Marc Vartabedian
Wall Street Journal
Oakland, CA, United States
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Past articles by Marc:
Venture Market Sees Funding Levels Drop While Valuations Rise
A pullback in investment coupled with rising valuations could point to a looming decline in prices for startup deals this year. → Read More
Logistics Companies Move to Snatch Up Supply-Chain Tech Startups
Logistics behemoths and startups alike are planning for another year of snatching up supply-chain technology companies, following two strong years of merger-and-acquisition activity. → Read More
Crypto Venture Firm Dragonfly Is Targeting a $500 Million Fund
The pool of capital would be the largest raised so far by the young firm and comes as venture investors are raising ever-larger funds in a rush to back crypto startups. → Read More
Jason Schroeder Battled Wildfires for 20 Years. Can He Finally Quit?
As Western forest blazes intensify, a parallel crisis is unfolding: Federal crew members fighting them are leaving the front lines in droves. ‘I had to draw a line in the sand.’ → Read More
Self-Driving Trucking Startup Taps U.S., Chinese Investors
Self-driving trucking startup PlusAI raised $200 million in fresh capital from investors including several top-tier Silicon Valley venture-capital firms as well as a Chinese investment firm and automotive companies. → Read More
San Diego Venture Investment Surges Along With Growth of Biomedical Sector
Venture-capital investment in the San Diego metro area is surging, driven largely by the region’s budding life sciences startup ecosystem. → Read More
Is Venture Capital Spreading Across the Country? It’s Not Clear
Anecdotal evidence suggests venture money is moving away from the big tech hubs to cheaper pastures. But two reports send conflicting signals on where the sector might be taking root. → Read More
SoftBank Makes Another Bet on Freight Shipping Technology
The Japanese firm led a $113.5 million investment in Flock Freight, a U.S. software startup that offers a service that uses algorithms to match trucks with freight headed in the same direction. → Read More
Scooter Startup Lime Projects Year of Positive Ebitda as Riders Return
Lime’s CEO says the electric scooter rental company sees a resurgence in users after a steep drop in the spring. Its improvement could be a hopeful sign for the sector. → Read More
Drone Startups Aim to Carve Out Role in Delivery of Potential Covid-19 Vaccine
Several of these businesses recently have entered into medical delivery partnerships with drug companies and retailers—including Merck & Co. and Walmart Inc.— that could help position them to take part in the high-profile effort to distribute Covid-19 vaccines. → Read More
Auto Makers Bet on Augmented Reality Startup
GM Ventures and SAIC Capital, along with South Korean parts-maker Hyundai Mobis and others, invested $50 million into Envisics, a U.K.-based startup developing hologram technology for autonomous driving. → Read More
Drone Funding Highlights Sector’s Momentum
Venture investors are targeting drone startups as technological advancements and federal approvals enable growth in the sector. The latest example is Volansi, which offers a drone delivery service to transport machine parts and other cargo to industrial companies and the military. → Read More
In Fighting California Wildfires, Hardscrabble Bulldozer Operators Are Secret Weapon
As the state’s wildfires burn more ferociously and break out simultaneously, stretching state resources thin, Cal Fire is growing increasingly reliant on contractors to perform one of firefighting’s most critical tasks. → Read More
Supply Chain Robotics Startup Raises Capital as Sector Grows
The new capital will be used to accelerate the commercial deployment of its products, as well as to invest in new technologies and to expand its manufacturing operations. → Read More
First-Time Tech Entrepreneurs Find Early Money Harder to Come By in Silicon Valley
Seed financing—the earliest stage of startup investing and the start of many tech success stories—has borne the brunt of the pandemic’s hit on the venture-capital sector, data shows. → Read More
As San Francisco’s Aging Italians Grieve From Afar, a Gelato Maker Drops By
The coronavirus pandemic has been particularly hard-hitting in northern Italy, where many of the city’s Italian immigrants trace their roots. A local gelato maker is checking in on grieving and dispirited residents, treats in hand. → Read More
Intel’s Venture Arm Acquires Minority Stake in Analytics Startup
Intel’s venture-capital arm has acquired a minority stake in artificial-intelligence data-analytics startup Hypersonix, stepping up an investment strategy to back cloud-based data companies and drive further demand to its data-center division. → Read More
Logistics Startup ClearMetal Raises Capital to Help Companies Keep Up With Amazon
ClearMetal, a logistics and supply chain data analytics startup, raised $15 million in funding, as companies attempt to cut shipping costs, speed up deliveries, and more accurately forecast arrivals to meet higher consumer expectations. → Read More
Scooter Startups Take Steps to Curb Inefficiencies, Address Safety Concerns
Over the past year, that breakneck pace of global growth—which has enabled users in more than 200 cities across the world to rent a scooter for a few hours and pay with their phones—has caught up with these companies. → Read More
Postmates Rolls Out Robots in Los Angeles as It Preps for IPO
On-demand delivery company Postmates Inc., which is preparing to go public, is launching autonomous robots to deliver food. → Read More