotics newsletter! Please sign up to get Actuator in your inbox as soon as the first issue hits! For free! The acquisition will integrate Midnight's technology into Fieldin's existing solution. "Over the past eight years we've digitized hundreds of farms and over 10,000 tractors and pieces of farming equipment — more than anyone else in the high-value crop world — and amassed a trove of invaluable data that can offer insights into best practices in farm management," Fieldin co-founder and CEO Boaz Bachar said in a release. "By acquiring Midnight Robotics, we're helping farmers close the loop from insight to autonomous action, so they know exactly what they need to do and execute it autonomously, all through the same platform." Midnight co-founders Yonatan Horovitz and Edo Reshef will join Fieldin as chief autonomy office and chief technology officer, respectively. They will also both be listed as Fieldin co-founders, per the deal.

The Anoma protocol raises $26M for its work to undefine money Posted: 17 Nov 2021 09:00 AM PST One of the best parts of being a journalist is getting to pepper experts with whatever questions you have in mind, allowing you to learn lots, often quickly, about much. The downside to that upside is that you often wind up knowing just enough to be dangerous as a journalist, but not enough to not worry that you are making a modest ass of yourself on the internet. With that caveat in mind, let’s talk about the Anoma Foundation, the Anoma protocol and Heliax. Bear with me here. Unlike the Delaware C-corp standard that we see from many startups that raise capital these days, the Anoma project is set up a little differently. The Anoma Foundation is based in Switzerland and has just raised $26 million. It, in turn, is using its raised funds to pay Heliax, a developer group, to work on the Anoma protocol. Polychain Capital led the funding event, with other names like Maven 11 Capital and Electric Capital also contributing. Per Adrian Brink, a founder at both the larger Anoma project and Heliax, the setup of a Swiss foundation and separate development shop was proven through the development of Polkadot, which was, in turn, the work of the Web3 Foundation, also based in Switzerland. If you want to be lazy, just know that the larger Anoma project has just raised a stack of new funds. It did so, per Brink, via a SAFT. You are actually more familiar with that term than you think: Recall that a SAFE is a simple agreement for future equity, a method of fundraising that allows a startup to raise funds without setting a formal price at the time. SAFEs come in a host of flavors, with some featuring a “cap,” or upper limit on the price that invested dollars in the mechanism can convert to shares. They can also include discounts or a pre-determined, lower-cost conversion rate into shares at a future valuation mark. Some have both caps and discounts. Regardless, a SAFT, as you have already guessed, is a simple agreement for future tokens, or a SAFE fit for the crypto world. Neat! So, what will the Anoma protocol do? According to Brink, Anoma wants to undefine money in the long term. His team thinks that money is becoming a lackluster form of abstraction, given that folks may not want to have a currency middle layer between their ability to swap digital assets. Enter Anoma, an asset-agnostic blockchain project that will allow users to barter digital goods. Notably, Anoma won’t be a price-determining entity. Instead, Brink explained, Anoma will be a coordination system when it launches, one that can be used for trading digital assets. There are some controls planned that users will like, including setting intent to trade something for another thing, and a mechanism akin to limit pricing to avoid under-bartering, if that’s a phrase. Underlying the larger Anoma perspective is the idea that there will be many major blockchains, or level one (L1) protocols, out there. That would mean that digital assets won’t be on a single chain in the future, implying a need to be able to swap from one blockchain to another. Doing so without the required use of money could prove useful. We’ll know more about the project’s — company’s? — hypothesis when Anoma launches, perhaps, per Brink, in Q4 2022 or Q1 2023. That’s about as simple as I can make the Anoma round for you. But I wanted to bring it up all the same — too much of today’s crypto chatter is about silly NFT prices and which shitcoin is currently mooning. Whatever. Anoma is, instead, using blockchain tech to put something together that actually feels new and interesting. It’s more old-school crypto, if you will, a push to make a new future of value where we aren’t constrained to traditional methods or their thinly digitized equivalents.

Apple, Google questioned by ICO over app age ratings after UK child safety charity raises concerns Posted: 17 Nov 2021 08:51 AM PST The UK’s data protection watchdog has written to Apple and Google seeking details of how they assess apps to determine the age ratings they apply following concerns raised by an online child safety charity. The move follows the coming into force of the UK’s Age Appropriate Design Code this September — which puts requirements on digital services that are likely to be accessed by children to prioritize protecting their privacy and safety. In a statement today the information commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, said her office is currently conducting an “evidence gathering process to identify conformance with the code, and thus compliance with the underlying data protection law”. The information commissioner was responding to a letter from the 5Rights Foundation — a digital child safety charity which conducted research over the summer to investigate compliance with the Code; and says it found 12 “systemic” breaches, including insufficient age assurance; mis-advertisment of minimum ages for games on app stores; the use of dark patterns and nudges; data-driven recommendations that create risks for children; a routine failure to enforce community standards; low default privacy settings; and plenty more besides. “In this process, the ICO is taking a systemic approach; we are focusing our interventions on operators of online services where there is information which indicates potential poor compliance with privacy requirements, and where there is a high risk of potential harm to children,” Denham also wrote in reply to the 5Rights Foundation, adding that as part of this work the ICO has contacted Apple and Google — “to enquire about the extent to which the risks associated with the processing of personal data are a factor when determining the age rating for an app”. The tech giants have been contacted for comment on the development. Both operate app stores which apply age ratings to apps that are made available for download — potentially by children — meaning their platforms come under the scope of the Code. The ICO is not singling out Apple and Google, however — saying today that it’s written to a total of 40 organizations across the three tech sectors it considers highest risk for kids — namely social media/messaging; gaming; and video/music streaming — “to determine their standards of conformance individually”. It adds that it will write to a further nine companies following the charity highlighting a raft of concerns — bringing the total number of digital services under regulatory review to almost 50. The ICO has not published the full list of tech companies it has targeted for Code compliance questions. Nor does the 5Rights Foundation appear to have published the list of companies it’s raising concerns about (but it has passed their names to the regulator). Its correspondence to the ICO also refers directly to Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen’s recent testimony to lawmakers, which includes warnings over the toxicity of platforms like Instagram for teens’ developing brains — suggesting the social media giant (now known as Meta) is likely on its list. The charity’s chair, Baroness Kidron, was instrumental in pushing for the Code’s set of headline standards to be established by the ICO in the first place, as part of the UK’s existing data protection legislation. Although the Code only came into force at the start of September the standards were published at the start of last year — with the ICO opting to give business a long grace period to come into compliance. So, in one sense, it’ll be difficult for established businesses to argue that they haven’t had enough time to make the necessary changes. Moreover, while the ICO doesn’t exactly have a reputation as a pro-active enforcer of digital rights, child safety groups like the 5Rights Foundation don’t look like they’ll be content to let enforcement sit still for long. “There is a danger that the Code is being interpreted as introducing a handful of safety measures, rather than a requiring a holistic re-design of the systems and processes of services to ensure their data collection practices are in the best interests of children,” the 5Rights Foundation warns in its letter. “If the Code is to have real value in protecting children's safety and rights in the digital environment, the ICO must make sure that it is respected in practice.” Kidron also suggests that the “systemic” nature of the problems the 5Rights Foundation’s research unearthed suggests that while the issues were identified ahead of the Code coming into force this fall, “many” will likely persist — hence it’s urging the ICO to investigate “apparent breaches” and publish guidance. In her response, Denham suggests a timeline of next spring for the ICO to take some sort of action, writing: “In terms of timescales, we need to take the time to understand what the information gathered is telling us systemically and individually. Our regulatory options will be based on that careful understanding and as such I expect that we will progress to next steps in spring 2022.” But it’s notable that she has written “next steps” — rather than actual enforcement. This suggests there may be a far longer dance of the ICO trying to ‘encourage’ improvements from the tech industry vs muscular enforcement on platform giants — as we’ve seen in the case of systemic breaches of data protection law by the adtech industry (which the ICO has been ‘investigating’ for years, just without taking any enforcement action). See, for example, the discussion later in Denham’s letter to Kidron of “stakeholder roundtable events” where she says it’s planning to gather evidence about the use of age assurance tech, specifically, that will be “used to inform the scope of any further regulatory action in relation to age assurance”. On age assurance — aka, technologies and techniques used to try to determine the age of a user to figure out if they are underage/a minor — the 5Rights Foundation’s research found “many” services with age restrictions that it said can, nonetheless, “be easily accessed by children under the minimum age of use, including adult-only services”. It also reports finding some services stating that they do not collect any personal data from children — yet says “many” of these lacked age assurance or else used age assurance that can be easily bypassed (such as asking children to input a birth date, which they can just lie about). “If these services do not identify child users, it is unclear how they are upholding their own privacy policies or are able to implement the Code,” the charity goes on to warn in the letter. However the question of how platforms can comply with elements of the cCode like ‘age assurance’ requirements is not exactly a straightforward one. Last month the ICO put out a call for evidence on age assurance. And in an opinion on the topic, published simultaneously, the regulator offered some tentative guidance for digital service providers — recommending a risk-based approach and suggesting those platforms and apps that pose a “high” risk to children should either apply all relevant code standards to all users to ensure risks are “mitigated”; or introduce age assurance measures that “give the highest possible level of certainty on age of users” (likely to mean age verification rather than age estimation). For low or medium risk services, the ICO suggested either applying all relevant code standards to all users to ensure risks are “low”; or “introduce age assurance measures that give a level of certainty on the age of child users that is proportionate to the potential risks to children”. So there’s inherent subjectivity in how platforms assess risks and choose which mitigating measures to apply. The opinion also highlighted the challenge for digital services in balancing the requirement to protect privacy with applying (potentially) intrusive age assurance techniques, with the ICO writing: “While the Commissioner appreciates the developments in age assurance techniques, technology and policy, more needs to be done to ensure these respect and comply with data protection law.” The regulator also committed to revisiting the opinion in line with a planned review of the Code in 2022 — “due to the rapidly evolving state of the age assurance market, wider legislative proposals and developing policy landscape”. Expecting muscular enforcement to rain down in an area where privacy and safety intersect — and even collide — and where there is no simple one-size-fits all solution that will be appropriate everywhere, for every type of service and user — seems, well, unlikely. Denham’s lengthy letter is not only packed with caveats and qualifications it begins by managing expectations — framing the Code as seeking to drive “proportionate protections that enhance society's engagement with the digital world” — all of which suggests her office will favor a more pragmatic, tweak-by-tweak, approach to compliance with the Code than some child safety charities (and age assurance tech providers) might prefer. The UK government is also in the process of consulting on ‘reforming’ the domestic data protection regime — potentially interfering with the independence of the ICO in favor of prioritizing data-fuelled ‘innovation’. So the ICO may get defanged and domestic privacy rights gutted in the not too distant future. Time will tell how this one plays out. But the UK’s child safety campaigners may end up finding themselves feeling as frustrated as UK privacy advocates — who continue to whistle for regulatory enforcement against systemic breaches (that the ICO has itself identified) years after the country updated its data protection regime to add (at least on paper) a set of teeth… “I hope you will recognise that as a regulator, the ICO will always face tough choices on how to deploy our limited resources,” Denham cautions Kidron. “As such, this is why our initial focus is on those cases of greatest potential harm with non-conformance across multiple standards.” She also warns that the ICO will be staying in its lane — such as by not applying the Code’s standards retrospectively. Denham’s letter is also careful to emphasize that the regulator cannot tackle certain concerns raised by the charity as they don’t fall under its remit or else fall outside the scope of the Code (such as child accessing adult-only websites) — pointing instead to the forthcoming Online Safety Act as the appropriate legislation for that; a content-focused regulation that will be overseen by Ofcom, not the ICO. “The ICO will continue to work with DCMS [the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport], Ofcom as the intended online safety regulator, and others to ensure that where we can act under current regulation, we do try to prevent underage access. However the solution to the problem is not one that sits squarely within the code or within data protection so is not one the ICO can commit to address entirely,” she adds. UK watchdog sets out ‘age appropriate’ design code for online services to keep kids’ privacy safe   UK now expects compliance with children’s privacy design code

Machina Labs emerges from stealth with $16M raised for on-demand manufacturing robotics Posted: 17 Nov 2021 08:00 AM PST Machina Labs today announced a $14 million Series A for its robotics and AI-based manufacturing. The round, led by Innovation Endeavors and featuring Congruent Ventures and Embark Ventures, brings the Los Angeles firm's total funding to $16.3 million to date. The news also finds the company effectively coming out of stealth, following pilots with NASA and the United States Air Force. Government contracts (DoD specifically) have long played an important part of the early stages of robotics platforms, and Machina Labs doesn't appear unique in that respect. We’re launching a robotics newsletter! Please sign up to get Actuator in your inbox as soon as the first issue hits! For free! It is, however, beginning to accept commercial partners, as it looks toward more growth with this new funding. The timing is certainly right, with U.S.-based manufacturing only further hamstrung amid a pandemic that has ground much of the global supply chain to a screeching halt. Image Credits: Machina Labs Machina's initial play is focused, in part, on sheet metal manipulation, which it has used to design tank parts, while exploring the potential for in-space manufacturing for NASA — though, for obvious reasons, that bit is a ways off. Meantime, the company is currently offering on-demand manufacturing-as-a-service at the factory in its native Los Angeles. "Manufacturing must be reinvented to keep up with the pace of change in this highly competitive market," co-founder and CEO Edward Mehr said in a statement. "We're excited to finally reveal Machina Labs' manufacturing platform, which combines the latest advances in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) to democratize access to rapid manufacturing so that anyone with a great idea can manufacture parts quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. These software-defined, robotic facilities are the factories of the future, and we're thrilled to have our investors on board to help us get there." This fresh round of funding will go toward increasing the company's headcount in LA and additional R&D for its platform.

Waymo Via expands UPS partnership to include autonomous freight with Class 8 trucks Posted: 17 Nov 2021 08:00 AM PST Waymo Via, the delivery division of Alphabet’s self-driving arm, is expanding its existing partnership with UPS to carry freight via autonomous Class 8 trucks. The six-week pilot, which kicked off last week and will continue until the end of the year to support the holiday season, takes place in Texas between Houston and Dallas-Forth Worth. Waymo is not sharing the specific number of trucks it will use for the pilot, but it did say “multiple trucks” from its test fleet of Peterbilts that are equipped with its fifth-generation Driver will be delivering goods for UPS’s North American Air Freight (NAAF) unit. The trucks will have two autonomous specialists onboard — one driver with a commercial driver’s license and one software technician — who will monitor Driver’s operations while in autonomous mode. The trucks will be self-driving only on highways, and will switch back to manual mode for surface street portions, a spokesperson for Waymo told TechCrunch. Back in January 2020, Waymo began delivering smaller parcels for UPS in its autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans in Phoenix, Arizona. The goal of that initial pilot, which wrapped earlier this year, was to develop a long-term plan for how the companies can work together, so this latest extension makes good on that intention. The first UPS pilot, “brought incredible learnings for us on things like hailing the vehicle, loading/unloading parcels and more,” said a Waymo spokesperson. “While this trucking pilot won't be related to our local delivery pilots or have any local delivery components, we'll be building on our initial learnings and working with the UPS team for these trial runs.” If the trucking pilot goes well, Waymo might pose a threat to companies like TuSimple that have been partnering with UPS and its NAAF division since 2019. During TuSimple’s Q3 earnings call, the AV startup said it’s expanding its autonomous freight network from Arizona to the east coast ahead of schedule so that it can reach NAAF terminals in Orlando and Charlotte. TuSimple says it has already completed 160,000 miles of freight hauls for NAAF. “These Class 8 trial runs will build on all of the learnings and success we've had testing with UPS over the years, as well as our previous Class 8 trial runs with other carriers across unique verticals, including J.B. Hunt,” Waymo wrote in a blog post announcing the partnership. In June, Waymo announced a freight hauling partnership with J.B. Hunt along the busy Interstate 45 between Houston and Forth Worth. A couple of months later, the company announced it would build a dedicated trucking hub in Dallas and partner with Ryder for fleet management services in a move to scale up autonomous trucking operations in Texas, Arizona and California. The Ryder relationship has already begun at a temporary Dallas facility, but the hub won’t open until the first half of next year, says Waymo.

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