India approves Apple partners and Samsung for 3 billion smartphone manufacturing plan Samsung and three major contract manufacturing partners of Apple are among 16 firms to win $6.65 billion incentives under India’s federal plan to boost domestic smartphone production over the next five years. These companies had applied for the incentive program in August. In […]

China’s EV startup Xpeng pulls in 0 million Series C+ Xpeng, an electric vehicle startup run by former Alibaba executive He Xiaopeng, said Monday it has raised around $500 million in a Series C+ round to further develop models tailored to China’s tech-savvy middle-class consumers. The announcement followed its Series C round of $400 million […]

Xiaomi, Samsung and others begin to resume smartphone production in India Xiaomi, Vivo, Samsung, Oppo and other smartphone companies have received approval from some state governments in India to partially resume manufacturing and assembling of devices amid the ongoing lockdown in the world’s second largest handset market that completely shut operations at these plants in […]

Foxconn and Fiat Chrysler partner to develop EVs and an ‘internet of vehicles’ business Foxconn Technology Group, the Taiwanese electronics giant best known for its iPhone manufacturing contract, is forming a joint venture with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to build electric vehicles in China. The joint venture was disclosed in a regulatory filing. Nikkei was first […]

Chinese EV startup Xpeng Motors raises 0 million, takes on Xiaomi as strategic investor Xpeng Motors, the Chinese electric vehicle startup backed by Alibaba and Foxconn, has raised a fresh injection of $400 million in capital and has taken on Xiaomi as a strategic investor, the company announced. The Series C includes an unidentified group […]

Light Phone’s founders discuss life beyond the smartphone For a seemingly tough pitch, Light has had little trouble getting noticed. The company has run two successful crowdfunding campaigns for a pair of minimalist phones designed to augment or replace the smartphone. Today the startup announced that it will be shipping the second version of the […]

Startups Weekly: SoftBank’s second act Hello and welcome back to Startups Weekly, a weekend newsletter that dives into the week’s noteworthy startups and venture capital news. Before I jump into today’s topic, let’s catch up a bit. Last week, I noted some challenges plaguing mental health tech startups. Before that, I wrote about Zoom and […]

SoftBank announces AI-focused second 8 billion Vision Fund with LPs including Microsoft, Apple and Foxconn SoftBank Group announced today that it will launch its second Vision Fund with participation from Apple, Foxconn, Microsoft and other tech companies and investors. Called the Vision Fund 2, the fund will focus on AI-based technology. SoftBank said the fund’s […]