First Off

Lucy: You guys rock. Thanks for being loyal readers of The Beat in 2018! We’ll have more stories, more multimedia and (hopefully) more scoops in 2019, so stay with us… And if you haven’t already, tell a friend to subscribe.

Housekeeping: The Beat is off on Dec. 24-25, but expect to hear from us soon after that short break.

And now, this.

The Big One

A breakdown on the day’s biggest Inno story.

Lucy: As 2018 comes to a close, we took a look at the stories that mattered this year in Boston tech—from startups to large companies. And boy, what a year.

From PillPack acquired by Amazon to Carbon Black’s $100M IPO, the Boston tech ecosystem had its fair share of national headlines.

Sure, we didn’t land Amazon’s HQ2—and who cares? Jeff Bezos, Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett and JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon selected Boston as headquarters for their (still unnamed) healthcare company.

The trio announced in June that the company will be led by Dr. Atul Gawande, a general and endocrine surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School.

Fun fact: one of the stories we included in the top 12 biggest Boston tech stories of 2018 dates back to… two days ago. It was one of the biggest funding rounds of the year for a Massachusetts company and, likely, the biggest cash grab for a local tech venture this year.

You remember the beneficiary: Cambridge Mobile Telematics, a Kendall Square-based company with 70 employees that started from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab.

But 2018 was not all sunshine and rainbows… Several startups shut down, including two companies in the robotics space, Jibo and Rethink Robotics.

Here are some of the biggest headlines that came out during our last trip around the sun.

In The Know

The Inno stories you need to read today.

From Startup Execs to Lecturers: Talla to Organize Free AI Classes — BostInno
Not-So-Stealthy: Boston Startups That Emerged in 2018— BostInno
Breakthrough Energy Ventures Invests $26M in Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory Spinoff — BostInno
The virtual showroom comes into focus—slowly — The Boston Globe

Elsewhere in Inno

Stories from around the Inno network we think you’ll dig.

Denver Startup Partners to Support Vaccine Distribution in Africa — Colorado Inno
ElecTrip Connects Austin, Dallas and Houston with Tesla Model X Rides — Austin Inno
Chicago’s Top 10 Tech Fundings of 2018 — Chicago Inno

Making Moves

Inside the people, companies and organizations making moves in Boston.

Sri: Tech had a lot to celebrate in 2018. Startup deal values climbed a decade-high level. About 39 ‘unicorn’ companies raised a total of $8B as of October 2018. Not only unicorns, but deal value for companies receiving their initial rounds of VC funding also reached record levels. So what’s in store for 2019? One report predicts increased M&A activity in autonomous vehicles and mobility, entrance of tech conglomerates in fintech and a shift away from pure play mobility. Read more: Crystal Gazing: Emerging Tech Trends to Watch in 2019

Lucy: The Hardware Cup, a pitch contest for early stage hardware startups hosted by AlphaLab Gear, is celebrating its fifth year and touring seven American cities — including Boston. The goal? “To find and highlight the most promising physical products startups in the nation.” Each city’s winner will get $3K in cash and other prizes — and that includes an opportunity to win a $50K convertible-debt investment from Startbot VC at the International Finals in May. Applications for the Northeast region close Jan. 27. Read more: Early Stage Pitch Competition to Make Boston Stop

Sri: Time’s up for House and Senate leaders in Mass. to finalize regulation of short-term rental companies like Airbnb. Under the new version of the bill, a 5.7% hotel and motel room tax will be applied to units rented on a short-term basis, with some exceptions. The bill reached Gov. Baker on Thursday and he has about 10 days to review the final redraft and okay the new version.

Listen to This Right Now

Who’s in the mood for podcasts?

Lucy: Boston Speaks Up, a podcast that tells the stories of “inspiring people with connections to Boston, one interview at a time,” sat down with Social Impact Storyteller Tripp Clemens. Clemens is a partner at Windy Films, an ascending media company headquartered in the East Boston Shipyard. Podcast is live on SoundCloud and on Apple Podcasts. Want more on Boston Speaks Up? Start here.

In The Community

The events and happenings to know about tonight and this week.

Sri: The Boston Women Investors Forum is making a pit stop in town and you might want to save the date for it. The Chloe Capital national tour for women-led innovation companies is coming to Boston on Jan. 11 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Cambridge Innovation Center. Read more.

Random

The fun stuff.

Sri: Today is the shortest day of the year — the winter solstice. Among other things, these are the top eight things you should know. Like when the sun will set? 5:23 p.m. EST. And contrary to popular belief, the winter solstice is NOT the coldest day of the year and is also not the earliest sunset of the year.

Featured Jobs

Featured startup and tech jobs on BostInno’s new Careers Directory.

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Meet The Authors
Srividya (Sri) Kalyanaraman
skalyanaraman@americaninno.com
Lucia Maffei
lmaffei@americaninno.com