Top tech startup news for today, Monday, March 2, 2020: Apple, Google, NFL, Twitter, Thought Machine

Good morning! Hope you all had a great weekend. Below are the top tech startups news for today, Monday, March 2, 2020.

Apple to pay up to $500 million to settle U.S. lawsuit over slow iPhones. Tech giant Apple has agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle lawsuit accusing it of quietly slowing down older iPhones as it launched new models, to induce owners to buy replacement phones or batteries. The preliminary proposed class-action settlement was disclosed on Friday night and requires approval by U.S. District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California. The judge calls for Apple to pay consumers $25 per iPhone, which may be adjusted up or down depending on how many iPhones are eligible, with a minimum total payout of $310 million. Apple denied wrongdoing and settled the nationwide case to avoid the burdens and costs of litigation, court papers show. Apple declined to comment on the story.

Thought Machine, a tech startup founded by former Google engineer, scores $83M Series B funding to modernize legacy IT systems that plague the banking industry. Thought Machine, a London-based cloud native core banking technology startup, has raised $83 million to transform banking by deploying modern cloud-native systems and continue investment in its core engineering capability. The funding will also be used to drive Thought Machine’s global expansion into Asia Pacific. The round was led by European technology investor Draper Esprit. Founded in 2014 by entrepreneur and former Google engineer, Paul Taylor, Thought Machine’s mission is to enable banks to deploy modern systems and move away from the legacy IT platforms that plague the banking industry.

Tech startup Sparta Science combats NFL injuries with machine learning. Sparta Science is teaming up with the National Football League (NFL) to help the league collect data on where a player is likely to be injured during play. Founded by Dr. Phil Wagner, Sparta Science uses equipment and software to test a player’s movement, which assists in identifying areas of muscle overload. But most importantly, the data also has the capability of predicting future injury risks. The startup raised $7 million in a Series A funding round last year.

Alphabet’s “moonshots” division X launches Tidal to individually track fish, protect the ocean, and feed humanity sustainably. On Sunday, Alphabet’s “moonshots” division X announced its latest project called Tidal, in an effort to preserve ocean life and help feed humanity. Tidal will use an underwater camera system and machine perception tools to monitor and track thousands of individual fish and log their behaviors and environment. Tracking that behavior will help farmers understand their pens better, in order to track their health and avoid overfeeding, the company said in a blog post.

Biotech startup Primmune Therapeutics nabs $7M seed funding to harness the power of immune system for the treatment of cancer and viral diseases. Primmune Therapeutics, a San Diego-based biotech startup that is focused on the second arm, the innate immune system, announced today it has secured $7 million in seed financing to support the development of novel orally-administered, small molecule toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonists for long-term systemic activation of innate immunity. The seed financing investment was backed  CAM Capital, Charlie McDermott, BioBrit, and BioRock Ventures. Founded in 2017 by James Appleman and Paulo Rangel, Primmune Therapeutics is developing small molecule, orally-administered toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonists to attack tumors and potentiate adaptive cancer immunotherapies, such as checkpoint inhibitors, to improve overall response rates and treatment durability.

Paul Singer’s Elliott Management buys ‘sizable stake’ in Twitter and seeks to replace CEO Jack Dorsey, report. Over the weekend, we reported about a story from Bloomberg that Billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Management has purchased a stake Twitter and is reportedly seeking to oust its chief executive, Jack Dorsey. Paul Singer, a major Republican donor is planning to push for changes at the social media company, including replacing Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey, according to a report by Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. Bloomberg News said the New York-based firm has already nominated four directors to Twitter’s board, citing people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. However, the spokespersons for Elliott and Twitter declined to comment on the story.