Virgin soars to new heights; Open Listings hits $1 billion; Chrome River goes to Europe

Virgin Galactic Sets New Altitude Record

During a July 16 flight of Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spacecraft, the company reached a new altitude record of 32.3 miles above the earth. This journey into Earth’s mesosphere, which is considered the beginning of space, is the first for Virgin Galactic, and founder Sir Richard Branson reports he hopes to be in space by the end of the year. ArsTechnica reports the launch was conducted at the Mojave Air and Space Port.

Open Listings Surpasses $1 Billion in Home Purchases

Los Feliz-based home-buying startup Open Listings Co. has facilitated more than $1 billion in houses bought, Socaltech reports. The company has 45 full-time employees and is backed by Matrix Capital Management Co. and Arena Ventures. Currently, it targets first-time homebuyers and millennials as its main market.

Chrome River Expands to Germany

Mid-Wilshire robo-accounting company Chrome River Technologies Inc. has officially opened an office in Munich, Germany, Forbes reports. Founded in 2007, Chrome River’s service uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to automatically prepare invoices and expense reports which is designed to minimize the burden of manually entering data and therefore improve workplace efficiency.