Health insurance startup Alan reaches $4.5B valuation with new $193M funding round

Belfius is leading Alan’s Series F funding round of €173 million (around $193 million at current exchange rates).
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India’s Physics Wallah raises $210M at $2.8B valuation even as edtech funding remains scarce

An Indian edtech startup has secured $210 million in fresh financing amid a tough funding environment for edtech companies in the country.
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Here is what’s illegal under California’s 8 (and counting) new AI laws

California Governor Gavin Newsom is currently considering 38 AI-related bills, including the highly contentious SB 1047, which the state’s legislature sent to his desk for final approval. These bills try to address the most pressing issues in artificial intelligence: eve…Read More

Gaming Lyft’s Citi Bike algos was a lucrative side hustle for a while

A New York Times article Thursday highlighted a lucrative side hustle that is emblematic of the times we live in: gaming algorithms to earn money. In this case, folks figured out they could maximize the payout from Lyft’s Citibike “bike angels” program by taking advantage of a…Read More

This robotic knee exoskeleton is made from consumer braces and drone motors

Test subjects were required to move a 30-pound kettlebell up and down a flight of stairs.
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TechCrunch Minute: United will use SpaceX’s Starlink to bring free Wi-Fi to flights

United Airlines announced last week that it came to an agreement with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring the Starlink internet service to its entire fleet. That’s a huge partnership for both parties, and as this rollout takes place, anyone who flies United will be able…Read More

Zeno emerges from stealth to crib Tesla’s master plan for Africa and beyond

The startup has been methodically exploring how batteries might transform life in emerging markets
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Phlair’s carbon sucking technology could lower direct air capture’s costs

The startup is taking a different approach to removing carbon dioxide from the air than most of its competitors.
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India weighs easing market share limits for UPI payment operators

The governing body overseeing India’s popular UPI payments rail is considering increasing its proposed market share cap for operators like Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm.
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Palmer Luckey back in the headset biz, as Anduril partners with Microsoft on U.S. military system

Palmer Luckey, the Hawaiian-shirt wearing founder who sold Oculus VR for $2 billion before co-founding the military tech company Anduril, is back in the headset business.  Anduril has teamed up with Microsoft to embed its software into the…Read More