Amazon to bring at least 2,000 more jobs to Boston’s Seaport
Amazon announced that it will be leasing a huge new office in the Seaport District and hiring at least 2,000 more employees in Boston over the next few years, Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced Tuesday. If all goes as planned, the new space on Congress Street could “nearly triple” the e-commerce giant’s workforce in Boston and Cambridge, making Amazon one of the region’s biggest private employers and boosting Boston’s already impressive tech economy. This news comes as 20 cities still anxiously await the tech giant’s decision for its second headquarters — no dice yet, though. [The Boston Globe]
Circle buys cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex for around $400 million
Circle, a Boston-based startup that offers a cryptocurrency platform for clients to trade bitcoin on the market, announced the acquisition of cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex this week. The deal price signifies one of the larger transactions in the growing cryptocurrency industry, although Circle is still private — for now. Circle also provides a platform for people to send cash or cryptocurrencies to one another “as easy as sending a text.” According to Recode, this deal has positioned Circle as a real competitor to Silicon Valley-based Coinbase. [Recode]
Moltin raises $8 million to help developers build awesome e-commerce websites
Boston startup Moltin raised an $8 million Series A round this week led by Underscore VC to continue providing brands with an API-based digital commerce solution. The funding will help the company continue to provide developers in the retail industry with powerful e-commerce APIs, and will also allow Moltin to commercialize its operations in the United States and invest in sales and marketing resources. [Built In Boston]
Humatics acquires 5D Robotics and Time Domain to amp up micro-location products
Cambridge startup Humatics announced this week that it is acquiring 5D Robotics and its subsidiary, Time Domain. Humatics is working on “breakthrough” micro-location products that use radio-frequency sensors to measure the positions of objects in three-dimensional space with millimeter-scale precision. By acquiring 5D Robotics and Time Domain (both makers of RF systems), Humatics is hoping to offer products that measure position with precisions that could transform everything from construction to autonomous vehicles to smart cities. In 2017 Humatics closed an $18 million Series A financing round and was recognized as one of Built in Boston’s 50 startups to watch. [Press Release]
Former chief architect of KAYAK joins Blink Health, which plans on opening Boston office
Blink Health announced this week that it has hired former KAYAK Chief Architect and General Manager of Mobile Bill O’Donnell to lead its engineering team into 2018. O’Donnell will be in charge of overseeing the rapid growth of Blink’s technology and engineering efforts. O’Donnell brings more than 25 years of software development experience to the role, including his 10 years at KAYAK.
Following his time at KAYAK, Bill co-founded Blade, LLC, a Boston-based accelerator, where he also co-founded travel startup Lola. O’Donnell will be based in the Boston area, where Blink plans to build a second office. [Press Release]
