Compass brings on former Amazon executive as new chief product officer

Real estate technology company Compass has hired former Amazon executive Greg Hart as its new chief product officer. During his 23 years at Amazon, Hart was on the digital executive leadership group, where he had a key role in turning Amazon from an online bookstore into a retail and technology powerhouse.

Virus outbreak has cost Airbnb tens of millions of dollars so far

Airbnb has lost tens of millions of dollars in booking revenues over the past several weeks in key cities that have been hard hit by the coronavirus outbreak. The home-sharing startup’s booking revenues fell dramatically across 17 key international cities over a span of five weeks starting at the beginning of February, according to analysis by The Real Deal of data from the Airbnb-analytics firm AirDNA.

Neolix Raises Nearly RMB 200M in Series A+ Funding

Neolix, a Chinese autonomous driving vehicle company, raised nearly RMB 200M in Series A+ funding. Backers included Li Xiang’s Lixiang Automotive, Addor Capital and existing shareholders Yunqi Partners and Glory Ventures. The company intends to use the funds to launch its AI autonomous driving vehicles. Founded in 2018, Neolix began as a autonomous driving vehicle company focused on autonomous vehicle delivery, and now has more than 160 employees.

Driverless cars have arrived and they all look like loaves of bread

Do automakers investing billions in the self-driving cars of tomorrow risk repeating the same mistake they made with electric cars a decade ago?Cutting-edge robotic people-movers from the likes of General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Jaguar Land Rover all share similarly rectangular dimensions with more of an eye toward engineering practicality than sex appeal.

Ride Report Raises $10M in Series A Funding

Ride Report, a Portland, Oregon-based micromobility management tool that allows cities around the world to manage their bike and scooter share programs, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was led by Unusual Ventures.

Digital realtor Homzhub opens up cross-border real estate opportunities for India

Singapore/Pune/Nagpur, Mar 2 : Singapore-based proptech startup Homzhub, has announced its foray in select Indian cities to help Investors seamlessly invest as well as manage properties through Homzhub.com in India and Singapore, after the first round of funding from a group of Angel Investors.

The deep impact of sustainability

The start of a new year can take time to really get going. More often than not, January is about regrouping, recalibrating and gearing up for the 12 months ahead. The return to work gently builds momentum as people return in dribs and drabs from extended festive breaks scratching their heads over much-needed double-shot Americanos as they struggle to remember passwords and logon details. But there has been something different about 2020. …

Coronavirus could bring consolidation, layoffs to proptech

$4.8B buyback does little to stop SoftBank’s fall

SoftBank is set to buy back $4.8 billion in shares amid demands from an activist investor and a volatile stock market. The buyback would represent 7 percent of the Japanese conglomerate’s shares, which have been plummeting.The WeWork parent has come under fire recently for its handling of the beleaguered co-working firm’s botched public offering last year.

Convene Closing 17 Locations Amid Coronavirus Fears

A member at Convene’s 530 Fifth Avenue location has tested positive for the coronavirus, prompting a temporary closure of the location, Commercial Observer has learned. The flex meeting, event and office space company is responding to the spreading pandemic by opting to temporarily close 17 locations across the country, while maintaining operations at 11 sites and paying employees across the board.