Sequoia’s Pat Grady says it isn’t clear startups “should be accelerating” right now — here’s why

Earlier today, we joined friend and former colleague Jon Fortt of CNBC in interviewing partner Pat Grady of Sequoia Capital, and it proved a wide-ranging conversation (we wound up blabbing for an hour, which was not always the plan). You can check out the video below but we thought there were some highlights worth pulling […]
https://tcrn.ch/2X5bF8c

Fintech is transforming the world’s oldest asset class: Farmland

While farmland is among the oldest investment classes around, the average investor hasn’t had access to farmland the way that billionaires and institutional investors have. That's changing.
https://tcrn.ch/2WY2sOK

TrueFort snares $30M Series B to expand zero trust application security solution

As companies try to navigate an ever-changing security landscape, it can be challenging to protect everything. Security startup TrueFort has built a zero trust solution focusing on protecting enterprise applications. Today, the company announced a $30 million Series B. Shasta Ventures led today’s round with participation from new firms Canaan and Ericsson Ventures along with […]
https://tcrn.ch/3l8DCUC

E-commerce aggregator Rainforest raises $20M just months after its last funding

Four months after its last funding announcement, Singapore-based e-commerce aggregator Rainforest has closed a $20 million pre-Series A round led by Monk’s Hill Ventures. Other participants included January Capital, Crossbeam Venture Partners, Amasia and Lo & Behold Group, along with returning investors Nordstar and Insignia Venture Partners. Rainforest announced in May that it had raised […]
https://tcrn.ch/3l0dOKx

Ford hires Apple executive who led its secret car project

Ford Motor has hired Doug Field, the engineering executive who was leading Apple’s special projects team, as the automaker seeks to gain an edge in software and other advanced technology. Field, who previously was senior vice president of engineering at Tesla, was named Tuesday as Ford’s chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer. Field was […]
https://tcrn.ch/3DWihXe

Intel’s Mobileye, rental giant Sixt to launch a robotaxi service in Germany next year

Intel subsidiary Mobileye and rental car giant Sixt SE plan to launch a robotaxi service in Munich next year, the CEOs of the two companies announced Tuesday during the IAA Mobility show in Germany. The robotaxi service is leveraging all of Intel’s, and more specifically Mobileye’s, assets that have been in development or purchased in […]
https://tcrn.ch/3jSZlki

H2O Hospitality secures $30M Series C to expedite hotel digital transformation

The pandemic has triggered more demand for contactless and staff-less operations in the hospitality sector, and now H2O Hospitality, the unmanned hotel management company, has closed a $30 million round on the back of that boost. The South Korea and Japan-based startup automates front and backend processes including accommodation reservation, room management and front desk […]
https://tcrn.ch/3BLcW34