Latest news with #Startup
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Apple executives held internal talks about buying Perplexity, Bloomberg News reports
(Reuters) -Apple executives have held internal talks about potentially bidding for artificial intelligence startup Perplexity, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The discussions are at an early stage and may not lead to an offer, the report said, adding that the tech behemoth's executives have not discussed a bid with Perplexity's management. Apple and Perplexity did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Sign in to access your portfolio
Technical.ly
12-06-2025
- Business
- Technical.ly
Sojo Industries raises $40M to automate food manufacturing and grow operations
Sojo Industries announced today a $40 million Series B investment, building on the company's recent growth momentum. The Bristol-based robotics company uses both hardware and software to automate food and beverage manufacturing systems. The recent funding from investment firm S2G will be used to upgrade its software products, invest in marketing materials and advance its 'mobile manufacturing' technology, Barak Bar-Cohen, founder and CEO of Sojo, told 'Having this vote of confidence from S2G, having this capital on the balance sheet, having smart, experienced partners alongside you,' Bar-Cohen said, 'feels like another major advantage to have at this point in time.' Only four years old, the company has raised about $63 million to date and currently employs 100 people. The key to Sojo's growth has been staying focused on its original vision and model, which is building a tech company rooted in flexible manufacturing and product tracking technology, according to Bar-Cohen. As it continues to grow, Sojo plans to build out a customer-centric team and further improve its technology, he said. 'Really staying an inch wide in who you are and what you do,' he said, 'but trying to develop a model that's a mile deep and scales profitably.' The 2024 RealLIST Startup will also use the money to expand its marketing capabilities and its 'Atoms to Bits' platform, which encompasses its two main software products: Sojo Shield, a tool that tracks products in the supply chain, and Sojo Flight. Flight, patented late last year, licenses Sojo's manufacturing services to similar facilities. Now, the goal is to build more 'rovers,' which are platforms with robotics and conveyors attached to them that can be moved around and connected easily inside third-party facilities. The company currently has eight sites using the Sojo Flight system, with the goal of increasing that number to 20 by early next year, Bar-Cohen said. It will need additional units to meet demand, as some of Sojo's contracts with large manufacturers and brands require significant volumes of the tools, and some of the funding will help with that. As a part of its growth, Sojo is also investing in its physical sites. Sojo has manufacturing and packaging facilities in Pennsylvania, California, Texas and Indiana. Some of the money will go towards enhancing those locations by adding more technology and robotics, according to Bar-Cohen. Overcoming a challenging fundraising environment Six months ago, Sojo decided to pursue a Series B round to keep up with growing demand for its products, according to Bar-Cohen. Last summer, Sojo raised a $10 million Series A. As of October 2024, Sojo Industries was valued at $80 million, according to PitchBook, but the company did not disclose an updated valuation with its current raise. Raising money is difficult right now, specifically because of macroeconomic uncertainty. Venture capital deal flow in the Philadelphia region was way down last quarter, according to PitchBook's quarterly Venture Monitor report. Part of the reason the fundraising atmosphere is so challenging is that founders need to show profitable growth at scale, a plan to get there and a strong team to execute it, Bar-Cohen said. The goal is to use this recent raise in a way that will result in 12 to 18-month payback periods. The company was founded in 2021 by Bar-Cohen, a former beverage company executive, with a specific focus on using robotics and automation to package variety packs of food and beverages. Originally, Sojo was mostly focused on beverage manufacturing and packaging, but it's now solidly in food and snacks with plans to expand into the pet food, health and beauty markets, Bar-Cohen said. 'If you just focus on the things that you're really, really good at, over and over again,' Bar-Cohen said, 'and you do it well, and you sort of let that permeate across the business and that execution operator mindset — that's as much of a competitive advantage out there as anything.'
Time of India
26-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Semicon jobs dip, niche skills in high demand
Bengaluru: Job opportunities in India's semiconductor sector have shown a 15% reduction in the 2024-25 financial year, showed a Careernet report. The research data from 50 design-focused semiconductor GCCs, studying their structural and functional characteristics. Statistics show that job vacancies peaked at 3,760 in May last year, followed by a reduction to 3,040 in Jan this year, settling at 3,181 in March. Although there is an overall reduction, specific expertise in VLSI, embedded systems, and analogue design continues to be sought after. Mid-sized captive units have demonstrated greater adaptability in hiring practices. The industry continues to require professionals predominantly in design, R&D, and manufacturing sectors, with monthly requirements surpassing 3,000 specialists in the previous year. Recruitment efforts concentrate on research and manufacturing positions. Skills in electronic design automation (EDA) tools, semiconductor process engineering, yield analysis, data engineering, and cybersecurity for embedded systems are becoming essential as AI and ML integration advances in chip design. The report indicates these competencies will be highly sought after, supported by India's engineering expertise and government-initiated semiconductor projects. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Casas de propriedade bancária à venda em São Paulo (ver preços) LocalPlan Saiba Mais Undo "The Rs 76,000 crore Semicon India programme, with its focused incentives for chip design and deployment, reflects the government's strategic commitment to building a world-class semiconductor ecosystem. At the same time, initiatives like the Chips to Startup programme, SMART Labs, and AICTE's updated VLSI curriculum are laying the groundwork for a deep and future-ready talent pipeline. These measures are not just interventions but foundational pillars supporting India's transition from a service-driven market to a product- and R&D-led semiconductor powerhouse. While the talent demand-supply gap poses near-term challenges, the long-term trajectory is strong, particularly as mid-sized GCCs emerge as agile engines of growth and innovation," said Neelabh Shukla, CBO at Careernet. Whilst smaller firms experienced downward trends in the March quarter of 2024-25, medium and large-scale firms demonstrated positive growth, with enhanced professional recruitment during Q3 and Q4 compared to the initial half-year period.
Phone Arena
09-05-2025
- Phone Arena
I thought nothing could impress me nowadays. But Nothing did!
In about a month, it will be four years since Carl Pei's London-based startup — Nothing — released its very first product. The Nothing Ear (1).I'll come out and say that I was extremely skeptical, judgmental, and tongue-and-cheeky about the startup. In my defense, all we had to go on until this point was Nothing's mission statement, which was 'To remove barriers between people and technology, to bring back artistry, passion and trust to the field of consumer technology'.A pretty bold, long-winded statement that, through the lens of someone who has been jaded by a barrage of marketing materials in the past, doesn't mean much of didn't help that after releasing that mission statement and spending months to tease us, Nothing's first product looked like a copy of AirPods Pro. AirPods Pro: Electric Boogaloo, this time it's transparent! The kicker — they didn't sound very good, hey, OK, it was just a first product to get the name out there, gauge interest, get the websites talking. What's next? It took another year and, in July of 2022, the Nothing Phone (1) was launched. And it immediately became apparent that the transparent elements of the Ear (1) were not just a one-off gimmick — it was something that the company actively wanted to bake into its all honesty, the Nothing Phone (1) was rough around the edges. One wouldn't expect a perfect first launch, right? It had obscure bugs in the software (like the blue light filter not turning off, or some issues with the auto-brightness), and it wasn't a there was something oddly alluring about it. I do remember spending a couple of months with the Nothing Phone (1) as my phone after the review period was done. I wasn't on board with the Glyph interface just yet — it didn't make much sense. And I wasn't happy with the software yet, as a budget phone with modest hardware, it did have exactly the things that mattered — good display, snappy navigation, and a no-nonsense user experience that still had a distinct signature and style. Like the extra-large folders, which allowed you to fit more apps in a single homescreen, but still let you launch them with a single tap, with no need to open the folder first. I am a sucker for keeping my homescreen count down to a OK, Nothing. So, I wasn't super into the whole Glyph interface thing of the Nothing Phone (1), right? It was there to do two things. One — look cool. Two — deliver notifications to you with unique light patterns, so you'd know who's calling or what's happening when your phone is face-down.I found it pretty impossible that one may be able to memorize the light patterns and use that to figure out what type of call is coming through. To be fair — I still do, that's a weird way to try and sell the Glyph what sold the concept of the Nothing Phone to me as a whole was the iteration on the entire package. First, the Nothing Icon Pack, which turns all of your icons monochrome, was introduced with this phone. The reasoning behind the move is to allow you to 'remove branding' from different apps and services from your homescreen. That kind of makes sense in a world where 'nomophobia' is a word that we should be conscious of, right? Apparently, Apple agrees, as you can now have monochrome icons on iOS 18, too. Some use that feature to create abominations, other make nice, neat, tightly-packed homescreens. Then, the Glyph was upgraded with a timing bar. One of the LED strips can work as a Pomodoro timer, or a tracker for your Uber or food delivery (3rd party API is available, but admittedly — not taken up by a lot of developers). Which was a small improvement, but instantly got me to thinking about placing the phone face-down more often. And then it clicked for me. The Nothing Phone (2) was trying to be 'the best phone that you don't use'. With its many customizations and options, it's trying to help you push it to the back of your mind as 'that one device that I pick up when I need to communicate', not the smartphone that is always vying for and clawing at your attention. Again, I used the Nothing Phone (2) for a while. Want to know what got me to stop? It is so incredibly slippery! It will fall off my Anker rubber-covered wireless charging puck, it will slide off a desk, it just does not want to sit still. Thankfully, Nothing is aware of that design now we get to the budget era of Nothing — the reason why I felt compelled to write this up, actually. The Nothing Phone (3a) and currently-launching CMF Phone 2 Pro are… pretty excellent for their respective slapping the 'Pro' moniker on everything is a pet peeve of mine and feels like sandpaper on my prefrontal cortex. But OK, let's look beyond that. The CMF Phone 2 Pro costs $280. It is by no means excellent in anything it does — at that price, it can't be… right? But it's pretty darn good where it matters! One — the display. It's an AMOLED panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate with 388 pixels per inch. Yes, these are specs from a sheet, but in reality — the screen looks good. Very good. And it's HDR compatible with 3,000 nits peak brightness. Since the screen is basically the thing you look at 99% of the time when interacting with the device, it sure helps if it's good. And it sells the premium illusion better when it's 120 Hz, too! (on a $280 phone, looking at you, iPhone 16e). Then, the software experience. A Mediatek Dimensity 7300 Pro may not inspire much confidence — it shouldn't, if you want to play Warzone Mobile on your phone. But, if you just want the core smartphone experience, you will be hard-pressed to find a better performer in the $280 price bracket. No, it's not as fast as a $1,000 Galaxy S25+ or iPhone 16 Pro. But it doesn't lag, stutter, take ages to open your calendar like some other $300 phones I've tried. It works… just fine! And finally — the camera. No, it's not as good as on the $800, $1,000, $1,200 phones. In fact, its photos are only slightly better than those of other $300 phones, and that's arguable. However, what struck me with the CMF Phone 2 Pro was the overall camera experience. The viewfinder preview speed — it keeps up a high frame rate and doesn't have that 'cheap smartphone' choppy look when you are moving around. It responds pretty consistently when taking a photo, and even gives you a Portrait Mode preview with the faux bokeh cooked into the viewfinder (for example, the Pixel 9a does not do that).OK, so thus far, I've come to expect the following things from Nothing: Unique, signature design and user experience Good core performance Out-of-the-box takes on common features (Essential Space vs AI assistants) Competitive pricing It only makes sense that the community is eager and excited for the launch of a flagship Nothing Phone (3). It hasn't come yet… Hopefully soon?Let's take some points down, so this is not a puff piece. What still irks me about Nothing? The amount of puns that can be made with that company name — often times, not even intentional. The dreaded 'Pro' addendum on these new non-pro devices. The third generation of Nothing Ear earbuds doesn't have a number — so we went from (1) to (2) to . The vagueness surrounding a Nothing Phone (3) launch (the Phone (2) is now two years old) launch (the Phone (2) is now two years old) The limited and sometimes mysterious availability of the devices. Hey, at least it's not on an invite system! Have you tried a Nothing product yet?
Phone Arena
09-05-2025
- Phone Arena
I thought nothing can impress me nowadays. But Nothing did!
In about a month, it will be four years since Carl Pei's London-based startup — Nothing — released its very first product. The Nothing Ear (1).I'll come out and say that I was extremely skeptical, judgmental, and tongue-and-cheeky about the startup. In my defense, all we had to go on until this point was Nothing's mission statement, which was 'To remove barriers between people and technology, to bring back artistry, passion and trust to the field of consumer technology'.A pretty bold, long-winded statement that, through the lens of someone who has been jaded by a barrage of marketing materials in the past, doesn't mean much of didn't help that after releasing that mission statement and spending months to tease us, Nothing's first product looked like a copy of AirPods Pro. AirPods Pro: Electric Boogaloo, this time it's transparent! The kicker — they didn't sound very good, hey, OK, it was just a first product to get the name out there, gauge interest, get the websites talking. What's next? It took another year and, in July of 2022, the Nothing Phone (1) was launched. And it immediately became apparent that the transparent elements of the Ear (1) were not just a one-off gimmick — it was something that the company actively wanted to bake into its all honesty, the Nothing Phone (1) was rough around the edges. One wouldn't expect a perfect first launch, right? It had obscure bugs in the software (like the blue light filter not turning off, or some issues with the auto-brightness), and it wasn't a there was something oddly alluring about it. I do remember spending a couple of months with the Nothing Phone (1) as my phone after the review period was done. I wasn't on board with the Glyph interface just yet — it didn't make much sense. And I wasn't happy with the software yet, as a budget phone with modest hardware, it did have exactly the things that mattered — good display, snappy navigation, and a no-nonsense user experience that still had a distinct signature and style. Like the extra-large folders, which allowed you to fit more apps in a single homescreen, but still let you launch them with a single tap, with no need to open the folder first. I am a sucker for keeping my homescreen count down to a OK, Nothing. So, I wasn't super into the whole Glyph interface thing of the Nothing Phone (1), right? It was there to do two things. One — look cool. Two — deliver notifications to you with unique light patterns, so you'd know who's calling or what's happening when your phone is face-down.I found it pretty impossible that one may be able to memorize the light patterns and use that to figure out what type of call is coming through. To be fair — I still do, that's a weird way to try and sell the Glyph what sold the concept of the Nothing Phone to me as a whole was the iteration on the entire package. First, the Nothing Icon Pack, which turns all of your icons monochrome, was introduced with this phone. The reasoning behind the move is to allow you to 'remove branding' from different apps and services from your homescreen. That kind of makes sense in a world where 'nomophobia' is a word that we should be conscious of, right? Apparently, Apple agrees, as you can now have monochrome icons on iOS 18, too. Some use that feature to create abominations, other make nice, neat, tightly-packed homescreens. Then, the Glyph was upgraded with a timing bar. One of the LED strips can work as a Pomodoro timer, or a tracker for your Uber or food delivery (3rd party API is available, but admittedly — not taken up by a lot of developers). Which was a small improvement, but instantly got me to thinking about placing the phone face-down more often. And then it clicked for me. The Nothing Phone (2) was trying to be 'the best phone that you don't use'. With its many customizations and options, it's trying to help you push it to the back of your mind as 'that one device that I pick up when I need to communicate', not the smartphone that is always vying for and clawing at your attention. Again, I used the Nothing Phone (2) for a while. Want to know what got me to stop? It is so incredibly slippery! It will fall off my Anker rubber-covered wireless charging puck, it will slide off a desk, it just does not want to sit still. Thankfully, Nothing is aware of that design now we get to the budget era of Nothing — the reason why I felt compelled to write this up, actually. The Nothing Phone (3a) and currently-launching CMF Phone 2 Pro are… pretty excellent for their respective slapping the 'Pro' moniker on everything is a pet peeve of mine and feels like sandpaper on my prefrontal cortex. But OK, let's look beyond that. The CMF Phone 2 Pro costs $280. It is by no means excellent in anything it does — at that price, it can't be… right? But it's pretty darn good where it matters! One — the display. It's an AMOLED panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate with 388 pixels per inch. Yes, these are specs from a sheet, but in reality — the screen looks good. Very good. And it's HDR compatible with 3,000 nits peak brightness. Since the screen is basically the thing you look at 99% of the time when interacting with the device, it sure helps if it's good. And it sells the premium illusion better when it's 120 Hz, too! (on a $280 phone, looking at you, iPhone 16e). Then, the software experience. A Mediatek Dimensity 7300 Pro may not inspire much confidence — it shouldn't, if you want to play Warzone Mobile on your phone. But, if you just want the core smartphone experience, you will be hard-pressed to find a better performer in the $280 price bracket. No, it's not as fast as a $1,000 Galaxy S25+ or iPhone 16 Pro. But it doesn't lag, stutter, take ages to open your calendar like some other $300 phones I've tried. It works… just fine! And finally — the camera. No, it's not as good as on the $800, $1,000, $1,200 phones. In fact, its photos are only slightly better than those of other $300 phones, and that's arguable. However, what struck me with the CMF Phone 2 Pro was the overall camera experience. The viewfinder preview speed — it keeps up a high frame rate and doesn't have that 'cheap smartphone' choppy look when you are moving around. It responds pretty consistently when taking a photo, and even gives you a Portrait Mode preview with the faux bokeh cooked into the viewfinder (for example, the Pixel 9a does not do that).OK, so thus far, I've come to expect the following things from Nothing: Unique, signature design and user experience Good core performance Out-of-the-box takes on common features (Essential Space vs AI assistants) Competitive pricing It only makes sense that the community is eager and excited for the launch of a flagship Nothing Phone (3). It hasn't come yet… Hopefully soon?Let's take some points down, so this is not a puff piece. What still irks me about Nothing? The amount of puns that can be made with that company name — often times, not even intentional. The dreaded 'Pro' addendum on these new non-pro devices. The third generation of Nothing Ear earbuds doesn't have a number — so we went from (1) to (2) to . The vagueness surrounding a Nothing Phone (3) launch (the Phone (2) is now two years old) launch (the Phone (2) is now two years old) The limited and sometimes mysterious availability of the devices. Hey, at least it's not on an invite system! Have you tried a Nothing product yet?
