Uber’s Apple-backed rival Didi Chuxing just raised billions June 16, 2016 The taxi wars are hotting up. A day after reports of Uber raising a further $2bn (£1.4bn) to add to its already rather large cash pile, its rival in China has announced another $7bn in new funding that puts it squarely on the tail of the US startup when it comes to being the most well-funded private startup [...]
Uber’s hungry for even more cash with plans for $2bn leveraged loan June 15, 2016 Thought the most highly valued private tech company in the world had enough money to throw around? Apparently, it doesn't. Uber is rounding up another $2bn (£1.4bn) to its already pretty huge cash mountain in its bid for world domination, but this time it's tapping the cash via a leveraged loan. Read more: Apple's favourite Chinese Uber rival [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open June 2, 2016 The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) are both in Vienna today to decide on their respective policies and could add an extra kick of volatility to global markets. Here's what you need to know before the market open at 14:30 London time. US futures are struggling ahead of the opening bell. [...]
Elon Musk wants to put people on Mars by 2025 June 2, 2016 Star-gazing serial technology entrepreneur Elon Musk wants to put people on Mars in under 10 years time. Speaking at Vox's media code conference, he said that his SpaceX company's manned mission to Mars would launch in 2024, arriving a year later. However, prospective recruits may want to think twice before joining the mission. "If you gotta choose a place to die, [...]
How the government can put rocket boosters beneath the UK’s nascent space industry May 19, 2016 In a day dominated by pomp and pageantry, there was a surprising amount for techies to get excited about in the Queen’s Speech yesterday, with a whole bill dedicated to space travel, drones and self-driving cars. Far from being only relevant to sci-fi fans, however, the UK’s space sector is serious business. It is worth at least [...]
Space tourism, driverless cars and drones set for Queen’s Speech lift off May 15, 2016 New plans for driverless cars on Britain's roads are to be announced in the Queen's speech this week, as are proposals for creating an ambitious UK-based space tourism industry by 2018 along with drone-friendly innovations. “Driverless cars and commercial space flight might seem like something science fiction, but the economic potential of the new technology is huge [...]
SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule returns to planet Earth containing results and cargo from International Space Station May 11, 2016 A SpaceX Dragon capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, containing experiment results and cargo from the International Space Station (ISS). The returned capsule is the first to make it safely back to Earth since a launch accident in June 2015 in which another Dragon capsule was destroyed. SpaceX, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, resumed [...]
As SpaceX says it intends to send a mission to Mars by 2018, does space travel now belong to the private sector? April 29, 2016 Dan Lewis, senior infrastructure policy adviser at the Institute of Directors, says Yes. Gone are the days when space was the playground of the Cold War superpowers. As launch costs tumble, it is increasingly a market democracy. Twice as many people have bought tickets for Virgin Galactic and Xcor as have been put in space by [...]
Paypal founder Peter Thiel on why almost all the trends you’re excited about are overrated – and why being involved in the US election would make him blow his brains out April 12, 2016 “If you hear about a trend, it’s already passed. It means it’s a consensus thing,” says Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and venture capitalist. Speaking at LendIt USA, the largest online lending conference in the world, Thiel says he dislikes being asked what trends he’s excited about because he “isn’t a prophet” and “almost all [...]
Hyperloop is coming to Europe as Slovakia plans to reduce travel from Bratislava to Vienna and Budapest to less than 10 minutes March 10, 2016 The most exciting transport innovation in the world right now – Elon Musk's ambitious Hyperloop – is coming to Europe and could create the fastest ever cross-border travel. A Hyperloop company has inked a deal with the government of Slovakia to explore bringing the super-fast transport to this side of the pond, potentially connecting Bratislava with Vienna in Austria and Budapest in Hungary [...]