Improbable raises $502M for virtual worlds
Improbable, a London-based startup that develops a platform for building virtual worlds, has raised $502 million in a SoftBank-led financing round that values the five-year-old company at close to $1 billion, TechCrunch reports.
Waymo, Uber dispute headed to trial
Alphabet-owned Waymo’s lawsuit against Uber alleging theft of trade secrets is apparently going to trial, after a judge ruled Uber could not force the case into private arbitration. Uber could also face criminal charges, as the judge asked the US Attorney to examine whether the company broke the law and stole technology to build self-driving cars.
Tencent puts $90M into game studio Pocket Gems
Game developer Pocket Gems has raised $90 million in fresh funding from China’s Tencent at a reported valuation around $600 million. Tencent last put capital into San Francisco-based Pocket Gems in 2015, with a $60 million investment.
Ag-tech deals rise sharply this year
Venture capitalists are getting heavily into farming. So far in 2017, ag-tech startups raised more than $320 million, a more than three-fold increase over the same period last year, according to a Crunchbase News analysis. Funded technologies run the gamut from farm data aggregation tools to fruit-harvesting robots to next-generation feedstocks.
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