Hi there,
There has been a jump in headlines about labor marketplaces as of late, and it's caught our attention because, well, that's what Cluster is all about. RigUp Inc., an Austin-based startup operating a marketplace for contract workers in the energy sector, surged to a $1.9 billion valuation after receiving a $300 million Series D investment from Andreessen Horowitz. The venture capital firm also just led a $15 million Series A in Incredible Health, a hiring platform for nurses. We expect to see more venture-backed labor marketplaces being founded to serve industries where hiring qualified talent is a challenge.
In aerospace news, Elon Musk and NASA claim SpaceX could fly its first crew in 2020. It's kind of a big deal since it'll mark the first time a private company gets to shuttle American astronauts to the ISS. We cover the story below. And while we're on the subject of Elon – he reminds his Twitter followers that there are, in fact, two words that rhyme with orange. Keep scrolling for more and we'll see you in a fortnight!
Kim Taylor
CEO, Cluster
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2017 Total Solar Eclipse - International Space Station
Source: Photo by NASA/Bill Ingalls
Today’s roundup was written by Lawren Henderson with contributions from Kim Taylor and Justin Parker in Los Angeles.
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Oct 17 & 18: Darkness Surrounds Us: The Other 95% of the Universe
The von Kármán Auditorium at JPL
Pasadena
JPL’s von Kármán Lecture Series presents a discussion with astrophysicists on how astronomers are working to map the universe’s dark matter so they can see the effects of dark energy. Info
Oct 29: Founders to Futurists: 50th Anniversary of the Birth of the Internet
UCLA Samueli School of Engineering
Westwood
It’s the internet’s 50th birthday! Join some of the biggest names in business and tech including Mark Cuban, Jamie Dimon, Peter Thiel, and Ashton Kutcher as they discuss their visions for the future of the internet. Info
Check out our calendar for all the latest SoCal events here
Source: NASA
The first Saturn I rocket arrives at Kennedy Space Center. 1961
A bi-weekly roundup of the latest happenings in industrial tech, hiring and the future of work.