Top startup news stories you need to know this Wednesday, January 24

Good morning! Here are some of the top tech startup news stories today Wednesday, January 24.

Apple’s HomePod will finally hit store shelves. Apple plans the first online sales of its long-awaited Homepod  this Friday. Stores will have it on Febuary 9. Apple originally said it would arrive in December, while Google and Amazon keep marketing their smart speakers. In a press release on its website, Apple said: “HomePod, the innovative wireless speaker from Apple, arrives in stores beginning Friday, February 9 and is available to order online this Friday, January 26 in the US, UK and Australia. HomePod will arrive in France and Germany this spring.”

SoftBank pours $865 million into Katerra, a startup making buildings in a factory. Katerra  has raised $865 million in a series D funding round that values the construction start-up just over $3 billion. SoftBank Vision Fund led the investment in the barely three-year-old company. The 3-year old Katerra was co-founded by Chairman Michael Marks, who was previously the CEO of Flextronics and the interim CEO of Tesla, along with Fritz H. Wolff.

Al Gore-cacked scooter startup Gogoro eyes traffic-clogged Southeast Asia. The Taiwanese electric scooter startup Gogoro, backed by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, wants to leverage the smog-choked streets of Southeast Asia as a launching pad to target and expand its business overseas. The startup plans to use its battery-swapping system as the national level.

Energy giant TEPCO partners with Blockchain startup Electron in decentralization bid. UK-based blockchain firm Electron just received another big vote of confidence in the form of a newly announced investment from the Tokyo Electric Power company (TEPCO).

Twitter Chief Operating Officer (COO) resigned to become the CEO of SoFi. Twitter COO Anthony Noto has resigned to accept the role of chief executive officer at financial technology company Social Finance Inc.