Elementary Robotics raises $3.6 million; Musk shows off Boring tunnel; new chief at Snap’s hardware lab.
Snap Inc. Welcomes New Spectacles Chief
The hardware lab within Snap Inc. developing its photo and video sunglasses, dubbed Spectacles, has its third chief in six months. Sahil Sharma, the current vice president of hardware development, will be replaced in February 2019 by Steen Strand, co-founder of Icon Aircraft Inc. Recode reports Spectacles are a pet project of Snap Chief Executive Evan Spiegel, but not financially successful – Snap noted in its 2017 annual report the camera glasses cost the company $40 million in excess product.
Boring Co. Prototype Opened in Hawthorne
On Dec. 18, Elon Musk’s tunneling outfit Boring Co. opened its first tunnel for public viewing, the Los Angeles Times’ Laura Nelson reports. A 1.14 mile route tunnel roughly 40 feet below the surface of Hawthorne streets is designed to for research purposes for now, but Musk hopes the route will be part of a greater network in LA. Up next on the Boring Co.’s project list is a 3.6 mile tunnel between a Metro Red Line station and Dodger Stadium, which Musk said will operate fully by 2028.
Elementary Robotics Raises $3.6 Million
Little is known about the product plans of Pasadena-based Elementary Robotics Inc., which is still operating in stealth mode, but Chief Executive Arye Barnehama said the company will develop “robust, intelligent robot assistants that are affordable and human.” The outfit raised $3.6 million Dec. 19 on top of an existing $1.2 million gained in October 2017. As part of the raise, lead investor Fika Ventures will send General Partner Eva Ho to join Elementary Robotics’ board, the Business Journal reports.
