|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WSJ Podcast: Alaska Airlines Unpacks Its Startup Strategy
|
|
By Marc Vartabedian, WSJ Pro
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good day. Large corporations increasingly see the need to be plugged into Silicon Valley’s hurtling innovation, and have launched a variety of endeavors designed to capture some startup magic in recent years.
In October, Alaska Airlines unveiled a novel plan. The airline said it was joining forces with a venture-capital outfit, UP.Labs, to create startups from scratch to develop technology the airline believes can give it a leg up in emerging aviation tech.
Seattle-based Alaska Airlines said it would work with UP.Labs to develop six startups over three years that focus on the future of transportation. In particular, the airline is interested in decarbonization technology, sustainable fuels and A.I.-powered flight-routing, among other goals. UP.Labs, based in Santa Monica, Calif., is a division of multistrategy investment firm UP.Partners.
Pasha Saleh, the airline’s corporate development director, unpacked how Alaska would benefit from the partnership in a chat with WSJ Pro VC. Saleh details how the partnership will work and its timeline, and comments on what corporations broadly have to gain by tapping into Silicon Valley.
“We hadn’t heard of this being done in this way before, so to me it stood out right away as a really unique way to solve a business’s pressing and immediate problems and do it by attracting what venture attracts, which is outside entrepreneurs, outside capital, but focusing them on a corporation’s problems,” Saleh said.
A podcast of the full interview is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
And now on to the news...
|
|
|
|
|
Note to subscribers: Some readers might get this email on a delay because of technical difficulties that we are working to fix. This email was sent at 8 a.m. ET.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: THOMAS R. LECHLEITER/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL; PIXABAY
|
|
|
|
|
|
Early days. Artificial intelligence is driving the growth of Big Tech’s cloud revenue, even as much of the spending still reflects preliminary efforts by customers, The Wall Street Journal reports. “It’s just early days still,” said Choice Hotels Chief Information Officer Brian Kirkland about the company’s work in generative AI. “Most of the use cases are just exploratory.”
-
For cloud companies and customers alike, the question is when the technology will gain more traction.
-
Since its public debut over a year ago, generative AI has yet to gain enterprise adoption at scale, outside of some specific use cases, as businesses got up to speed on the technology and other factors.
|
|
|
|
Intel Delays $20 Billion Ohio Project, Citing Slow Chip Market
|
|
|
Intel is delaying the construction timetable for its $20 billion chip-manufacturing project in Ohio amid market challenges and the slow rollout of U.S. government grant money to grow the domestic industry, WSJ reports. While Intel’s initial timeline had chip-making starting next year, construction on the project’s manufacturing facilities now isn’t expected to be finished until late 2026, according to people involved in the project. Chip-making could begin after that, once Intel installs the complex and expensive machinery needed to make advanced semiconductors.
|
|
Palo Alto Networks Must Pay Centripetal in Patent Dispute
|
|
|
Palo Alto Networks must pay Centripetal Networks $151.5 million after a jury found the security giant infringed on several patents, WSJ Pro reports. The decision, delivered Wednesday in federal court in the eastern district of Virginia, awarded Centripetal about $37.9 million for each of the four patents it found Palo Alto Networks had infringed.
-
“We respectfully disagree with the jury’s decision, which we believe is contrary to both the law and the extensive evidence we presented at trial,” a spokesperson for Palo Alto Networks said. The company plans to seek relief through post-trial motions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pro Take: The ‘Last Mile’ of the Inflation Fight Doesn’t Seem So Bad
|
|
|
The last stage of the Federal Reserve’s inflation fight was supposed to be a street fight. The Fed could bring inflation down to 4% or 3% from the high of 9% in the summer of 2022. But taking it all the way to the central bank’s 2% target would be painful for workers and the economy, requiring steeper interest rate increases and higher unemployment, many analysts believed. Some thought the target should be moved to 3%.
All of a sudden, the inflation fight seems to be moving swiftly through what economists call the “last mile.”
Fed Chair Jerome Powell conceded in his press conference on Wednesday the inflation trend over 12 months has been a “very, very positive development, very fast decline.”
Read the full article.
|
|
|
|
|
Corrections & Amplifications: Mass PRIM’s private-equity portfolio returned more than it paid out on new investments and fees in 2023. A brief in Wednesday’s newsletter incorrectly said the portfolio returned more than the pension made in new commitments during the year.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Funds
European early-stage investor Speedinvest closed its fourth fund at €350 million, which is €50 million above the original target.
People
Cybersecurity-focused Strategic Cyber Ventures promoted Chris Ahern to partner. Before joining the Washington, D.C.-based firm, he was at Lavrock Ventures.
Cultivated meat provider Upside Foods hired Jeremy Hux as chief financial officer, and promoted Sheetal Shah to chief supply chain and manufacturing officer. Hux was previously CFO at Manus Bio. Prior to joining Upside Foods in 2021, Shah was at Impossible Foods.
API security platform Noname Security promoted Michael Baker to president and appointed Yuval Barkan as chief product officer. Prior to joining the company, Baker held leadership roles at Armis, Cylance and McAfee. Barkan was previously chief product officer at Pagaya Technologies.
Exits
Qorvo agreed to acquire Boston-based microchip-maker Anokiwave for an undisclosed amount. Anokiwave's team will join Qorvo's high performance analog segment.
|
|
|
|
|
Heart Aerospace, a Swedish hybrid-electric airplane maker, raised a $107 million Series B round from investors including Sagitta Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, EQT Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital and United Airlines Ventures.
DataSnipper, an intelligent automation platform for audit and finance professionals, landed $100 million in Series B funding at a valuation of $1 billion. Index Ventures led the round, with Partner Hannah Seal joining the company’s board. DataSnipper has offices in Amsterdam and New York.
Watershed, an enterprise climate platform based in San Francisco and London, scored $100 million in Series C funding, valuing the company at $1.8 billion. Greenoaks led the round, which included participation from Kleiner Perkins and others.
Metronome, a San Francisco-based usage-based billing platform for software companies, closed a $43 million Series B round. New Enterprise Associates led the investment, with Venture Partner Hilarie Koplow-McAdams joining the board.
Oasis Security, a Tel Aviv-based non-human identity management platform, picked up $40 million in funding led by Sequoia Capital.
Incognia, a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of location identity technology for fraud prevention, closed a $31 million Series B round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
SPR Therapeutics, a Cleveland-based medical device company focused on treating pain, secured $25 million in Series D1 equity led by Revelation Partners, alongside $60 million in debt.
Benepass, a flexible employee benefits platform, added $20 million in funding. Investors included Portage, with Partner Stephanie Choo joining the board.
|
|
|
|
|
Here is our weekly roundup of stories from across WSJ Pro that we think you'll find useful. They are unlocked for WSJ subscribers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Amazon posted its strongest quarterly profit in two years. PHOTO: BRYAN ANSELM FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
