Some of the world's leading automakers are all turning to the same company to help bring past the self-driving finish line. Aurora CEO and Co-Founder Chris Urmson joins Cheddar at CES to discuss his firm's newly-announced partnership with Volkswagen Group. He describes his company's goal as providing the "drivers," by way of software, for autonomous vehicles.
The partnership is focused on developing "mobility as a service" initiative in major cities. Urmson describes how Aurora will help Volkswagen Group's fleet of self-driving cars, known as Sedric, connect people in urban communities. He explains how the service initiative will help people with mobility issues of their own, as well as making transportation easier for commuters.
Urmson reveals how his company spent the past year working with Volkswagen Group to integrate its system into the automaker's fleet. He breaks down Aurora's high-pedigree founding team, including himself, a veteran of Google's self-driving initiative, and Sterling Anderson, one of the minds behind the launch of Tesla's Model X.
Polestar 1, Volvo's newest electric performance brand, has made its way to the U.S. Thomas Ingenlath, the CEO of Polestar, said the car should have the longest "pure electric" range on the market.
The e-scooter boom has led to two fatalities ー both on Lime products ー the first documented deaths since scooters charged into the public square earlier this year. Emily Warren, senior director of policy and public affairs at Lime, said in order for e-scooters to become integrated into everyday transportation, there needs to be infrastructure put in place to keep scooter riders safe.
In an exclusive interview with Cheddar as part of the debut of Cheddar Rides, MTA Managing Director Ronnie Hakim outlined the plan to keep the 225,000 people who commute between North Brooklyn and Manhattan via the L train moving.
Shares of SVMK, otherwise known as SurveyMonkey, opened at $18.75, well above the original IPO price of $12.
SVMK, the parent of the online polling company SurveyMonkey ($SVMK), will begin trading as a public company Wednesday, looking to ride the wave of strong tech IPOs from the likes of Eventbrite, Farfetch, and Sonos.
Fintech firms' grand promise had been to unbundle services like checking, savings, lending, and wealth management. But as the big banks adapted to the ever-changing market, start-ups like Simple are now rebundling again. CEO Dickson Chu confirmed to Cheddar that the company, which was acquired by BBVA Compass in 2014, began offering personal loans up to $40,000 through a partnership with online lending company Prosper.
Adolphus Busch V is coming off the launch of ABV Cannabis, a marijuana start-up that operates in Colorado and sells disposable vape pens filled with cannabis oil. Next, Busch says he is looking to bring pre-rolled joints to market. He plans to brand the company as a healthy alternative to the product that made his family unimaginably wealthy.
Nearly all of cyclists who die in accidents weren't wearing helmets. Park & Diamond wants to change that. The start-up, which won the Red Bull Launchpad, is building a bike helmet that looks and feels like a regular baseball cap. Co-founders David Hall and Jordan Klein said the helmet is collapsible and light and made of a composite material that makes it as safe as a normal helmet.
Kimbal Musk, Tesla board member and brother of CEO Elon, told Cheddar, "If you have a Model 3 and you'd like it delivered, we can probably get done for you by the end of the week. If we haven't reached out to you, reach out to us."
Mark Cummins, CEO of Pointy, shares his advice for young entrepreneurs in our 'What Keeps You Going' segment.
