1Huddle Closes $5M Series A Funding

1Huddle, a Newark, N.J.-based workforce tech company, raised $5m in Series A funding. The round was led by Tribeca Venture Partners with participation from Humbition, NRD Capital and Newark Venture Partners. The company intends to use the funds to increase staffing, accelerate growth, and meet global demand for its product. Led by Sam Caucci, CEO and founder, 1Huddle provides a training solution that upskills, trains and motivates employees through the use of science-backed, quick-burst mobil…

Latest Front in Food Delivery: Kitchens in Empty Malls

Property developers are building kitchens in empty mall space and parking lots to fill food-delivery orders, a new approach in the fast-growing business of shuttling meals to customers. The plan to make restaurant food for delivery in former retail space melds two industries that have been upended by e-commerce.

CEO Who Celebrated WeWork’s Demise Must Fix Own Firm: Knotel

As WeWork crumbled last year, one onlooker watched with glee. Amol Sarva, who as CEO of office-space firm Knotel had needled his high-flying rival for years, finally had his moment. “We’ve been waiting for the music to be over,” Sarva told the Financial Times. “And now the music is over, and it’s time to dance.” He strutted as WeWork lost $40 billion in value, ousted its CEO, slashed head count by thousands and slowed leasing in a mad scramble to trim losses.

SoftBank Is Funding Every Side of a Bruising Startup Battle

For two years, the legendary late-night snack spot El Moro relied on Uber Eats to deliver its churros and hot cocoa to takeout customers across the capital. Then, in late 2018, it dumped the Uber Technologies Inc. app for an exclusive deal with rival delivery startup Rappi Inc. “Rappi pursued us really aggressively,” said Santiago Iriarte, El Moro’s chief executive. The Colombian company offered to make deliveries for 10% of the price of an order, compared with Uber’s 30%. …

A $100 Million Bet That Vacationland Can Be a Tech Hub, Too

There is nothing obviously wrong with Maine’s biggest city. Its shops buzz in the summer with well-heeled tourists. Zillow rates the real estate market “very hot.” David Geffen’s yacht docks at port from time to time. The food scene is great. In November, the unemployment rate was barely 2.2 percent. Something is troubling Portland, however. Productivity growth is low. Business formation is anemic. And there is a sense that in an era of technology-driven economic winners, Portland’s 66,000 resi…

Real Estate Tech Startup Cadre Hires Former Four Seasons CEO As President

Cadre, the technology-driven real estate investment platform, has hired former Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts CEO Allen Smith as president. A well-known real estate executive, Smith left Four Seasons, which operates luxury hotels, in 2018 after running the prominent consumer-facing brand for five years. He previously worked as the CEO of Prudential Real Estate Investors, one of Wall Street’s biggest real estate investment firms.

Gabi Raises $27M in Series B Funding

Gabi, a San Francisco-based home and auto insurance company, raised $27m in Series B funding. The round was led by Mubadala Capital with participation from Canvas Ventures, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Correlation Ventures, Securian Ventures, A.Capital Ventures, Project A, CMFG Ventures, Burst Capital, and AngelList. The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand its business reach.

Airbnb-inspired startup Neighbor raises $10M to crack self-storage puzzle

As Airbnb gets ready to go public, a startup called Neighbor is looking to breathe new life into the rapidly maturing sharing economy. The Lehi, Utah-based company, which operates a peer-to-peer self-storage platform, announced on Thursday a $10 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz. In addition to the new funding, Neighbor has amassed some sharing economy bona fides. A16z managing partner Jeff Jordan, an Airbnb board member, is joining Neighbor’s board. Uber’s first CEO, Ryan Graves, is a…

CBRE President and CEO Bob Sulentic and CDTO Chandra Dhandapani To Keynote CREtech Conference in Austin, Texas

CREtech (cretech.com), a leading global conference and research company devoted to innovation in the Built World, has announced that CBRE President and CEO Bob Sulentic and Chief Digital & Technology Officer Chandra Dhandapani will deliver the opening keynote conversation at its upcoming technology conference in Austin, Texas, on April 22.

A Warehouse Robot Learns to Sort Out the Tricky Stuff

Inside a warehouse on the outskirts of Berlin, a long line of blue crates moved down a conveyor belt, carrying light switches, sockets and other electrical parts. As they came to a stop, five workers picked through the small items, placing each one in a cardboard box.

At Obeta, an electrical parts company that opened in 1901, it is the kind of monotonous task workers have performed for years.