Venture Capital

Researchers from the University of Utah’s departments of electrical and computer engineering and physics and astronomy have discovered that a special kind of perovskite, a combination of an organic and inorganic compound that has the same structure as the original mineral, can be layered on a silicon wafer to create a vital component for the communications system of the future. Scientists are investigating how to apply these light frequencies to convey data because of its remarkable potential for increasing the speeds of devices such as cellphones and internet modems.

Uber Technologies approved SoftBank Group’s offer to buy a multibillion-dollar stake in the ride-hailing company, setting the stage for one of the largest private startup deals ever and which would resolve a legal battle between former Chief Executive Travis Kalanick and a prominent shareholder.

British financial technology firm Revolut said on Wednesday it has applied for a European banking license, as it bids to join a growing number of digital-only banks looking to win away customers from larger, traditional lenders.

Founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko in 2015, Revolut is an app-based banking alternative with a multi-currency card and mobile app. An account can be created in seconds, enabling users to instantly send free money transfers in 26 currencies to banks around the globe; spend fee-free in 120 currencies with a contactless Revolut card; and exchange currencies at interbank rates in the app. It also offers peer-to-peer payments.

The former digital chief of Credit Suisse is launching a blockchain-based investment platform that lets people share ownership of "experiential" assets such as artwork or a classic car, and is seeking to raise funding for the startup via an initial coin offering (ICO).

Marco Abele, who left the investment bank this summer, is offering investments in assets usually limited to high-net worth individuals through a new platform called Tend. Well-known fintech industry insider Oliver Bussman, a former chief information officer at UBS and the investment bank’s "blockchain guru" is a strategic advisor.

Elon Musk’s world-changing ideas can sometimes sound like science fiction or the stuff of dreams, one of the most recent being his plan to tunnel beneath cities and create ultrafast […]

Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs will develop a futuristic, billion-dollar community along a sizable swathe of Toronto’s waterfront.
On Wednesday, the City of Toronto and Sidewalk Labs – which is the urban innovation arm of Google’s parent company Alphabet – announced a partnership to radically re-imagine 800 acres of the city’s largely vacant, post-industrial Eastern Waterfront, and turn it into a tech-integrated neighborhood called Quayside.

Rent the Runway began eight years ago as a rental service for formal gowns, cocktail dresses and bejeweled accessories. Now the company is doubling down on its efforts to appeal to more women, more often. Today the brand is launching a new subscription service that’s just $89 a month. It’s called RTR Update, and it allows you to rent four designer pieces for 30 days. Then, you return the set and pick four new items. “We wanted to give women options to rent clothing that they can wear everyday and to cater to their everyday lives,” says Rent the Runway co-founder and CEO Jennifer Hyman. “You can rent things that are going to create options for you.”

Novartis and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) have launched a patient trial for KAF156, a next-generation antimalarial compound with the potential to treat drug-resistant strains of the malaria parasite. The trial will test the efficacy of KAF156 in combination with a new, improved formulation of the existing antimalarial lumefantrine. The first trial center is operational in Mali and will be followed by sixteen additional centers across a total of nine countries in Africa and Asia over the next few months.