All posts tagged: mobility

Toyota’s Woven Capital appoints new CIO and COO in push for finding the ‘future of mobility’

Toyota’s Woven Capital appoints new CIO and COO in push for finding the ‘future of mobility’

Published by skeptic

Sometimes, Michiko Kato thinks back on the great challenges of her life.  She once dropped everything in her native city of Tokyo to attend Harvard Business School in Massachusetts. One day, she decided to leave her career in the stable world of finance to enter the rocky terrain of startup life. That jump is what changed everything.  On Wednesday, Kato officially assumes her greatest challenge yet — CIO of Toyota’s Woven Capital and CEO of Toyota Invention Partners. The latter appointment makes her the first female CEO of a wholly owned Toyota subsidiary.  Woven Capital is the growth-stage venture capital arm of Toyota, focused on backing founders building in mobility (including space, cybersecurity, and autonomous driving). It last announced an $800 million Fund II in August last year (Fund I, also at a $800 million, launched in 2021), with plans to back at least 20 new Series B investments. Companies in its portfolio include the satellite company Xona and the defense manufacturing infrastructure company Machina Labs.  The firm seeks to find the “future leader of …

I use this mobility drill with all my personal training clients—here’s why you should try it

I use this mobility drill with all my personal training clients—here’s why you should try it

Published by Jenni Sidey

When I programme a new fitness plan for my personal training clients, I always include mobility work. And there’s one move I swear by, standing heel taps. The exercise requires you to balance on one leg, while raising the other leg and tapping the heel on a raised object, or up and over objects, or both. It might look simple, but it works the body in several powerful ways. First, it improves balance and coordination. Standing on one leg while the other moves forces you to stabilize, mimicking everyday single-leg movements like walking, stepping up or changing direction. Article continues below You may like Your hip, knee and ankle all need to adjust to keep you upright, which can improve your reaction time on uneven surfaces or if you trip, helping reduce the risk of falls. This drill is also excellent for building spine stability and core strength. As one leg moves over the object, your core has to resist twisting. It also activates the deep abdominal muscles that support your spine and help maintain …

TechCrunch Mobility: When a robotaxi has to call 911

TechCrunch Mobility: When a robotaxi has to call 911

Published by skeptic

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Waymo shared that it is now providing 500,000 paid robotaxi rides every week. That number is small compared to its human-driven ride-hailing counterparts, like Lyft and Uber. But that’s not what I found most interesting. The pace of growth in rides, new markets, and how it compares to its fleet size is what got my attention. We built a chart (which you can view below) that helps visualize the rapid scale.  That scale, however, does create new challenges, including the inevitably of the robotaxis becoming paralyzed, like so many did during the blackout in California in December. It got us wondering, what happens when a robotaxi gets stuck — and who unsticks it?  Senior reporter Sean O’Kane dug into Waymo’s system (which includes its own roadside assistance team), as well as at least six incidents in which first responders had to …

Pensioner left seriously injured after mobility scooter toppled into pothole

Pensioner left seriously injured after mobility scooter toppled into pothole

Published by Sam Flores

An 88-year-old woman was seriously injured after her mobility scooter toppled into a pothole and trapped her underneath. Pat Lowe suffered a deep arm wound and was pinned for around 10 minutes before freeing herself, later spending hours in hospital. She has urged the council to act, warning the pothole-ridden road remains dangerous despite limited repairs. Source link

Australia and EU sign sensitive trade deal – POLITICO

Australia and EU sign sensitive trade deal – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Coming just two months after the EU signed a deal with the Latin American Mercosur bloc — also a major beef producer — the Australian agreement is meant to deliver benefits for farmers, Šefčovič said.  “I believe that we are bringing very good news to our farmers,” he said, arguing that wine, sparkling wine, chocolate, sugar, confectionery, ice cream, some fruits and vegetables and many processed agricultural products will all “go down to zero from Day 1.” Cheeses, which are more sensitive for the Australians, will see tariffs phased out in three years. The trade chief also underlined EU agrifood exports to Australia already enjoy a surplus of €2.3 billion.  EU exports to Australia totalled €37 billion in goods and €28 billion in services in 2024, with the deal set to eliminate tariffs on almost all EU goods and many services. The agreement could boost that by one third in 10 years, the Commission estimates. A major win for the EU will be easier access to Australia’s natural resource wealth and incentives for European investments …

TechCrunch Mobility: Uber everywhere, all at once

TechCrunch Mobility: Uber everywhere, all at once

Published by skeptic

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! If you haven’t noticed, Uber is suddenly everywhere, at least when it comes to autonomous vehicles. The company sold off Uber ATG, its in-house autonomous vehicle development unit, back in 2020. Uber shed a number of its moonshots — although it maintained an equity stake in all of them — so it could focus on its core businesses of delivery and ride-hailing.  But Uber never gave up entirely on AVs. It’s spent the past two years locking up partnerships with dozens of autonomous vehicle technology companies across delivery, drones, trucking, and robotaxis. It has taken a worldview, too, making agreements with Chinese companies to launch robotaxis in Europe and the Middle East, as well as startups like U.K.-based Wayve.  And now there is another one with Rivian. The TL;DR of the deal is Uber will make an initial $300 million investment in …

TechCrunch Mobility: Travis Kalanick’s return proves it really is 2016 again

TechCrunch Mobility: Travis Kalanick’s return proves it really is 2016 again

Published by skeptic

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! This newsletter was wrapped and ready to go and then Travis Kalanick brought me back to 2016 by making an eyebrow-raising announcement. Uber’s co-founder and former CEO who resigned in 2017 after a string of controversies is back and building a robotics company called Atoms. And, wait for it, he is on the precipice of acquiring Pronto, the autonomous vehicle startup focused on industrial and mining sites that was created by his former Uber colleague, Anthony Levandowski. Kalanick revealed he is already the “largest investor” in Pronto. That is a lot to digest and the final sign that, yes, we really are back in 2016. For those who may not remember, 2016 was a hyped year for AVs. Uber acquired Levandowski’s startup Otto — a deal that went sideways almost immediately and resulted in Waymo suing the ride-hailing company for trade …

TechCrunch Mobility: Rivian’s R2 gambit

TechCrunch Mobility: Rivian’s R2 gambit

Published by skeptic

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for all things “future of transportation.” To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! I was out for a few days last week and we have a bit of catching up to do! I won’t rehash too much, but expect a few of the bigger news items — ahem, Wayve’s $1.2 billion raise — to make it in here.  One more housekeeping note: I will be in Austin next week for SXSW, the annual tech, music, film, and culture event that always attracts an interesting collection of tech founders, creators, politicians, and other industry folks. I plan to attend the Rivian event, where the company is expected to reveal full details of its upcoming R2 line. I will also be moderating a panel called Innovation & Impact: Female Leaders Transforming Legacy Industries, alongside Rivian CFO Claire McDonough, Madison Reed CEO and founder Amy Errett, and Spotify chief public affairs officer Dustee Jenkins. If you’re there, please reach out! Speaking of Rivian, …