Here are five recommendations for sci-fi movies with a discussion of the related real-world robotics science. And remember to check out Learn AI and Human-Robot Interaction from Asimov’s I, Robot Stories– it’s a great primer on social interactions!
So much news and insights this week that I'll save the funding figures for the next email. I want to graph the increases for you too.
In 2015, Agility Robotics spun out of Oregon State University’s College of Engineering with plans to capitalize on its revolutionary bipedal walking technology. Investment firm Playground Global got in on the ground floor, as the robotics firm began the process of commercializing its robot Digit for tasks including warehouse fulfillment and last-mile delivery.
This week I’m excited to bring you my conversation with Peter Barrett, co-founder of Playground Global, a firm that has raised over $825MM to invest in deeply technical and transformative technologies.
Our guest on Connect to Capital this week is Mike Zimmerman, a partner at Main Sequence Ventures, the Innovation Fund of the CSIRO, the Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. At Main Sequence, Mike leads the Supercharge Industrial Productivity Challenge, and also invests in the Feed 10 Billion People challenge and Next Intelligence Leap Challenge.
President Biden’s second budget request repeats proposals to increase funding across the board for non-defense science agencies, with an emphasis on those connected to his priorities in climate change mitigation, clean energy R&D, manufacturing, and technology.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s base budget is increasing 3% for fiscal year 2022, despite the Biden administration’s bid to boost it by around 40% to nearly $1.5 billion. The administration is making a similar push this year in large part to bolster NIST’s role in fostering advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies.
Congress increased the National Science Foundation’s budget by 4% to $8.8 billion for fiscal year 2022, undershooting the ambitious targets proposed by the Biden administration and pending landmark legislation. The administration is now again seeking to surge NSF’s budget past $10 billion to build out its newest directorate and to expand climate change research and STEM workforce diversity initiatives.
NASA’s science budget is increasing by 4% in fiscal year 2022 and the Biden administration is seeking a 5% increase for fiscal year 2023. The agency’s Earth Science Division would receive a relatively large boost under the proposal, but there would be some pressure on the budgets for the Planetary Science, Astrophysics, and Heliophysics Divisions.
Engineers have developed a new way to 3D-print liquid and solid materials together, potentially leading to more dynamic and useful products -- from robots to wearable electronic devices.
Researchers have used a combination of automated text analysis and the 'robot scientist' Eve to semi-automate the process of reproducing research results. The problem of lack of reproducibility is one of the biggest crises facing modern science.
ALWAYS negotiate the equity share that accelerators take! It's often flexible even when it looks fixed.
For more than a year, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has quietly piloted its own take on an accelerator for early-stage entrepreneurs; today, its partners announced the program’s official debut. In exchange for an unannounced percentage of ownership, a16z START offers early-stage founders up to $1 million in venture capital. The checks are powered by a16z’s seed […]
So, why does a16z need its own Y Combinator? The better question appears to be: Why not?
Sequoia has over the years made a name for itself for its early-stage bets on younger companies, many of which (Apple, Klarna and WhatsApp, to name a few) have gone on to become tech giants. Now, as competition heats up among investors to work with the most promising startups earlier, and the field of the […]
Investors want you to raise enough capital to comfortably reach your financial and non-financial targets before another fundraise — raise what you expect to need plus an acceptable buffer.
