Top tech startup news stories you need to know this Monday, March 12

Good morning! Here are some of the top tech startup news stories today Monday, March 12.

FCC accuses startup Swarm Technologies of launching satellites without permission.  The U.S. communications agency, FCC, has accused startup Swarm Technologies of launching four of its tiny SpaceBEE (Basic Electronic Elements) communication cubesats without obtaining the necessary approvals, according to a report from IEEE Spectrum. FCC said that the tiny Internet of Things satellites from Swarm Technologies could endanger other spacecraft. If confirmed, this would be the first ever unauthorized launch of commercial satellites.

Startup CPass wants to be the ‘Netflix Of Events.’ CPass is a UK equivalent of the US MoviePass. The new startup allows anyone to watch a film every single day at participating cinemas for one low monthly fee of £9.95/month with no contract. However, the startup is not without a controversy. The site listed major cinema chains such as: Odeon, Vue and Cineworld as well as arthouse stalwart Curzon. But the chains said they did not signed up to the service.

UNStudio launches tech startup to drag architecture into “the age of the iPhone.” Famous Dutch architect Ben van Berkel of UNStudio has launched UNSense, a startup that will develop technologies to make buildings healthier and cities smarter. The new company will explore ways to help the architecture and construction industries catch up with tech developments in other sectors.

Unearth raises $3M from Madrona and Vulcan for construction project software. Seattle-based startup Unearth has raised today announced t $3 million investment led by Madrona Venture Group. Unearth develops software for large-scale commercial and civil construction projects. Vulcan Capital also participated in the funding round.

Airspace Systems raises $20 million Series A to take down dangerous drones with other drones. Airspace has closed a $20 million Series A funding round, according to a report from TechCrunch. The round was led by Singtel Innov8 with s28 Capital, Shasta Ventures and Granite Hill Capital Partners also participating. To date, Airspace has raised a total of $25 million in funding.

India-based AI startup launches smart glass with speech and image recognition to help identify criminals. India-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) start-up Staqu on 12 March launched AI-powered eye-wearable “Smart Glass” that can be used to identify potential threats to civil society.

Former Docker CEO to lead crypto-powered distributed storage startup Storj. Decentralized data storage startup Storj Storj announced that Ben Golub, formerly CEO at open-source software firm Docker, will oversee Storj as it continues to scale up its services, said founder Shawn Wilkinson. The startup is hoping to boost its growth with the hire of a new executive chairman and interim chief executive.

UK financial firm Page acqui-hires blockchain startup Aetlo. India-based blockchain startup, Aetlo Tech, has been acqui-hired by UK-based banking and financial services company Page Solutions. The startup was launched two years by two IIT-Bombay graduates.

Snapchat cuts 120 engineering jobs following controversial app redesign. Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, is about to cut more jobs, this time affecting 120 employees, and almost all from the engineering department. According to a report from Cheddar, this represents 10% of the company’s engineering department’s headcount.

$380m was spent on apps during Lunar New Year, up 190% over 2016. People spent more on iOS apps in China during the recent Lunar New Year holiday than previous years, with the total spend a massive 190% more than the 2016 New Year. The data comes from App Annie, where it’s revealed $380m was spent on apps in China during the week starting February 11.