Top tech startup news for today, Friday, August 23, 2019

Good morning! Below are some of the top tech startup news for today, Friday, August 23, 2019.

Porsche invests in Israeli semiconductor startup TriEye. TriEye, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based semiconductor startup, has received a minority investment from Porsche. The amount of the investment was not disclosed. Founded in 2017 by Uriel Levy, Avi Bakal und Omer Kapach, TriEye is a semiconductor startup developing disruptive SWIR (Short Wave Infrared), which enhances safety in vehicles fitted with assistance systems or autonomous driving functions by improving the ability to see in weather conditions where visibility is poor, such as dust, fog, murky conditions or rain. The company’s semi-conductor design uses patent-pending technology that makes it possible to manufacture SWIR HD cameras at a fraction of their current cost.

Google disabled more than 200 YouTube channels amid Hong Kong protests. Google shutters 210 YouTube channels after it found they had been tied to misinformation about Hong Kong protesters, the company announced Thursday. In a blog post Thursday, Google said it disabled more than 200 YouTube channels due to misinformation around Hong Kong protests. This comes days after Twitter and Facebook said they would suspend nearly 1,000 accounts that were linked to a state-backed disinformation campaign originating from inside China.

IT Solutions acquires managed services provider startup SecurElement. IT Solutions, a Philadelphia-based managed services provider, acquired Malvern-based MSP SecurElement Infrastructure Solutions. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The acquisition pairs the two companies’ complementary services and will provide opportunities for clients to explore several alternatives in managed cloud, security and digital workplace solutions with a strong emphasis on Microsoft Office 365, SharePoint and Teams.

Molecula closes $6 million seed funding round to accelerate its product and market expansion. Molecula, an Austin, Texas-based Data Virtualization tech startup, has closed a $6m seed round of funding to accelerate its product roadmap, and to expand its go to market efforts. Investors include Seraph Group, Lontra Ventures, Velar Capital, Capital Factory, Andrew Busey and Jason Dorsey.  Founded in 2017 and led by H.O. Maycotte, CEO, Molecula is an enterprise software company prodiving a Data Virtualization platform to enable instantaneous, secure access to large, fragmented, and geographically dispersed datasets to support demanding Advanced Analytics and Machine Learning workloads.

VMware buys cybersecurity company Carbon Black and Pivotal, valued together at $4.8 billion. VMware, a tech software company and a subsidiary of Dell, announced yesterday it’s acquiring Carbon Black at an enterprise value of $2.1 billion and Pivotal at an enterprise value of $2.7 billion. The deals are expected to close by the end of January 2020. Carbon Black was founded in 2002 and went public in 2018.  The company provides anti-malware and endpoint protection products that can see into many of a company’s devices and tell if they have been hacked. Before VMware buys Pivotal, the two companies had a long had a long-time relationship.Pivotal was created from assets spun out of VMware and Dell (VMware’s controlling owner) in 2013. Its products help companies build and deploy their software across different server infrastructure, including public clouds.

SpotHero secures $50 million Series D funding to curb the rise of urban congestion and transform the $20 billion off-street parking industry. SpotHero, the #1 consumer marketplace and mobility platform for off-street parking in North America, has $50 million in Series D funding to accelerate marketplace growth, expand the digital platform for the parking industry, strengthen partnerships with leading mobility companies, and deepen SpotHero’s technology stack to standardize and optimize access to parking throughout North America. The round, which was led by Macquarie Capital, brings SpotHero’s total funding to date to $118 million. Backers include Union Grove Venture Partners along with existing investors including Insight Venture Partners, Global Founders Capital, OCA Ventures, AutoTech Ventures and others.

Health insurtech startup The CareVoice closes eight-figure Series A funding to accelerate the launch of new health insurance products. The CareVoice, a Shangai, China-based health insurtech platform, has closed an eight figure USD Series A to invest in R&D and continuously upgrade the CareVoiceOS end-to-end digital healthcare and insurance experience, and expand its sales and customer success teams as well as international business development efforts. The exact amount of the deal was not disclosed. The round was led by LUN Partners Group, and a global investment manager specializing in financial services. DNA Capital, a global healthcare fund, as well as returning investors SOSV and Artesian Capital, also joined the round.