Feb 13, 2018 - Technology

Ex-Uber and Lyft exec raises $15 million for electric scooter startup

Electric scooter-sharing startup Bird has raised $15 million in Series A funding, led by Craft Ventures.

Why it matters: Bird founder Travis VanderZanden is no stranger to successful transportation startups: He previously was head of driver growth at Uber and, before that, was COO of Lyft (spurring a legal spat).

He ended up at the latter after it acquired his startup Cherry, which provided on-demand car washes.

Yammer mafia: VanderZanden and Craft Ventures co-founder David Sacks worked together at workplace chat service Yammer. Sacks helped found the company and was CEO, while VanderZanden was chief revenue officer for more than two years. It was later acquired by Microsoft for $1.2 billion.

  • Bird's management team also includes other alumni of Lyft, Uber and Yammer.
  • Other investors in the round include Tusk Ventures, Valor, Lead Edge Capital, and Goldcrest Capital.

Go deeper

Axios
Updated 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 7 a.m. ET: 19,655,445 — Total deaths: 727,353 — Total recoveries — 11,950,845 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 7 a.m. ET: 4,998,802 — Total deaths: 162,425 — Total recoveries: 1,643,118 — Total tests: 61,080,587 — Map.
  3. Politics: Trump signs 4 executive actions on coronavirus aid — Democrats, and some Republicans, criticize the move.
  4. Public health: Fauci says chances are "not great" that COVID-19 vaccine will be 98% effective — 1 in 3 Americans would decline COVID-19 vaccine.
  5. Science: Indoor air is the next coronavirus frontline.
  6. Schools: How back-to-school is playing out in the South as coronavirus rages on — Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Howard to hold fall classes online.
Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Felix Salmon
1 hour ago - Economy & Business

Elevator anxiety will stifle reopenings

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Will you step back into an elevator any time soon?

Why it matters: Tens of billions of dollars — and the future of cities around the country — rest on the answer to that question. So long as workers remain unwilling to take elevators, hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of office real estate will continue to go largely unused.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow
Rebecca Falconer
Updated 6 hours ago - World

Brazil coronavirus death toll tops 100,000 and case numbers surpass 3 million

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro posted a photo of himself to Facebook congratulating his soccer team, Palmeiras, for winning the state title Saturday, moments after the health ministry confirmed the national COVID-19 death toll had surpassed 100,000.

Why it matters: Brazil is only the second country to confirm more than 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus. On Sunday morning, it became the second country to surpass 3 million cases, per Johns Hopkins. Only the U.S. has reported more. Bolsonaro has yet to address the milestones. He has previously tested positive for COVID-19 three times, but he's downplayed the impact of the virus, which has crippled Brazil's economy.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with the latest coronavirus case numbers and more context.