Kubik, a plastic upcycling startup, has raised a $ 1.9 million seed extension, months after announcing initial equity investment. The startup’s latest investment is from African Renaissance Partners, an East African venture capital firm; Endgame Capital, an investor with a bias for technologies around climate change; and King Philanthropies, a climate and extreme poverty investor. […]
The ‘valley of death’ for climate lies between early-stage funding and scaling up
Jonathan Strimling faced a dilemma. His company had spent nine years working on chemical processes that could turn old cardboard boxes into high-quality building insulation. The good news was the team had finally cracked it: CleanFiber’s technology pumped out insulation — really good insulation. It had fewer contaminants and produced less dust than other cellulose […]
xAI, Elon Musk’s OpenAI rival, is closing on $6B in funding and X, his social network, is already one of its shareholders
xAI, Elon Musk’s 10-month-old competitor to the AI phenom OpenAI, is raising $ 6 billion on a pre-money valuation of $ 18 billion, according to one trusted source close to the deal. The deal – which would give investors one quarter of the company – is expected to close in the next few weeks unless […]
Tesla still plans to build 1,800-mile charging corridor for semi trucks despite Biden funding snub
Tesla is pushing forward with a plan to build an electric big rig charging corridor stretching from Texas to California, despite being snubbed by a lucrative federal funding program that’s part of Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. But the original scope of the project could still change, TechCrunch has learned. The company had been seeking nearly […]
Orbex’s new funding may accelerate its Prime microlauncher into orbit
UK-based small launch developer Orbex got another boost from Scotland’s national bank and other investors as it gears up for its first orbital launch, though that mission still does not have a set date. Founded in 2015, Orbex is one of a handful of firms racing to develop the next generation of European launch vehicles. […]