Niantic Inc. has raised $20 million from Google & Nintendo, could raise $10 million more

- Oct. 15th 2015 3:07 pm PT

Niantic Labs isn’t part of Google anymore (it’s actually Niantic, Inc. as of this past summer), but it does look like Google still has a marked amount of interest in the famed Ingress maker. According to a report from TechCrunch, Niantic, Inc. is about to secure $20 million in investments from Google, Nintendo, and The Pokémon Company. This comes just a month after the group came out to announce an upcoming mobile game called Pokémon Go that ties in a real-world social aspect much like Ingress… expand full story

Google takes part in $100 million funding round for secure messaging startup Symphony

Stephen Hall

- Oct. 12th 2015 7:33 am PT

@stephenhall_

Google messaging investment Magic Leap money

Reports surfaced last week suggesting that Google was in talks to invest in secure messaging startup Symphony, and a new report out Monday morning (via Re/code) suggests that the company is about to announce $100 million in funding raised in a recent round from several investors including — as was reported — the Mountain View company… expand full story

Google offering $5 million in funding to Bay Area non-profit organizations

Cam Bunton

- Sep. 30th 2015 2:22 am PT

@CamBunton

charity Funding Bay Area non-profit Google Impact Challenge

While Google was busy showing off its latest hardware at an event in San Francisco yesterday morning, it also quietly announced something which many will think is far more important. Yesterday, Google revealed that it has chosen its 10 finalists for its second annual Impact Challenge: Bay Area…

expand full story

Cyanogen receives more ‘strategic investment,’ this time from Foxconn

Stephen Hall - May. 12th 2015 10:12 am PT

The details are very scarce at this point, but a fresh press release this morning reveals that Cyanogen has received a “strategic investment” from Foxconn, closing out its series C round of funding. While an exact number isn’t mentioned (in fact no details are really mentioned), the release does say that Cyanogen has raised a total of $110 million in funding to date, assumably including the amount that Foxconn has invested.

Cyanogen received $70 million in an investment round in January, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Some amount of that was from Microsoft, another company that Cyanogen calls its partner. Kirt McMaster, Cyanogen’s CEO, was quoted as saying that the company plans to “take Android away from Google,” and apparently Foxconn—like Microsoft—will happily support this venture.

Google Glass might have a chance in healthcare: Augmedix raises another $16 million

Stephen Hall

- Jan. 12th 2015 7:36 am PT

@steqheu

Android app glass Google Glass glassware

221522-3dac41e2e8c71f519af60ae7441f4a52fb49acb5

Healthcare seems to be one area in which Google Glass is just irresistibly great. Doctors, after all, aren’t unfamiliar with wearable tech to help them with their job; they already wear stethoscopes on a daily basis. Adding Glass to the mix brings new possibilities for more efficient patient care as well as a better work day for doctors, and Augmedix—one of the first Glass at Work partners—knows more about using Glass in medicine than any other company. Today, Augmedix announced that they’ve scored another $16 million in Series A funding.