Yesterday at A/D/O, a MINI-sponsored creative space in Brooklyn, New York, seven start-ups pitched their companies to an audience of investors and public sector agencies as part of URBAN-X’s Demo Day. URBAN-X is an accelerator for urban tech companies that was launched in 2016 by BMW-owned car brand MINI, one of its many forays into rethinking shelter, fashion, and design. The seven start-ups are members of URBAN-X’s fifth cohort, bringing the total number of companies that URBAN-X has fostered to 39. URBAN-X selects up to 10 start-ups twice a year for its program, which includes a $150,000 investment and five months of support in engineering, design, and business development.

Urban mobility and access to electric vehicles featured prominently in this cohort, not a surprising theme for an incubator with roots in the automotive sector. But other strong trends, like construction site productivity and emissions efficiency, pointed to a focus on the built environment and its relationship with ecological concerns.

If this cohort is any indication of the trends in urban mobility, then the two startups dedicated to transit hinted at a very electric future. Borrow offers short-term, flexible leasing of electric vehicles, making them more available to those who can’t purchase the pricey cars, while Circuit, formerly The Free Ride, offers free electric shuttle transportation in five-passenger vehicles for short distances. The latter is already rolled out in 17 cities around the United States, with more than 20 cars on the streets of San Diego. With funding from advertisers, private developers, and transit agencies, the free shuttle is specially designed for first- and last-mile conditions to supplement other forms of transit, and also offers hail and on-demand services. Brooklyn residents and visitors can experience Circuit for themselves, with the company extending its Williamsburg run this summer.

Buildstream cofounder David Polanski talks about his company, which digitizes heavy construction equipment and processes to make construction sites safer and more efficient. (Courtesy MINI)

Buildstream and Toggle both address construction site safety and other challenges. Buildstream (formerly GearBuddy) utilizes IoT-based software and machine learning to digitize data collection on heavy construction equipment like bulldozers and trucks to monitor and assess construction sites in real time, allowing someone at an office desk and not just the construction manager on site to monitor what is happening. The technology is currently in use in the U.K. on one of Europe’s largest infrastructure projects, according to David Polanski, co-founder and COO of the company. Toggle, on the other hand, combines software and industrial robotics to help automate the construction site and reduce costs in the building process.

Energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions are also a central concern of this year’s cohort. Treau develops technology to improve energy efficiency in cooling and heating systems, essentially bringing HVAC and refrigerants into the modern age with lighter, more inexpensive polymers and other material innovations. The overarching promise of Treau is to reduce energy consumption in the U.S. by 10 percent.

Another vital but less glamorous aspect of city life is waste management infrastructure. Israel-based GreenQ‘s technology attaches to existing truck-based garbage collection systems to collect data and offer analytics to help meet demand and cut costs where needed. For example, in its applications across Israel cities, towns, and villages, GreenQ has identified areas that need one less collection day a week, or data on what homes or users need larger trash receptacles. The data from the garbage also delivers demographic data for those companies it partners with. Consumption and waste were also addressed by Thrilling, the first e-commerce platform for second-hand and vintage stores, with a goal of reducing carbon, waste, and water footprints in garment production.

From transit to garbage, the technology-driven platforms of these start-ups hints an increasingly wired, mobile urban future to come.

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Anthony Jancso noticed that San Franciscans—in the tech community and beyond—can’t help but opine on the city’s myriad challenges. So he decided to do something about it: organize a hackathon with the aim of using AI to solve the city’s problems.

He’s part of the tech-focused nonprofit Accelerate SF, which is hosting a two-day hackathon the weekend of Nov. 4 with an unorthodox mission. 

“The core mission here is to just build the technology that solves problems in San Francisco,” Jancso said. 

The event, which has buy-in from local politicians like state Sen. Scott Wiener and Supervisor Joel Engardio, is part of a growing trend of San Francisco-based AI experts and companies turning their attention to the problems of municipal government.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, center, rides a BART train in San Francisco on Aug. 22. | Source: Jason Henry for The Standard

The city itself is already implementing AI and machine learning in some departments, even if policies around the use of generative AI—technology that can create images, text and video—are still in the works. 

The Assessor-Recorder’s Office, for instance, uses a machine-learning model to predict property values and identify properties in need of appraisal. The 311 mobile app also harnesses AI technology to guide users to the correct service request.

But other cities are ahead of San Francisco when it comes to experimenting with artificial intelligence, and they are tapping companies just a hop-skip away from San Francisco City Hall like Hayden AI, Abnormal Security and Glass. Those startups are tackling tasks ranging from optimizing public transit to securing government data.

Making Buses Better With AI

Passengers wait for a Muni bus on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco on April 1, 2022. San Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup Hayden AI has AI-equipped cameras that can be installed on city buses to catch drivers who park in bus-only lanes. | Source: Nick Otto for The Standard

Hayden AI was inspired by CEO and co-founder Chris Carson’s experience riding a Muni bus. He noticed the driver was forced to manually record whenever a car stopped illegally in a bus zone. There had to be a better way, he thought.

The San Francisco company has developed an AI-based camera technology for government-owned vehicles like buses to automatically catch scofflaws. In Philadelphia, a pilot involving seven bus lines highlighted 36,392 violations over a 70-day period, potentially totaling millions of dollars in fines. (The city did not ticket any offenders during the pilot.) 

But there is a possibility that the technology could be adopted more broadly across bus lines for Philadelphia’s transit agency, called SEPTA. The city recently passed a bill permitting the use of automated cameras to enforce violations on bus-only lanes, using data from the pilot as evidence of the need. 

“Although 19% of vehicles were [caught], repeat offenders constituted 77% of violations, so we have some power users, you might say,” said Matt Zapson, a planner for SEPTA. The study found more than 10,000 bus riders were negatively affected by the blocked lanes, which delay buses and distract drivers. 

Jenna Fortunati, Hayden AI’s communications manager, said the company is not currently in conversations to upgrade San Francisco’s manual system—which it has had in place since 2014—but hopes to eventually work with the city.

Hayden AI has proposals to incorporate its computer vision-embedded cameras into other municipal vehicles like street sweepers, to automatically ticket vehicles blocking their routes. 

Cameras installed on buses could be used to also detect parking violations in bike lanes, a long-standing problem in San Francisco, Fortunati added. 

Sounding the Alarm

Local governments are often low-hanging fruit for hackers with sprawling systems and limited IT budgets.  This year, for example, the City of Oakland suffered a ransomware attack that led to a trove of private information being released onto the dark web.

San Francisco-based Abnormal Security uses AI to keep tabs on employee computer use for anomalous behavior—signs that a hacker has penetrated the system. The technology compiles a baseline of a user’s behavior in email, Slack and other workplace apps—and sounds an alarm whenever it notices something is off. The organization can then block access or force login changes, among other security measures. 

Tas Jalali, head of cybersecurity at East Bay transportation agency AC Transit, said using Abnormal’s technology, his team was rapidly able to block account takeover attacks and phishing efforts. Outside of that more active role, Jalali said the software can filter through spam and “graymail” that can gum up employee inboxes, saving at least 120 employee hours a month.

The challenge of introducing its product to local government agencies boils down to the company’s software playing nicely with existing requirements and systems. For instance, AC Transit uses Microsoft’s email software—a common corporate standby. But some government agencies use antiquated email software that is incompatible with Abnormal’s technology. 

The price of doing nothing is growing. According to IBM, the average cost of a data breach in 2023 was $4.45 million, a 15% increase since 2020. 

“There’s a tremendous amount of potential damage that can be done when educational institutions or health care institutions that are affiliated with the city are hacked,” said Dan Shiebler, the head of machine learning at Abnormal Security. “Defending against that often means incorporating artificial intelligence.”

Bringing E-commerce to City Hall

Glass, another San Francisco startup, makes optimized e-commerce marketplaces for local governments and has partnered with the likes of Seattle, Long Beach and, most recently, Santa Monica. | Source: ivanastar/Getty Images

Glass is a San Francisco startup that is trying to take the consumer e-commerce shopping experience and bring it to local governments.

Founder Paola Santana’s pitch? Local governments have significant purchasing power, much of which is non-contract spending. Glass, she said, is aiming to simplify that process by merging the convenience of Amazon or Google shopping with the necessary mandates that government purchases require. 

AI is built into the product to help government purchasers fulfill their particular needs, which can vary vastly from city to city.  Some cities may have local business or sustainability mandates, while others may simply want the lowest costs to stretch their budgets further. San Francisco, for instance, has a “green procurement” initiative, emphasizing the purchase of eco-friendly products in its government purchases.

“When we go and source that product in real-time from vendors, most times we find between 5% to 30% off prices than what the government would have paid,” Santana said. “It’s streamlining the process and getting the best value for taxpayers’ money.”

In Seattle, where the emphasis is buying from women- and minority-owned businesses, Glass was able to create a one-stop shop for city employees with products from multiple sources, which it boasts has saved time and taxpayer money.

Closer to home, Santana says Glass is in talks to roll out its product with San Francisco’s Office of Workforce and Economic Development and the Department of Public Works, among other departments. 

Local entrepreneurs are keen on introducing AI to improve San Francisco City Hall functions around administration and governance. | Source: Camille Cohen/The Standard

“We just think the San Francisco government being more exposed to this technology, seeing what is being built and having more conversations with tech startups will unlock many problems that they’ve been dealing with for many decades,” Santana said.

That’s part of the hope of next month’s Accelerate SF hackathon: Pinpointing what problems can be addressed with artificial intelligence—and getting technologists and lawmakers to break bread in a public forum.

Already, they count buzzy AI startups Scale AI and Chroma, along with the Mayor’s Office of Innovation, as sponsors. Judges for competition comprise leaders in the emerging industry like Notion co-founder Chris Průcha as well as longtime public officials like City Attorney David Chiu.

By the end of the hackathon, Jansco hopes to find AI-based solutions to make tools like SF OpenBook, a “super hard to use” database of the city’s finances, more accessible to the masses. 

“I hope that, in addition to the wonderful tools that will be made, it’s also starting a conversation and a dialogue between tech workers and the city,” Jancso said.

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Generative AI models can draw the most attention in areas like marketing automation and financial technology. But a recent analysis by A/O PropTech reports that investments in AI startups are growing faster in the built world, both in terms of volume and value of investments. These investments have experienced a significant upward trend in the course of preparing for new sustainability mandates.

As the name suggests, A/O PropTech is a venture capital investment firm specializing in the built environment. At the moment, AI is still in its infancy in the built world due to the prevalence of unstructured data that is more difficult to calibrate and reconcile than other domains. An additional caveat is that A/O PropTech has a broad view of the built world, including real estate management and insurance of real assets that others may put into financial services.

Climate technology is the fastest growing AI application including climate risk, ESG reporting and energy management. The largest deals are concentrated in the most mature segments, including real estate transactions, property management, and construction.

Getting beyond AI laundry

Catriona Hyland, research analyst at A/O PropTech, said they initiated the latest study to see how the recent hype around generative AI is impacting startups in the built world. So far, generative AI has not caught on in the industry due to the numerous challenges in making sense of unstructured data. In the short term, generative AI could play a much more important role in expanding datasets to provide a foundation for other tools.

She said they were trying to isolate some of the AI-laundering issues that had plagued previous research on AI startups. A 2019 study by MMC found that 40% of startups reportedly using AI weren’t. Further analysis revealed that this was mainly due to third parties touting the AI ​​capabilities, which the companies had never claimed or corrected. Her team developed a large language model to parse data from Pitchbook and Crunchbase for analysis. Hyland explained:

I think AI is often used as a kind of buzzword when you have a startup where AI is the core component of that company. But I think in the built world, and probably most industries, it’s used more as a tool than a centerpiece of sorts.

London conducts business

The study found that AI-enabled built-world startups in Europe and North America have raised $18.6 billion in venture capital over the past decade, almost half of it in the last two years ($8.6 billion Dollar). And in both 2020 and 2022, venture deals in AI-enabled Built World startups overtook FinTech AI funding, reaching over 600 deals worldwide in 2021 alone.

Also, London saw the most deals while the San Francisco Bay Area saw more capital. London also recorded more deals than Paris, Berlin, Dublin and Tel Aviv combined. When asked why Hyland explained:

When we looked at the breakdown of the types of transactions that took place in London, many of them were at a fairly early stage and much more focused on areas like real estate transactions and the financial aspects of the built world. This makes sense given London’s position within Europe as a sort of financial hub.

Structure the unstructured

In the short term, they expect a greater focus on using AI to understand structured data rather than generating new building designs. Innovations in computer vision are proving incredibly important for scanning job sites, tracking progress and automating insurance claims processing. But other types of generative AI are still in their infancy.

Jess Clemans, Investor at A/O PropTech stated:

The innovation around the big language models and image generation models has been pretty much hyped in the media, but we haven’t seen much of this filter in real estate technology. I think we’re close to using a lot of it, but it’s still early days. What we’ve seen is a lot of other innovative AI coming into built world technology, but we’re interested in seeing where this is going and trying to get a better picture of how we think these are doing new innovations in the built world will be used next-generation technology.

The challenge is that buildings fundamentally obey the laws of physics and have a lot of regulations and logic about how they are structured and how they need to be built. You can’t leave it entirely to a machine to determine the output. We’ve seen companies use this approach. And the result has often been very illogically attached bathrooms to kitchens, hallways that lead nowhere, or windows that don’t connect to bedrooms.

What we’ve seen as a slightly more successful approach in this area is mixing generative AI models with human-readable rule systems that the AI ​​must adhere to. So I think we’re going to see some sort of merging of algorithmic approaches with generative AI approaches in space.

A big challenge is that developers are still trying to figure out how to specify things like building processes and building codes in a way that the AI ​​can understand. Today, most construction data is stored in paper files or PDF documents. Significant efforts are required to catch up. In addition, building codes can vary between cities and countries. Technical and subjective aspects must be taken into account, which local governments approve.

Clemans explained:

There is no actual structured rule system. This is so in its infancy that each company that has done this has invented their own system for assigning rules to items. And it’s specific in general. So we’ve seen companies do this for electrical or plumbing system design. And they had to apply it a little differently than someone who does architectural floor plans or architectural detail designs.

But the last piece of the puzzle that’s really interesting and complicated is basic human logic. For example, if you decide to place an electric railing in the ceiling, you may not want to attach it directly to the edge of the wall because the mounting screws are difficult for a human hand to reach. But a machine would never understand that. This is just an example of some of the finer details that are not part of building codes, that are not part of typical building documents, but part of human logic that needs to be translated in that direction in the future.

My recording

The generative aspects of AI are getting all the press this year. But better data translation and matching can offer more value in the short term. Improving workflows and processes for building and operating physical infrastructure requires finding better ways to make good use of data collected for other reasons.

The recent crop of generative AI applications emerged from Google’s efforts to develop a better translator between French and English. These transformer models could also be important in translating documents, designs and 3D data collection into digital twins.

The UK has been one of the innovators in BIM (Building Information Modeling) technology for organizing data about the built environment. It will be interesting to see how this lead plays into the UK government’s 10-year plan to make the UK a global AI superpower.

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SAN FRANCISCO — Employees at start-up Flow Health didn’t receive their paychecks Friday morning.

When the deposits didn’t run out, the people in the human resources department were confused. But Alex Meshkin, Flow Health’s CEO, said he knew immediately what went wrong.

The company uses another startup called Rippling to run its payroll process. “I said, ‘I guarantee you, you’re with Silicon Valley Bank. We’re screwed,'” he said.

The Silicon Valley Bank, lender to some of the biggest names in tech, collapsed on March 10. Regulators acted quickly to avert a meltdown. (Video: Reuters)

Flow Health employees were just a fraction of the thousands of people likely affected by Friday’s stunning Silicon Valley bank collapse, which marked the second largest bank collapse in U.S. history and sent shockwaves through the tech and financial worlds.

While the government took over the bank, known for lending to start-ups but also providing private banking with mortgages and other services, deposits are only insured up to $250,000. The assets of the bank amounted to more than 200 billion dollars. About $42 billion was withdrawn from the bank on Thursday alone, according to the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.

Silicon Valley Bank ended with the second largest bankruptcy in US history

Start-up founders feared they would be forced to lay off employees if money held by the bank was frozen or lost. Big companies like connected TV provider Roku and video game maker Roblox have warned investors that they have deposited hundreds of millions in cash with Silicon Valley Bank that may be at risk. And venture investors canceled scheduled meetings with startups, unsure of the implications for the industry. Other startups publicly assured customers that they were not exposed.

According to its website, Silicon Valley Bank has had relationships with more than half of the venture capitalized companies in the United States.

If the bank isn’t bailed out quickly, the fallout could be dire for many startups and the broader tech scene, said Garry Tan, chief executive officer of Y Combinator, one of Silicon Valley’s top startup incubators.

“This is an extinction-level event for startups and will set back startups and innovation by 10 years or more,” Tan said.

To all Sentry users, rest assured that Sentry does not have any accounts with SVB. Also, up until now, none of our service providers have flagged any issues that would interfere with our services to you. Sending our best to all our customers and the wider tech community today

— Sentry (@getsentry) March 11, 2023

Silicon Valley Bank did not respond to a request for comment. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which acquired the bank on Friday, said Silicon Valley Bank had total assets of about $209 billion and total deposits of about $175.4 billion at the end of December, but it’s unclear how much the bank has on their balance sheet now.

Depositors could withdraw up to $250,000 Monday, the FDIC said. A hotline number has been provided for those who deposited more to call.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank adds to a challenging time for tech companies after months of stock prices falling and tens of thousands of layoffs. After years of rapid growth, things have slowed and become more unstable – an apparent disconnect from the broader US economy.

Lackluster earnings reports show Big Tech’s golden age is fading

The sudden collapse of one of the industry’s most important institutions is fueling fears that the sector’s economic health may be worse than anticipated, and has tech leaders grappling with the fallout of losing a key chunk of the financial assets the industry relies on.

“There are a number of companies that can’t do payroll because their money is locked up with SVB,” said Brad Hargreaves, co-founder of the Coding Boot Camp General Assembly and a member of several start-up boards. “I think there will be layoffs.”

Founded in 1983, Silicon Valley Bank has served the technology industry through the ups and downs of the past four decades. During the start-up boom that followed the 2008 financial crisis, the bank grew rapidly, using its reputation to cater to the needs of fast-growing, ambitious start-ups. Companies that raised money from venture capitalists deposited it with the bank. Venture capitalists themselves also banked with the company, borrowing money to fund investments in new start-ups. And technicians and executives used the bank for their personal wealth management and to finance mortgages.

“They see themselves as a collaborative lender to the entire ecosystem,” Hargreaves said. “The best analogy would be almost a credit union in a small town, except it’s much larger and imagines the small town is technology.”

The bank required some customers to work exclusively with it to access credit, further centralizing its role within the tech ecosystem. One founder, who spoke on condition of anonymity to maintain his relationship with the bank, said he previously split his money across several banks until a deal with Silicon Valley Bank forced his company to put all of its money there.

Fears that the bank’s collapse could spill over to other companies and the broader economy echoed on Wall Street and in Washington on Friday. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said she was monitoring the situation, and Cecilia Rouse, chair of the White House Economic Advisory Council, said the bank stress tests conducted after the 2008 crisis meant the financial system was primed to deal with “these species to withstand shocks.”

The collapse of the Silicon Valley bank raises fears of a broader financial contagion

Shares of other regional banks fell, including First Republic Bank, which also serves the Bay Area and caters to startups and wealthy tech workers.

A Bay Area start-up founder concerned about the impact of Silicon Valley Bank went to First Republic Bank on Friday to wire his money to Chase, a much larger firm, in a rush he feared to overcome deposits. The founder, who spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardize his relationship with the bank, attempted to visit a more obscure Oakland location but said there was still a line of customers outside the door requesting cables.

“I just raised a bunch of money and I can’t believe it could just fizzle out,” he said in a text message sent from a bank conference room awaiting the transfer to be processed. Some of his friends who are startup founders and bank accounts at Silicon Valley Bank “believe they lost everything but $250,000,” he wrote. His transfer eventually went through before the cutoff.

As Silicon Valley Bank served startups and wealthy individuals, the majority of its deposits were above the state-insured $250,000, raising the prospect that billions of dollars worth of funds may go unrecovered. In the past, the government has paid out sums in excess of $250,000, but it’s unclear if that will be the case here.

On Friday, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said he opposed a “taxpayer bailout” by the bank.

The potential financial toll became clear on Friday as listed companies were forced to warn investors about the risk.

Roblox told investors that about $150 million of its $3 billion in cash has been deposited with Silicon Valley Bank. Roku said $487 million of its $1.9 billion in cash was held by the bank. Medical device maker iRhythm Technologies said in a filing that $54.5 million of its $213 million in cash and short-term investments was there.

The time of the “Moonshot” in Silicon Valley is over

Other companies said they were facing serious consequences without disclosing details. Pharmaceutical company Axsome Therapeutics said it had “substantial” cash deposits with Silicon Valley Bank and one other bank, but believed the second bank’s account and an existing loan would be sufficient to sustain funding operations. National toy chain Camp on Friday urged customers to shop from its online collection of stuffed animals, art supplies and toy cars at 40% off during a special “BANKRUN sale.”

A San Francisco-based entrepreneur said he withdrew $250,000 after investors urged him to withdraw at least some money on Thursday, but attempts to transfer the rest of the money failed. The company has now frozen $2 million in funds.

With about 90 percent of his company’s reserves frozen, he faces bankruptcy within weeks. But he knew other startups whose cash and lines of credit were now frozen and could fail much sooner.

“That’s my bigger fear right now,” said the start-up founder, who spoke on condition of anonymity about concerns about the company’s financial disclosures. “I really hope that investors can save us.”

“Everyone I know has their money with SVB,” he added.

Many startup CEOs don’t know how to pay their employees and run their businesses.

Parker Conrad, CEO of payroll company Rippling, tweeted Friday that the company was moving its settlement bank to JPMorgan Chase and would start receiving money to employees no later than Monday. He apologized to employees who were not paid on time.

“They rely on us and we haven’t delivered. While payroll is ongoing, I know delays of any length have real repercussions, especially for anyone living paycheck to paycheck,” he wrote.

Meshkin, the health tech startup’s CEO, said ahead of Rippling’s latest update that the company will have to find a way to manually pay its more than 1,000 employees in the United States if the funds don’t make it to workers early next week States and Canada, for which they currently have no infrastructure.

“We have a lot of disgruntled employees,” Meshkin said.

Shondra Washington, who works part-time as the chief financial officer at several companies, said one of her clients was working with Rippling and was waiting for payroll. Other customers used Silicon Valley Bank for their own funds and cannot access their accounts at all.

“We don’t even know where the money is. It’s somewhere in the ether,” she said. “We don’t really know where it is or when it’s coming.”

They try to transfer their money to other banks but cannot access it. Some of their customers have not been able to pay sellers. “We’re panicking,” she said.

Michael Coren, Aaron Gregg, Lisa Bonos, Naomi Nix, and Joseph Menn contributed to this report.

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In California overall, prices dropped year-over-year, as sales collapsed, supply more than doubled. No dear, this isn’t just a seasonal dip.

By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET.

San Francisco and Silicon Valley are now in the solid leadership role of the housing bust playing out in California with sales collapsing and prices heading south from the peak in April at an astonishing pace.

Just about everything that could come together came together. After a two-year outflux of workers due to working from anywhere, there came the collapse of the startup and crypto scenes, starting in 2021 and continuing unabated, leading to the early entries into my pantheon of Imploded Stocks. In early 2022 came the spike in mortgage rates. In mid-2022 came the downturn in employment at Big Tech. By that time, the Fed had been hiking its policy rates relentlessly, and Quantitative Tightening had kicked off. This was punctuated over the past two months by the chaotic dismantling of the workforce at Twitter and its ecosystem.

Local budgets have fallen into deep deficits – although most are still flush with cash from the pandemic funds received from the federal government and the state.

Vacant office space that is on the market for lease and sublease continues to balloon, while landlords have started to file for huge reductions in assessment values ​​to lower their property taxes, which is going to cut revenues further.

This comes garnished by stories in the New York Times that Twitter stopped paying rent on its leased office spaces, and that it was instructed not to pay vendors. At least one of those unpaid vendors – a Silicon Valley company whose software Twitter had licensed – filed a lawsuit last week in the San Francisco Superior Court for nonpayment. It stated, “shortly after Musk’s purchase of Twitter closed, Twitter refused to pay the outstanding quarterly invoice, which was due on November 30, 2022, and Twitter disclaimed any obligation to pay any future invoices…”

These are all signs that the housing market is going to get a lot messier. Prices have plunged the most in San Francisco, followed by the Silicon Valley counties of San Mateo and Santa Clara.

In San Francisco.

The median price of single-family houses sold in November in San Francisco plunged by 11.4% from October to $1.50 million, and by 27% from the peak in April, according to the California Association of Realtors. A nasty-looking chart:

Condo prices plunged by 4.3% from the prior month to $1.15 million, and by 9.5% year-over-year. Since the peak in April, the median condo price is down by 15.5%. Condo sales in November have collapsed by 49%.

Seasonally, the lowest months are December and January. So that’s still to come.

But who is going to buy in the spring selling season? Prices normally rise as demand picks up in the spring; but who will be the exuberant tech workers that will want to overpay for a house by borrowing against the collapsed value of their stock options? Those lucky ones that still have jobs and stock options?

The housing markets in San Francisco and Silicon Valley are tied to the boom-and-bust cycles of the startup scene – now combined with the crypto scene and cryptos – and they’re tied to the stocks of startups and big tech and social media companies in the area, to the jobs that have to be done locally, and to the value of the stock options. All of them are puking.

Year-over-year, the median price of single-family houses in San Francisco plunged by 21%, the sixth month in a row of year-over-year declines. It was the biggest year-over-year plunge since the peak of Housing Bust 1:

Silicon Valley, San Mateo County.

The median price of single-family houses in San Mateo County, which forms the northern part of Silicon Valley, plunged by 6.2% from October to $1.78 million, and by 26% from the peak in April.

Year-over-year, the median house price plunged by 20%.

Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County.

Santa Clara County, which forms the southern part of Silicon Valley and includes the Bay Area’s largest city, San Jose, is lagging behind but is moving right along. The median price of single-family houses dropped by 1.5% in November from October to $1.60 million, and by 19% from the peak in April:

Year-over-year, the median house price dropped by 5.5%, the first significant year-over-year decline in this cycle. Prices had already undergone significant year-over-year declines in 2018 and 2019, and were on a downward path until the trillions in money-printing, the surge in the stock market, and the interest rate repression began to boost prices again.

Currently, Santa Clara County lags San Francisco and San Mateo by a few months, it seems.

In all of California.

Sales of single-family houses in California collapsed by 47.7% in November, compared to a year ago, the biggest decline since 1980, according to the California Association of Realtors. Condo sales collapsed by 46%.

Unsold inventory more than doubled year-over-year to a supply of 3.3 months, and days on the market also more than doubled – before sellers pulled the unsold homes off the market again.

For all of California, the median price of single-family houses plunged another 3.0% in November from October, which pushed the price down year-over-year (-0.6%). The median condo price fell 2.1% in November from October, which whittled down the year-over-year gain to just 2.7%.

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For a lot of property owners, the homes we own are our most valuable assets. They’re also a major pain and constant cash drain.

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From big-ticket items like faltering foundations and burst sewer pipes to simpler fixes like scratched floors and chipped paint, our homes are regularly in need of repair. Few of us have the tools and DIY skills to do it all. And lately, it’s been challenging even to find pros to do the work.

Enter startups. Against a backdrop of rising property values, an aging housing stock, and labor shortages among home services providers, investors have been pouring money into upstart companies aiming to help with upgrading and maintaining properties.

A Crunchbase analysis of funding to US home services-focused startups in the past year found at least $1.4 billion across 23 rounds (see funding round list). We put together a sample list of companies funded in the past year, shown below:

Where the money is going

By far the largest funding recipient is ServiceTitan, a software provider for contractors in plumbing, HVAC, electrical and other specialties to generate leads and close sales. The Glendale, California-based company, founded by two sons of immigrants who built contracting businesses, raised $500 million in a March Series F round, bringing total funding to over $1 billion.

Next up is Thumbtack, an app for finding and hiring local professionals that is most popular for home services. The San Francisco-based company closed a $275 million late-stage round last month, bringing total known funding to nearly $700 million.

Neither ServiceTitan nor Thumbtack are new startups, having been founded in 2012 and 2008, respectively. However, there are also some newer players raising sizable rounds.

Super, provider of subscription plans to cover appliance and home systems breakdowns, raised a $50 million Series C in May. And Chicago-based HomeX, a 4-year-old startup that provides virtual support for home repair troubleshooting, raised its first reported institutional round of $90 million in April.

In announcing the round, HomeX founder and CEO Michael Werner pointed to home services as a $500 billion market that “remains highly fragmented and needs meaningful innovation.” He pitches his startup as a player that could bring to home services some of the kinds of transformations that telemedicine has brought to health care, by cutting down on costly in-person service calls.

HomeX isn’t the only company looking to make home services a more virtual business. HOVER raised a $60 million Series D in November to build up its service, which allows smartphone users to make an interactive 3D model of any property to measure, design and estimate home improvement projects.

Faster, cheaper, better… or at least available

As with startups in other sectors, home services upstarts are mostly marketing their offerings as a faster, cheaper or better solution than incumbents. But in the current market — with many contractors seeing more demand than they can meet — sometimes the killer app is simply having someone available to do the work.

With many areas of the economy facing labor shortages, home services are no exception. Operators of contracting businesses in HVAC, plumbing, roofing and other areas are reporting difficulty hiring and retaining employees in major markets across the country.

Home repair and remodeling costs have also been spiking, impacted by greater consumer demand and supply chain disruptions beginning amid the pandemic, alongside labor shortages.

Public markets like the space, too

Public markets also seem pretty convinced we’ll be shelling out more for home repairs and renovations.

Shares of both The Home Depot and Lowe’s — two companies seen as a barometer for consumer enthusiasm around home upgrades — are trading at around all-time highs. That’s likely another factor boosting venture interest in home services, indicative that public investors would be receptive to companies with innovative approaches to an already growing space.

Plus, our homes aren’t maintaining themselves. (Though it would be really nice if a truly innovative startup came up with a way to do just that.)

Illustration: Dom Guzman

Stay up to date with recent funding rounds, acquisitions, and more with the Crunchbase Daily.

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Steve Case, Mitbegründer von AOL und CEO von Revolution, tritt auf Yahoo Finance Live auf, um zu diskutieren, wohin sich die innovative Wirtschaft entwickelt, während Risikokapitalfirmen versuchen, Start-ups in Städten außerhalb des Silicon Valley zu finanzieren.

Videotranskript

BRIAN CHEUNG: Silicon Valley, das Land, in dem VC-Gelder bekanntlich wie Honig fließen, aber die Frage ist, ob die Bay Area bereits den Sättigungspunkt erreicht hat, in den Unternehmen investieren können? Sie können den vor Ihnen liegenden Chart sehen, wie der Anteil der Seed- und Early-Stage-VC-Dollars in den letzten Jahren zurückgegangen ist. Und ein Bericht von Revolution sagt ja, er könnte mit Küsteninvestoren gesättigt sein, die nach neuen Gelegenheiten in Orten wie Philadelphia oder Austin suchen.

Wer könnte also besser über diesen und andere wichtige Technologietrends sprechen als AOL-Mitbegründer und Revolution-CEO Steve Case? Und Steve, es ist großartig, dich heute Morgen in der Show zu haben. Auch hier hat Revolution diesen neuen Bericht, und damit möchte ich anfangen.

Sie beschreiben in diesem Bericht diese aufstrebenden Städte, die San Francisco und der Bay Area möglicherweise einen Teil dieses Anteils wegnehmen. Welche Städte sind das zunächst, und was steckt dann hinter dem Trend, den Sie beobachten?

STEVE-FALL: Nun, in den letzten zehn Jahren wurde die Innovationswirtschaft wirklich vom Silicon Valley und in gewissem Maße auch von New York City, dieser Gegend und der Gegend von Boston dominiert. Und der Großteil des Rests des Landes kämpfte die meiste Zeit des Jahrzehnts um Risikokapital. 75 % des Risikokapitals sind in nur drei Bundesstaaten geflossen.

Aber wir beginnen zu sehen – und es hat sich in den letzten Jahren aufgebaut, aber ich glaube, aufgrund der Pandemie beschleunigt – eine Zerstreuung des Kapitals, und das nicht nur in einigen anderen Städten. Es sind wirklich Dutzende von Städten. Wir haben jetzt unsere Rise the Rest Bust-Touren in 44 Städten gemacht. Unser Rise the Rest Seed Fund hat in 80 verschiedenen Städten investiert.

Es ist also eine breit angelegte Anstrengung und geht über die üblichen Verdächtigen hinaus, über die Leute wie Seattle und Austin sprechen. Wir sehen viel Dynamik in Chicago, in Los Angeles, in Raleigh-Durham, in Dallas, in Phoenix, in Columbus, hier in Washington, DC. Ich denke, in den nächsten zehn Jahren werden Dutzende von Städten entstehen, nicht nur ein paar.

Die Geschichte geht weiter

JULIE HYMAN: Und, Steve, wie Sie sagten, es scheint sich durch die Pandemie wirklich beschleunigt zu haben. Dies ist kein Schock, denn wir haben gesehen, wie sich die Bewegung beschleunigt hat, richtig, Menschen, die aus den großen Städten wegziehen. Sprechen Sie mit mir darüber, wie sich diese Dynamik auf die Investitionssumme ausgewirkt hat und was Sie meinen, und die Fähigkeit der Leute, auch aus der Ferne zu arbeiten, hat sich auf das ausgewirkt, worüber Sie sprechen.

STEVE-FALL: Nun, es war definitiv ein Wendepunkt. Ich denke, die Leute – wir trennen oder trennen Arbeit und Leben, und es gibt mehr Flexibilität in Bezug auf die Art und Weise, wie Sie arbeiten möchten und wo Sie leben möchten, und mehr Remote-Arbeit, mehr hybride Arbeit, die den Menschen mehr Möglichkeiten bietet, entscheiden, wo sie leben wollen.

Und sobald sie das tun und an einem anderen Ort leben, wahrscheinlich zunächst für ihr bestehendes Unternehmen arbeiten, werden sie im Laufe der Zeit wahrscheinlich etwas mehr vor Ort machen, entweder dort etwas anfangen oder dort etwas anfangen. Das wird also beschleunigen, was mit diesen Startup-Communitys passiert.

Aber wie der Bericht, den wir mit PitchBook erstellt haben, sagte, gibt es drei besondere Punkte, die ich für interessant halte. Zum ersten Mal seit 10 Jahren liegt die Menge an Risikokapital, die in die Bay Area fließt, unter 30%. Die zweite ist in diesen anderen Städten außerhalb der großen Drei. In den letzten 10 Jahren ist das Risikokapital von 4 Milliarden US-Dollar vor 10 Jahren auf jetzt 24 Milliarden US-Dollar gestiegen.

Und die dritte, die meiner Meinung nach am bemerkenswertesten und ermutigendsten ist, ist, dass in den letzten 10 Jahren 1.400 neue regionale Wagniskapitalfirmen gegründet wurden, die in einigen dieser Städte einen Teil dieses Anfangskapitals bereitstellen. Und wenn einige dieser ersten Unternehmen gegründet werden und mit der Skalierung beginnen, werden sie offensichtlich auf mehr Kapital zugreifen, auch von Investoren an der Küste.

Unsere Erwartung für das nächste Jahrzehnt ist also, dass wir tatsächlich eine Kapitalstreuung sehen werden, die teilweise durch diese Streuung von Talenten getrieben wird. Und während das Silicon Valley mit Sicherheit immer noch der Spitzenreiter sein wird und New York und Boston immer noch sehr, sehr stark sein werden, werden wir eine stärker verstreute Innovationswirtschaft haben, mehr Arbeitsplätze in verschiedenen Teilen des Landes geschaffen werden, wirtschaftlicher Wachstum in verschiedenen Teilen des Landes und Investoren, die dies als Trend erkennen. Wir machen das seit einem Jahrzehnt, aber wir haben in den letzten Jahren immer mehr Leute gesehen, die wirklich auf den Zug aufgesprungen sind, was sehr ermutigend ist. Ich denke, was in den nächsten zehn Jahren passieren wird und wie viele große Multimilliarden-Dollar-Unternehmen in Städten gegründet werden, die die meisten Leute nicht als Startup-Städte betrachten, ich denke, die Leute werden in den nächsten zehn Jahren wirklich ziemlich überrascht sein.

BRIAN SOZZI: Steve, gibt es eine Stadt, die dir außerhalb von Silicon Valley und New York offensichtlich auffällt, in der du viel mehr Start-ups siehst, und was würde das antreiben?

STEVE-FALL: Nun, wie gesagt, wir haben jetzt in Dutzende investiert, und wenn Sie nur eines auswählen, fragen Sie sich, wer ist Ihr Lieblingskind? das ist keine Frage, die niemand beantworten möchte. Wir versuchen wirklich, all diese verschiedenen Städte zu vertreten, und wir investieren – wie gesagt, wir haben 185 Investitionen in 80 verschiedenen Städten neben über 300 regionalen Risikokapitalgebern. Wir sehen dies also als eine breitere Bewegung und sehen viel Dynamik in vielen verschiedenen Städten.

Aber was den Antrieb angeht, gab es in diesen Städten im Allgemeinen ein Tent-Poling-Unternehmen, das erfolgreich war und Spin-off-Kapital geschaffen hat, und einige andere Leute, die andere Dinge tun. Oft gibt es dort eine starke Universität. Oft wird die Geschäftswelt engagiert, um die Startups zu unterstützen, nicht nur die großen Unternehmen, die sich selbst helfen, sondern auch die großen Unternehmen, die mit kleineren Unternehmen zusammenarbeiten, manchmal als Mentoren tätig sind und in die kleineren Unternehmen investieren.

Normalerweise treten der Bürgermeister und die Gouverneure für Start-ups ein und erkennen wirklich, dass dies ein besserer Weg ist, um die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung voranzutreiben. Versuchen Sie nicht, große Unternehmen dazu zu bringen, ihren Hauptsitz zu verlegen. Versuchen Sie, kleine Unternehmen zum Erfolg zu bringen.

Und in diesen Städten gibt es normalerweise eine Zusammenarbeit. Es gibt eine Art Netzwerkeffekt, Netzwerkdichte, wenn Sie so wollen, was eines der großartigen Dinge im Silicon Valley ist. Die Menschen in dieser Stadt schließen sich wirklich zusammen, um zu versuchen, mehr Dynamik zu erzeugen und ihre Geschichte zu erzählen, sowohl vor Ort, um einige Investoren zu gewinnen, die sie – insbesondere diese frühen Angel-Runden – als auch auf nationaler Ebene, um mehr von den Küsteninvestoren darauf zu achten, was ist Ereignis.

Und dann haben wir das jetzt gesehen – weil wir seit fast einem Jahrzehnt vor Ort sind, haben wir das in Dutzenden von Städten gesehen, und es ist wirklich bemerkenswert, was passiert. Die einzige Neuigkeit bei diesem Bericht ist, dass die Leute jetzt anfangen, es zu bemerken und die Dollars zu fließen beginnen, und das wird sich meiner Meinung nach im nächsten Jahrzehnt beschleunigen.

BRIAN CHEUNG: Hey, Steve, ich möchte von Startups, Tech-Startups zu Big Tech wechseln, und es gab viele Fragen zur Regulierung in DC, von denen ich verstehe, dass Sie von dort aus zu uns kommen. Gestern trat der Instagram-CEO auf dem Capitol Hill auf und sah sich einigen Fragen zur Monetarisierung dieser Social-Media-Apps speziell für Kinder gegenüber. Ich möchte Ihnen einen Clip vorspielen, in dem Amy Klobuchar gestern den Instagram-CEO drückt. Hören Sie zu.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: Betrachten Sie die Kinder als Zubringer für die Menschen, um in Ihr Produkt einzusteigen? Haben Sie nicht– haben Sie nichts unternommen, um mehr Teenager für Ihr Produkt zu interessieren? Haben Sie keine Angst, sie an andere Plattformen zu verlieren? Du sagst besser die Wahrheit. Sie stehen unter Eid.

ADAM MOSSERI: Absolut, Senator. Senator, wir versuchen, Instagram für Menschen jeden Alters, einschließlich Teenager, so relevant wie möglich zu machen. Teenager tun jeden Tag erstaunliche Dinge auf Instagram, aber wir investieren auch, glaube ich, mehr als alle anderen, um die Sicherheit von Menschen, einschließlich Teenagern, zu gewährleisten.

BRIAN CHEUNG: Und das war wiederum der CEO Adam Mosseri von Instagram. Aber, Steve, meine Frage an Sie ist, dass AOL Instant Messaging für AIM hat. Das habe ich als Teenager benutzt. Ich schätze, die Frage ist, was ist die Balance zwischen dem Angebot von Produkten, die Teenager verwenden möchten, um mit anderen zu kommunizieren, aber gleichzeitig sie sicher zu halten?

STEVE-FALL: Sie müssen sie sicher aufbewahren, und das haben wir in den frühen Tagen des Internets gesehen. Als wir 1985 mit AOL begannen, waren nur 3% der Leute verbunden, und sie nutzten das Internet im Durchschnitt nur eine Stunde pro Woche, also war es noch ziemlich früh. In diesen frühen Tagen sollte die Position der Regierung in Bezug auf die Regulierung ein wenig sein. Wir verstehen nicht ganz. Lass es laufen.

Nun, offensichtlich ist das Internet allgegenwärtig. Soziale Medien sind allgegenwärtig. Es ist daher nicht verwunderlich, dass mehr Wert darauf gelegt wird, was die richtige Regulierung sein sollte.

Das habe ich vor fünf Jahren vorhergesagt. Ich habe ein Buch mit dem Titel “The Third Way” geschrieben, dass mehr Dialog zwischen den Innovatoren im Silicon Valley und den Regulierungsbehörden erforderlich ist, sei es hier in Washington, DC, Brüssel oder anderswo auf der Welt. Das fängt jetzt an zu passieren.

Daher bin ich froh, dass sie diese Gespräche führen – auch das Gespräch gestern über die Krypto-Seite der Dinge. Dieser Dialog ist wichtig. Das ist es nicht – an diesem Punkt, da das Internet wirklich ausgereift ist, überrascht es mich nicht, dass es einen stärkeren Fokus gibt und sogar einige der Dinge überdenkt, wie etwa die sogenannte Section 230, die eingeführt wurde, als ich AOL leitete . Wissen Sie, die Umstände haben sich geändert und es verdient einen neuen Blick.

JULIE HYMAN: Steve, wenn wir von dieser Krypto-Anhörung sprechen, haben Sie in dieser Anhörung ausdrücklich einen Shoutout erhalten, und ich möchte nur den Ton aus dieser Erwähnung spielen.

– Nochmals vielen Dank für die Anhörung. Ich habe das Gefühl, als hätte ich etwa 1990 mit Steve Case gesprochen, also danke für die Vision, die ihr habt, und danke für die Anhörung, Frau Vorsitzende.

JULIE HYMAN: Steve, ich war amüsiert, das zu hören, vor allem, weil ich wusste, dass wir heute mit dir sprechen würden. Und das führt mich zu dieser Frage, wenn ich mir diese aufkeimenden Technologien ansehe und wie Sie all diese Start-ups im ganzen Land sehen, ob es sich um Web 3.0 handelt, ob es um die Gerede über KI oder das Metaverse usw. geht , auf welchen dieser Trends freust du dich am meisten oder wo denkst du, wird diese Art von nächster technologischer Welle kommen?

STEVE-FALL: Nun, ich denke, wir betreten das, was ich die dritte Welle des Internets nenne, die wirklich ist, wenn das Internet auf die reale Welt trifft und einige der wichtigsten Aspekte unseres Lebens beeinflusst – wie wir bleiben gesund, wie unsere Kinder und wir lernen, wie wir Geld anlegen, wie wir uns bewegen, was und wie wir essen. Einige dieser Sektoren wie Gesundheitswesen und Lebensmittel und Landwirtschaft und andere sind diejenigen, die wirklich immer mehr Aufmerksamkeit erhalten. Das wurde im letzten Jahrzehnt aufgebaut, ich denke, dass es im nächsten Jahrzehnt noch stärker werden wird.

Für mich geht es also darum, wie Technologien zusammenlaufen, um diese Probleme wirklich zu lösen? Ein Unternehmen, das wir mit unserem Revolution Growth Fund unterstützt haben, ein Unternehmen in Chicago namens Tempest, nutzt KI, um wirklich viel genauere Diagnosen für Krebs und andere Krankheiten zu ermöglichen. Daher ist es wahrscheinlicher, dass Menschen, wenn sie diagnostiziert werden, die Therapie erhalten, die tatsächlich funktioniert und ihr Leben retten oder ihr Leben verlängern kann. Hier liegt meiner Meinung nach die Technologie im Fokus.

Diese erste Welle brachte alle online, baute die Auffahrten zum Internet, die Server und die Modems und all das Zeug. Die zweite Welle war wirklich Software und Apps, die auf dem Internet reiten. Google, Facebook gehören natürlich dazu.

Der dritte Weg ist, wie gesagt, wenn das Internet wirklich mehr mit der realen Welt verbunden ist, aber das Interessante an dieser dritten Welle ist, dass sie stärker reguliert wird, weil diese Sektoren reguliert werden, weil sie für das tägliche Leben so grundlegend sind — welche Medikamente wir einnehmen, welche Lebensmittel wir essen und so weiter — und Partnerschaften sind entscheidend, die man nicht alleine schaffen kann. Es geht nicht nur darum, eine App in einem App Store abzulegen.

Unser Schwerpunkt bei Revolution liegt auf der Unterstützung von Unternehmen außerhalb des Silicon Valley, die erkennen, dass Partnerschaften für den Aufbau eines Netzwerks rund um Ihr Unternehmen von entscheidender Bedeutung sind, und Richtlinien sind ebenfalls entscheidend, und Sie müssen sich verantwortungsbewusst mit politischen Entscheidungsträgern auseinandersetzen.

BRIAN CHEUNG: Alles klar, Steve Case, AOL-Mitbegründer und Revolution-CEO. Wir werden Sie das nächste Mal wieder aufnehmen, wenn Ihr Name in einer Kongressanhörung erwähnt wird. Danke noch einmal.

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For many property owners, our homes are our most valuable asset. They are also a huge pain and a constant drain of money.

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From bulky items like wobbling foundations and burst sewer pipes to simpler repairs like scratched floors and chipped paint, our homes need regular repairs. Few of us have the tools and home improvement skills to do it all. And lately it has even been a challenge to find professionals for the job.

Enter startups. Against the backdrop of rising property values, an aging housing stock, and a labor shortage at home service providers, investors have poured money into emerging companies looking to help modernize and maintain properties.

A crunchbase analysis of funding for US startups focusing on household services last year found at least $ 1.4 billion in 23 rounds (see list of funding rounds). We have compiled an exemplary list of companies that have received funding over the past year, see below:

Where the money is going

By far the largest recipient of funding is ServiceTitan, a provider of home improvement software in the plumbing, HVAC, electrical and other specialty areas to generate leads and close sales. Founded by two sons of immigrants who built contractors, the Glendale, California-based company raised $ 500 million in a Series F round in March for total funding of over $ 1 billion .

Next up is Thumbtack, a local talent finding and hiring app that is most popular for home services. The San Francisco-based company closed a $ 275 million late-stage round last month, bringing the total known funding to nearly $ 700 million.

Neither ServiceTitan nor Thumbtack are new startups that were founded in 2012 and 2008, respectively. However, there are also some newer players who raise substantial rounds.

Super, provider of subscription plans to cover device and home system outages, raised $ 50 million in Series C in May. And Chicago-based HomeX, a four-year-old startup offering virtual home troubleshooting assistance, raised its first reported institutional round of $ 90 million in April.

Announcing the round, HomeX founder and CEO Michael Werner pointed to home services as a $ 500 billion market that “remains highly fragmented and in need of meaningful innovation.” He presents his startup as an actor who could bring some of the transformations telemedicine has brought to healthcare to home services by reducing costly in-person service calls.

HomeX isn’t the only company looking to make home services a more virtual business. HOVER raised $ 60 million for the D Series in November to build its service that enables smartphone users to create an interactive 3D model of any property to measure, design and estimate home improvement projects.

Faster, cheaper, better…. or at least available

As with start-ups in other sectors, start-ups in the home services sector usually market their offers as a faster, cheaper or better solution than established companies. But in the current marketplace – where many contractors see more demand than they can meet – sometimes the killer app is simply having someone available to do the job.

With many sectors of the economy facing labor shortages, domestic services are no exception. Contractor operators in the HVAC, plumbing, roofing and other sectors report difficulties in hiring and retaining employees in key markets across the country.

Home repair and remodeling costs have also skyrocketed, influenced by greater consumer demand and supply chain disruptions after the pandemic, as well as labor shortages.

Public markets like space too

The public markets also seem pretty confident that we will be spending more on home repairs and renovations.

The shares of The Home Depot and Lowe’s – two companies known as barometers of consumer excitement for home upgrading – are trading at around all-time highs. This is likely another factor driving business interest in home services, suggesting that public investors would be receptive to businesses with innovative approaches in an already growing space.

Plus, our homes don’t sustain themselves (although it would be really nice if a really innovative startup found a way to do just that.)

Illustration: Dom Guzman

Stay up to date with the latest financing rounds, acquisitions and more with the Crunchbase Daily.

The post With Contractors In Excessive Demand, A Lot of Funding Is Going To Residence Companies Startups – Crunchbase Information appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

When you hear Silicon Valley you probably think of “tech” and “startup”. Over the years, San Francisco has always been the hub of all technology and home to thousands of successful startups. Since there is a fine line between when a company is still considered a startup and when it finally left its mark on the world, you may only know startups that are now successful companies.

DoorDash, Wish, Chime … these companies were all startups that made it big, and early investors benefited from them.

If you are or are about to invest in startups, it is important to keep an eye out for the next big thing. Check out Benzinga’s list of the top 10 best tech startups to find startups to watch out for right now.

# 1.Best crowdsourcing startup – Lime, founded in 2017

Lime was founded on the idea that “all communities deserve access to smart, affordable mobility”. Lime’s focus is also on leaving future generations a healthier planet than the present.

Lime was structured under the premise of crowdsourced fast, easy and affordable transportation to reduce environmental hazards and pollution through the equitable distribution of common scooters, bicycles and transit vehicles in each city.

In order to take full advantage of Lime, users are encouraged to download the Lime app, find a means of transport and scan it with a QR code. At the end of each trip, users have to scan the barcode again and leave the transport behind for the next driver.

# 2. Best Robotics / Autonomous Delivery startup – Nuro, founded in 2016

Nuro specializes in the use of autonomous vehicles for last-mile delivery services and has special permission from the State of California to perform autonomous deliveries. Nuro is a startup founded by two former Google engineers who acquired a smaller startup called Ike, an autonomous shipping company. Founded in 2018, Ike began its journey licensing software from Nuro, one of its stakeholders. Eventually the two startups merged to form Nuro as it is now. Although Ike is currently focused on the local delivery business, Ike brought Class 8 semi-trailer technology to the table and will expand Nuro’s offerings across the region.

Once implemented in Nuro’s current infrastructure, the company began using a “handover system” for delivery over the motorway system. This is when a human driver exchanges cargo and then navigates the semi-trailers in and out of facilities.

Prior to the acquisition, agreements were made between Ike and transport companies such as Ryder System Inc., DHL Supply Chain, NFI Industries and several smaller companies that will lead the startup in equipping 1,000 trucks with its newly integrated technologies. These companies will automate their existing trucks through an annual software subscription model.

# 3. Best startup for shared mobility – PIX Moving, founded in 2014

PIX Moving is a unique startup that aims to “reshape future cities with autonomous mobility” by providing sustainable solutions for urban development. Known as the world’s first vehicle design and manufacturing system, they are powered by both artificial intelligence (AI) and metal 3D printing.

The company wants to rebuild the modern city with autonomous mobility in the overall design. The aim is both to improve road use and to create a better quality of life for the residents.

The company offers 4 main products:

• PIXBOT – “The World’s First Autonomous Open Source Chassis” that shortens product development lead times
• PIXKIT – An open source kit for autonomous driving development and education for the rapid prototyping of autonomous vehicles
• PIXLOOP – An autonomous, software-defined chassis drive platform for rapid application development and prototyping, “built by engineers for engineers”.
• PIX CITY – A concept in action that realizes an integrated application of self-propelled technology on a large scale .; PIX cities are an intelligent IoT infrastructure combined with human-vehicle interaction

PIX Moving offers a one-stop solution that combines a self-driving software and hardware stack, drive-by-wire chassis, batch customization, and 3D printing and vehicle manufacturing with self-driving software integration. With its open source capabilities, autonomous vehicles can be created for sightseeing, shuttles, vending machines, patrols and deliveries.

# 4.Best Semiconductor Solutions Startup – Instrumems, founded in 2016

According to Instrumems, its “fabless” high-performance semiconductors were developed using a novel “nanowire” acquisition platform that enables “sensor fusion and highly accurate measurements of flow, temperature, velocity and humidity” in both liquids and gases.

They are fast, accurate and energy-saving and achieve frequency responses between 10 kHz and 100 kHz.

Although tiny, these semiconductors were created using sophisticated algorithms and software to create a complete real-time capture solution for virtually any medical, IoT, or industrial device. As we begin to rebuild our global infrastructure, we will need innovative, state-of-the-art semiconductors in ways we have never had before.

# 5.Best transportation and logistics startup – Flexport, founded in 2013

Flexport digitizes the forwarding agency for the world’s leading brands on land, in the air, on the rail and in maritime trade. It offers companies a new way to optimize their supply chain while making it easier to move and store goods around the world.

With 24-hour real-time tracking and monitoring of customer data, a dedicated team of experts offers each customer valuable insight into their inventory and any bottlenecks.

About 70% of customers say the Flexport platform allows them to make their decisions more strategic. You will also experience increased transparency of the supply chain and increased control over logistics.

Flexport aims to provide its customers with world class import and export services in terms of shipping, price adjustment, tracking and tracing. It also mediates customs agreements, reduces uncertainties and offers advisory support in uncertain times.

# 6.Best cybersecurity startup – Sumo Logic, founded in 2010

Sumo Logic provides organizations with secure, multi-cloud support and real-time visibility into some of the most popular cloud applications on the market. Focused on operational security and visibility, Sumo Logic tracks big data, compliance, and business intelligence (BI) use cases to help organizations make more informed and informed decisions – especially when it comes to cybersecurity.

The Sumo logo is both proactive and forward-looking, enabling companies to not only identify problems through machine learning, but also to investigate those problems and implement rapid problem mitigation.

This startup also offers cloud-neutral SIEM tools and solutions for security intelligence and event management (SIEM) that give the security of your infrastructure both freedom and flexibility.

# 7.Best Ground Travel Rewards Startup – Miles, founded in 2016

Miles is a rewards program that allows users to earn ground miles on exclusive rewards and offers from some of today’s hottest brands. Miles are earned based on travel, and users earn points as they travel to everyday destinations on foot, bike, or bike.

Within the app, users don’t have to log miles and don’t even have to open the app regularly.

# 8.Best recruiting startup – GoodTime, founded in 2016

GoodTime is focused on delivering the best candidate experience possible so that top candidates can automatically schedule an interview and streamline the administrative process. Not only will this remove “unconscious biases” from the hiring process, but it will also allow hiring managers to spend more time finding candidates who really fit the role they are trying to fill. More time is spent on meaningful discussions, less time coordinating meetings and interviews.

GoodTime integrates with existing Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), which are known to filter 80% to 90% of the top candidates from the market. Through this integration, talents are better tracked and filtered, taking them into account for future positions if they are a better match.

This platform also gives companies access to candidate data, which gives them more detailed information on the hiring process. Increasing transparency gives them everything they need to make more informed hiring decisions. They will understand more clearly where the cycle is falling short and what better things they can do to minimize high turnover rates with increased retention.

# 9.Best pet friendly startup – Fuzzy, founded in 2016

Fuzzy is known as “The Pet Parent Company” because it helps pet owners better care for their furry friends. Once upon a time, Fuzzy’s list of quality veterinarians made home visits to pets in need. But sometimes even a home call can’t come quickly enough.

Time is of the essence when pets are in trouble, but it’s usually quite a stressful situation. And sometimes the emotional reactions of the owners can tarnish the best decision. Veterinary visits, especially emergency medical visits, are also very expensive, although most of us would spend our last penny to help our pet.

Fuzzy helps eliminate the debilitating costs associated with emergency visits. In fact, all of the veterinarians’ staff are available 24/7 for pets in need. The company is making visits to the vet more convenient for both pet patients and their owners. It offers health and wellness support, treatment advice and empowerment in difficult times.

In addition to its major television services, Fuzzy also offers a variety of pet care items, including medication, preventive supplies, and veterinarian approved subscription boxes.

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