2018 is welcoming one of its newest tech unicorns: Snowflake Computing. After raising $263.5 million, the cloud company is fetching a $1.5 billion valuation. Bob Muglia, CEO of Snowflake Computing, a data storage company selling database software that operates in Amazon's cloud, was with us to share why he thinks the unicorn valuation is justified.
Muglia said the valuation is justified, but the company still needs to grow into it. The new funding will put Snowflakes growth in line with Palantir and Slack. Muglia explained how the investment will help the company go up against Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, and Google.
With $473 million in total funding, Snowflake is planning an IPO. The CEO said the company could go public in 2-3 years. Current customers include Capital One, Adobe, Nielsen and Rent the Runway.
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Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
