March 29, 2024

Web and Technology News

Verity brings in another $11M for its inventory drones

Seems were in the middle of drone delivery summer. A few weeks back, Gather AI snapped up competitor, Ware, following an executive shake and soon after, San Jose-based B Garage brought in a $20 million Series A. Today, Swiss startup Verity announced that it’s adding $11 million in funding. The addition is an extension of […]

Verity brings in another $11M for its inventory drones by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch

The week in robotics: Teaching robots chores from YouTube, robot dogs at the border and drone consolidation

AI’s grabbing headlines, but the robotics field is still making a significant impact in the real world — and this is your briefing on our latest coverage of the growing industry. Before we get into the depths of the past week’s noteworthy robotics news, our resident expert Brian Heater dove into the debate over the […]

The week in robotics: Teaching robots chores from YouTube, robot dogs at the border and drone consolidation by Alyssa Stringer originally published on TechCrunch

B Garage raises $20M for its warehouse inventory drones 

B Garage, a San Jose-based startup building autonomous drones along with software to track warehouse inventory, said today that it has picked up $20 million in a Series A round of funding.  New investor LB Investment led the Series A funding with participation from Ignite Innovation Fund, Krossroad Partners and existing backer SoftBank Ventures Asia. The […]

B Garage raises $20M for its warehouse inventory drones  by Kate Park originally published on TechCrunch

Percepto flies high with $67M for its industrial drones

Percepto, a drone startup that is building a sizable business with its software and hardware for industrial drone applications, is today announcing a big round of funding to take its operations to the next level — both literally and figuratively. The startup — headquartered in Austin, Texas, but founded and with roots in Israel — […]

Percepto flies high with $67M for its industrial drones by Ingrid Lunden originally published on TechCrunch

Turncoat drone story shows why we should fear people, not AIs

A story about a simulated drone turning on its operator in order to kill more efficiently is making the rounds so fast today that there’s no point in hoping it’ll burn itself out. Instead let’s take this as a teachable moment to really see why the “scary AI” threat is overplayed, and the “incompetent human” […]

Turncoat drone story shows why we should fear people, not AIs by Devin Coldewey originally published on TechCrunch

Wingcopter, Germany’s drone delivery startup, raises another $44M from the EIB

Wingcopter, a startup out of Germany that has made a name for itself in the world of delivery drones used primarily for delivery of medicine and other goods to remote areas, has picked up some more financing to expand its business. The European Investment Bank is putting €40 million (close to $44 million) into the […]

Wingcopter, Germany’s drone delivery startup, raises another $44M from the EIB by Ingrid Lunden originally published on TechCrunch

Verity raises $32M as IKEA stores deploy its inventory drones

There’s no shortage of startups attempting to put drones to work. There is, however, a longstanding question around the efficacy of such plans. Drones — especially the smaller variety — are impressive pieces of technology, but their functionality is relatively limited. A small quadcopter probably isn’t going to prune your trees or walk your dog […]

Verity raises $32M as IKEA stores deploy its inventory drones by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch

Zipline unveils cute little droid to make drone delivery more accurate

Zipline unveiled its next generation electric autonomous drone platform Wednesday that includes an updated drone as well as a more accurate method of delivering parcels to a customer’s home. Zipline historically has parachuted packages from the sky and onto a target area roughly the size of a couple of parking spaces. Now, Zipline is introducing […]

Zipline unveils cute little droid to make drone delivery more accurate by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

Wing likens its drone ‘delivery network’ to rideshare

Drone delivery is one of those ideas that’s been sold as “the next big thing” forever. Regardless of how bullish you happen to be on the technology, there’s undeniably a lot that has to be figured out before we can start having serious conversation about mainstream adoption. Regulator issues are a big box to be […]

Wing likens its drone ‘delivery network’ to rideshare by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch

Brinc’s Lemur 2 straps on blue strobes and is ready for action

Drone developer Brinc today showed off its newest drone, designed to help cops and others who care about public safety do their jobs from a safe distance. The new quadcopter is called Lemur 2 and is tooled up and ready to go into areas that otherwise would be too dangerous for humans. The new drone […]

Brinc’s Lemur 2 straps on blue strobes and is ready for action by Haje Jan Kamps originally published on TechCrunch

Skydio soars to a $2.2 billion valuation after raising $230m Series E

Drones are quickly becoming more than a flying selfie cameras. Amid growing geopolitical tensions, drone makers are seeing increased demand and acceptance as drones move farther from consumers’ hands. Skydio today announced a $230 million series E fundraising round and the construction of a new manufacturing facility in America. The company says it’s seen a […]

Skydio soars to a $2.2 billion valuation after raising $230m Series E by Matt Burns originally published on TechCrunch

Hype machines

The age-old question in my industry is, “Where are we in a given hype cycle?” For now, crypto news cycle dominance has, thankfully, died now, largely through its own self-destructive tendencies. FTX obviously served as the most prominent recent example of what happens when the tech community believes its own hype. You so badly wish […]

Hype machines by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch

Drone imagery firm DroneBase rebrands to Zeitview, lands $55M investment

Zeitview, the company formerly known as DroneBase, today announced that it raised $55 million to further develop its air and ground data capture tech. Led by Valor Equity Partners with participation from Union Square Ventures, Upfront Ventures, Euclidean Capital, Energy Transition Ventures and Hearst Ventures, the tranche — which brings Zeitview’s war chest to $114 […]

Drone imagery firm DroneBase rebrands to Zeitview, lands $55M investment by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

This gentle drone collects loose DNA from swaying tree branches

Understanding the biodiversity of forests is crucial to their conservation or restoration. Collecting “external DNA” left behind by animals is a good way to find out what lives there without having to spot them or even be there at the same time — and this drone from Swiss researchers makes taking samples from tree limbs […]

This gentle drone collects loose DNA from swaying tree branches by Devin Coldewey originally published on TechCrunch

This autonomous ornithopter lands and perches on a single claw

Isn’t it wonderful that there are researchers out there whose job is quite simply to make a robotic bird? That’s certainly the goal of this lab, whose flapping-wing drone, or ornithopter, has now been equipped with a grasping claw to let it take a rest on a nearby branch or perhaps even a finger — […]

This autonomous ornithopter lands and perches on a single claw by Devin Coldewey originally published on TechCrunch