Skip to content

Tech World: a $200m funding round, the return of Google Glass and more

Emily Tech World July 2017

Welcome to Tech World, your quick roundup of some the top technology news stories from across the globe. This month, we have a $200m funding round, a controversial resignation, the return of Google Glass and more.

For this episode’s Hot Topic interview, we spoke with Richard Goold from EY about exit strategy. Watch the video to find out more!

Plenty bags $200m

Indoor farming startup Plenty raised a whopping $200m investment round led by SoftBank Vision Fund.

The funds will help Plenty roll out its vertical indoor farms globally. The farms can reportedly produce crops at yields 530 times greater than that of a typical field.

Dave McClure resigns from 500 Startups

July was also the month Dave McClure resigned as general partner of 500 Startups.

The news followed the publication of a New York Times report claiming he had sent inappropriate messages to a female entrepreneur.

Vantiv buys Worldpay

Vantiv is to buy UK payment processing firm Worldpay for £3.85 per share, which works out at around £7.7bn. The exact pricing will depend on Vantiv’s share price when the deal closes.

Assuming the deal goes through, the company will be run by two CEOs and be co-headquartered between London and Ohio.

Uber partners with Yandex

Uber has formed a partnership with Yandex, the Russian search giant and operator of the ride-hailing service Yandex.Taxi.

The companies will combine their taxi services in Russia and several other Eastern European countries under a new, yet-to-be-named company.

Google Glass returns

Google Glass is back. The tech behemoth’s smart glasses weren’t well received at all when they went on sale in 2014, but the firm has released a new version nonetheless.

This time, they’ve released Glass Enterprise Edition, a version aimed not at consumers, but workers.

That’s it for our top global tech news roundup, but watch the video to see this episode’s Hot Topics interview in which we spoke with Richard Goold from EY about exit strategy.

For more video interviews with those involved in the UK tech scene, visit our video page.

Topics

Register for Free

Get daily updates and enjoy an ad-reduced experience.

Already have an account? Log in