Adidas
Allbirds is investing in a plant-based leather substitute, plans faux-leather shoe drop in December
The sustainability focused shoe maker Allbirds has taken another step to green its supply chain with a small $2 million investment in a new company called Natural Fiber Welding. Announced this morning
John Legend and Natalie Portman want you to try wearing fungus instead of leather
Natalie Portman and John Legend are joining a group of venture capitalists and unnamed fashion brands backing MycoWorks, a company that just raised $45 million to commercialize its technology that mak
Venn, a network hoping to be gaming’s answer to MTV, raises $26 million
Venn, the streaming network hoping to be gaming culture’s answer to MTV, has raised $26 million to bring its mix of video game-themed entertainment and streaming celebrity features to the masses
Bolt Threads partners with Adidas, owners of Balenciaga and Gucci, and Stella McCartney on mushroom leather
Bolt Threads has brought together some new and existing partners, including Stella McCartney, Kering (the fashion house behind brands like Balenciaga, Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Bottega Veneta), Lul
Paired picks up $1M funding and launches its relationship app for couples
Paired, a new app for couples, is launching today and disclosing $1 million in funding. Backing the startup, which wants to support “happier and healthier” relationships, is Taavet Hinriku
N26 hires Adrienne Gormley as its new chief operating officer
Fintech startup N26 is announcing some changes in the leadership team with two new C-Level hires. First, Adrienne Gormley, pictured above, is joining the company as chief operating officer, replacing
Darkstore launches FastAF app for same-day product delivery
Darkstore, the tech-driven fulfillment solution to enable e-commerce companies to offer same-day delivery, has just released a consumer-facing app called FastAF. Right now, the app is only available i
In conversation with European B2B seed VC La Famiglia
Earlier this month, La Famiglia, a Berlin-based VC firm that invests in seed-stage European B2B tech startups, disclosed that it raised a second fund totaling €50 million, up from its debut fund of
La Famiglia outs new €50M fund to back seed-stage European B2B startups
La Famiglia, the Berlin-based “female-led” VC firm that invests in European B2B tech startups at seed-stage, has raised a second fund totaling €50 million, up from its debut fund of €3
What does accountability look like in 2020?
The lack of substantial progress toward true representation, diversity and inclusion across several industries illustrates what hasn’t worked.
Google expands its Swirl 3D ad format
Google is announcing the global availability of Swirl, an ad format the company unveiled in beta just over a year ago. The Swirl format involves banner ads that include interactive 3D product models.
As fashion has its metaverse moment, one app looks to bridge real and virtual worlds for sneakerheads
Fashion is having its moment in the metaverse. A riot of luxury labels, music, and games are vying for attention in the virtual world. And as physical events and the entertainment industry that depend
The first SpaceX Dragon capsule is taking its final flight
Last night, SpaceX launched its first generation Dragon capsule on its twentieth — and final — resupply run to the International Space Station. The launch marks the Dragon’s last mis
Alipay owner Ant Financial takes minority stake in Klarna
Some big moves in the payments platform space: Ant Financial Group, the owner of China’s Alipay payment platform, has announced it’s taking a minority stake in Swedish payments platform Kl
Online learning marketplace Udemy raises $50M at a $2B valuation from Japanese publisher Benesse
The internet has, for better or worse, become the default platform for people seeking information, and today one of the companies leveraging that to deliver educational content has raised some funding
Adidas backpedals on robotic shoe production with Speedfactory closures
An expensive experiment in global distribution has been abandoned by Adidas, which has announced that will close its robotic "Speedfactories" in Atlanta and Ansbach, Germany, within 6 months. The comp
Confirmed: Nike has picked up Russell Wilson’s Tally/TraceMe in a rare acquisition
Nike has long been synonymous with premium sneakers and other sports gear, but now the company could be extending its brand into another area — digital media — thanks to the rumored acquis
Why Carbon just raised another $260 million
Two months ago, we reported that Carbon was set to raise up to $300 million, bringing the 3D printing company’s valuation up to a lofty $2.5 billion. The real numbers released this week by the compa
Apple joins the open-source Cloud Native Computing Foundation
The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), the home of open-source projects like Kubernetes, today announced that Apple is joining as a top-level Platinum End User Member. With this, Apple is joini
Startups Weekly: All these startups are raising big rounds
In this week's newsletter: Uber, Slack and the evolving Series A.