WeWork's Adam Neumann Secures Funding 💰 For Housing 🏠 Startup
Scott D. Clary | Daily Business, Tech & Finance Newsletter
Scott D. Clary
August 18, 2022
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Here’s what’s happening:
- WeWork's Adam Neumann secures funding for housing startup
- Amazon workers at a warehouse in Albany voted on unionization
- BlackRock to invest in Australian mega battery project
- Crypto.com secures UK registration
- Coinbase will pause Ethereum transactions during Ethereum merge
WeWork’s Adam Neumann Secures Funding 💰 For Housing 🏠 Startup
WeWork’s co-founder and former CEO Adam Neumann secured a massive cheque worth $350 million for his newly-floated residential real estate startup ‘Flow.’
Where did the money come from?
The funding comes from venture capital powerhouse Andreessen Horowitz.
Interestingly, the funding round values Flow at $1 billion, even before it begins operations, which the startup intends to do in 2023.
Tweet from A16z co-founder Marc Andreessen:
“Adam is a visionary leader who revolutionized the second largest asset class in the world — commercial real estate — by bringing community and brand to an industry in which neither existed before,” Andreessen wrote in a blog post.
How will the funding help Flow?
Flow will reportedly operate over 3,000 apartment units Neumann has purchased in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Nashville, as it looks to mix up the residential real estate market.
Neumann wants to create a branded product with consistent service and community features across rental properties. The startup will operate the properties bought by Neumann and offer its services to other third parties.
Amazon Workers at a Warehouse in Albany Voted 🗳 on Unionization
Amazon workers at a warehouse near Albany, New York, have filed a petition to form a union with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Why does this matter?
- Amazon workers are seeking to join the independent Amazon Labor Union, which won a historic victory on New York’s Staten Island in April.
- This move will make it the first U.S. Amazon warehouse to vote to unionize.
- If the voting goes through, it will be the third election for the Amazon Labor Union and the fourth vote on unionization in Amazon’s history.
What is Amazon doing? 🤔
While Amazon has not said anything yet, the company has previously said it doesn’t believe unions are the right choice for its employees.
The e-commerce giant is also fighting to get the vote at its JFK8 warehouse thrown out, arguing that the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) and NLRB acted in a way that tainted the election results.
Blackrock to Invest in Australian 🇦🇺 Mega Battery 🔋 Project
US investment giant BlackRock has announced that it will invest in a series of battery farms across Australia.
What are they going to do?
- The company intends to invest over 1 billion Australian dollars (around USD 700 million) of capital “to support the build-out” of more than 1-gigawatt battery storage assets.
- This is the first battery storage investment made by BlackRock’s Climate Infrastructure business in the Asia-Pacific region and its biggest anywhere in the world.
- BlackRock said the investment would fund nine battery-storage projects along Australia’s east coast through the acquisition of Melbourne-based battery developer Akaysha Energy.
Statement from Charlie Reid, BlackRock’s co-head of climate infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific:
Reid said that the infrastructure would be vital to maintaining the stability of Australia’s energy grid during its transition to net zero.
“As renewable energy infrastructure continues to mature in Australia, investment is required in battery storage assets to ensure the resilience and reliability of the grid, especially with the continued earlier-than-expected retirement of coal-fired power stations,” he said.
Crypto.com Secures UK 🇬🇧 Registration
Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has registered with the U.K.’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
According to an entry in the FCA’s Financial Services Register, ‘FORIS DAX UK LIMITED’ has been registered to conduct “certain cryptoasset activities” whilst also obtaining Money Laundering Regulation Status.
FORIS DAX UK LIMITED is listed as Crypto.com’s registered UK trading name.
What does FCA say?
According to the FCA, businesses carrying on crypto asset activity in the UK must register to comply with money laundering, terrorist financing, and transfer of funds regulations.
FCA defines crypto assets as an activity that includes exchanging crypto assets for money or money for crypto assets and exchanging crypto assets for crypto assets.
Why does the registration matter to Crypto.com?
Existing businesses in the UK were required to be registered with the FCA to continue carrying on their business.
The registration makes it possible for the exchange to offer a range of digital asset products and services that are compliant with the country’s regulations.
Coinbase Will Pause Ethereum Transactions During Ethereum Merge 🚨
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will temporarily suspend certain token deposits and withdrawals when Ethereum’s core developers are transitioning the blockchain to proof-of-stake (PoS).
Why is it pausing transactions?
The pause is a precautionary measure taken by Coinbase as the downtime will allow it to ensure that the transition has been successfully reflected by the systems.
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If you like the content in this newsletter, I host a Top 10 Business podcast, (with over 20m downloads) “Success Story”, where I unpack the playbooks of entrepreneurs, executives and other high performing individuals.
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