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Unit 221B raises $5 million to help track and disrupt today’s top hacking groups

Security /

For years, some of the most dangerous hacking threats have come from adversarial nation-state hackers conducting espionage, Russian ransomware gangs targeting critical infrastructure, and governments targeting journalists with spyware that can punch through the security of almost any phone.   But a new phenomenon of mostly English-speaking young adults and teenage hackers has risen to […]

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Earthmover wants to become the Snowflake of weather and geospatial data

Enterprise /

Few things generate as much data as simply observing the Earth from above. But Ryan Abernathey and Joe Hamman very quickly realized that all that data still wasn’t enough for their startup to thrive. Their data-centric, climate tech startup, Earthmover, would need to pivot. The pivot isn’t entirely away from climate tech, though. Instead, the

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ICE unit signs new $3 million contract for phone hacking tech

Security /

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) law enforcement arm Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has signed a contract worth $3 million with Magnet Forensics, a company that makes a phone hacking and unlocking device called Graykey.   The contract, which appeared on Tuesday in a federal government procurement database, said it is for software licenses for

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DACLab says it can remove CO2 using less electricity than many competitors

Fundraising /

The world’s countries may have pledged to cut its carbon pollution, but with global emissions reaching an all-time high last year they’ve fallen far short. Digging out of that hole is going to require removing carbon straight from the atmosphere. But it comes with a hefty price tag, mostly because of the energy required. Removing

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EV Realty is betting the missing link in electric trucking is real estate

Fundraising /

Electric commercial trucks are starting to take off. And that progress comes with a new slate of challenges for operators grappling with how to build out charging infrastructure for their growing EV fleets. Given grid constraints, that’s not always possible. EV trucks are one of several energy users currently searching for space on an increasingly

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Atlassian acquires DX, a developer productivity platform, for $1B

Enterprise /

Productivity software giant Atlassian is making its largest acquisition yet to add a developer productivity tool to its product suite.   Atlassian announced Thursday it has agreed to acquire the developer productivity insight platform DX for $1 billion in cash and restricted stock. Enterprises use DX to analyze how productive their engineering teams are and identify bottlenecks slowing them down. DX was launched five years ago by Abi Noda

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Terra Oleo’s oil-producing microbes could replace destructive palm oil plantations

Fundraising /

When most kids rebel against their families, they might become a ski bum, join a band, or go to art school. Shen Ming Lee decided to start a company. “I grew up in the conventional palm oil industry,” Lee told TechCrunch. “My family’s business is one of the top producers in the palm oil space.

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Google Ventures doubles down on dev tool startup Blacksmith just 4 months after its seed round

AI /

As speed becomes the defining currency in an AI-driven software world, Blacksmith has raised another round led by Google Ventures — just four months after its seed — to accelerate how code gets shipped. The $10 million Series A closed in just 14 days, with Google Ventures doubling down after first backing Blacksmith’s $3.5 million

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Sonair built its 3D ultrasonic sensor with robotic safety in mind

Robotics /

As robots increasingly enter human spaces, robotics companies will need to think about safety differently than they did when robots were largely siloed from their human counterparts.   Sonair thinks its sensors can help robotics companies reach their safety goals — with a solution that is both better and cheaper than popular LIDAR technology.   The Oslo,

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Fourth Power’s sci-fi thermal batteries could be cheaper than pricey natural gas power plants

Fundraising /

Fourth Power’s take on long-duration energy storage sounds like something out of a James Bond film. The thermal batteries come complete with superheated liquid tin and argon-filled hermetically sealed chambers. The company’s goal, though, is far more prosaic — to store electricity cheap enough to make solar and wind an obvious choice for 24/7 power.

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