As Monday morning rolls in, we’re providing TechWire readers with a quick recap of the past week’s news headlines.
Notable local news stories from last week included: North Carolina’s One NC Small Business Program awarded $1.5 million in grants to 29 emerging companies across the state; California-based Gilead Sciences, the maker of COVID-19 treatment remdesivir, announced plans to open a major hub in the Triangle—bringing 275 high-paying jobs; Google Fiber rolled out its ultra-fast 2-gigabit internet service in the Triangle; Durham life science firm Bioventus is targeting a $104 million IPO this week; North Carolina firms LabCorp, ChannelAdvisor and Iqvia all topped Wall Street expectations in their latest financial reports. TechWire also unveiled a new weekly roundup of job resources for local jobseekers.
And, in national news: Tesla’s $1.5 billion Bitcoin investment sent the cryptocurrency’s value to a new record high; staffers at media outlets and online publishing platforms are continuing to unionize; a law requiring Google and Facebook to pay for news is nearing passage in Australia.
Keeping with our Monday “TechWire Rewind” tradition, here’s a look back at 74 local, state and national headlines as reported by WRAL TechWire last week:
MONDAY | Feb. 8 Headlines:
- Bitcoin goes boom: Tesla’s $1.5B investment sends value to record high
- David Gardner: Are Big Tech companies becoming too powerful?
- Experience MLK in augmented reality via your smartphone thanks to Lenovo
- Just how bad is the employment picture? These statistics make for grim reading
- Kansas firm acquires Ashville’s GPM for SaaS long-term care tech
- Looking for a job? New talent? Introducing WRAL TechWire’s weekly job resource guide
- Looking for a tech or biz meetup? Here are 100+ groups across the Triangle
- NC headliners: Previewing 44 events & deadlines coming up across NC this month
- On March event horizon: Capital Connects, NC Main Street Conference, Venture Connect + more
- Startup Rewind: More than 20 headlines about NC fundings, programs & more
- Startup Spotlight: 29 emerging companies across NC share $1.5M in One NC Small Business Program grants
- TechWire Rewind: Silicon Valley exodus; startups raise cash; WallStreetBets saga – 81 headlines to review
- Tesla buys some $1.5B in bitcoin; questions surface about Musk’s tweets
- Triangle headliners: Previewing a loaded Feb. – 69 upcoming events & programs
- Triangle life science firm Bioventus gears up for IPO, looking to raise $125M or more
- Triangle Startup Guide adds more resources, including new RIoT competition & Hangar6 video series
TUESDAY | Feb. 9 Headlines:
- Bitcoin is going mainstream – and there’s more to its surge than Tesla’s $1.5B move
- Durham-based 410 Medical wins Entrepreneurial Company of Year award
- ECU to expand pharma worker training program with Golden LEAF grant
- Experimental drug could prevent and treat COVID-19, UNC researchers report
- Google Fiber rolls out ultra-fast 2 gigabit internet service in Triangle
- IBM’s latest cloud move: Linking with big data’s Palantir for hybrid using AI, Red Hat
- Nanotech firm HZO’s ailing CEO steps down, replaced by board member
- Remdesivir maker Gilead Sciences to open hub in Triangle
- So when is Wall Street’s big bubble going to burst? Or will it? Analysts say …
- Stock platform Robinhood sued by family of novice stock trader who killed himself
- Taxes & gig workers: Here’s what you need to know as tax season begins
- Teaching Startup: How new, emerging ventures develop investor relationships
- UNC grad Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett explains how COVID-19 vaccines work
- ‘Vertical mobility:’ Volkswagen looks to the skies – flying vehicles
WEDNESDAY | Feb. 10 Headlines:
- After 20 years, top female Red Hat exec Delisa Alexander cashes out
- Fighting COVID more effectively: How to make contact tracing better, according to NCSU researcher
- Gilead Sciences had roots in NC well before Tuesday’s big jobs announcement – here’s a look
- Human or computer generated? Epic Games unveils ‘MetaHumans’
- Lenovo goes NASCAR at Daytona, partnering with Richard Childress Racing
- Lung cancer treatment from Heat Bio continues to show promise in clinical trial
- Michael Jordan, UNC donors crack top 50 of givers to philanthropic causes
- Military veteran finds meaning and purpose by pursuing biopharma career
- NC Biotech Center launches Bio Jobs Hub to match biopharma manufacturers, workers
- Social shopping: Shopify e-commerce platform coming to Instagram, Facebook
- Talking teams, strategy and bias with Keith Pigues, CEO of Luminas Strategy
- Veteran Triangle exec Todd Pope sells his latest venture, to become CEO of acquiring firm
- Want a better AI assistant? A chattier chatbot? This Raleigh startup promises more, smarter answers
- Work-from-anywhere gets a boost at Salesforce
- Work-from-home fallout: Cisco CEO warns workers now ‘actually struggle mentally’
THURSDAY | Feb. 11 Headlines:
- Billions in new Tesla stock options make Elon Musk even richer
- Bitcoin milestone: Mastercard will support ‘select cryptocurrencies’
- Colin Kaepernick swept up in SPAC craze – special purpose acquisition company, a means to take companies public
- COVID-19 could be spread through wastewater, NCSU researchers warn
- Durham investment firm 8 Rivers promotes chief operating officer to CEO
- In the black: LabCorp, ChannelAdvisor, Iqvia financials beat the Street
- IPO nears for Durham firm: Bioventus prices its stock, targets $104M raise
- Looking for a high-tech job? Cary firm slashes prices for training programs
- NC A&T receives $1.5M grant from GSK Foundation for STEM program
- NCSU economist: Debating good & bad, benefits & fallout of raising minimum wage to $15
- Raleigh startup focusing on new chemotherapy, drug delivery tech lands another $2.5M
- So what’s up with TikTok? Biden administration reviewing ban, sale
- Up, up and away to the airport – in a flying car: That’s United’s vision
- What’s a SPAC? And why are they the hottest deals going on Wall Street?
FRIDAY | Feb. 12 Headlines:
- As Emerging Issues Forum goes virtual, a look back at its history of dealing with hot issues
- Big changes are coming in healthcare – here’s what Syneos Health sees happening
- Cree looks to raise $500M; stock, which had hit all-time high, takes a 4% hit
- Disney + continues to shine, adding 9M subscribers since December
- Durham startup is developing Apple Watch app to help autistic children
- Fiber-optic speed without the fiber: That’s goal of Duke, Facebook researchers
- In COVID crisis, many top-flight higher ed institutions turn to Chapel Hill firm to ‘reimagine’ international programs
- Inside Clubhouse: Why the invitation-only audio chat app is so hot – and how to get in
- Law requiring Google, Facebook to pay for news nears passage in Australia
- Read all about it: Wave of unions at digital media outlets continues to swell
- ‘Real criminal justice reform:’ Carrboro firm led by ex-prosecutors helps offenders get second chances
- Remember your meds: Durham firms aims to be ‘home health platform’ with smart dispensing tech
- Twitter CEO, Jay Z form cryptocurrency development fund with $23M in bitcoin
- What’s a SPAC, part 2: Is going public this way really a good idea for your firm?
- Will Amazon become a union shop? Workers mount most serious threat to date
