Virgin Galactic crash ousts Branson as Hyperloop chair
In October 2018, Richard Branson stepped down as chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One, the startup he had backed less than a year earlier. The immediate trigger was a fatal Virgin...
Startups
Profiles SME growth, founder departures, funding rounds, eVTOL races, and startup collapses like Theranos.
BoatAffair founder fixes broken boat rental market
Natalya Zubova launched BoatAffair after discovering that renting a boat felt as unpredictable as hunting for a parking spot in a jammed marina. The venture built a technology-driven marketplace connecting...
Kerb Founder Rob Brown Exits as CEO
Rob Brown stepped down as chief executive of Kerb, the parking-technology business he founded. The change at the top came during a growth phase for the startup, which connects motorists...
Hubble: The UK flexible office marketplace and what it does
Hubble is a digital marketplace where businesses book flexible office space by the day, week, or month, no long lease required. Founded in London in 2014 by Tushar Agarwal and...
Startups: 90% fail, founders reveal costs.
Roughly 90% of startups fail, according to Startup Genome. For every celebrated unicorn, nine other ventures dissolve, sell for parts, or go dark. Their creators do not appear on magazine...
Kit Lender solves ski trip gear haul
Forrest Shinners is the founder and CEO of Kit Lender, a rental outfit based in Stowe, Vermont. He launched the operation after wrestling with the logistics of hauling skis, boots,...
Theranos: How the $9 Billion Blood-Testing Startup Collapsed
Theranos, once valued at $9 billion, promised to upend blood testing with a device called the Edison that could run hundreds of tests from a single finger-prick. Instead, the firm...
Joby, Archer, Wisk race to certify eVTOL by 2025
By early 2025, not a single electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft has carried a paying passenger. The industry that promised to reshape urban mobility by mid-decade remains a collection...
Anthropic Gets $580M Series B Led by Bankman-Fried
In April 2022, Anthropic closed a $580 million Series B. The lead investor was Sam Bankman-Fried, then CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Less than eight months later, FTX collapsed into...
Jason Bates, Monzo Co-Founder, Left the Digital Bank
Jason Bates, one of the original co-founders of the UK digital bank Monzo, left his operational role. The parting was amicable. He did not exit for a competitor or to...
LSEG’s 2018 report: 1,000 dynamic UK SMEs
In 2018, the London Stock Exchange Group published its fifth annual '1000 Companies to Inspire Britain' report. It profiled 1000 privately held SMEs the exchange judged to be the UK's...
