TechWire Rewind: Catching up on 88 tech headlines from last week

As Monday morning rolls in, we’re providing TechWire readers with a quick recap of the past week’s news headlines.

Notable news stories from last week included: Durham-based RNA therapeutics company Ribometrix formed a partnership with Genentech that could be worth over $1 billion; Indiana-based MetroNet will invest over $70 million to build a fiber-optic network in Fayetteville and provide broadband and other services across Cumberland County; investments in North Carolina startups topped $3.6 billion in 2020, ranking sixth for the total amount of venture investments raised nationwide.

Several North Carolina companies secured new funding last week: Research Triangle Park-based BioAesthetics ($5 million), RTP’s ImagineOptix ($200,000), Raleigh-based InsightFinder ($725,000), Cary-based marGo ($4 million) Durham-based NALA Systems ($700,000), Charlotte-based AvidXchange ($5 million), Winston-Salem’s Xpand Gaming ($50,000) and Durham-based GeneCentric Therapeutics ($1.2 million). Read more local startup news in our weekly Startup Rewind edition.

And, in national news: Google, Apple and Amazon removed Parler from their services; social media stocks slid on Monday after companies permanently banned President Trump’s account; Bitcoin dropped by 20% from last Friday to Monday; CES 2021 was held digitally; China’s 2020 trade surplus hit a record $535 billion, up 27% from 2019; another 1.25 million Americans are out of work as the pandemic job crisis escalates; across the U.S., exit values, investments and fundraising deals hit record highs in 2020.

Keeping with our Monday “TechWire Rewind” tradition, here’s a look back at 88 local, state and national headlines as reported by WRAL TechWire last week: