- Amazon in talks to lease Boeing jets to launch air-cargo business: report: Amazon.com is negotiating to lease 20 Boeing Co (BA.N) 767 jets to start its own air-delivery service next month, seeking to avoid delays from third-party carriers, the Seattle Times reported, citing cargo-industry executives. Amazon has approached several cargo-aircraft lessors to line up the planes, the newspaper reported on Friday, citing a senior aircraft-leasing company executive familiar with matter.
- Alibaba Heads Into 2016 Struggling With Knock-Off Reputation: Cash-strapped Star Wars fans can pick up Darth Vader figurines and light sabers for as little as $4.59. Tom Brady jerseys go for about a 10th of those on the National Football League’s store. A pair of red Beats Solo headphones can be had for just $107 -- about half its official price. It’s bargains galore at Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Taobao: the EBay-like bazaar where buyers meet up with sellers. Billionaire Chairman Jack Ma is struggling to shake the company’s reputation as a haven for cheap knock-offs and unauthorized merchandise, 21 months after calling counterfeits cancerous. He heads into 2016 after a bruising year that saw more than $50 billion wiped off its market value amid lawsuits and criticism from Chinese and U.S. regulators. Cleaning up its image next year is crucial to Alibaba’s goal of winning the trust of merchants and shoppers overseas, from where Jack Ma wants to get more than half the company’s revenue within a decade. A cooling Chinese economy makes that effort even more pressing. At home, JD.com Inc. is winning customers partly because it holds the inventory itself and sells directly to consumers, similar to Amazon, a business model easier to police and regulate, said Michelle Ma, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. “By now, management should have eliminated this problem,” said Cyrus Mewawalla, managing director of London-based CM Research. “The fact that they haven’t is a worrying sign forinvestors.”
- Theranos Founder Faces a Test of Technology, and Reputation: Last year, as the deadly and highly contagious Ebola virus threatened to spread around the globe, Theranos, a Silicon Valley start-up, was scrambling to find a test that could quickly detect if a person was infected. This was exactly the sort of thing the company was supposed to do. Its fundamental promise was to revolutionize laboratory testing by offering hundreds of different blood tests that could be done through a simple finger stick for a fraction of the cost of typical lab blood work. More than that, Elizabeth Holmes, who started the company in 2003, had a higher-minded purpose. She also wanted to defeat epidemics. The company devoted significant resources to the Ebola effort. “We stopped everything for Ebola — for the world,” says Richard Kovacevich, the former chief executive of Wells Fargo, who joined Theranos as a director in 2013. And then, nothing. Even as other companies received approval from regulators, Theranos watched from the sidelines. “I have no doubt we would have” gotten the green light for the tests, Mr. Kovacevich said. But the crisis ebbed, and the company says getting approval for that test is no longer a priority. Now, after a surprise inspection last summer, the Food and Drug Administration is requiring that Theranos’s equipment and individual tests go through the regulatory process and get approval. This will determine whether its foundational technology is a reality — or, like that Ebola test, an unfulfilled grand promise. While Theranos says it has conducted millions of tests, largely through a partnership with Walgreens, the drugstore chain, no one from outside Theranos has ever verified the technology. Institutions whose names were often linked with Theranos, like the Cleveland Clinic, insist they have not yet had a chance to use the technology. It has struggled to forge business relationships with other potential partners, like Safeway.
- Twitter Stock Closes at an All-Time Low: Twitter stock fell 4 percent Thursday, finishing the session at $23.31, the lowest the stock has ever closed. Yahoo Finance lists the stock’s 52-week low at $21.01, but that was during intra-day trading back in August (the stock closed at $25.17 that day). The stock market was crummy in general on Thursday. But it has also been a tough quarter for Twitter, which has dropped 11 percent since Jack Dorsey was named CEO back in early October. Twitter announced last week that it would finally start showing ads to its logged-out audience, which created a nice stock spike, but it’s clear that investors are looking for more.
- Waze Could Be Google’s Ace in the Hole in a Self-Driving Car War With Uber: It’s 2025. You’re in a big city and have somewhere to be. Fire up an app and an autonomous car — with a driver at the wheel or maybe without one — picks you up. Odds are good the company behind that car will be Uber or Google. The two are set to vie for the reigning position as the transit service platform of the future. Uber has advantages — for one, its name is becoming the verb for ride-hailing, the way Google’s has for search. But Google has the mobile platform, the lead in self-driving tech and deeper pockets. It has another edge: Deep ties with local governments, critical players in making autonomous vehicles a reality. This proximity is thanks to Waze, the mapping startup Google bought in 2013, which has invested heavily in building data-sharing agreements with cities around the world. If autonomous cars are going to work, there needs to be tight coordination of transit data between governments and private companies. Before you can hail a self-driving car, there’ll likely need to be a host of things (designated lanes, re-zonings, ordinances) that let it drive itself. Then there is the planning to ensure they drive effectively. That’s why Google has cut data deals with its flagship mapping product, and why Uber is scrambling to build similar programs. Waze is, from what we can tell, ahead. In its program, called the Connected Citizens Program, Waze hands over info reported by its users, like accidents and road closures, to urban governments free of charge. It has cut deals with 51 cities worldwide; they get fresh data from the app’s users every two minutes. For cities, the program gives them timely, unprecedented data that helps manage traffic flows, safety and (ideally) costs. In Boston, a city not known for its sober traffic design, officials are using Waze data to measure the impact of their planning changes. “We heard that traffic improved anecdotally,” said Connor McKay, a data scientist for the city. “Now we can say that, quantitatively, traffic has improved.” In return, cities give Waze their own traffic data. (This is why you may see some Uber drivers using Waze to get around.) Accurate road information is critical to making self-driving cars work — hence, Uber hurriedly pouring its investor stockpile into a mapping operation. The ballooning ride-hailing startup has had less success currying favor with city officials. It has proved it can get its way in cities, but usually after some messy standoffs. This summer, Waze rolled out its first flirtation with Uber’s turf: A trial in Tel Aviv that lets Waze users pick up passengers along their commute routes. It has since expanded to a few suburbs around the city. A Waze rep would only share that the Google unit is “quite pleased with the results.” Waze also insists that its trial is not like Uber — drivers aren’t making money, and the program is framed as a way for cities to tackle congestion problems. It’s a key framing. When governments begin to approach autonomy, they are likely to turn to tech partners they know best.
- How Intelligent Lighting Is Ushering In The Internet Of Buildings: The LED revolution is over. To no one’s surprise, LEDs have won. Solid-state lighting is changing how we light the world, successfully displacing traditional illumination sources across every part of the global lighting market. Over the next few years, billions of sockets will be in play. This transition has kicked off a new phase of LED adoption — the race to connect every socket. The stakes are high for consumers and vendors alike. A trifecta of qualities — ubiquity, network connectivity and access to power — make intelligent lights a perfect platform on which the promise of the Internet of Things can start to come to life. Behind the scenes, this race to own sockets is really a contest to see who will control the infrastructure of the IoT across our built environment. These intelligent, networked, sensor-laden lights of the near future will form the central nervous system of every smart building. Beyond simple illumination, this “Internet of Buildings” built on top of next-generation lighting systems will forever change the way we interact with the spaces in which we live. In your kids’ elementary school, biometric sensors will track students’ alertness, subtly shifting spectrum to automatically boost their focus any time it starts to wane. Around the corner at the grocery store, beacons embedded in connected fixtures will track every movement you (or your mobile phone) make — from produce to dairy — beaming coupons at you along the way. Even the lights around your home will be intelligent, learning from and responding to the steady stream of data generated by your wearable devices — using light to help de-stress you after a long day or to perk you up on a cold, dark winter morning. Consumer-facing tech giants — Apple, Google, Amazon — see residential lighting as a key step toward the connected home. Why settle for one or two thermostats or smart toasters when you can gather data from dozens of sensor-enabled lights scattered throughout every house and apartment? For networking companies — Cisco, Qualcomm and their ilk — intelligent lighting is an infrastructure play. Billions of connected lights will need new routing fabric, if only to handle the massive amount of new data traffic they will produce. Even the largest building management systems companies — Siemens, Honeywell, Schneider, Johnson Controls — see the threat posed to their core businesses in HVAC and physical security as the next generation of intelligent buildings are built on top of new lighting networks. Of course, the traditional lighting players — Acuity, Philips, GE — are deeply engaged in this shift, too. But their success is far from guaranteed. The land grab is on. Who will win?
- Google hired Morgan Stanley's CFO to succeed Patrick Pichette as its new CFO: Google said it hired Ruth Porat, Morgan Stanley’s chief financial officer, to succeed Patrick Pichette as its new CFO in May. Porat, 57, will leave Morgan Stanley in April after 28 years at the firm, the New York-based company said Tuesday in a memo to employees. Jonathan Pruzan, 46, co-head of global financial institutions banking, will become Morgan Stanley’s new CFO. Porat, one of Wall Street’s most senior female executives, pivots from a job in which she built up cash reserves for safety to one where she must figure out how to use Google’s growing cash pile. In five years as Morgan Stanley’s CFO, the Stanford University alumna has helped stabilize an investment bank that almost collapsed in 2008. “I’m delighted to be returning to my California roots and joining Google,” Porat said in a statement released by the Mountain View, California-based Internet company. “Growing up in Silicon Valley, during my time at Morgan Stanley and as a member of Stanford’s board, I’ve had the opportunity to experience first-hand how tech companies can help people in their daily lives. I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and get started.”Silicon Valley has tapped Wall Street bankers to help them manage the finances associated with their rapid growth. Twitter Inc. last year named Anthony Noto, 46, previously Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s co-head of technology, media and telecommunications banking, as its CFO.
- More on the same: Its stock trailing peers, Google looks to Wall Street for CFO as costs, cash grow: Google Inc. is turning to Wall Street for its next chief financial officer as the technology giant grapples with rising costs, a growing pile of cash and a need for fiscal discipline as it invests in new industries. Ruth Porat, 57, will leave Morgan Stanley in April after more than 25 years there, the New York-based company said Tuesday in a memo to employees. Jonathan Pruzan, 46, Morgan Stanley’s co-head of global financial-institutions banking, will become the company’s new finance chief. At Google, Porat will succeed Patrick Pichette, who announced earlier this month that he would retire. She is set to take her new post on May 26. Investors are looking for Porat, one of the financial industry’s most senior female executives, to apply her financial acumen as Google invests to spur growth amid increased competition from Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. She follows other financial-services veterans who have migrated to Silicon Valley firms, such as social-media service Twitter Inc., payments-provider Square Inc. and messaging startup Snapchat Inc. “A dose of increased discipline could certainly serve Google well,” said Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Partners LP. “The key to this job is going to be the person that rationalizes the expenses of the company. Google is full of people who want to pursue big ideas.” Google’s net income climbed 41 percent in its latest quarter from a year earlier, while Facebook’s increased 34 percent and Apple’s rose 38 percent. Google’s shares have lagged behind its rivals, dropping 0.3 percent in the year through Tuesday. Facebook’s shares meanwhile rose 33 percent, while Apple’s increased 64 percent. Google’s shares rose 2.2 percent to close at $577.54 on Tuesday.
- TPG-backed AGS Transact plans up to $216.6 million India IPO: India's AGS Transact Technologies, partly owned by U.S. private equity firm TPG Capital [TPG.UL], plans an up to 13.5 billion rupees ($216.6 million) initial public offering, according to a term sheet of the deal seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The company plans to raise up to 4 billion rupees by issuing new shares, while TPG and other shareholders would raise up to 9.5 billion rupees selling existing shares in AGS, which offers payment solutions and technology products to banks and retailers, the terms showed.
- Accel announces $305M India fund, joins large tech investors accelerating India-focuse activity: Accel Partners has just announced a new US$305 million fund for India to invest in very early stage companies as well as those already in the growth trajectory. “The investment focus area will cover consumer, enterprise software, mobile, and healthcare businesses,” Subrata Mitra, partner with the VC firm, wrote on the company blog. This is Accel’s fourth fund for India. Accel has a star-studded portfolio of companies in India, including ecommerce major Flipkart, analytics company MuSigma, and cloud-based customer support provider Freshdesk. Since its Indian entry in 2005, it has had a few successful exits as well, including Myntra, which was acquired by Flipkart, TaxiForSure, which was acquired by Ola, and Virident, which was acquired by Western Digital. The venture capital flow into India moved to a new orbit last year, with nearly US$5 billion of startup funding. A number of big players have been pumping money into India. The leader of the pack is Tiger Global, the lead investor in Flipkart, which raised a whopping US$1.7 billion in 2014 alone. Tiger Global raised US$4 billion in two rounds last year, and a substantial portion of that can be expected to come to India. Sequoia is another big player from Silicon Valley, which raised a US$530 million India-focused fund last year. India-based VCs too are pulling in big bucks. Earlier this month, Saif Partners raised a US$350 million fund, and late last year, Lightbox VC raised a second fund of US$100 million. Investors focused on just the early stage startups have also been successful in raising money for India. 500 Startups and Blume Ventures have recently raised their second funds. There is growing interest from the east as well. SoftBank of Japan made three big investments last year in Snapdeal, Ola, and Housing. What’s more, it has pledged an investment of US$10 billion into India over the next few years. The rapid spread of smartphone and internet usage in a large population is one of the main factors making Indian tech startups attractive. An improvement in economic sentiment following the change in government is also making India the place to go for venture capital investors.
- With turn-by-turn directions, Google's Waze app wants to win location-based mobile advertising: Two years after Google acquired Waze for more than $1 billion, new research and prolonged advertising deals from brands show that the mapping app is making a dent in the lucrative—and competitive—market of location-based mobile advertising. Waze has kept a relatively low profile since being acquired by the Mountain View, Calif.-based company, building up an ad business with a core group of retail, fast-food, gas and transportation brands. Equipped with data and a solid following of daily users who consistently use the app to navigate traffic, Google is battling Facebook, independent ad networks and Foursquare for a piece of what BIA/Kelsey forecasts will be a $15.5 billion market by 2018, up from $4.5 billion in 2014. New research released this week shows how the app's promos affect ad recall and navigation rate, or the number of people who drove to a location after clicking on an ad. The mobile player offers advertisers two formats—branded pins and takeover ads. Branded pins show drivers how far away they are from stores. And takeovers are interstitial ads designed not to distract drivers. They pop up when a user is idle for three or more seconds and disappear when the car starts moving. Per Waze, ad recall increased 86 percent for drivers who saw branded pins compared to those who didn't. And takeover ads boosted ad recall by 155 percent when compared to a group of drivers that was not served ads. To measure navigational lift, Waze compared how people searched and clicked for directions after seeing a brand's ad, with a control group that did not see ads. On average, navigational lift increased 53 percent after either a pin or takeover ad. According to Jordan Grossman, head of U.S. sales at Waze, the average Waze user spends more than five hours with the app each month. That high level of engagement has kept advertisers coming back. After working with brands on quarterly campaigns in 2014, 25 percent of Waze advertisers—including Dunkin' Donuts, Phillips 66, Chick-fil-A, Panera Bread, Outback Steakhouse and Metrolink—are running yearlong campaigns for 2015. Waze crowdsources traffic data that brands can then use to target their promos by time, day and location. The app also has a partnership with Accuweather, pulling in real-time weather conditions like temperature, humidity and pollen count that brands can buy ads against. "[Advertisers are] now drilling in on a tactical level and seeing there are a number of different layers that you can use to engage people within a mobile environment," Grossman said.
- Slack said to be in talks to raise money at more than $2B valuation: Slack, the San Francisco start-up that makes a workplace collaboration app, is back on the fund-raising trail and is in talks to raise money at a valuation of more than $2 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. The talks come just four months after Slack, which is run by the entrepreneur Stewart Butterfield, raised $120 million at a valuation of more than $1 billion. The valuation could change because the talks are still occurring, according to this person, who requested anonymity because of continuing ties to the company. But the talks are another reflection of how Silicon Valley start-ups have been raising money at a furious pace, often snagging tens of millions of dollars and more than doubling their value just months after a previous financing round. Uber, the hugely popular ride-hailing app, has raised billions of dollars in little more than two years. Snapchat, a messaging start-up, has raised hundreds of millions in very short order as well. Bloomberg News earlier reported Slack’s new fund-raising. Mr. Butterfield declined a request for comment. In a recent interview, Mr. Butterfield acknowledged that Slack has “a lot of money and not a lot to spend on,” though he added the company is planning to increase its spending on marketing. The company employs just over 100 people. To date, Slack has raised about $180 million from firms such as Google Ventures, Accel Partners and Andreessen Horowitz, among others. Mr. Butterfield has been tossing around the idea of leasing a small storefront in one of San Francisco’s prime retail hotspots. A store, which might cost about $15,000 to $20,000 a month, could work as a public help desk for Slack’s rising number of users. It would also work to market the brand to new users. Slack was introduced about a year ago by Mr. Butterfield and now serves about half a million workers every day, who use the app as a kind of replacement for email and instant messaging. The company offers a free version of its product and also charges companies a monthly fee of $6.50 or more for each user if they want additional features. Mr. Butterfield recently said Slack wasn’t profitable and that its losses totaled “a couple hundred thousand dollars a month.”
- Apple acquires NoSQL provider FoundationDB to bolster its server-side cloud technology: Apple has acquired FoundationDB, a company that specializes in speedy, durable NoSQL databases, TechCrunch has learned. A notice on the FoundationDB site notes that it’s no longer offering downloads of its database software. Financial terms of the deal were not available. CEO David Rosenthal was previously VP of Engineering at Omniture and co-founded the company with COO Nick Lavezzo and Dave Scherer in 2009. FoundationDB’s attractiveness came in the speed at which it handled ACID-compliant transactions and coupled that with strong scalability. FoundationDB hosted a booth at TechCrunch Disrupt SF in 2012, where we first wrote about its approach to a modern NoSQL database and its ‘NoSQL, YesACID’ motto. FoundationDB’s latest engine, which was covered by TC Columnist Jon Evans late last year, scaled up 14.4 million random writes per second. imag1829 A FoundationDB blog post on its newest engine made the following claim: At current (December 2014) AWS (non-spot) pricing and including enterprise FoundationDB licenses for all 480 cores with full 24/7 support this mega-cluster only costs about $150/hr. In that same hour this cluster will achieve 54 billion writes, yielding a cost-per-write of 3 nanodollars. Said another way, FoundationDB can do 3.6 million database writes per penny. So. A fast, affordable and durable database company, acquired by Apple. It seems likely that this was an acquisition designed to bolster Apple’s server-side technologies for the App Store, iTunes Connect or iTunes in the Cloud. With millions of apps now in the store and billions being served to users, there is undoubtedly room for improvement in those systems. Of course, there is always Apple’s rumored over-the-top TV service, which some reports claim is coming our way later this year. The need to be able to serve video at scale there will likely require bolstering systems, as we discussed with the head of media at the MLB just this week. The reliability and speed of Apple’s cloud services are more critical than ever now that it has shipped 700 million iPhones alone — along with millions more iPads and Macs — all of which use iCloud.
