Wearable tech is now worth $2B 💰

Robotic tails can help you balance and VR meets childbirth.

Steph Newton

Published in

Hardware News

4 min readAug 23, 2019

What’s New In Hardware:

Snap’s releasing a third generation of its Spectacles, this time with two cameras that produce 3D effects. (Fast Company)
Is it possible to make a zero-emission airplane market-ready in three years? One company says yes. (The Verge)
UPS has been hauling cargo between Phoenix and Tucson in autonomous trucks for months and we’re just now finding out. (Gizmodo)
The market for wearables in the US alone hit $2 billion in Q2 2019. (TechCrunch)
Home assistance robot development is getting a big shot in the arm from Toyota. (Reuters)

Offbeat Tidbits You Might’ve Missed:

A stretchy little patch of sensors about the size of a postage stamp might be all you need to control a robot hand. (IEEE Spectrum)
VR might help women manage the pain of childbirth. (BBC News)
The elderly could use a hand with balance and mobility; why not give them a robotic tail? (Reuters)

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SoftBank’s Vision Fund is investing $110 million into EnergyVault, a two-year-old Swiss startup that stores energy in stacked concrete blocks.
San Francisco-based e-cigarette giant JUUL Labs filed paperwork with the SEC disclosing that it had raised $325 million in a transaction consisting of a blend of equity and debt. It has been rumored that Juul sold convertible debt in a bridge financing to bolster its balance sheet.
TuSimple, an autonomous semi-truck startup based out of Tucson, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from the venture capital arm of UPS.
Mason, a mobile infrastructure for smart hardware startup based out of Seattle, has raised $25 million in a recent series A funding round led by Coatue Management. GGV Capital and Base10 also participated in the round.
Miko, a robotics company based out of Mumbai, has raised $7.5 millionin a series A funding round led by Chiratae Ventures, YourNest Venture Capital, Bruno Raschle’s family office, and a group of angel investors consisting of industry veterans and technology evangelists.