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With voter verification, Brigade becomes a more legitimate platform for political debate

Kim-Mai Cutler Contributor Kim-Mai Cutler is an operating partner for Initialized Capital, an early-stage venture firm and was previously a journalist covering technology, finance and policy issues at TechCrunch -- best-known for her long-form work on the Bay Area. More posts by this contributor The outlook for Bay Area startup space in 2017 OpenVote launches […]




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Always detached, UK has now forced a complete break from Brussels

Past prime ministers put head before heart on Europe. Not any more




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Coronavirus lays a political minefield

Hopefully, its defeat will show the worth of intelligent and honest government




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Johnson’s covert Brexit plan is self-isolation

The real story is that all traces of the EU are to be expunged from the public realm




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How coronavirus is remaking democratic politics

The superficial conclusion is that it will be a gift to populists and authoritarians 




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The danger in the coronavirus recovery will be inertia

A make-do-and-mend approach will not be enough — we need a societal transformation




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How politics thwarted the UK’s Covid-19 response

Ministers failed to grasp the threat as Boris Johnson tried to swerve a tough response




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As private investment cools, enterprise startups may try tapping corporate dollars

Founders hunting down capital in the middle of this pandemic may feel like they’re on a fool’s errand, but some investors are still offering financing, even if the terms might not be as good as they once were. One avenue that appears to remain open: corporate venture capital. The corporate route offers its own set […]




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How will coronavirus change the world? — Parlia launches to help you find out

“Is Greta Thunberg a hypocrite?” Google that phrase and you will get thousands of results. It just goes to show that, to a large extent, the “Q&A” model is broken on the internet. Where once Yahoo Answers and Quora were considered the bright young things of Web 2.0’s “Read/Write Web,” today there is only the […]





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As funding slows in Boston, its early-stage market could shine

Chris Lynch, a founder and former general partner at Boston-based seed-stage fund Accomplice, remembers “VC Mountain in Waltham.” Back then, entrepreneurs on funding quests would visit a building overlooking the Waltham Reservoir near Boston where they pitched to a few investors: Matrix Partners, Charles River Ventures and Highland Capital Partners. “And if they didn’t invest in […]




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Italy’s corporate reopening stirs fears over more deaths

Conflicting pressures between health and preventing economic ruin divide country as it emerges from lockdown




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Judgment day for VW as pensioner’s Dieselgate fight goes to top court

German group’s battle to minimise financial damage from scandal hinges on test case




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Companies ramp up orders for kit to protect workers

Manufacturers say they will struggle to provide equipment sought by business




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The real work of helping companies bounce back from coronavirus hasn’t even begun

Government loans a start but not the end; Pendragon takes a pop at Lookers; insurers and honey badgers




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EU industrial supply lines need strengthening, commissioner warns

Thierry Breton says coronavirus crisis shows vital supplies are vulnerable to disruption




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Pressure on aviation, Argentina’s debt, Silicon Valley ads

Industry takes another hit as GE cuts jobs, Mnuchin casts doubt on restart for US air travel




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VW warns of rising costs as car market faces deep recession

Carmaker says profits are under pressure as suppliers pass on increased expenses




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Defence industry in retreat as coronavirus attacks

The era of extravagant military purchases is surely over after the threat posed by the pandemic




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VW hails speed of car sales recovery in China

Demand in most profitable market nears 2019 level but brand expects slower revival in Europe




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UK construction activity collapses in April

Building industry hit harder than other sectors by Covid-19 lockdown measures




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Shine adds invoice insurance to its freelancer bank account

French startup Shine is adding a new option today. If you think there’s a chance that a client is not going to pay your next invoice, you can insure that invoice to avoid any bad surprise. Shine is building a challenger bank for freelancers and small companies. It lets you send and receive money in […]




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Smartphone shipments dropped 13% globally, and COVID-19 is to blame

We knew it was going to be bad — but not necessarily “lowest level since 2013” bad. As Apple was busy reporting its earnings, Canalys just dropped some of its own figures — and they’re not pretty. After two quarters of much-needed growing, the global smartphone market just took a big hit. And you no […]




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An already struggling smartphone market takes a big hit from COVID-19

Quarter after quarter, familiar stories have appeared. The smartphone market, once seemingly bulletproof, has suffered. The list of factors is long, and I’ve written about them ad nauseam here, but the CliffsNotes version is: costs are too high, innovation is too incremental and most people already own a device that will be plenty good for […]




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Your iPhone will soon be able to tell 911 about your medical conditions and allergies

Got something in your medical history that first responders should know about if you call 911? Things like known drug allergies, or the medications you’re on? The iPhone and Apple Watch will soon be able to share this information with first responders automatically (if you opt to let it do so). When a user with […]




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Potential new treatment for COVID-19 uncovered by BenevolentAI enters trials

BenevolentAI, a startup which has raised $292 million to apply AI to create drugs faster, today says it has uncovered an already approved drug as a potential treatment for COVID-19, after it applied its AI platform and team to the problem. The revelation, which has now appeared in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has entered clinical […]




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Data dashboard startup Count raises $2.4M from LocalGlobe, with Global Founders Capital

Early-stage companies often have trouble dealing with the amount of data that can run through the organization, especially as it grows. Large sums are spent on data software, dislocated data, dealing with data pipelines. All of which involve data warehousing, cleaning tools and a visualization platform. Count is a startup that is an attempt to […]




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The ‘Wikipedia of COVID-19’ has launched a crowdfunding drive to keep going

At the end of March, a coalition of grassroots UK tech initiatives came together to coordinate the key groups of tech industry people supporting the UK’s response to the coronavirus. The Code4Covid.org initiative came out of a milieu of other projects such as Covidmutualaid.org and Covid Tech Support, but it was the CoronavirusTechHandbook (CTH), an initiative […]




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JetBrains Academy for learning code launches for free during COVID-19 pandemic

During this pandemic, many organizations are offering free or drastically cheaper courses to help people skill-up for when we eventually get out of lock-down. There are numerous outlets if you want to learn to code from, for instance, Freecodecamp or the Free Fridays scheme from General Assembly. And for gamers, Gamedev.tv has taken 80% off […]




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NEAR Protocol raises $21.6M from A16Z and launches its MainNet, beating Ethereum 2.0

It was only the other week that Andreesen Horowitz announced their second blockchain-focused fund of $515 million. In the announcement, they said: “We are still early in this Web 3 build-out. High-performance programmable blockchains will make decentralized network development much more accessible. After years of R&D, we are excited that a number of next-gen programmable […]




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As Europe slowly unlocks, e-scooter startups, like Helbiz, are wooing with offers

At the start of the year, it looked like Europe would be in for a “Summer E-Scooters / E-Bike War,” as both regional startups and U.S.-backed unicorns vied for the pockets of city commuters. Consolidation came when German startup Circ was taken over by U.S. competitor Bird at the start of the year. Still on […]




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UK investors band together to survey Angels on their strategy during COVID-19

A number of UK entrepreneurs have banded together to survey Angels about their investment strategy. The initiative comes in the wake of the UK government’s “Future Fund” for startups, which has been criticized as being inadequate for the needs of Angel and Seed-stage startups. The group hopes the survey will give the UK early-stage investment […]




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Runa Capital closes Fund III at $157M, with an added focus on quantum computing

VC fund Runa Capital was launched with $135 million in 2010, and is perhaps best known for its investment into NGINX, which powers many web sites today. In more recent years it has participated or led investments into startups such as Zipdrug ($10.8 million); Rollbar this year ($11 million); and Monedo (for €20 million). HQ’d […]




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How will coronavirus change the world? — Parlia launches to help you find out

“Is Greta Thunberg a hypocrite?” Google that phrase and you will get thousands of results. It just goes to show that, to a large extent, the “Q&A” model is broken on the internet. Where once Yahoo Answers and Quora were considered the bright young things of Web 2.0’s “Read/Write Web,” today there is only the […]




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St. Louis-based Summersalt raises $17.3 million for its direct-to-consumer clothing line

The Midwest may not be known as the fashion capital of the world (or even the U.S.), but its place in the consumer retail firmament is secure through L Brands and its Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works subsidiaries. Now, venture investors are investing $17.3 million to establish another tent-pole clothing brand in the […]




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Utah tech magnates create new Silicon Slopes Venture Fund to boost startups in the state

Those looking outside of Silicon Valley as a potential hub for their startup might want to take a gander at Utah, at least that’s the kind of trend the new Silicon Slopes Venture Fund hopes to create. The newly formed fund, put together by Qualtrics co-founder Ryan Smith, Omniture and Domo founder Josh James and […]




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Debt relief: which countries are most vulnerable?

Emerging economies that have long tested investors’ patience say they need fresh help




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Warburg to raise stake in Chinese car rental company

US private equity firm plans further share in group shaken by fallout from Luckin Coffee scandal




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LCF compensation decision looms

FSCS could compensate some investors in collapsed mini-bond issuer London Capital Finance




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Private-equity backed companies dominate lowest depths of junk

Two-thirds of companies with lowly ratings from Moody’s were bought by PE groups




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Can companies still afford to care about sustainability?

Will environmental and social initiatives survive Covid-19? Our specialists answered your questions




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Asian governments boost dollar borrowing to fight coronavirus

Countries in region issue debt at close to fastest rate in a decade due to pandemic




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Schneider Electric warns of €300m hit from coronavirus

French group braced for revenue losses this quarter despite reopening most of its China factories




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Porsche chief warns battery costs will hit carmaker profits

Blume says industry faces supply constraints because of production ‘bottleneck’




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Companies’ supply chains vulnerable to coronavirus shocks

Shortages of components likely to be far worse than expected, warn experts




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Coronavirus puts electric carmakers on alert over lithium supplies

Battery maker Livent says industry is looking to diversify away from China




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1m car workers in Europe hit by coronavirus shutdowns

Heavy toll on jobs through lay-offs and cuts in pay and hours as one of region’s key industries comes to ‘abrupt halt’




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Continental auto profit margins fall to zero

German supplier scraps outlook and warns smaller contractors could go out of business




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Ventilator standards set out for UK makers ‘of no use’ to Covid patients 

Ministers’ challenge to manufacturers sets basic specifications that are not suitable to task, say experts 




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Co-founder of Chinese carmaker Qoros sells half his stake

Idan Ofer’s Kenon offloads shares to majority owner Baoneng in $237m deal