As Monday morning rolls in, we’re providing TechWire readers with a quick recap of the past week’s news headlines.
The coronavirus pandemic continued to dominate news coverage last week. Durham’s startup ecosystem is adapting to the ‘new normal’, as are Raleigh-Cary coworking hubs; here’s a look into how local organizations are working to help underserved businesses stay afloat in the Triangle; Durham coworking spaces The Mothership and Nido Coworking are closing their physical locations; NC leads the nation in the search for loans during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to WalletHub; Wake County Economic Development launched two surveys to gauge how local companies are coping with the economic downturn; reports allege that Lenovo is cutting jobs at its RTP data center – the company says it’s cutting costs but didn’t confirm layoffs; Raleigh AI startup Diveplain is rolling out a privacy-focused contact tracing program; a UNC Charlotte economist predicts U.S. unemployment could reach 20% in May.
A few NC startups raised cash last week, including Winston-Salem’s URO-1 ($1.5 million), Charlotte-based Aceyus ($1.5 million), Chapel Hill-based Xillis ($1.85 million) and Raleigh-based Arrevus ($800,000 in grants).
In non-COVID news: The Triangle’s commercial real estate market is poised for a swift recovery, according to CBRE; RedHat is moving to capitalize on the growing ‘open banking’ trend; a new Governor’s Entrepreneurship Council is seeking ideas on how to boost NC’s startup ecosystem; a group of local college students released an app to help shoppers find in-stock items at grocery stores; Biogen and MIT launched a virtual learning lab for underserved students.
As part of TechWire’s new “Startup Monday” series, we recently launched a new column that summarizes local startup news coverage over the past week. Catch up with last week’s edition here.
- Check out TechWire’s comprehensive resource package for Triangle startups.
And, in national news: The stock market rocketed 600 points higher amid reopening and hopes for a vaccine; SpaceX and NASA launched a manned spaceflight to the International Space Station; HBO launched its HBO Max streaming service; Twitter added fact-check labels to President Donald Trump’s tweets, leading to an executive order to curtail social media protections under the 1996 Communications Decency Act; Amazon has decided to permanently keep 70% of the 175,000 new workers it hired during the pandemic; the U.S. consumes more renewable energy than coal for the first time since 1885.
Keeping with our Monday tradition, here’s a look back at 74 local, state and national headlines as reported by WRAL TechWire last week:
MONDAY | May 25 Headlines:
- Doom is not part of vocabulary in Durham’s startup community despite COVID-19
- NC headliners: 22 across our state events on this week’s calendar
- On NC event’s horizon: Previewing 100+ events, deadlines coming in June
- Startup Monday: A complete guide to Triangle meetups
- Startup rewind: How Triangle’s entrepreneurial ecosystem adapting in crisis + 25 other headlines
- TechWire rewind: Triangle’s ‘new normal’; IBM layoffs; COVID-19 impact on minority-owned businesses + 70 other headlines +
- The new normal: A different Raleigh-Cary entrepreneurial community takes shape at coworking hubs
- Triangle headliners: 24 events & webinars coming up this week
- Triangle Startup Guide keeps growing with more COVID-19 funding & recovery resources
TUESDAY | May 26 Headlines:
- African American working poor need ‘strategic response’: Kenan-Flagler expert
- Asheville’s Ecobot releases enhanced geographic mapping, other data capabilities
- Bicoastal startup Kriya Therapeutics to grow gene therapy manufacturing in NC
- #BlackDollarNC, Wake Tech, others rally to make up for ‘equity gap’ in relief funding
- Branson’s Virgin Orbit fails on first rocket launch attempt
- Charlotte-based software firm Aceyus raises $1.5M in equity
- Charlotte-based tech consulting firm Hylaine partners with cloud data platform
- Corteva, with large presence in NC, rebrands its seed products
- Dow soars 600 points on big hopes for a vaccine and the economy’s reopening
- First Flight Venture Center offers space, ‘community’ to early-stage startups
- Greensboro firm Qorvo lands defense contract to advance copper ‘flip-chip’ technology
- NC State scholars work to build Shakespeare’s digital legacy
- Winston-Salem medical device startup URO-1 lands additional $1.5M in equity
WEDNESDAY | May 27 Headlines:
- Attention Walmart shoppers: You can now buy used clothing, shoes, accessories online
- Charlotte’s annual Fintech Generations conference goes virtual
- Chapel Hill startup focusing on precision health, oncology raises additional $1.8M
- Durham medical AI startup TeraRecon builds out its C-Suite
- Durham’s The Mothership, Nido Coworking + Childcare closing physical locations
- Raleigh startup K4Connect, Amazon distribute 8,000 Echo Dots to seniors in assisted living
- Report: Triangle commercial real estate market could rebound swiftly this fall
- Suffer from dry eye? Raleigh startup develops ‘artificial tear’ to fight burning, sensitivity
- Study: North Carolina leads nation in search for loans during pandemic
- Too much TV? Enter HBO Max, the latest streaming wannabe
- Vanishing jobs for young could create ‘lock-down generation’
- Wake County launches surveys to gauge pandemic’s impact on local companies
- Will SpaceX launch today give US a lift as Apollo lunar mission did in 68?
THURSDAY |May 28 Headlines:
- Artificial intelligence startup dives into COVID-19 contact tracing, targets privacy worries
- Durham pharma firm BioCryst raising $100M
- Bullish biz execs believe US economy will recover swiftly, survey finds
- Durham startup Tavros teams up with oncology-focused firm in search for cancer therapies
- Fact-checking Trump tweets doesn’t make Twitter ‘arbiter of truth,’ CEO says
- Google rolls out ‘Scam Spotter,’ a new tool to combat online fraud
- IBM calls for adoption of design principles to reduce tech-facilitated abuse
- Jessica Porta: What being a new parent (under quarantine) teaches about entrepreneurship, resiliency
- Legal, insurance issues emerging during COVID-19 is focus of CBC’s ‘Here to Help’ webinar
- NCSU researchers aim to improve prosthetics with new software, artificial intelligence
- Reports: Lenovo is cutting jobs in Triangle
- Scrubbed: Big space dance for SpaceX and NASA reset for this weekend
- US unemployment could jump as high as 20-25% in May: UNC Charlotte economist
- Virtual summit inspires Durham, other teen entrepreneurs
- With ‘open banking’ on the rise, Red Hat looks to capitalize
FRIDAY | May 29 Headlines:
- Amazon to retain 70% of 175,000 workers hired during pandemic
- Are social media firms biased against conservatives? No, says Facebook data
- Beware the Sandworm: NSA warns Russian hackers target popular email program
- Biogen, MIT launch ‘virtual learning lab’ for underserved students in Triangle
- Biotech startup Arrevus lands $800,000 in grants for sepsis treatment
- Can’t find groceries you want? College buddies develop ‘shelfCheck’ app to locate stock
- Cisco to acquire cloud intel firm ThousandEyes; report says price is nearly $1B
- Governor’s Entrepreneur Council seeks recommendations to bolster NC startup ecosystem
- Greensboro-based chip firm Qorvo looks to raise $850M
- Hello and welcome: Robot waiters to the rescue amid virus
- Lenovo says it’s cutting costs but won’t confirm layoffs
- ProductCampRTP launches four-part virtual ‘unconference’ series
- The economy is reopening. But the job cuts keep coming
- US consumes more renewable energy than coal for first time since 1885
Weekend Reading:
- Apple, Microsoft keep making acquisitions despite pandemic
- ‘Beautiful sight:’ Trump hails NASA-SpaceX launch, Musk, astronauts
- Here’s why many small busineses are missing out on COVID-19 disaster loans
- Immune stocks? Tech’s giants so far proving to be immune from COVID-19 fallout
- Inside IBM: Partnerships with India-based peers, Red Hat mean cloud opportunities
- Inside Red Hat: Its open source heritage means big opportunity in cloud computing
- Inside Trump-Twitter debate: A look at key internet rule, opposition to Trump order
- Is work-from-home really the wave of the future? A look at the pros, cons
- Musk on his way to as much as $770M in compensation, Tesla confirms
- UNC joins effort to create COVID-19 patient database in bid to improve treatment