Blackboard cofounder Michael Chasen takes CEO reins at PrecisionHawk
Commercial drone tech venture PrecisionHawk has a new CEO—again. Red Hat Inc. cofounder Bob Young, who has served as PrecisionHawk’s CEO since July 2015, is handing over the reigns to another veteran of enterprise software, Michael Chasen, a cofounder and former CEO of education tech giant Blackboard Inc. Verizon Ventures, an investment arm of TechCrunch’s parent company… Read More Continue reading Blackboard cofounder Michael Chasen takes CEO reins at PrecisionHawk
It hasn’t even been a year since EquipmentShare raised a Series A round of funding, but the “Airbnb of construction rentals,” has closed a $26 million Series B round. The Columbia, Missouri-based startup helps contractors rent out their under-utilized equipment, or rent safety tested equipment that they need from a fellow contractor. Last year, EquipmentShare also launched…
The Alchemist Accelerator has closed a $2.5 million fund for very early stage investments in tech startups serving large organizations in an era when robotics, artificial intelligence and the internet of things are fundamentally changing the way they operate. Limited partners in Alchemists’ second fund included Johnson Controls, Ericsson, and Analog Garage, a VC arm of Analog…
It’s hard to build a drone that’s high performance and affordable enough to compete with DJI’s popular and pervasive models. That’s something drone companies who built their own “platforms,” a.k.a. original hardware and proprietary software, are grappling with these days. The industry has seen belt-tightening measures at Parrot SA, a changing of the guard…
Ann Arbor, Michigan-based FarmLogs has raised $22 million in a Series C round of funding for technology that helps farmers monitor and measure their crops, predict profits, manage risks from weather, pests and more. Naspers Ventures led the round joined by the company’s earlier backers Drive Capital, Huron River Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners, SV Angel and individual investors…
A senior staff member of Oracle Corp., George A. Polisner, has resigned after the enterprise tech titan’s co-CEO, Safra Catz, joined the Trump transition team and stated her enthusiasm for the president-elect. As we reported last week, Trump recently convened a meeting of tech leaders and his children at Trump Tower in New York. Prior to the meeting Catz issued a public statement…
Google.org is donating $30 million to non-profits this holiday so that they can buy any tech and related services that they need including hardware, software, training and IT maintenance or repair services. Earlier this month, reports leaked that Google had donated money earmarked for employees’ Christmas gifts to charity instead this year. It’s true that the company made…
A San Diego startup called eSUB Construction Software has raised $5 million in a Series A round led by Revolution Ventures according to President and CEO Wendy Rogers. The company’s cloud-based project management apps help subcontractors track and get compensated for all the work they do on construction jobs. Rogers said, “There’s a saying that subcontractors get paid for…
The commercial drone industry in the U.S. hasn’t heard much from the President Elect about his plans for rulemaking that will impact their business and global competitiveness. Last month, Associated Press broke the story that Trump is interested in privatizing air traffic control, wresting that responsibility from the Federal Aviation Administration, and handing it to a nonprofit…